A Kaneohe Bay boating enthusiast is floating a proposal to have Hawaii’s harbor masters and agents on duty when he says they’re most needed: on the weekends.
State harbor officials say they’re looking into the idea, which likely would require harbor masters and agents to adjust their five-day schedule. But they also express doubts such an idea would hold water.
"To me? Hello. We’re an ocean island, and 90 percent of recreation is based on the water. And 90 percent of that takes place on the weekend," longtime Kaneohe resident Loren Lasher said Tuesday. The previous week, he pitched the idea for weekend duty in a meeting with state Sen. Clayton Hee (D, Heeia-Laie-Waialua) and Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation Administrator Ed Underwood.
According to the division’s website, it "administers programs, manages facilities and issues permits to facilitate access to this resource and to make the nearshore waters safe for everyone."
Having harbor personnel on duty on the weekend could give far more boaters access to first-aid gear and other emergency equipment, as well as better access to pay their slip fees and get boat-safety checks, Lasher said. Having agents around on weekends would also help curb vandalism at the harbors, he added.
State officials, however, say they don’t keep first-aid kits in the harbor offices — and that they’re not required to.
"Boat owners are responsible for providing their own first-aid materials aboard their boats," state Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman Deborah Ward said in an email Friday. "In emergency they should call 911 or the Coast Guard while at sea."
Until September 2011 the state’s five Oahu harbors had agents on duty Tuesday through Saturday, Underwood said in an email Friday. But the administration offices are open Monday through Friday — and that "made management difficult, especially when we needed to obtain specific information regarding the facility and its operation," he added.
Accordingly, harbor agents are now on duty Monday through Friday. They’ve always worked Monday through Friday on the neighbor islands, he said.
The division doesn’t keep records on the busiest days for boat traffic, Underwood said.
"There may be a slight uptick in recreational use during the weekends and holidays but for the most part it is the commercial operators that create the boat traffic," he stated in his email. "That is pretty steady seven days a week."
Nonetheless, Lasher is collecting signatures, he said, to show Underwood and other officials there’s interest in weekend service from harbor agents. Lasher also presented his proposal to the Kahaluu Neighborhood Board on Wednesday.
Lola Jean Tangaro, a member of that board, said she and other community members share Lasher’s concerns and that she was pleased to hear them.
"Finally, someone hears my cry," Tangaro said Friday. Her family often goes fishing aboard a boat and makes trips to the Kaneohe sandbar.
"It’s really bad because there’s nobody there at all" when Heeia Kea Small Boat Harbor is most used, she said.
Drinking, loitering, vandalism and drug deals around the state-run harbor are common, Tangaro said. Her family now prefers to use a friend’s privately owned launch near Kualoa, she added.
"We have Mr. Lasher’s list of concerns," Ward said in an earlier email Wednesday. "We are looking into them. We will take action if warranted."
Lasher said he plans to address the Kaneohe Neighborhood Board on the proposal this week.
