USA Today Paints Bleak Superferry Picture

From Hawaii Superferry confronts winter of discontent on seas

"When high surf and rudder cracks forced the Hawaii Superferry to scuttle trips between Oahu and Maui for the fifth day in a row this week, it was the latest wave in what has been a sea of troubles for the high-speed catamaran..."

"Despite computer-controlled stabilizers and other features designed to smooth the 349-foot-long Alakai's ride, rough winter seas have forced the Superferry to cancel trips 11 days in less than two months. That's far more than the 2% cancellation rate officials had planned, and roiling conditions have helped earn the vessel a nickname: "the barf barge."

Safety Concerns Ground Superferry

A damaged rudder post has idled the Superferry. See the KMBG9 video showing two photos taken of the Superferry slammed by waves in the channel. Coast Guard indicated it is keeping a close watch on the vessel since it is an untested design.

Some speculate the Superferry construction just wasn't up to our interisland channel conditions. We hope that is the problem and that the damage was not caused by an unreported whale strike.

Defective Superferry Barge Taking Up 50% of Interisland Freight docks

Superferry is still canceled and their barge is blocking berth 2b on Pier 2. It was bad enough that they took 24% of Pier 2 away from our interisland freight for their measely 20-50 vehicles per day but now they're also blocking 50% of our interisland freight docks.

It's time to get that defective barge out of Kahului Harbor. We have a serious shortage of freight dock space already and this barge is really interfering with our freight operations which supply 80% of our food and goods.

DOT wants us to wait 6 years until they finish Pier 5. We cannot put up with this for 6 more years. That barge needs to be moved out of Kahului Harbor now.

An interesting observation by one of our residents:

I really want to hear the passenger stories on this one. Sail over for the weekend and get stranded for five days! What to do? Spend big bucks on accommodations and just wait it out? Or book a last-minute flight for big bucks and leave your car behind, then rent a car when you get home so you can get around? Then wait for your car to arrive on the next non-cancelled voyage, but be sure to bring someone with you because you'll have to drop off your rental car on the way. Jeeze... thank god Superferry really goes out of its way to help, what with the 5% rental car discount!!

Kahului Freight Crisis Pits Passenger Ships Against Hawaiian Culture

Increases in cruise ship stays at Pier 1 and the addition of the Superferry to Pier 2 has precipitated a crisis in Maui's only deep water harbor. With almost 80% of all food and goods coming in through Kahului Harbor, the Department of Transportation has responded by proposing a new Pier 5 for the cruise ships and Superferry on the inner west side of the harbor.

Paddlers and Surfers say this will wipe out the Kahului Harbor surf break and the canoe race course. The draft EIS, while admitting this, says these losses will have no significant impact on Hawaiian cultural practices.

Save Kahului Harbor, which has been lobbying for procedural changes that give freight priority over passenger ships advocates removing passenger ships entirely to solve the freight crisis quickly instead of waiting 6 years to build the one-third of a billion dollar Pier 5.

According to Save Kahului Harbor spokesperson, Karen Chun, “Removing passenger ships from Kahului Harbor gives us the breathing room to plan an outward expansion of the harbor and to obtain federal funds for this more expensive option, We all agree that freight is essential and that we need more room for freight as Maui grows. What we don't agree on is whether we should expand inward and wreck our paddling, surfing, fishing and beach, or expand outward so that we are better shape for the future. We believe building inward is short-sighted and will create unsafe conditions in our already tight turning basin as well as damaging culture and recreation that has existed here for a thousand years.”

Chun went on to say that cruise ship passengers are disappointed to land on the windward side with few of the sunny sand beaches they expect. She urged that the the Superferry barge be removed from Kahului Harbor as soon as possible. The barge was moved to the freight dock, Pier 1B because of winter swells and the Superferry has again canceled its trip to Maui. “Our freight situation cannot take 6 more years of the barge at Pier 2b because it was designed wrong,” added Chun. “We need it out of here now.”

Save Kahului Harbor and Surfrider Foundation are sponsoring an informational sign waving this Saturday, February 2nd from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Ka'ahumanu near the canoe hale. The paddlers will join the sign wavers at the finish of the high school paddling race which is being held that day in the harbor.

Sign waving will be followed by a potluck and strategy meeting. According to Chun, “Our use of Kahului Bay is on the line. Who do we kick out of Kahului Harbor? Us or the cruise ships?. If you favor Hawaiian culture over cruise ships, then we hope you'll show up and make your voice heard.”
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Superferry Shipmaker Gets Joint Highspeed Vessel Contract

Proving once again that it's who you know and not the quality of your work, Austral (maker of what many are calling the experimental Joint High Speed Vessel prototype aka Superferry) was one of 3 firms receiving $3 million in the JHSV design phase.

Superferry is grounded for the sixth day with a cracked auxiliary rudder post - something that is likely caused by design flaws which make the vessel unable to stand up to Hawaii's interisland channels. Alternatively, the Superferry hit a whale without knowing or reporting it.

Superferry customers stranded and unable to get their cars home must not be too happy about Superferry's numerous cancellations. Photos of the Superferry's last wild ride look terrifying.

Vote on Bumper Sticker Design

Vote on your favorite or suggest another by commenting on this post.

Saturday Feb 2 Sign Wave and Strategy Potluck

SAVE the Kahului SURF BREAK & PADDLING

Saturday Sign Waving
& Strategy Potluck
Feb 2, 10am Kahului Beach

"The canoe is my church...
Paddling is how I practice my culture."
Hawaiian Paddler

Destroying the Kahului surf breaks and canoe course has
"no significant impact on cultural activities."
Lingle's Dept. of Transportation

Join us in opposing this "fast-tracked" plan to spend 1/3 of a billion dollars building Pier 5 for the cruise ships and Superferry which destroys the surf spot and canoe course and raises your freight costs...because you get to pay for this through higher dock fees.

Tell DOT, there is a no-cost alternative:
Freight First (give freight precedence)
While taking the time to plan a harbor expansion outward.

Download this flyer and spread it all over. Tell your friends to come.

