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Water Ways Ray Pendleton |
Boat facilities need
greater attentionTHE window near my computer offers a broad vista that sweeps from the Ala Wai Boat Harbor to Honolulu Harbor and out to Barbers Point.
And, as a majority of Hawaii's population lives in that general area, I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that a majority of my columns deal with the recreational boating issues that are centered there.
So, when reader Mark Hazlett recently sent me an article from the Maui News regarding the degradation of Maalaea Harbor, it came as a reminder that Oahu's boating facilities aren't the only ones in need of attention.
As the article noted, Maalaea Harbor, with its panoramic setting along the coastline near Kihei, is picturesque from a distance. And hundreds, if not thousands, of tourists have the opportunity to visit the area each day.
But a closer look at the marina run by the state's Boating Division reveals that "the crumbling facilities could be a trap for the unwary."
Fishermen and tour-boat operators, who pay for the privilege of using the harbor, can point out a long list of problems created by the lack of regular maintenance, the article said.
Along with deteriorating docks and water and electrical supply problems, there is also the lack of a fuel dock and a holding tank pump-out station.
And, of course, without a pump-out station, the big Molokini tour boats -- along with the rest of the boats in the marina -- are forced to discharge their holding tank sewage in the ocean beyond the 3-mile limit.
As a solution, the article suggested Maui legislators might look at funding the island's marina reconstruction with the revenues they contribute to the Boating Special Fund.
Between Maalaea and Lahaina, Maui's other state-run boat harbor, the state collects more than $1.75 million in fees, taxes and rentals that go into the fund, the article pointed out.
"There is the distinct possibility that both Maalaea and Lahaina harbors are generating far more revenue than the state is spending on them ..." it concluded.
Anyone with a boat in Oahu's Ala Wai Harbor would understand the sentiment being voiced in the article. After all, Ala Wai has been the main "cash cow" for the Boating Special Fund for years.
The Boating Division's operational rationale has usually been somewhat like that of Robin Hood's: We'll take from the rich and give to the poor.
In other words, the funds generated by the most successful boating facilities will help pay for the construction, maintenance and debt service of those that are not, and may never be, self-sustaining.
If Ala Wai Harbor had had all of the revenue it has generated in the past two decades spent on its maintenance, I'm sure it would now be a world-class facility.
Instead, it and marinas like Lahaina, Maalaea and the Big Island's Honokohau continue to produce revenue streams that are too attractive and essential for the state to leave untapped.
So, combined with the state's unbelievably low slip rates that tend to produce years-long waiting lists and too many marinas generating insufficient revenue, Hawaii's boaters -- and visiting cruisers as well -- are left with mediocrity or worse.
It's reminiscent of the old Cold War joke about the Communist Party in Russia proclaiming how cheap bread was for everyone.
The price for bread was cheap, but there were also very long lines ... and very little bread.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Ray Pendleton is a free-lance writer based in Honolulu.
His column runs Saturdays in the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached by e-mail at raypendleton@mac.com.
