‘Boat Day’
returns for
4 cruise ships
Councilwoman Mansho's
By Lori Tighe
efforts bring back the
colorful island welcome
Star-BulletinVan Horn Diamond strummed the stand-up bass for the arriving ship passengers, recalling Boat Days of his boyhood.
"My mother, grandmother and I took a tugboat from Diamond Head to greet the ships. We had to wait till a wave was just right to jump off the boat onto the ship's landing," Diamond said, laughing. "I don't know if old people could do that now."
He was 13 during original Boat Days. Now he's 59 for the rekindled Boat Days inaugurated yesterday off the Aloha Tower piers.
City Councilwoman Rene Mansho brought back Boat Days after she found out Oahu did "absolutely nothing" to greet cruise ships, while the other islands "just came out."
"I was so embarrassed. I thought 'Gee, it's such a simple thing, why can't we do it?'"
The reason, she soon discovered, was money.
"Flower drops" cost $500 to shower petals on arriving ships from an airplane. The Royal Hawaiian Band costs $300 to play. Fire boats cost hundreds more to greet ships in the harbor.
Forty ships are expected to dock in Honolulu this year. It adds up.
But through a public-private partnership, Mansho raised the money and support.
"We were in a silver cloud taking for granted the industry was doing well on its own," Mansho said. The cruise ships bring in $200 million a year to Hawaii's economy.
Although most couldn't speak English, German passengers getting off the Maxim Gorky yesterday smiled their appreciation for the aloha music and hula greeting them.
It had been a rough cruise from San Francisco, mid-route on their trip around the world.
Some tourists started dancing to the music. Others walked up next to the playing musicians and had their pictures taken.
"We are surprised I would say," said Klaus Heide of Berlin, traveling with his wife Gabi. "It's a good welcome to Hawaii."
The Royal Hawaiian Hotel musicians volunteered their time when Mansho found herself in a bind. Due to the short notice, the city's Royal Hawaiian Band could only serenade the Queen Elizabeth II ship arriving at 7 a.m. But Mansho had three more ships to sing to.
"We didn't mind helping out, it gave us a chance to reminisce," said Diamond, who performed with Carmen and Keith Haugen.
"It's a warm feeling with a little bit of adjustment now," he said. "There's some good things we can take from the past and augment."
Hundreds of people, musicians, divers, hula dancers and local residents, greeted ships on Boat Days from 1872 to the 1960s.
"It was exciting then," Diamond said, "and it's still fun now."
