Brief report on Superferry actions today .... Ku'e !

by Terri Kekoolani
Thursday 13 Dec 2007

Aloha kakou Hui Pu,

Mahalo to all who came out so early in the morning...it was a good day. Here's a very brief report about today's actions on O'ahu, on board the Superferry and on Maui. I'd like to ask others who were at today's action to write about your experience...mahalo.

Ku'e Superferry on O'ahu

Brief report - about 30 people held signs 5:30am to 6:30am at Honolulu Harbor then regrouped at the Capitol from 7:30am to 8:30am. Good line, good signs...everyone was pleased with the turnout. At the harbor we split into two groups: one group did a picket line at the SF pier entrance, another group held signs near the gate where passenger cars were parked. At the Capitol we held signs on Beretania mauka of the Capitol. I thought we had a pretty positive response from people (just a few birds). Channel 9 was the only TV station that showed up for both actions. None of the newspapers showed up. They were probably on the Superferry !!! At the pier there were two police cars and 3 officers... "cordial, doing their job."

At the capitol there were plainclothesmen, state security guards. One police officier came up to our group and asked questions. We observed 2 paddy wagons and a police car driving past us but there was no big show of force present. We ended in a circle with a pule in front of Liliuokalani's statue, a gentle rain blessed us. Mahalo nui to the Hui Puers: Ka'anohi, Pono, Pono's son, Tane, Ikaika, Dexter, Imai, Uncle George & Kyle for being there...right on! I know Pono will share photos with everyone later today. Good job everybody.

Kauai On Board the Alaka'i

There were 3 Kauai activists on the Superferry. They were dropped off at the pier at 5:30am. When they got onboard they were searched. They observed not more than 125 people on board which contradicts the newspaper figures of 215 passengers. They saw news people with cameras. They noticed alot of people looked like they were traveling individually by themselves. They didn't see "families." The seas were rough, they got sick. As they entered Kahului harbor they saw protesters on shore and in the water. They also saw Coast Guard people armed with M-16's and a uniformed group that looked like "storm troopers. " As they unfurled a large banner on the starboard side of the ship, one of the protesters, a brother named Hale, chanted. One of the SF employee's immediately responded and took away the banner. He eventually gave the banner back to them without incident. The 3 activists were not arrested. We'll get an account of what they saw and observed first hand by tomorrow.

Maui On Shore at Kahului Harbor

We got a report from Maui, about 100 + people, 40 from the East Side Hui. Some paddlers and surfers in the water. Very spirited gathering. When they saw the banner unfurl on the Vessel there were lots of cheers. Two important observations: someone noticed a big brown plume behind the vessel which they think was bad sediment being stirred up by the propulsion of the vessel. They also noticed many of the people who came off the ship got back on, returning to Honolulu.

We will be getting reports back from Maui latter. If anyone on Maui was at the protest please share your observations.

****Just got a report back from Katy, one of the Kauai people on board. She said as they got off the ship, Garabaldi went straight up to them saying that he feels that "things can be worked out in the community"....they just listened and only made one comment to him..."go get an EIS" ...but he continued talking AT them (it was a one-sided conversation). Katy just heard that Garabaldi is telling the press that he spoke with the Kauai protesters and everything is fine. She asked that people be aware that nothing was really said to Garabaldi. More from Kauai will be shared later.

Here are a few articles that were posted on the Honolulu Advertiser. This is a big story so we'll be seeing a lot more stories throughout the day.

Honolulu Advertiser articles

11:32 am
Hawaii Superferryl leaves Maui; bound for Honolulu
10:48am
Journey Gets Rocky As Ferry Rounds
8:53 am
Photos from Superferry's Voyage to Maui
8:11 am
Ferry Passes Northernside of Molokai

Riding the Spooker-Ferry

Three young Kauai residents took the ferry over and arrived at Kahului Harbor where they unfurled a large banner asking, "PONO?". Here is the story of one of those Kauaians.

by Andrea Brower

Aloha kakou,

In a press interview today, Girabaldi urged protesters to ride the Superferry and experience all its wonders for themselves. Rather than having you all suffer through the same nauseating experience that I did, I will pass on my story of riding the Spooker-Ferry.

Katy Rose, Hale Mawae and I decided to ride the ferry in order to protest in solidarity with Maui and stage a peaceful banner drop while on board. We arrived at Honolulu Harbor at 5:30 am, and were greeted by 30-40 protesters (Mahalo Aunty Terri, Kyle, and everyone else who helped get people out so early). Upon check in, all three of us were informed that we had been "randomly" selected for full security searches (including pat-downs). To our knowledge, not one other person was searched. It seemed to us that as long as you hadn't been pre-identified as anti-superferry/ pro-aloha 'aina, you were allowed to walk right on with absolutely no screening.

Although every mainstream media outlet that I have seen so far claims that there were 200 passengers on board, all three of us counted somewhere between 50-70. Of these passengers, about half were affiliated with the media. We also suspect that of the remaining 30-40 "real" passengers, many were SF employee friends and family. One Oahu protester that we talked to observed that cars were actually driving in, pretending to drop off passengers, then driving out. HSF Corporation was obviously trying to stage a grander first day back in service than it could pull off.

I don't get sea sick. I love the feeling of rocking around to the motion of the waves – it usually puts me right to sleep. But I got sick. In fact, so did just about everybody on board. Every time I used the toilet there were remnants of someone else's breakfast. The place wreaked of puke. An old lady was lying on the floor of the women's bathroom. Every single person I talked to felt ill. One picture in the Honolulu Advertiser shows passengers sprawled out on the booth seats, supposedly taking nice naps. In actuality, we were keeled over in pain.

We all breathed a heavy sigh of relief when the ferry finally slowed down to enter Kahului Harbor. There were protesters in the water, on the beach, and stretched along the highway. Hale said a beautiful pule, and the three of us let down a 16 by 14 foot banner that read "ua mau ke ea o ka 'aina i ka PONO?" Maui protesters on the beach said that they could hear us chanting the state motto over and over, until Hale, so overcome with emotion, broke into tears. A ferry employee did force us to remove the banner, but he was kind about it. In fact, I should mention that all of the ferry employees treated us very warmly, even after we dropped the banner.

We met many beautiful people on Maui. I can thank the superferry for new friends on other islands, and for sparking a Hawai'i-wide movement to aloha 'aina.