Note that there will not be Superferry signwaving on the 26th. We're saving up for this big showing.

---

Scott (652-7113) from Kaua'i is selling Endless Bummer superferry T-shirts for $15 plus $4.60 priority shipping and using proceeds for the cause. Kaua'i residents or people ordering more than one shirt should contact Scott directly to save on shipping, since Scott can put 3 in one package.

T-shirt

Black smallBlack mediumBlack largeBlack XLBlack XXLGreen smallGreen MediumGreen LargeGreen XLGreen XXLBlue smallBlue MediumBlue LargeBlue XLBlue XXL

Superferry Vehicle Counts

In an attempt to counteract the Superferry's playing fast and loose with the truth, we have people on Maui counting the actual number of vehicles offloading and loading from the Superferry at Kahului Harbor.

...That is when the Superferry is even able to make it here. I noticed they canceled for two days again. Our kids can paddle in Kahului harbor but the Superferry can't take the swell? What's up with that?

So, with many thanks to Brad Parsons who started counting and Maui Tomorrow volunteers who have taken it over, here's the numbers so far:

Dec 14: Arriving: 115 people and 62 vehicles. Departing 35 vehicles

Dec 15: Today 215 passengers and only 62 vehicles and an additional 10 motorcycles got off on Maui from Oahu. Only 36 vehicles departed from Maui to Oahu. Annualized losses could be $30 million at these load levels.

Dec 17: Offloading: 170 people, 85 cars, 0 motorcycles. Onloading, leaving Maui: 29 cars, 5 motorcycles.

Dec 25: Arrive 10:33 Offloaded 18 cars and 55 people. Onloaded 48 cars and 2 motorcycles. Brad's calcs show company not even covering fuel (in fact, losing $18,000) on this day.

Jan 5: Arrive ~9am. Offloaded fewer than 25 cars and 2 motorcycles. Onloaded 35 cars and 1 large commercial vehicle.

Jan 7 Arrive 9:55am, Offloaded 140-150 people, 58-60 vehicles including 15-20 military + moped. Onloaded 47-50 vehicles including 3 large commercial vehicles and 2 motorcycles. Even with the inflated military use today, numbers neither coming nor going were enough just to cover fuel expense.

Counters: Post your daily totals as comments to this.

Superferry Parody & Report on Kahului EIS Meeting

This arrived in my email with no author name attached. Click to enlarge and read the fine print.

Click to make bigger

For those of us who thought that the new Harbors Director, Mike Formby, might be a change from DOT' usual approach of rolling over the neighbor islands without regard to their desires, it looks from remarks he made to KGMB9 that he's going to give us the same runaround as his predecessors.

Groups like the Maui Sierra Club and Save Kahului Harbor disliked both ideas. One of their main concerns was the impact on surf spots. State officials admitted the changes will affect some of the surfing sites.

"There are many, many problems with safety and just practicality. They are fast-tracking it and ignoring these problems," said Karen Chun, a spokesperson for Save Kahului Harbor and the Sierra Club.

"If they come forward, put their concerns on the table, we have an opportunity to mitigate the impact to the recreational interests as much as possible," Formby said.

Opponents said paddling should not be labeled as recreation but as a key cultural practice. They also worried the plan would make the turning basin used by tugboats unsafe.

"We can come up with a plan that expands the harbor outward which really does set us up for 2030 instead of inward. Basically, they're not looking at what's best for Maui," Chun said.

"I think what we try to do is accommodate the commercial interests and at the same time have as little impact on the recreational interests as we can," Formby said.

In other words, "we don't care about Hawaiian culture - in fact, we're redefining it as "recreation" which we don't care about either."

100 people showed up at DOT's 3 hour meeting. Out of all the speakers who were limited to 3 minutes each) only one supported the harbor plan and his position was that all cultural and recreational use should be eradicated from the harbor.

But where were our Mayor and County Council members?

Two consistent themes emerged: We should not be destroying Hawaiian cultural practices for the cruise ships and superferry and the plan is impracticable and unsafe.

Some of the comments:

Foster Ampong: "What is all this development for? It serves corporate interest. I am kanaka maoli. My ancestors have lived in the Pacific ocean without any help from others and we lived sustainably. Any more expansion will not promote sustainability for the people – it will sustain corporations. We don't need to expand the harbor – we need solutions. Remember, the Hawaiian achieved sustainability we know how to do it. the state government is actually doing the opposite, if you want to promote corporate interests and make the wealthier wealthier and the poor poorer this is the way to do it."

From Mike Commings, long time surfer: "This plan only address it from an economic view, but what are the implications of displacing thousands of surfers, paddlers and kids who are enjoying this instead of rampaging our streets. Nobody can figure this out because there is no formula they can use for this. Pono a really simple word - doing something from the heart, do it right. Past dredging of the surf basin did not create the surf site. 1881 charts tell us reef has been in existence for a long long time. In 1937 Kahului canoe club used Kahului Harbor. Eddie Aikau used to live across the street . I am not endorsing any type of improvement that eliminates these surf sites."

Karen Chun, Save Kahului Harbor and The Sierra Club: "This plan destroys the Kahului Surf Break and the paddler's race course. But you say it has "no significant impact" on cultural practices. You reclassified Hawaiian Culture as recreation. For DOT to define and dismiss Hawaiian culture like this is disrespectful. Only the Hawaiians can define their culture."

"I won't say any more on this because you don't give a rat's ass about Hawaiian culture and you don't give a rat's ass about what Maui wants."

"So I'll speak to you as an engineer with a masters degree from the University of California: This project is unworkable and unsafe."

"The harbor pilots told you that you cannot reduce the turning basin without seriously impairing safety. They told you not to lengthen Pier 2 but you're doing it anyway. You can't put a breakwater along the west side of the turning basin. That is where to tugs go to maneuver the ships. "

"In the 2020 plan the Army Corps of Engineers told you a breakwater at the harbor mouth won't tame the west surge. How are the ships going to make the U turn into Pier 5?"

