Surfer Missing in Hawaii

UPDATE (15:20 SAS time):

As noted by Ian, one of the wavescape.co.za users who commented below, Jamie O Brien did post a RIP Kirk post on instagram several hours ago with the photo above, but there has not been official confirmation of his death. A body has not been recovered yet and we wait for the official report from the police.

UPDATE (15 Nov 07:20 SAS time):

FROM THE PASSMORE FAMILY: Kirk was born February 11, 1981 in Orem, Utah. He grew up in Carlsbad, California and graduated from Carlsbad High School in 1999 where he was a member of the school’s surf team for four years. As a youth, he was active in Pop Warner football, little league baseball, and basketball, but his love was in surfing.

He started coming to Hawaii when he was 14 and was an experienced and expert surfer. He was not new to big wave surfing, having surfed most of the well-known big wave locations, including Waimea Bay, Sunset Beach, Pipeline, and outer reefs on the north shores of Hawaii. He was a familiar face at Todos Santos off Baja California. He also surfed Maverick’s in Northern California and Puerto Escondido in Mainland Mexico. He spent 3 years in the southern coast of France. He moved to the north shore of Hawaii full-time in the spring of 2012.

Kirk was a part owner of Third Stone Surfboards in Wailua, Hawaii, and a Manager at Banzai Sushi in Haleiwa, Hawaii.

He is survived by his mother, Diane Passmore (Orem, Utah), father and step-mother, David and Karey Passmore (Sunset Beach, Hawaii), siblings, Alyson Adams (Highland, Utah); Merrily Roberts (Encinitas, California) and Matthew Passmore (serving an LDS mission in New York, New York).

The family wishes to thank the Coast Guard, the City and County of Honolulu Lifeguards and Fire Department, who continue the search.

Original Story

According to eye witnesses, Kirk failed to surface fully after a wipe out and was last seen swimming downwards with his feet up before a second wave held him down. Despite efforts from his fellow surfers and life guards, they could not find him after the second wave had passed him. His broken board was recovered later as it washed up on the beach.

According to Jamie Sterling, who was in the water at the time, Kirk was the only surfer not wearing an inflatable life vest. Sterling explained that he believes Kurt must have burst his eardrum. (Directional confusion and vertigo are some of the symptoms and bodily reactions to a severely burst eardrum.)

During daylight hours a massive search was undertaken by several parties including locals, local life guards and the coast guard. Seaching will also continue into the night with infrared equipment by boat and helicopter. Kirk's father, girlfriend, friends and loved ones were seen on the beach and were all in a state of shock and disbelief.

During daylight hours a massive search was undertaken by several parties including locals, local life guards and the coast guard. Seaching will also continue into the night with infrared equipment by boat and helicopter. Kirk's father, girlfriend, friends and loved ones were seen on the beach and were all in a state of shock and disbelief.

Passmore is 6'3" tall and weighs around 84kg. He has reddish hair and hazel eyes and was wearing black board shorts.

The North shore of Oahu is on a High Surf Warning Status at the moment and it is forecasted that waves will be breaking in the range of 20 to 35ft.

From the note posted by the family, it is evident that they do not forsee that Kirk survived the incident. We hope they can find his body so that everybody can get closure and funeral arrangments could be made. Our sincere condolences to all the family and friends.