The Wailoa Small Boat Harbor is on the verge of getting some improvements after years of neglect.
The harbor, which is one of the only functioning boat launches in East Hawaii after the blockage of the Pohoiki Boat Ramp during the 2018 Kilauea eruption, has not been dredged for years, leading to a buildup of sediment in the mouth of the harbor.
That accumulation has severely impacted the harbor’s usability, said Rhonda Reep, junior education program coordinator for the Na Hoa Holomoku of Hawaii Yacht Club, who said the harbor has not been dredged in at least seven years.
“I’ve run aground multiple times,” Reep said. “Recently, I was sailing in with a group of kids, I was being careful, I was watching the tides … but I ran aground and I ran aground hard, at night, with a boat full of teenagers.”
Reep said one of her boats has a 5.2-foot draft — indicating how deep into the water the boat sits — which she said is by no means an unusually large boat. Nonetheless, the harbor has become so congested that she has to wait until high tide for there to be sufficient clearance to enter or exit.
Another of Reep’s boats has only a 4-foot draft, which she assumed wouldn’t run aground so easily — and yet, she said, it also got stuck.
“Any well-kept harbor, you should be able to go in or out 24/7,” Reep said, adding that even keeping track of the tides isn’t a surefire way to avoid getting stuck, since the sediment is constantly shifting with the currents, and what is a safe passage one day might be impassable the next.
The condition of the harbor has degraded to the point that it is impacting users’ livelihoods, Reep said. The harbor has potential to seriously damage boats and equipment, but with Puna fishermen forced to launch out of Wailoa, some are deciding the risk isn’t worth it.
Reep recalled an incident where a fishing boat’s outboard motors became ensnared in mud, which could easily have destroyed the them entirely.
“There used to be a lot more boats here,” Reep said, estimating that roughly 20 or 30 boats use the harbor on a daily basis.
The sediment isn’t the only problem. Reep said overgrown trees on the water’s edge limit movement even further — hanging branches being particularly problematic for sailing boats’ lines, rigging and sails — while the pier and ramp have deteriorated, causing their own problems.
Because many vertical piles on the pier have broken off, Reep said some low-riding boats are now actually at risk of getting stuck under the pier.
Reep added there were periods recently where water service in the harbor was disconnected for months on end, or where garbage receptacles weren’t available. She said the cumulative problems have infuriated users to the point they considered collectively refusing to pay slip fees.
“We’re trying to cooperate with the state,” Reep said. “Our fees aren’t getting us what we’re paying for … but not paying is dangerous, and we could lose our slips or our boats.”
But at least some of the boaters’ problems should be addressed this year. During last year’s budget cycle, $3.2 million in state capital improvement funds were earmarked for various improvements to the harbor.
Hilo Sen. Lorraine Inouye, who advocated for the allocation of the funds, said dredging the harbor will be the primary focus of the funding, although repairs to the ramp and pier also are on the way.
“With all this heavy weather lately, if we don’t clean it up, it’s going to be difficult to get out at all,” Inouye said.
Inouye said the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation is working on hiring a consultant for the project, but added that permitting might throw a wrench in the plans: The project will require federal permits via the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which Inouye said could take six to 12 months to be awarded.
“Let’s just hope it isn’t too much of a delay,” Inouye said, adding that the harbor shouldn’t have to close during the work itself.
DOBOR Deputy Administrator Meghan Statts said in an email that once the design and permitting phases are complete, a timeline for the full project will become clear.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