"This plan looks like it was created by cruise ship lobbyists instead of engineers."

"Our lawyers tell us, 'always give them an alternative'. So here's ours:"

"Make a no-cost policy change of docking freight before cruise ships. Instead of leaving the freighters waiting for days while the cruise ships tie up for 35 hours at a time, switch it around and leave the cruise ships out there until there is an empty berth. This buys us time to do this right so the plan really will take us to 2030 instead of wasting our money on an infeasible and unsafe rushed plan."

Joyclin Costa used passages from the Bible to make pointed barbs at DOT, "As a kanaka maoli we are a very spiritual people. If you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property....” Public law tells you that our lands were never ceded – one of the areas that was not ceded was Kahului Harbor. Whereas the indigenous people never relinquished their lands. I find it appalling that on that chart it states that archaeological and cultural significance is none. You are looking at an extinct specie – a Hawaiian. I hope you can see and hear me because we do exist and we have rights. I would like to take you back to the 1980s in front of Y Hata where a gigantic shark pulled out of the water – that was someone's aumakua. Has anyone asked the families if they have aumakua swimming in those waters?

Kalena Eaton, a young Hawaiian: "I am representing myself and the rest of my generation. I'm speaking like aunty from my na'auo. We are connected to our ancestors, the generations to come and to our land. By taking away our cultural activities you are taking away our culture. I went to school on Oahu and it was a mess from fast tracking. You are taking away a part of our lifestyle."

Hannah Bernard from Hawaii Wildlife Fund and Surfriders: "Tonight I just want to speak from my heart. The feeling from Maui is that we are left out and it is serving Honolulu's needs and not Maui. Who is this for? Will we really have big cruise ships and the superferry in 2030?" She went on to talk about the escalating fuel costs and the fact that economists say that fuel reserves are dwindling which will affect the way in which we use fuel. This will, in turn, affect frivolous uses of fuel such as cruise ships and the Superferry.

Momi Awo: My mom grew up in kahului my grampa was a stevedore. He worked and fished in the harbor Give equal weight to our activities. There is a spiritual connection between the things we do. We live in an island state and when you do your assessment you have to give weight to that. We are all here for the spiritual things that Hawaii gives us and we cannot forget that. When people think of fishing diving surfing padding as recreational they lose their value and that is not right. we need more opportunities to practice the things that give us wellness and wellbeing in a spiritual way. There's a lot of work to protect land and we must expand that to the water. You have a very heavy responsibility to respond to us and to protect those places that will give us continued spiritual wellbeing.

Johana Kamanu: "We don't look at the word land the same way you do. 'aina does not mean land. 'ai means eat or feed 'aina is that which nourishes us and we need to nourish the land so it can fed us. I feel these meetings are just a way a addressing requirements and not a way for us to have a valid statement. I don't feel this is a valid meeting. I can no longer let you folks do what you want to do without some accountability and without letting you know I don't appreciate what you're doing. "

Iokepa Nae'ole: "We get labeled as the vocal minority but where's the silent majority that you say complain about us?" (Looks around the room to the 100+ people all opposed to the harbor plan.) "I pray to Akua that the people building this aren't the same ones who built the 3 lane highway up to Haleakala and the HSF. I grew up in the harbor. In 1974 I started paddling. I found my role models. It's my church. and sometimes its my fish department at Safeway. Instead of watching TV we'd drop crab pots off pier 2, throw net come home with enough mullet to feed the whole street. Recreation is not the proper term for what we do. I could fill this room 3 or 4 times with kids who are pono people from their experience in Kahului Harbor. As a Hawaiian you want to do enough good things that when you die you are 'aumakua. 'nuf already.

Leilani Miranda – teenager, Hawaiian Sr at St Anthony. "You usually don't see students my age but we should see more because it will affect us. I want to know if this is going to affect you guys. Are you guys even going to listen to us? Is this going to even count for anything? You didn't look at us. Are we just passing by?"

And finally, these gems:

"Let the cruise ships cruise...not park!"

"We had No Significant Impact on DOT"

Kahului EIS Plan Dangerous

Finally, I was able to start reading the gargantuan 2030 Kahului Harbor Master Plan Draft EIS.

They've brought back the unworkable Pier 5 inside the west breakwater, added a breakwater along the west edge of the turning basin parallel to the wall, and have the cruise ships and Superferry making a U turn into this area by the small boat ramp. (Small boat ramp appears unaffected other than parking is going to be horrible.) They show the whole small boat channel and surf area as being dredged to 30 feet or more.

Click here for the diagram

First off, they lied when they said it wouldn't affect the outrigger paddling race course. Not only will it fill in the area west of Pier 2, but they are going to expand the turning basin to the area where the west flags are set.

Paddlers, you need to show up this Wednesday at 6pm Cameron Center and fight this.

Second, it completely wipes out the surf sites over by the small boat ramp and channel.

But here is the kicker - it is physically impossible. Not only has the Army Corps of Engineers dissed this design, saying it won't alleviate the surge on Pier 5, but building a breakwater along the west edge of the existing turning basin will make it extremely dangerous for our freight vessels.

Over the last 10 years I have seen the tugs positioning the vessels. And although the deep draft vessels remain mostly within the turning basin, the tugs go outside the area to maneuver. With a rock wall (breakwater) preventing this, we're going to have vessels being banged up with the possibility of fuel spills.

The harbor pilots have repeatedly told DOT that Kahului Harbor is the most nerve-wracking and tight harbor in Hawai'i and that they absolutely cannot reduce the area any more.

What's the solution? Go outside the harbor to the East. This allows for expansion as Maui's population grows and we lock up the area now instead of later when there will be more resistance.

I'm writing my formal comments on Draft EIS for Wednesday's meeting. If you can take a moment to review and offer suggestions for improvement, I would be grateful. Also, please feel free to use any of my writing in your comments. The more people who comment the better.

Since comments to this blog are moderated by me, feel free to post your comments here and, if you want, ask me not to publish them. That way you can give private feedback.

