Fix It! This Floating Dock In Honolulu Looks More Like A Shipwreck
The state DLNR has plans to replace the docks but no firm start date.
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Chuck Kelley has a little trailer boat that he sails out of the Ala Wai Harbor in Honolulu, just as his dad used to do.
The harbor is the largest in the state for small boats, and comes under the responsibility of the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Nearly a decade ago, two floating docks were installed on either side of the harbor’s only launch ramp – right in front of the Harbor Master’s office, Kelley said. A photo from the recreation division website shows the docks in their heyday in 2015.
But the pictures that Kelley submitted to Civil Beat as part of our Fix It! initiative told a different story.
At least a year ago, the larger dock on the makai side of the ramp started to disintegrate and lose its buoyancy, he said. Recreation division staff blocked off access to the dock with bright orange safety netting and a couple of traffic cones.
Photos taken this past week by Civil Beat show one of the gangways is half submerged and the main support beams for the dock are breaking away.
Kelley said some boaters still use the dock when they are launching their vessel, and will sneak around the safety netting if they need to.
Most of the cleats used to tie boats off are missing, and the decking clearly poses a safety hazard.
“I’d love to know what OSHA has to say about it,” Kelley said on the phone when Civil Beat spoke with him. (Note: We always check with our Fix It! tipsters before publishing their name.)
Nobody is supposed to be using that dock, said Patti Jette of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, and “users should be using the dock on the mauka end of the ramp, which is still in use.”
Staff are supposed to keep signage up to date to make sure that boaters know the larger dock is out of commission, she said.
But she had good news for Kelley and other sailors: The department has just finalized the designs for two replacement floating docks. While there’s no firm timetable for the installation, the department will be putting them out for bids “in the near future,” she said.
Jette said she couldn’t yet share the designs with Civil Beat.
In the meantime, frustrated boaters might need to head west to Ke’ehi Harbor, or east to Maunalua Bay for alternative launch sites.
Who Is Responsible
Meghan Statts, email meghan.l.statts@hawaii.gov, phone 808-587-1966.
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