Gov. Linda Lingle has signed into law new Department of Land and Natural Resources rules to regulate tow-in surfing on Kauai and on Oahu and Maui. As part of the law, which Gov. Linda Lingle signed June 23 and which
Gov. Linda Lingle has signed into law new Department of Land and Natural Resources rules to regulate tow-in surfing on Kauai and on Oahu and Maui.
As part of the law, which Gov. Linda Lingle signed June 23 and which went into effect July 5, tow-in surfing enthusiasts are required to complete a one-day certification class
Tow-line surfers must complete classes by September 2004, or the DLNR will take action against them.
The certification course is intended to inform tow-line surfers of their responsibilities under the law and their obligations to follow safe water practices, DLNR officials said.
Tow-in surfing involves two people – one driving a jet-propelled “thrill craft” and a surfer on a custom board. Enthusiasts typically go out when waves get to heights of 15 feet and more.
The certification classes for tow-in surfers will be conducted through the Windward Community College Office of Continuing Education and Training through the University of Hawaii system.
The first class is scheduled to be held at the Oahu-based community college on July 26, followed by similar classes on Maui and Kauai.
No classes will be held on the Big Island because of the lack of interest in the sport, DLNR officials said. A day for the Kauai certification class has yet to be scheduled.
The course will be led by:
- Jim Howe, operations chief with the ocean safety division with the City and County of Honolulu.
- Brian Keaulana, who worked with Howe and is now a consultant and an ocean safety specialist for the movie industry.
- Archie Kalepa, head of operations for safety services with Maui County.
Howe said the one-day class isn’t so much to certify enthusiasts of the sport as it is to inform them of the requirements of the law and to encourage them to participate in their sport in a safe way.
“We are not discouraging or encouraging people who want to participate in this sport,” Howe said. “We are tying to give people some good basic, solid ocean safety and boating skills that have been developed by lifeguard services in Hawaii in the last decade.”
Howe said some of the tow-in enthusiasts are among the best “watermen in the world,” and “we think that if this group of people has a bit more training in ocean safety skills, they will make the water safer for everyone.”
As part of the course, tow-in surfers will be put through cardiopulmonary resuscitation training.
Tow-in surfers also will be given information on the proper operation of a thrill craft in the ocean and the use of the craft among surfers, windsurfers, kite sailors, fishermen and swimmers.
Another part of the certification course involves “decision-making,” Howe said.
Parts of the curriculum for the course were taken from “risk management principles” developed by the U.S. Army, Howe said.
Vaughan Tyndzik, district manager of the boating and ocean recreation division of the DLNR office on Kauai, said while tow-in surfers on Kauai await certification, they are still required to follow the rules that have been passed.
The rules include:
- Tow-in surfers can only engage in the sport when a high surf warning is declared by the National Weather Service.
- Operators of the thrill craft must carry a two-way radio.
- Operators can tow only one surfer at a time.
- Operators must carry dive fins and a safety knife.
- Operators must yield the right of way to all vessels or people involved in other recreational ocean activities.
- Tow-in surfers are required to be at least 1,000 feet from other ocean users, due to concerns about possible injuries from the use of long tow lines.
- Tow-in surfers can only engage in their sport in only a small part of a DLNR-designated “Ocean Recreational Management Area,” which is located in a North
Shore zone the agency has set aside for the sport.
Tyndzik said people can continue to engage in tow-in surfing as long as they abide by the rules, but must obtain certification by September 2004.
In the meantime, state law enforcement officers on Kauai will cite tow-in surfers and operators who violate the new law.
“They (state law enforcement officers) have water-borne craft and land vehicles they can use to get them at the (shoreline) ramps (from which tow-line surfers launch),” Tyndzik said.
Tow-in surfing is allowed in three zones off Kauai.
The first one runs eastward from Kailiu Point on the North Shore to Moloaa Bay. The second zone runs from Papaa Bay to the southern tip of Hanamaulu Bay. The third zone runs from Hanapepe Bay westward to Keawanui Point.
On the average, the zones run between 20 to 25 miles in length, Tyndzik said.
Tyndzik said his office has received complaints about tow-in surfers who have operated in two-to-three foot waves off West Kauai.
He said such activities create potential safety hazards for other beachusers, and that steps will be taken to deal with thrill craft operators who violate the law.
The new rules were in the planning stages for three years and have involved widespread public participation before they were adopted, Tyndzik said.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