Karen Chun

Superferry Caught Lying Again

According to Pacific Business News:

When asked about the Dec. 21 letter, Terry O'Halloran, Superferry's director of business development, told PBN the Alakai was transporting about 160 passengers round trip on average, and 50 vehicles on average.

That conflicts with other recent news reports in which O'Halloran said passenger counts were averaging 200.

And it also conflicts with the actual on-Maui vehicle counts done by Brad Parsons

O'Halloran is blaming EIS-first proponents for his business failure but it is rather a situation where the EIS-first advocates identified the weaknesses in the plan and Superferry execs ignored them.

From 2004 repeated public testimony indicated:

• The previous ferry failed due to sea sickness and this one will too
  
• The Superferry is more than twice as big as their expected load
• Superferry is inconvenient for all but a handful of businesses
• Superferry's high speed and huge gas-guzzling engines are too expensive to run
• Realistic passenger counts won't even cover the fuel cost
• Airplanes are faster, cheaper and more convenient
• The barge at Kahului Harbor will experience too much surge to be usable
• People won't like to contribute to killing whales
• Army Corps of Engineers predicted significant number of days that the Superferry would be unable to dock at Kahului Harbor

But Superferry execs took the head-in-the-sand position that all would be rosy. It was as if they believed their own lies about affordability, convenience and seasickness. On their first operating day (one of the flattest, calmest days of the year) the big story was how seasick the passengers were.

And now DOT wants to destroy the Kahului Surf Break, spend 1/3 of a billion dollars and make the Superferry and Cruise Ship their own docks. Neither will likely be in business by the time the project is finished. And the resulting docks don't look like they have enough turning radius to accomodate the big freighters that are now being used.

So we'll have spent all that money for nothing and destroyed our surf break.

Just like we threw away $10 million on the Kahului barge which they are discarding.

Show up this Wednesday, Jan 23, 6 pm at Cameron Center to tell DOT we're fed up with their bungling, wasteful spending. The solution is just to tell passenger ships to get out of Kahului Harbor. That way we keep our surf break and paddling and our freight gets more room. And it doesn't cost a dime.

Download, print and distribute the flyer so we get a big turnout.

From Maui, Brad Parsons writes about the Superferry canceling again due to waves:

"I was thinking about that yesterday, the first day of the Legislative session and the barge breaks again...kind of like when it broke a few hours after Cardoza's last ruling. How fitting...I honestly believe the Hawaiian spirits are at work here.

The speeches yesterday in the Legislature talked about the need for the people to learn lessons from the Superferry issue. The lessons that need to be learned are by members of the Legislature, the Executive branch (DOT and Gov.), and the lower courts...the people had it right...our government are the ones who messed this up. And, yes, the DOT, Gov., and Legis., should get as much or more attention on this than HSF."

Brad has been keeping track of the number of cars really using the Superferry (as opposed to the bogus numbers HSF reports). You can see his daily photos with vehicle counts here.

I attended the Governor's advisory meeting last night to see the unveiling of the 2030 Kahului Harbor Plan. Lingle wants to spend in excess of $300,000,000 to build docks for the Superferry and cruise ships. While destroying the surfing breaks and possibly dredging the canoe race course out of existence, it will require raising dock fees (tariffs) for all users including our freight.

Bottom line, We on Maui will be paying a lot more for the 80% of our food and goods that come in through the harbor in order to subsidize the cruise ships which dump sewage into the ocean and the whale-killing Superferry.

I testified that separating freight and passengers was essential...but that we should separate the passenger ships right out of Kahului Harbor. Thus saving us a third of a billion dollars.

Alternatively, let the cruise ships and Superferry do as Matson did when it needed a new dock. Matson fronted the money and is being paid back by tariff offsets. That way the business needing the dock bears the risk instead of the taxpayers.

A man who works with the cruise ships testified that the cruise ships don't even want to dock at Kahului Harbor because it is often cloudy and there are no tourist amenities. I'm wondering if the only reason NCL is docking there is because they get a sweetheart deal with a big break in their dock fees.

So with NCL removing one of their ships from Hawai'i service and Superferry failing dismally to get sufficient passengers, it's likely both will be out of business before their dock is built.

Makes sense to have them front the money and take the risk instead of the taxpayers. Before we saddle ourselves with huge increases in freight costs, let's make sure they'll be around to pay us back.

Superferry Cancels Yet Again

For the third time, the barge at Kahului Harbor was damaged by waves and Superferry canceled its trip. See article.

This problem was predicted at a meeting between harbor users and pilots back in 2005. But DOT doesn't listen to the people on Maui.

But no matter, DOT plans on junking the $13 million barge anyway.

Instead they'll destroy the Kahului Surf break and spend 1/3 of a BILLION DOLLARS to make the Superferry and Cruise Ships their own dock on the West side of Kahului Harbor.

Is there no end to the money Gov. Lingle is willing to give to her special interest friends while Maui suffers loss of its Hawaiian cultural activities and waits for decades to get road improvements?

Enough!

Please let Lingle and her wasteful DOT know that we aren't going to take this any more. Show up Thursday Jan 17th 5pm at Cameron Center and tell the Governor's Advisory Council that we're fed up with Lingle wasting our money on these ill-conceived boondoggles.

Then show up again at the DOT meeting on their new plan to destroy the Kahului surf break for the Superferry and cruise ships on Jan 23 at 6pm at Cameron Center in Wailuku.

Threat to Maliko Boat Ramp

At the same time DOT proposes impacting the small boat ramp at Kahului Harbor A&B wants to close the Maliko Boat Ramp for liability reasons. This is the only other north shore boat ramp. Apparently A&B is willing to lease the area to either the State or County. However, the State is claiming we don't use it. (Once again verifying that DOT never actually comes to Maui when it plans!)

This boat ramp is used by paddlers, fishermen, jetskis, paddle boarders, surfers and trailered small boats. It is the start of several long-running canoe and paddle board races.

Maui Trailer Boat Club is sponsoring a meeting on February 12th at Lihikai School 6pm. Please show up and help convince the State or County to lease the property and maintain the boat ramp.

