Hanalei braces for boats
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
HANALEI, Kaua'i — State officials are trying to ban commercial boat activities on public property in Hanalei, but until new regulations are in place, they feel they have no authority to regulate commercial boating on Hanalei Bay or the Hanalei River.
Some residents fear a return of hectic tour boat traffic this summer after a couple of years of relative quiet.
"This could make for an exciting summer," said Maka'ala Ka'aumoana, coordinator of the Hanalei Heritage River Program, a federal program for the management of Hanalei, which has been named an American Heritage River.
Deep community splits over the issue are still healing. Life in Hanalei just a few years ago featured public meetings where family members took sides and testified against each other.
"The atmosphere now is very different from what it was," said North Shore community activist Ray Chuan.
"It's calmer in town than it used to be," Ka'aumoana said.
The last three tour boat firms that held county permits to operate from Hanalei went to federal court last year to block state attempts to evict them from the river. U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor ruled that Hanalei Bay and parts of Hanalei River are federal navigable waterways, and that the state can't ban commercial boat traffic there.
"As silly as it may be, anyone who holds a Coast Guard safety certificate is now allowed to operate," said Chuan.
Some boaters and members of the community feel that Gillmor's ruling only covers the three boat companies that sought the ruling, but the state boating office believes it applies to everyone.
"We have no authority to either permit or deny" any commercial activity on the navigable portions of the bay and river, said Dave Parsons, special projects officer for the state Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation.
His office is trying to gain some control over boating by proposing regulations that ban the loading and landing of passengers on public property along the bay and river, but those regulations, approved by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources last week, probably won't go to public hearings until this fall, meaning the summer could be open season for boating.
Right now, only the three firms are set up for operating from Hanalei. They are Bob Butler's Captain Sundown sailing charter firm, John White's Whitey's Boat Cruises and Ralph Young's Hanalei Sport Fishing and Tours.
The attorneys for the boaters disagree with the state.
"The judge didn't rule that the state is powerless to regulate vessels on navigable waters. That position just infuriates me. The notion that there's suddenly this vacuum, I just think that's an untenable position," said Maui attorney Dennis Niles, who represents White and Young.
Lawyer Jack Schweigert, who represents Butler, said the permanent injunction issued by Judge Gillmor protects the three people who filed it. "The injunction only speaks to them," he said.
Most commercial boaters say they prefer Hanalei as a launching point for trips down the Na Pali Coast. When compared to the long boat ride along Kaua'i's flat southwest side, the ride from Hanalei to the best features of the Na Pali Coast is shorter and more scenic. But no one knows if full-blown commercial boating will return to Hanalei.
"The reality is, nobody's interested in coming back," Chuan said. Others say it's almost certain some boaters will return if they can.
One said he will respond to the market. "I'm not sure what's going on there, but if anyone else goes in, I'll follow right behind," said Steve Cole, who runs A Na Pali Eco Adventures and Captain Zodiac. Both firms started operating tours of the Na Pali Coast from Hanalei, but have since moved to the state boat harbor at Port Allen.
Other firms would not.
"We're certainly not moving back to Hanalei," said Andy Evans, who runs Captain Andy's Sailing Adventure, also out of Port Allen. "My personal opinion is that Hanalei River's carrying capacity is small."
Capacity was the focus of two decades of political infighting in Hanalei, between residents seeking a return to Hanalei's historic peaceful nature and an immense commercial boating industry that took hundreds of tourists down the coast each day on rubber rafts, sailboats, power catamarans, fishing boats and other vessels, including kayaks.
The boats launched from beaches, from the sand bar at the rivermouth, from a boat ramp inside the river, and for a time from a commercial boatyard alongside the river. Mike Sheehan, whose family owns the boatyard, said he is watching the situation carefully, but at this time is not authorizing any boat firm to load passengers or to park cars at his facility.
State and county authorities have battled to establish a regulatory framework that would get the situation under control, with limited success. During the 1998 election season, Gov. Ben Cayetano visited Hanalei and announced he was appalled by the commercialism. He ordered the state to halt all commercial boating. That's the order that Gillmor's ruling effectively countermanded.
The three tour boat firms now readying for the summer tourist seasons were the last ones with county permits to operate from Hanalei. Chuan said he believes that it is county regulation, not state, that will ultimately have to control commercial boating.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
