Posted on March 4, 2019
B&B Scuba and other companies now need two or more trucks to pull their boats out of the water at Kihei Boat Ramp, when normally only one truck is needed. Companies say Kihei Boat Ramp is in dire need of dredging and they cannot wait any longer. This photo was taken a week ago. SHANE MILLS photo
Boaters at Kihei Boat Ramp are incurring thousands of dollars in damages and are in need of more manpower to pull their vessels out of the water because of the massive sand buildup in the water fronting the ramp.
Prior to the winter storms in the last month or so, “it was bad already,” said Brad Varney of B&B Scuba. But, he said, the recent storms put the sand “over the top.”
Fellow commercial boater John Clark of Dive & Sea Maui said that in his more than 20 years of operating at the ramp, he’s only seen the ramp dredged twice.
“This time they (the state) let it go way beyond it has been even from before,” Clark said, noting the last time he’s seen dredging was in 2007 and it appears the dredging is done every 10 years or so.
Clark said even the recreational boaters are having a hard time pulling their boats out of the water.
Recreational boaters say they are having a difficult time pulling their boats out of the water at the Kihei Boat Ramp, which they say is in dire need of dredging. JOHN CLARK photo
“It’s not just commercial operators, its everybody,” he said. “There are so many fishermen that go out this (ramp) every time.”
Recently Clark stopped by the ramp to see the low tide and saw a recreational fisherman who needed help pulling his boat from the ramp. So Clark assisted.
“This is a community boat harbor for everybody to use. It’s not fair, something needs to be done for everybody,” Clark said.
Now boaters need two or even three trucks to pull vessels out of the water, when usually only one truck is required, boaters say. Some boats, including Varney’s, have gotten stuck in the shallow waters and crews have to remove the larger passengers first and have people go to the front of the boat to rock it and free it from the deep sand.
Boaters have been appealing to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation to dredge the area. They also say it appears that other harbors get dredged regularly but not Kihei Boat Ramp.
In an email response, the Boating and Ocean Recreation Division said it is waiting on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit for the work. The state hopes to receive the permit by March.
The division said the federal government shutdown set back many of the division’s permits.
The federal government was shut down for 35 days from Dec. 22 to Jan. 25 as Congress and President Donald Trump clashed over an appropriations bill.
A contract has been secured with Goodfellow Bros. for the dredging, so as soon as the Army Corps permit gets issued, the state can give the contractor the notice to proceed, the DLNR said.
DLNR said that $800,000 has been appropriated for the project, of which $200,000 was used in consultation fees.
The funds have been encumbered.
But Varney said he would be pleased with any type of emergency work as long it can be done quickly, as if another larger swell hit, he’s not sure how the boats will make it in the shallow water.
“Anything will help,” he said.
So far Varney has incurred at least $8,000 in damages, including three bent propellers, damage to a propeller shaft and damages to bearings in one of his drives. He says he’s not the only one.
The cost of the damages do not include the time his boat is out of the water, losing business, Varney said.
Clark said that with the shallowness of the ramp area, boats are waiting outside the ramp for the opportunity to take the deeper spots when they open up.
With the winter season, the ramp gets hit by winter swells, which drive the sand into the ramp area and eventually turn the ramp area shallow, he added.
Clark, who is 5 feet 7 inches tall, said he can walk out to the channel marker in the water and not get his hair wet.
“We all tried to talk to DLNR, they always say, we don’t have the money,” Clark added about the dredging.
* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.
Source: mauinews.com