For more information call email SaveMaliko@yahoo.com and visit mauitrailerboatclub.com.

Would night vision devices really detect whales for the Superferry?

by Dr. Lee Tepley


Why did the Hawaii Superferry (HSF) decide to suspend it’s proposed night operations to Maui until springtime?? Coincidentally springtime, is near the end of the whale season. Was it really all that concerned about the displeasure of Maui’s Mayor Tavares relating to traffic jams and undecided legal issues?? Or is it really more concerned about the increased probability of the Superferry hitting a whale at night – and, even worse, getting caught in the act?? Go to the last paragraph for my personal guess.

But maybe I am just being an alarmist. After all, Terry O’Halloran has stated that the Superferry has night vision devices that operate with “remarkable clarity”. This implies that the Superferry is no more likely to hit a whale at night than during the daytime (which, of course, is inevitable - sooner or later).

So just how good are these “remarkably clear” night vision devices – say, for detecting a dorsal fin of a whale at the surface at night.

It seems that there are two types of night vision devices - goggles and scopes - and the Superferry has both.

First, lets consider night vision goggles. There may hundreds of different types on the market. You can buy one for your very own for from a few hundred to about 12,000 dollars. The term “generation 4” (or “gen 4”) refers to the most advanced type. Night vision goggles work by capturing and intensifying available light.

An on-line ad for a really fancy one (the ATN Cougar 4) states that it can pick up light about 150 yards away in pitch darkness and can identify objects about 100 yards away. (It is not made clear how it can pick up any light in “pitch darkness” – but never mind!) However, in moonlight, it will reach out pretty far –maybe even out to 1000 yards.

Let’s consider a dark night when the Superferry is creeping along at a mere 25 knots. Assume that an observer is actually looking through his goggles (instead of just drinking coffee) and detects a dorsal fin 100 yards ahead of the ferry. Now assume that it takes 10 seconds for the Pilot to respond to the observer. But in that 10 seconds the Superferry will have moved 140 yards. Whoops!! It will have hit the whale before the Pilot had time to take action.

So the gen-4 night vision goggles will not work for detecting whales on a dark night – but they might work with a full moon.

Now, lets consider the other alternative – the night vision scope. The best one I found on Google is the Electrophysics AL-20 Infrared Illuminator. It claims to work out to 1000 yards on a dark night. This sounds promising. It puts out a beam of infrared light which bounces off a distant object, returns, and is then picked up by an infrared sensitive camera.

So how good a picture does it get?? Would it detect a dorsal fin of a whale breaking the surface at a great distance? You can judge for yourself because Electrophysics put out a still picture taken at a distance of 700 yards. It shows a car, a man jumping and a sign. Also, I think the bright band in the center represents an airstrip. I suspect that the car, the man and the sign all have light colors which would reflect light better than the trees in the picture. Anyhow, it does seem rather “remarkable” that the AL-20 works at 700 yards in the dark – but how well would it detect a dark colored dorsal fin of a whale breaking the surface of a dark colored ocean?? And how much easier would it be to detect the same whale in daylight??


A few more points:

1. A night vision scope will not work in rain or heavy mist because the infrared light it puts out would be mostly absorbed before reaching the hypothetical dorsal fin that surfaced 700 yards away. Little or no light would be reflected back to the source,

2. An observer would have to be staring continuously at a grainy Black & White display on a computer screen (or monitor) looking for a small dorsal fin. The fin would be smaller than the the standing little man in the attached still picture. Also a “coffee-break” at the wrong time would spell disaster. The observer must never look away from the screen.

3. It would be really tough for an observer to keep staring at a small LED screen displaying a grainy black & white picture of mostly nothing for many hours– and then be looking away when a dorsal fin finally appears. To avoid self-hypnosis (and maybe loss of sanity), the observer must at least be able to look at the video on a large screen in real time. Let’s hope that Electrophysics provides this option.

4. Finally, perhaps Terry O’Halloran and cohorts actually gave themselves a private demonstration and tried looking at a picture of the ocean at night on the large screen (if there is one) of a night vision scope with “remarkable clarity”. After a few minutes of staring straight ahead at a grainy and almost featureless picture of the ocean, Terry may have decided that maintenance of sanity required cancellation of all night operations of the Superferry – at least for the remainder of the whale season.

Testify! Two Meetings

Show up to testify against destroying the Kahului Surf Break for Cruise Ships & the Superferry

Governor's Advisory Council: Cameron Center, Wailuku 5 p.m. Thursday Jan. 17

DOT's meeting on Wednesday Jan 23 6:00pm Cameron Center

The 2030 Kahului Harbor plan is in the EIS process. DOT wants to create new docks for the Superferry and cruise ships on the west side of the harbor. The breakwater looks like it's right in the middle of the surf zone.

We've all been asking them to separate freight and passengers. But we hoped they'd separate them right out of the harbor! The EIS does not consider the no-cost alternative of simply telling the cruise ships and Superferry to go elsewhere.

So why is Lingle spending a third of a billion dollars on the cruise ships and Superferry? Why not just stop the cruise ship subsidy on dock fees, charge them what Alaska does on head tax and we could get rid of them? I can think of a lot better things we could do with $300,000,000!

As for docking the Superferry, it is currently running so far in the red with cars in the 20's and 30's that chances are it will be bankrupt before the new dock is even finished. And hey, didn't we just spend $40 million on the barges? Now we're just going to throw the barge away for the new dock? Talk about idiotic planning on DOT's part!

It comes down to a choice. Does Maui want the cruise ships or the surf break and adequate parking for our small boat ramp? I'm betting you'd rather have the surf break and parking.

