City ferry gets underway

Dubbed TheBoat, the commuter service linking Honolulu with Kalaeloa starts today

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Leeward commuters have a new alternative this morning as TheBoat debuts with service to Aloha Tower and back.

The city held a dockside open house yesterday for the first of its vessels to enter into service, the Melissa Ann.

"You don't have to worry about driving," said the captain, Tom Dougherty. "There's nothing to slow TheBoat down except for water conditions."

If passengers do not mind unisex bathrooms (two) and ceiling leaks (a few), then Honolulu's new wave of transportation should be worth the $2 fare.

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TheBoat Schedule For the first week, one of the two vessels will not be running, altering ferry schedules. The fare is $2 each way, with city bus passes accepted. Depart Kalaeloa 5:30 a.m. TheBoat 6 a.m. Express Bus to Aloha Tower 8 a.m. TheBoat Depart Aloha Tower 4:20 p.m. TheBoat 5:20 p.m. Express Bus to Kalaeloa Pier 6:50 p.m. TheBoat

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Stanley and Elsie Ali sipped coffee and ate chocolate chip cookies at a booth inside TheBoat yesterday during an open house. The 149 blue seats on board were comfortable and clean. But up ahead, water dripped from the ceiling.

The Waikiki couple wiped it away with paper napkins.

Meanwhile, the vessel was swaying and rocking so hard -- this while docked at Aloha Tower -- that Francis Nagata of Pearl City said he could easily imagine riders getting seasick offshore.

Despite the flaws, many visitors were upbeat yesterday as they toured the Melissa Ann, one of the two 72-foot-hull catamarans in the city's commuter ferry fleet.

Ferry runs begin this morning between Kalaeloa and Aloha Tower.

"It's nice, it's spacious," said Nagata, 65. "It's like a miniversion of the Superferry. I think it's a nice way to travel, and it's better than fighting traffic."

Added Capt. Tom Dougherty, marine superintendent for TheBoat, "You don't have to worry about driving. There's no hassle, and it's going to be dependable because there's nothing to slow TheBoat down except for water conditions."

Cruising speed: 45 mph.

TheBoat, intended to give Leeward residents more options to commute to town, operates Monday through Friday with three rides in each direction. For this week, however, TheBoat is one vessel down, with the Rachel Marie undergoing Coast Guard certification, eliminating one ride in each direction.

Riders wanting to take the 6 a.m. ferry from Kalaeloa, and the 5:20 p.m. ride from Aloha Tower will instead be directed to special buses that will drive them directly to their destination piers. It costs $2 for each ride, which includes two bus transfers.

The boat has two unisex bathrooms for 149 passengers. Wireless Internet service should be available by Oct. 1.

Carolyn Chong was excited about riding TheBoat instead of driving in traffic every day from her home in Pearl City. But after learning that she would have to depart from Kalaeloa Pier, she said she would probably pass on the new option.

"That's too far," Chong said. "I might as well take my car."

But other residents, like Kapolei Neighborhood Board member Maeda Timson, said they have been waiting for another commuter ferry after a state operation failed a couple of years ago because there was no bus service connected to the piers.

"I rode the ferry back in 2000," Timson said. "The problem was, once we got there, we didn't know how to get to work. Everything is connected now. It's the best thing that's happened."

The city created three bus shuttles for TheBoat. From Kalaeloa, buses connect riders to Makakilo, Kapolei and Waianae. From Aloha Tower, riders can transfer to the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Ala Moana Center and Waikiki.

TheBoat can also benefit noncommuters, like the Alis of Waikiki, who would rather catch a ferry to West Oahu than use TheBus. They said they would do the reverse route by catching a morning ride departing from Aloha Tower at 6:30 a.m. to Kalaeloa to visit shopping outlets in West Oahu.

"This will take us straight there in an hour," said Stanley Ali, 74, who already owns a bus pass, which he can use on TheBoat. "We don't have to keep stopping at all the different bus stops, which can take well over an hour."

Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who has been pushing for a commuter ferry system since stepping into office, took the Melissa Ann for a preview ride yesterday afternoon.

"It's going to require patience on your part," Hannemann said to a crowd of several dozen. "It's going to require some changing on your pattern of your behavior for those of you so used to driving in your car, but ... I want to have a city where you have options and choices."