CHRISTINA CHUN / CCHUN@STARBULLETIN.COM The Hawaii Superferry appeared landlocked Oct. 7 as it sat docked in Honolulu Harbor.

Superferry delayed again

Damage at Kahului Harbor forces a second cancellation of the Superferry's Maui route

KAHULUI » The Hawaii Superferry was forced to cancel its startup Oahu-Maui run for the second time due to damage to Kahului Harbor improvements from wave action.

The Superferry's Alakai was to resume operation to Maui tomorrow after officials postponed its original startup from Saturday due to damage to rubber fenders on a pier and on a barge used to load and unload vehicles from the ferry.

This time, mooring posts tied by lines to the docking barge were pulled from the pier by unusually high waves Monday.

"It's the most extreme conditions we've seen in the last seven to 10 years in the harbor," said Deputy Transportation Director Michael Formby.

It will take at least three days to reset just one of the posts, Formby said.

Superferry officials were planning a trial run yesterday to see how the Alakai aligned with newly installed rubber fenders.

The Superferry had been blocked from operating on Maui because of a court injunction, lifted last month after state legislators allowed continuation of the ferry service as an environmental impact statement is prepared.

More bad weather appears to be developing today in Maui waters.

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KAHULUI » The Hawaii Superferry has been forced to cancel its startup tomorrow for the Oahu-Maui run due to damage to two mooring posts at Kahului Harbor.

State Deputy Transportation Director Michael Formby said the two posts with lines connected to a docking barge used by the Superferry were pulled from the pier Monday during unusually high wave conditions.

"It's the most extreme conditions we've seen in the last seven to 10 years in the harbor," Formby said.

Formby said one of the posts, or bollards, will require at least three days to cure properly in concrete.

The Superferry was to resume the Maui run Saturday, but rubber fenders on the barge, used in the loading and unloading of vehicles, and on the pier broke in mid-November. So the startup was rescheduled for tomorrow.

Superferry officials were planning a trial run yesterday to see how the vessel Alakai aligned with newly installed rubber fenders.

The Superferry had been blocked from operating on Maui because of a court injunction, which was lifted last month after state legislators allowed continuation of the ferry service as an environmental impact statement is prepared.

More bad weather appears to be developing today in Maui waters.

"The bad weather is picking up again," said county spokeswoman Mahina Martin.

Martin said high winds and flooding are expected in addition to high surf.

"With all three, we're wise to be safe," she said. "One of them is bad enough."

This week has witnessed some of the biggest waves to hit the Valley Isle's north shore in recent years.

Storm waves were seen breaking over the concrete breakwater at Kahului Harbor on Monday, creating wave surges of 6 feet in the harbor that caused two mooring lines to snap between Pier II and the barge used to help vehicles onto and off the Superferry.

There were waves breaking inside and near the mouth of the harbor yesterday.

The mouth of Kahului Harbor faces north and is susceptible to winter swells.

For the past several days, winter swells have pounded the north shore of Maui, pushing sand into the public pavilion and men's restroom at Baldwin Beach Park and tossing an ATV and watercraft against a park pavilion door, the county said.

Leland Parker, a parks supervisor, described the weather as "rubber-boots country," with waves washing into the parking area.

Waves rose to 60- to 70-foot faces in the outer reef facing Baldwin Beach on Monday and a tow-in surfer sustained severe lacerations and a possible compound fracture to his leg, Martin said.

Ocean Safety Supervisor Archie Kalepa said waves were 30 to 50 feet high off Hookipa Beach Park.

Waves washed up the steep stone wall pavilions at Hookipa.