If you want to save the Kahului surf break and protect the small boat ramp parking, show up at two meetings at the Cameron Center: The Governor's Advisory Council, 5 p.m. Thursday Jan. 17; and DOT's meeting on Wednesday Jan 23 6:00pm

The public has until Feb 6 to comment on the draft EIS.
Send comments to
Belt Collins Hawaii
2153 North King St. Suite 200
Honolulu, HI 96819-4554
808 521-5361
honolulu@beltcollins.com

Hawaii Superferry Postpones Second Voyage Between Maui and Oahu

This is from the Superferry press release (with comments):

­ In consideration of Mayor Tavares' concerns, Hawaii Superferry today announced it is postponing its second voyage between Maui and O'ahu. The company anticipates starting the second voyage later this spring. [yeah, right...this couldn't have anything to do with the fewer than 30 cars/day getting on the Superferry at Maui for the last couple weeks, right?]

Customers who have made reservations for travel on the second Maui voyages are being contacted and will be either issued refunds or accommodated on an alternative voyage. [As yet again, HSF cancels reservations...and they want us to believe they're serious about operating a ferry.]

If Superferry is telling the truth about why they canceled their second daily trip, this will be the very first time they listened to the Maui County Council or Maui's Mayor. Considering the County Council passed a resolution demanding an EIS prior to commencement of operation and HSF just laughed at them, it's doubtful HSF is being truthful as to their reasons for canceling their second daily trip. Whatever the reason, though, we can be happy they did.

HSF Interfering with Kahului Freight

Superferry's lazy Kahului Harbor directions lead motorists to believe the entrance is on Wharf Street. This explains why I saw a car parked mostly on the sidewalk causing problems for the large container trucks trying to exit the freight entrance on Warf Street.

Considering they are under court order to mitigate traffic, I wonder what Judge August will say when he sees their web page directing customers to Wharf street instead of the vehicle entrance on Pu'unene.

How hard is it to say, "If you arrive on foot, got to the Wharf Street entrance. If you are being dropped off by motor vehicle go to Pu'unene. (And also how hard is it for the security guard standing on Warf St. to tell motorists they can't park on the Warf street sidewalk while they unload and that they should either enter the yard to unload or go around.)

On another note, a government official told West Hawai'i Today newspaper that the Superferry wasn't having much affect on Kahului traffic. Do you suppose that is because they're running at only 10% capacity?

But even at these low capacities, there are reports of more people trying to smuggle contraband onto and off of Maui in Superferry vehicles including opihi, nets, cut wood, and plant materials.

Superferry Not Even Pretending to Comply with Conditions

Pathetically inadequate though they might be, Gov Lingle imposed some conditions on the Superferry designed to lessen the chance of whale kills (not by much but better than nothing). I received this letter from a Sierra Club hike leader:

I led a Sierra Club hike today (1-13-08) on the North Shore. Specifically, we were hiking on the State trail known as the Ohai Loop Trail at approximately 11:30 am. I didn't check my watch for exact time.

To our amazement, the Superferry was on its return trip to Honolulu and went south of Molokai. It appeared to be going at full speed too! Didn't they promise to always go north of Molokai to avoid whales during the the whale season and to only go 25 mph when in whale waters? Isn't it one of Governor Linge's conditions that they go north of Molokai and only go 25 miles an hour during whale season?

Did they make any promises to Judge Cardoza when he lifted the injunction? I am attaching a picture which I took from the Ohai Loop Trail. You can see Molokai behind the Superferry. The land in the foreground on Maui is the Nakalele Blowhole. During the hike we did observe whales in the area.

Interestingly, earlier in the day, we were at the Heiau known as the "Refuge" near the beginning of the Waihee Ridge Trail when we observed the Superferry heading for Kahului Harbor. What is interesting is that when we first saw it way out to sea, it was going what appeared to be full speed. But, about 6 or 7 miles before it got to Kahului Harbor, it slowed down to what appeared to be around 25 mph. Why did they slow down so far out to sea? Was it to give the appearance that they were only doing 25 mph all the way from Honolulu to people at Kahului Harbor who might be watching?

One of the plaintiffs wrote in reply:

In response to the questions on the Superferry routes.

They are generally supposed to go North of Molokai. However,
when sea conditions are rough they can go south of Molokai
through the whale sanctuary, but they must slow from 35 knots to 25 knots.

We urged the Governor to require a slower speed, but she
bowed to the wishes of the Hawaii Superferry Company
with this fast 25 knot condition and many others.

They also are required to slow down as they approach/leave Kahului Harbor.

Engineer Debunks Superferry Night-vision Goggles Claim

Duane Erway comments on Hawaii Superferry's claim that using night vision goggles will enable them to avoid smashing into whales and killing them during their proposed night run from Maui to 'Oahu:

"Hawaii Superferry's Terry O'Halloran carefully crafted statement won't do anything for whales; he says: " --- our whale lookouts have night vision goggles which give them the opportunity to see at night, and the clarity on these pieces is quite remarkable." The problem: many dark nights Hawaii Superferry won't see whales in time to avoid them.

"As the Hawaii Island alternate on the Sanctuary Advisory Council, I did get to participate in a demonstration of night vision goggles, a few years ago. I have followed this matter carefully, as I am an engineer who has been involved in field tests of night vision equipment for many years.

"To avoid whales at 35 knots, whales must be reliably identified at 1,000 yards, just as in the daytime. Even the most advanced (Generation 4) night vision goggles require some moonlight to see even high contrast targets at 1,000 yards. They will be of no use to see whales at 1,000 yards for several days either side of a new moon or when overcast hides the moon.

"A responsible operator would go 35 knots only when there was sufficient light to reliably see whales at 1,000 yards with night vision goggles. On other nights they would go 13 to 15 knots; speeds where adult humpbacks have apparently learned to avoid ships.

Duane Erway"

More Unforseen Superferry Trouble

We feared the Superferry would bring people to strip Maui of its fish and plants but it was a big surprise when the first day brought drivers of three pickup trucks who stole rocks! I mean, we know 'Oahu has depleted their natural resources...but to have run out of rocks!

Now, we have the first 3 car pile up in Kihei courtesy of Chinese tourists who brought a rented Durango over on the Superferry. Apparently confused as to the difference between forward and backward, they launched their vehicle through a hedge, landing on top of 2 cars at Kihei Kai Nani condos.

When Superferry execs told us that doing an EIS during operation would give us a more realistic idea of the problems it would bring, who knew?

