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Water Ways Ray Pendleton |
Bad publicity for
isle sailingAbout a month ago, I advised anyone who had an interest in recreational boating and our state's deteriorating boating infrastructure to have a look at a new Web site at www.HawaiiBoaters.org.
Its founder, Dennis Biby, created the site to bring public attention to Hawaii's apparently complete inability to maintain even marginal facilities for local and visiting boaters.
Through the use of photos and written testimony from boat owners around the state, the site gives graphic evidence of what Biby calls "the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation's complete lack of a plan" for maintenance or making improvements.
Along with being a showcase of malfeasance, the Web site has brought like-minded boaters together from around the state through interactive dialog.
Two such boaters are Kevin and Pam Baughman, who have a sailboat on Maui.
They contacted me HawaiiBoaters.org regarding a letter they had sent to Gov. Linda Lingle last December and were still waiting for a reply.
Many of the issues the Baughmans raise about "the despicable conditions of Maui's small boat harbors" are, unfortunately, nothing new to most boaters in Hawaii, although one complaint -- the lack of clean restrooms at Maalaea Harbor -- has apparently been resolved.
Gov. Lingle said on a radio talk show last week that after visiting Maalaea with Maui's mayor, both were pleased with the cleanliness of the restrooms now.
Perhaps boaters in Lahaina, Waianae, Haleiwa, Keehi, Ala Wai and our other state-run harbors should request a visit by the governor. It seems to work wonders.
Another person who contacted me through HawaiiBoaters.org was Dick Thompson, the author of an article in the May issue of BoatUS magazine titled "Paradise Lost?"
Based in Washington, D.C., Thompson wanted to know if what he was seeing on the Web site accurately depicted reality for boaters in Hawaii.
After I affirmed the site's validity, and he checked with other sources, Thompson wrote a stinging indictment of our state's recreational boating program -- one that should make our Visitors and Convention Bureau cringe.
"Are you dreaming about the perfect retirement -- cruising tropical waters, warm winds filling the spinnaker, whales and porpoises off the bow, lush Polynesian islands on the horizon with dark haired beauties?" he asked.
"Wake up!" he advised his readers nationwide."Hawaii may not be the paradise for recreational boaters that you dream about."
Additional negative publicity for our state's boating venue was brought to my attention by Phil Mislinski, another contributor to HawaiiBoaters.org.
"Check out Sail magazine's poll for the best sailing cities in the U.S. at sailmag.com/features/BPS," he wrote.
"If it weren't for the lazy, corrupt bureaucrats mismanaging the state harbors and having to deal with decaying docks, excessively long wait lists for slips, crime, druggies, etc. in the marina facilities," he added, "I would nominate Honolulu -- the sailing is phenomenal."
In Sail's "10 most sail-friendly towns and harbors in the nation," there's no mention of Honolulu, with one of the finest sailing venues inthe world, because when its boating infra-structure is assessed, it cannot compete.
And the real tragedy? No one here seems to know who to turn to -- inside or outside government -- to effect a cure.
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.