Kodiak resident Andy Edgerly can remember a time when he was sure David Skimin could do anything.

“I remember one night at a party, he showed up. And I mean, he was Mr. Clean: button-up striped shirt, a bowtie, hair combed and he stepped up behind this stand-up bass,” Edgerly said. “It was kind of surprising. Like, when did you learn to play the bass? And he was rock solid. I mean, he knew all the tunes. And I thought, There’s nothing this guy can’t do.”

Skimin, 38, was a rescue swimmer with the U.S. Coast Guard. He was killed Thursday in a helicopter crash near Hawaii.

The chopper, a HH-65 Dolphin, crashed around 8 p.m. while the crew was conducting search and rescue exercises with a 47-foot motorboat.

The reason for the crash is under investigation. The chopper’s fuselage and voice recorder were recovered and are being examined.

Before the chopper went down, the crew reported problems with a line used to lower rescue baskets. It isn’t known whether this malfunction was related to the crash.

Two other crewmembers died in the crash: Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Wischmeier, 44, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and flight mechanic Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Nichols, 27, of Gloucester, Va.

Skimin, Wischmeier and Nichols were pulled from the water shortly after the crash and declared dead at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu.

The pilot, Cmdr. Thomas Nelson, 42, of Staten Island, N.Y., remains missing.

The search for Nelson was suspended on Sunday.

The search was conducted by the Coast Guard and Honolulu Fire Department. It covered 3,000 square miles.

Skimin was previously stationed in Kodiak before moving to Honolulu. He also served in Galveston, Texas, and San Francisco.

Jim Peterson, a 10-year friend of Skimin who co-hosted a KMXT bluegrass show with Skimin, said Skimin talked of moving back to Kodiak when he retired.

“He was supposed to come do the show with me again,” Peterson said.

He recalled Skimin as a happy-go-lucky man.

“He was one of the most positive guys I’d ever met,” Peterson said. “Always had a smile, rarely did he not. He was a very incredible person.”

Skimin lived on a sailboat with his wife, Sally, while in Hawaii. Cramped space didn’t stop him from buying a stand-up bass of his own, Peterson said.

“That’s just the kind of people they were,” Peterson said.

“Dave loved his music,” said Val Flinders, owner of the Rendezvous Bar and Grill.

Skimin also enjoyed surfing, fishing and pitching horseshoes.

“Dave is really going to be missed by a lot of us,” Edgerly said. “We lost a real good one when we lost Dave.”

A fund has been established by the Coast Guard Foundation to benefit the families of the crew. Information on contributing is available at www.cgfdn.org.

Mirror writer Elizabeth Caldwell can be reached via e-mail at ecaldwell@kodiakdailymirror.com.