But seriously, this brings up a problem that the twice daily Superferry trips will cause.

Now tourists will spend their money on 'Oahu and make day trips to Maui. They'll clog our already overcrowded roads, crowd our beach parks but they won't be spending much money here. They'll rent their cars and hotel rooms on 'Oahu. So we'll get their problems without their revenue. Not a very good deal for Maui.

Superferry Night Runs Raise Whale Concerns

Now that whale season is in full swing, whale experts are concerned about the increased possibility of Superferry whale strikes. In the understatement of the year, NOAA's sanctuary superintendent commented on Superferry's claim that night vision goggles will help them spot whales in time to avoid killing them,

"We don't have any information that those would be a tool that would be very useful at sighting whales at night"

One has to admire the careful way she called HSF on their ongoing BS.

You've probably heard the old joke:

Man #1: You're selling your gadgets under cost.
Man #2: Yeah, but I'm making it up on volume

With only 26 vehicles counted boarding HSF on January 8th (2008) and massive hemorrhaging of red ink, it appears HSF has mistaken this joke for business advice. Not only are they selling their tickets at about half the normal price, operating almost empty, and not even covering their fuel costs, but now they've decided to add a second trip to Maui.

Hmmmm.....They don't have enough passengers to cover fuel costs on one trip per day so they are going to make two trips per day? What's wrong with this picture?

It looks like they're violating the pathetically inadequate conditions that Gov. Lingle imposed (but made optional). Recently Superferry has been arriving 30 to 45 minutes early every day. I'm guessing that they are running at top speed without slowing through the whales.

But hey, HSF says they haven't hit any whales yet....that they know of, that is. Big, fast vessels like HSF often kill whales without even knowing it. Sometimes they are discovered when the vessel reverses in the harbor to dock and the dead whale falls off the bow. Other times the whale is hit and dies out in the ocean with no one the wiser.

Given all the "ferry tales" Superferry Execs have told us over the last 3 years, I don't believe them at all any more.

Your Chance to Object: Save Kahului Surf Break

Testify at the public meeting, Wednesday Jan 23 6:00pm at the Cameron Center. Tell DOT and Lingle what you think of destroying the Kahului Surf Break for the cruise ships and Superferry.

Demand DOT solve the parking problem they'll create for the small boat ramp.

Tell them to prioritize harbor users so that Hawaiian cultural activities and freight take precedence over cruise ships. That's a zero dollar solution.

Ask them what they plan on doing with the Superferry barges for which we paid $40,000,000 of taxpayer money.

Ask why they're spending another 1/3 of a billion dollars to dock the Superferry which will most likely be out of business before the dock is built, given that they're averaging fewer than 150 passengers per trip and only 20-50 cars and bleeding red ink.

Ask DOT why we're paying 1/3 of a billion dollars for cruise ships when we don't even want them here. Ask why we taxpayers are footing the bill for the cruise ships when the cruise ships refuse to stop dumping their sewage and garbage into our ocean (which an hour later washes up at Kanaha and Waiehu beaches). Ask why we're still subsidizing the cruise ships when they unilaterally stopped observing the memorandum of understanding which said they'd only dump outside the 7 mile limit. (They're dumping right outside the 3 mile limit now.)

Why does Lingle have all this money for cruise ships and the Superferry but we're stuck in traffic every day because we don't have the Lahaina or Paia Bypasses yet?

The only good thing about this plan is that a small amount of the 1/3 billion dollars will go to fix up Pier 2 for our freight and it gets the cruise ships and Superferry out of the way of freight.

Let's start taking better care of our freight docks and get passenger ships completely out of Kahului Harbor - at a saving of $300,000,000! When you think about it, we have a choice between fishing, surfing and paddling in Kahului Harbor or cruise ships. Pretty obvious choice given all the detrimental effects of cruise ships (traffic, sewage dumping, very little revenue that comes to Maui, crime associated with the cruise ship workers, etc.)

Here's the details of the meeting:

Wednesday, January 23 at the Cameron Center:

• An informal workshop for Kahului Harbor Users scheduled between 3:30 and 4:45 PM. This is to give us all a chance to talk about the alternatives and impacts of changes in Kahului Harbor.

• A public meeting scheduled between 6:00 and 9:00 PM. This will include a brief
introduction to the 2030 Master Plan and EIS, followed by an opportunity to provide
public testimony. People may choose to make brief oral presentations, or submit written
comments. Forms that can be handed at the meeting or mailed later will be available.

Surfers: Kahului Harbor Surf Break to Be Destroyed

Please show up at the Governor's Advisory Council meeting and oppose cruise ships and the Superferry destroying the Kahului Harbor surf break. This break is one of the only ones our young people in Kahului can walk to.

DOT plans on spending 1/3 of a BILLION dollars to build a dock on the west side of Kahului Harbor.

This dock is for the Superferry and the Cruise ships.

Better we just tell them to get out of Kahului Harbor for a number of reasons:

This appears to wipe out the surf break.

Kahului Harbor is part of the ceded lands and as such it is wrong to destroy a 1,000 year tradition of surfing for cruise ships which according to the Maui Cruise Ship Task Force Report do us very little good economically and bring many negatives including traffic and sewage dumped in our ocean.

This will also have a negative impact on our small boat harbor as parking is taken over by the 3,000 people on the cruise ship and the up to 900 people twice a day on the Superferry.

The alternative is to give priority to freight using our existing docks or to expand toward the sewage treatment plant.

Advisory Board agenda follows.

---------------------------

Governor's Neighbor Island Community Advisory Council
Thursday, January 17, 2008
5:00 p.m.
Cameron Center, Auditorium
95 Mahalani Street, Wailuku

Call to Order-
1. Kathryn Ghean, John Henry, Barbara-Ann Keller, Carl Lindquist, Lori Ululani Sablas, Madge Schaefer - Chair, Kalei Sombelon -Vice Chair, Shan Steinmark, Gail K. Takeuchi Governor's Maui Liaison, George Kaya, ex-officio, staff members Shermane Chu, Tessie Manrique

Minutes – November 15, 2007
2. Agenda items.
3. Ione Godsey, Public Housing Supervisor at Maui Asset Management Project,
a. to discuss Hawaii Public Housing projects on Maui.

