Hawaii left without
silver lining

It's hard not to notice the gleaming white, 155-foot motor yacht "Silver Lining" currently tied up at the Waikiki Yacht Club's guest dock. It stands out in the Ala Wai Harbor like a swan floating with a flock of ducks.

It's also hard not to find fault with Hawaii's Department of Natural Resources and its Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation when you realize that the WYC has the only proper mooring for such a yacht in the whole state.

The fact that, since 9/11, Hawaii is now more than ever one of America's favorite destination resorts -- because it offers exotic tropical vacations without leaving the safety of the U.S. -- certainly hasn't been lost on our visitor industry.

New hotels, time-shares, condos, resorts and airline flights have all been increased to meet the rising demand.

And yet, over the past decade, Hawaii's state-run recreational boating facilities have slowly gone from mediocre, to dilapidated, to disintegrated.

Isn't the DLNR aware that there are literally thousands of cruising yachts (ranging from 30 to more than 300 feet) just looking for the same sort of safe havens sought after by our land-based visitors?

Waikiki Yacht Club port captain Bill Foster has told me he often receives calls from yacht owners in places like Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with boats even larger than Silver Lining, who are quite disappointed when they learn of our state's lack of facilities.

Foster thinks, in addition to 9/11, another factor for the cruisers' interest in Hawaii could be Florida's -- and perhaps the whole Caribbean's -- ongoing experiences with hurricanes. But, of course, when they discover Hawaii hasn't an adequate boating infrastructure in place, they are forced to look elsewhere.

According to a recent article in the trade magazine Marina Dock Age, this lack of infrastructure is costing our state money in a variety of ways.

"Marine tourism has become profitable," it says, "and not just for the obvious reasons, such as transient dockage, ship's store purchases and fuel sales. Repairs and engine service are becoming more and more in demand and are emerging as robust profit centers.

The article also points out that marinas that draw cruising yachts also tend to become shoreline attractions themselves. People flock to the harbors to watch the boats and experience both active and passive waterfront experiences.

Waterfront tourism is a booming business, the article reads, and it points to activities such as boat shows, tall ship parades and regattas as examples for economic windfalls to any community.

"And while municipalities seem to be perennially in tight economic straits, almost all of them are finding ways to revitalize their waterfronts," the article notes. "Some use government funds, many proceed with government seed money and, more recently, with private-public partnerships."

But, as anyone can easily see, such has not been the case in Hawaii. Even though our desperate need for more and better marinas for visitors and residents alike has been growing at a record pace, in reality, it's been quite the opposite.

Instead, under supervision of the DLNR, we have seen both the quality and quantity of our recreational boating facilities diminish.

If our state-run marinas were children, I imagine that agency could be brought into court for child abandonment, or worse.