Splash
Ala Wai Boaters Picket
On October 4, boaters began a month-long weekly picket of the Ala Wai Harbor’s Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) harbormaster office. They are striking against DOBOR’s new mooring fee increases and its strategic goal to privatize harbors statewide, eliminating the middle-income kama‘aina boating community.
“My only comment here is sadness, especially for the traditional Hawaiian sailing canoes. Let’s be careful not to alienate local people and cultural traditions. The Ala Wai could easily turn into a harbor like Fort Lauderdale, Florida: a place for rich people with boats they visit a couple of times a year,” said Kate Thompson, boating fee strike organizer.
Kate, 61, a semi-retired nurse, bought her sailboat 20 years ago with a group of friends. She prides herself in taking out people who have never sailed. She has taken 92 people sailing this year for free to “share the joy of sailing.”
The new statewide fee rates for boats including moorings and ramps were based on a DOBOR no-bid appraisal contract to CBRE, a commercial real estate management company. The rate increases passed at the Board of Land and Natural Resources’ meeting on June 14, 2019, and took effect on August 23 with billing effective on November 1. Some fees
