HI Superferry: Count, pics, etc. for 4/21/08

Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21400600@N03/sets/72157604671469395/

Vessel arrived in harbor at 10:00am today. Was offloading by 10:11am.

Offloading: counted 34 vehicles, 95 people. Included 1 Fed-Ex truck and 1 Expeditors truck. "Overnighter" company looked like it booked 30 to 40% of the people. [Made me think this vessel might also do well in Japan if not Puget Sound. Believe Fed-Ex is testing the logistics of this in case Aloha Cargo pilots go on strike next week.] Did not cover fuel costs today.

Onloading: counted 22 vehicles. Included 1 Fed-Ex truck and 1 Expeditors truck. [Estimate people not counted at 3 times vehicles.] Did not cover fuel costs today.

Spoke with three of the people on the shoreline who are there on a daily basis. All three seemed very knowledgeable about the issues involved on this. One of them, John, I will call him "Maka'ala" John, is a middle-age Hawaiian man. "Maka'ala" John says the number of cars and people who have been getting off and on has been about the same as today over the past week or more. Would not characterize it as "strong" or "ramping up."

"Maka'ala" John wanted to say he has noticed something that opponents on Maui have not mentioned in the media. John said that, "when the vessel is departing and backing up that its jet propulsion churns up the matter on the bottom of the harbor as the vessel turns and accelerates its engines to leave the harbor." John further stated he, "has been noticing what he thinks is the diminishing quality of the water in the harbor as a result." This is interesting because Jonathan Jay noticed and mentioned at the Belt Collins "EIS" Kauai hearing a similar thing at, "Nawiliwili Harbor from the two days there with the jets churning up the bottom and a septic smell came from the harbor afterward." Jonathan Jay asked that that be looked at in the "EIS".

Aloha, Brad