Michael Formby, Deputy Director of Harbors Division, Brennon Morioka,
a. Acting Director of Transportation; will do a presentation on the Harbor
Modernization Plan (HMP).

4. Public Testimony

5. New Business

6. Announcements – Next meeting February 21, 2008, to be held at the Lahaina Civic Center.

7. Adjournment

YOU ARE INVITED TO SPEAK ON ANY ISSUE ON THE AGENDA, IF YOU WISH
TO SPEAK PLEASE FILL OUT A SPEAKER'S CARD. PLEASE COME TO THE
PODIUM WHEN YOU ARE CALLED TO SPEAK. PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME
FIRST, AND IF YOU ARE REPRESENTING ANY ORGANIZATION OR SPEAKING
AS AN INDIVIDUAL. WE ASK THAT YOU LIMIT YOURTESTIMOTY TO FIVE (5)
MINUTES. WRITTEN TESDTIMONY AND/OR INFORMATION IS WELCOME.

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT GOVERNOR'S LIAISON OFFICE: 2264 AUPUNI STREET, SUITE 1, WAILUKU, HAWAII, HAWAII 96793; PHONE: 243-5796; FAX 243-5049; e-mail: mauigov@hawaii.gov

Lanny Sinkin's Superferry Event Summary

Summary of recent Superferry developments:

1. Superferry announced delay of further service to Kaua'i until the second boat arrives in 2009.

2. Rather than face the fierce opposition on Kaua'i, Superferry doubled their service to Maui.

3. The announcement of the doubling of service came without notice or discussion with local officials. The Mayor of Maui expressed her displeasure, citing both the failure to consult and the pending traffic impact case that is still unresolved.

4. The Superferry return trip on the second voyage will be from 8 to 11 p.m., i.e. at night when observers looking for Whales will be useless.

5. Judge Cardoza has still not issued a final order in the Maui case that would allow original plaintiffs to appeal his ruling that the Superferry Law is constitutional and the Federal Plaintiffs to appeal the ruling that denied them intervention and denied their motion to disqualify the Attorney General's Office from further participation in the case. Apparently only Superferry gets rush treatment in his court.

6. Superferry sought to extend its bargain fares on the basis that too few people are using the boat. The average ridership claimed is 150 per day, well below projections, far below capacity, and certainly an economic blow.

7. The State Auditor went public with an allegation that the Governor and Attorney General are stonewalling the investigation the Legislature ordered into the decision-making process that led to Superferry being exempted from environmental requirements in 2004.

8. Presence of a feral bee colony near the docking area for Superferry on O'ahu and bees found in radiators of cars on the Superferry (attracted by the sweet smell of anti-freeze) raised concerns that the mite killing bees could be transmitted by the Superferry to other islands.

9. Observers took photographs of mud covered cars coming off Superferry on Maui.

10. The Coast Guard lifted the security zone in Kahului Harbor because no waterborne protest appeared. The zone can be put back in place at a moment's notice should circumstances change.

11. The Superferry Oversight Committee is still getting organized and seems to schedule meetings with minimal notice to the public.

Litigation Update

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling on the matters pending before it regarding Superferry.

1. The Court dismissed the emergency motion to prevent implementation of the security zone in Nawiliwili Harbor without prejudice and based solely on the decision of Superferry to suspend service to Kaua'i, i.e . no emergency exists. The dismissal without prejudice means that the Federal Plaintiffs can file a new motion should service be resumed.

2. The Court dismissesd the emergency motion to prevent implementation of the security zone in Kahului Harbor solely on the basis that the Federal Plaintiffs had to file such a motion first at the District Court level because the Kahului Harbor was not part of the initial litigation filed before that security zone existed. The Federal Plaintiffs had argued that the factual and legal issues were all the same, just the geographic location changed.

3. The Court did find that the appeal from the original ruling by the District Court denying a TRO for Nawiliwili Harbor was not moot because the activation of such a security zone was capable of repetition. The Court issued a briefing schedule that calls upon the Federal Plaintiffs to file their initial brief in early February.

4. The Federal Plaintiffs await the final order of Judge Cardoza that denied them intervention in the Maui case and denied their motion to disqualify the Attorney General's Office from further participation in that case based on that office's facilitating and participating in the conspiracy to operate Superferry illegally after the Supreme Court decision. Once the final order is issued, the Federal Plaintiffs can file an appeal taking both issue to higher courts. �

Kahului Harbor 2030 Plan to Destroy Surf Break

Lingle to Create West Docks at Kahului Harbor,
destroying surf zone and impacting Small Boat Harbor
see Draft EIS

In a series of meetings, held during working hours and attended mostly by the businesses using the harbor, the Harbor Users decided to put the Superferry and Cruise Ships on the west side of the harbor (where the small boat ramp and surf break are.)

There were no surfers or Hawaiian cultural experts in attendance at these meetings. The people of Maui had no voice since these meetings were held during the workday and we didn't draw down a big salary for attending.

It appears that small boaters may be restricted as to their parking and access to the small boat ramp.

Cruise Ship companies demanded three docks!

At no time did anyone at the meetings(except Karen Chun) say: Let's just get rid of the Cruise ships from Kahului Harbor since they don't pay their way.

See the plan here and the draft EIS here and here.

Superferry: Sat. Sign Waving

Ongoing small signwaving every Saturday starting Jan 5

Check HSF website for time & if they're not canceled
(Just need 2 or 3 people to hold the banner)

Too funny! On Jan 5th the Superferry came in 45 minutes early and got escorted by the coast guard cutter because they were scared of 3 people holding a banner! What a waste of taxpayer money!

HSF has been coming in 45 minutes early, indicating that they may be taking the shortcut through the Humpback Whale Sanctuary at a speed greater than they should. They are supposed to arrive at 10:15am but have been as early as 9:30am.

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