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SEARCH CALLED OFF
Friends and family mourn loss of Joaquin Velilla
By:
Marcus Sanders
Photos: Photos: Chris Hagan
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January 18, 2007
4408 visits
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Tragically, the search for missing Pipeline surfer Joaquin "Joaco" Velilla has been called off.
Hundreds gathered at Ehukai Beach for a Memorial Service and paddle-out. Read the Honolulu Advertiser story.
His board was found at 7pm on Thursday evening. After he didn't return to his home in Haleiwa, the Honolulu Fire Department, the U.S. Coast Guard and North Shore lifeguards spent all day Friday and Saturday looking for his body up to five miles out to sea. But as of noon North Shore time on Saturday, nothing has been found yet. |
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Velilla, a longtime Puerto Rico surfer/shaper moved to the North Shore five years ago and is engaged to be married to 32-year-old fiancé Mariela Acosta. "He was a regular all over the North Shore," said photog and friend Chris Hagan, who was shooting on the beach until dark on Thursday. "I saw him paddle out at 5pm but didn't see him catch any waves." It wasn't exactly easy Pipeline, either. A bodyboard contest was in the water all day Thursday, and by 5pm the lineup was jam-packed with bodyboarders and surfers. Backdoor was maxed out, with only a couple takers, one being Jamie O'Brien who got shut down. "It was weird -- there were Gums waves and then there'd be a Second Reefer," explains Hagan. "There was heaps of current and the wind was kinda crossed up as well." MORE SURF NEWS SURFLINE HOME PAGE |