Does O‘ahu Love The SuperFerry?
Super Ferry is not just V. Brown’s aol screen name. These days, it means much more. The Super Ferry has been at the center of much controversy here in Hawai‘i and with my recent trip to Kaua‘i, I’ve learned how many people are actually against this boat. This video, is from a site shared with me by Vern Brown of 808talk. It gives a completely different perspective as to what the opposite view is of the Ferry. Would you honk your horn?
Technorati Tags: super ferry, hawaii, transportation, kauai, protests
September 11th, 2007 at 7:12 am
A friend at work mentioned another plus of the Superferry would be in the case of a natural disaster; that it could move people and resources quickly from one island to the other.
Does anyone know if local business can use the Superferry to transport their merchandise, and if so, how much does that impact Young Bros and Matson’s business?
September 11th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
So, when a tsunami hits Hawaii, we should be riding the Super Ferry? That sounds fun. people will get sick from a regular ride on the Super Ferry. It’s easy for the people in Oahu to love the Super Ferry because they have a pier that can handle adding one more big boat and the traffic system to incorporate the amount of cars that will be coming in and going out. When the Super Ferry tried to get stated early, we couldn’t even finish painting the new lines on the road for the Super Ferry. They predict that it could take a couple of hours to get the cars from the Super Ferry off the boat because of poor planning. This is the only problem I have with the Super Ferry, poor planning.
September 11th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
I say stop all ships, boats and planes from going to any other island than Oahu! Let the outer islands figure out how to survive on their own isolated from the world. LOL…seems like that’s what they want anyway
September 11th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
House good point, you know living on the island of Oahu sometimes doesnt allow us to think about what the neighbor islands go through. Thanks for the insight.
September 11th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Howzit Dr. Trey and Bran, just wanted to say hi and tell you that I have been listening to all of your shows via iTunes even though I’ve missed the past few live shows (time difference issues).
Dr. Trey, hope you had a happy birthday and I’m glad you had a chance to visit my island!
Having grown up on Kauai, I have mixed feelings about the Super Ferry. I think those of us who were raised there and have families there want to be hospitable and gracious and share our island, but in a way we want to protect it, too, so that it doesn’t change too much because we don’t want to lose what we love. One thing for sure, that group of protesters and their selected form of protest definitely do not represent everyone I know on Kauai. Kind of ironic that you guys were talking about Henry K because every time he performs live, he likes to do a cover of that song “The Last Resort” by The Eagles, you know it?
“Some rich men came and raped the land, nobody caught them
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes, and people bought them
And they called it paradise –the place to be
They watched the hazy sun, sinking in the sea
You can leave it all behind and sail to Lahaina
just like the missionaries did, so many years ago
They even brought a neon sign: “Jesus is coming”
Brought the white man’s burden down, brought the white man’s reign
Who will provide the grand design?
What is yours and what is mine?
‘Cause there is no more new frontier
We have got to make it here
We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds,
in the name of destiny and the name of God
And you can see them there, on Sunday morning
They stand up and sing about what it’s like up there
They call it paradise I don’t know why
You call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye…”
Well, Lahaina is not on Kauai but you get my point. Anyway I think I am taking up too much space. Blah blah blah.
Feel the breeze!
September 11th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Here’s a website called Boycott Hawaii Superferry. Very interesting reading.
http://www.boycottsuperferry.org
September 11th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Trudi I completely understand your point. Protecting the island should be a concern of everyone. I just think there are others way to show disapproval and protest of the Superferry. Damaging cars and letting air out of their tires or threating people who want to use the service is not aloha. What are they thinking?
September 11th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Agreed. They’re out of control and embarrassing Kauai. And the environmental arguments seem blown out of proportion since all transportation affects the environment and no one is protesting against flying or driving. They should give it a chance. A ferry that provides mass transportation and makes it easier for people to visit each other could be more of a good thing than a bad thing.
September 11th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
@House: Right on about poor planning. That’s just dumb from the business angle too - if people don’t want to use the ferry because of the traffic snafu’s related to the harbor and docks on the outer islands, they won’t sell ferry tickets very long.
I would like to know more about the loan guarantees too, and did Hawaiians vote on the $40,000,000 harbor upgrades - that’s YOUR tax dollars, eh?
To coin a phrase “it gets stranger”… These boats (hull no. 616 due in 2009) are one-of-a-kind built by Austal USA with some state of the art design and engineering. No disrespect to Tim Dick, John Garibaldi and Terry White, but just how did these enterprising gentlemen make the leap to a heavy weight like Austal USA and these cutting edge ships when looking at high speed ferries to operate inter-island in Hawaii?
September 11th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
@JFSD: I know that $140 million in loan guarantee was backed by the The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration and now they’re getting hit from the GAO on improper authorizations.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Sep/06/ln/hawaii709060365.html
I also know that Hawaii Superferry has promised to pay back the $40 million to the state that was used for the harbor upgrades.
http://starbulletin.com/2005/03/10/news/story1.html
September 12th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
@V.Brown: …if HFS goes bankrupt their promise to pay back the $40M is probably a moot point, eh? The StarBulletin link sounds like HFS was squeezing the state by holding the potential for venture failure over their heads if the funding was not approved - what buttheads…
September 12th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
@JFSD: Yes indeed. As it looks now, the Hawaii Superferry is probably going to be shutdown indefinite and therefore looks like bankruptcy could be ahead in their future.
September 25th, 2007 at 1:29 am
Not demanding EIS is like risking AIDS
As one of the Kauai protesters of the Superferry and the director of boycottsuperferry.org, I wish to give a relevant analogy as how Oahu friends could relate to the motives of the Kauaian family:
What the Superferry has attempted to do without an environmental assessment and environmental impact statement is like an anxious boyfriend wishing to have unprotected sex without a preliminary AIDS test to his new girlfriend (Kauai). The parents, brothers and sisters of Kauai are wary of this “boyfriend” until he gets tested and treats their daughter/sister with respect.
As it was, this new boyfriend, said “I don’t care, I got exempted by an uncle that the courts said was wrong. I proclaim myself to not carry a disease, and I’ll have all the minimally or unprotected sex I want while telling my new gal, ‘I really love ya.’”
Just because other suitors (Matson, Young Bros.) didn’t have AIDS tests, as the test wasn’t around then, two or three wrongs don’t make a right. And to Department of Transportation Director Barry Fukunaga and Gov. Linda Lingle, we didn’t enjoy you offering to pimp our sister as simply “good for business.”
John Tyler Cragg
Anahola, Kauai