Buoy takes panic out of Point Panic

No-surfboard zones for use by bodysurfers will be clearly marked

Starting today, board surfers won't be able to say they don't know where the body surfing area at Point Panic begins.

A 6-foot-tall, red-and-white buoy that says "No surfboards" is going to be anchored offshore from bright, new land-based signs that mark the zone.

By lining up the buoy and the signs, there should be no question of where board riders should turn back, said Peter Young, director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

That's good news for John Hatakenaka, a longtime bodysurfer who was seriously injured by a surfboard off Point Panic on June 16.

Hatakenaka was bodysurfing that Friday afternoon when a board surfer on the same wave crashed into his head, giving him a black eye and knocking out three teeth.

Hatakenaka, who is in his 40s and has bodysurfed at Point Panic regularly for years, said he is lucky that his eye was not injured. As it is he has had $3,000 of medical and dental bills, was out of work as a landscaper for a week and could not go back in the water for several weeks.

"The guy on the board was in the Navy, and he said he saw all the other guys surfing in the area," Hatakenaka said. "There was a new swell coming in, and he thought he could surf there."

Not every incident ends in physical injury, but the story of the surfer who "didn't know" about the no-surfboards zone or "didn't realize" he had surfed into it has been repeated many times over the years, said Roy Yanagihara, Oahu district manager for the DLNR's Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation.

The only other no-boards bodysurfing zone in Oahu waters is at Makapuu Point, Yanagihara said. Nothing with skegs or longer than 15 inches* is allowed in the Point Panic bodysurfing area, he said. Boogieboards are not allowed.*

Violators face fines of $50 to $1,000, potential confiscation of surfboards and jail time, he said.

Since Hatakenaka's injury the Department of Land and Natural Resources has received and investigated 17 complaints and issued 11 citations and confiscated some surfboards of surfers who illegally enter the bodysurfing area, Young said yesterday.

Young said he hopes new buoy and signs will encourage people on land to call the DLNR enforcement officers (587-0077) if they see board surfers in that area.

"The whole point of the new signs and buoy is to call attention to it -- here's an area designated for a certain type of use," Young said. "We don't want people to get hurt."

That includes attempts at "self-policing" among surfers that have led to altercations, Young said.

Hatakenaka has returned to bodysurfing Point Panic and said he is pursuing a lawsuit to cover his medical expenses. He said he hopes the new buoy and signs will help, but also urged that police who patrol Kakaako Waterfront Park to be familiar with the rules for the water, even though they are not responsible for enforcing them.

When Hatakenaka made a police report on his injury, he said, Honolulu police officers told him they did not know there was a rule against surfboards in that area.

"They said, 'We see the guys surfing, that must be legal,'" Hatakenaka said.

The Hawaii Community Development Authority, which hires off-duty police officers to patrol the park, will emphasize that they should call the DLNR enforcement officers if they see violations, HCDA Executive Director Dan Dinnell said yesterday.

"The buoy is a great idea because it demarcates the bodyboarding and bodysurfing area clearly," Dinnell said.

CORRECTION Sunday, October 1, 2006 » The only wave-riding device allowed in the bodysurfing area of Point Panic is a "handboard," which has no skegs, is no more than 15 inches long and is held in one or both of the operators' hands. A Page A1 article in Friday's morning edition incorrectly said that Boogieboards (also called body boards or paipo boards) are allowed if they have no skegs and are 4 feet or less. Those boards have been banned in the area since 2001. Please see the applicable Corrections Page for more information.