PORT ALLEN — There won’t be wet feet for any of the boat owners who were left stranded following the demolition of a condemned section of Pier B at the Port Allen Small Boat Harbor. Less than a week after
PORT ALLEN — There won’t be wet feet for any of the boat owners who were left stranded following the demolition of a condemned section of Pier B at the Port Allen Small Boat Harbor.
Less than a week after concerned boat owners and regular harbor users met with state representative Roland Sagum and the chair and vice chair of the Land, Water and Hawaiian Affairs Committee, a temporary replacement spanning the gap between the roadway and the individual boat slips mysteriously appeared.
In the discussion with the state representatives, boat owners brought up the topic of using steel beams to reinforce the existing condemned section of Pier B while a replacement section was arranged for.
But that suggestion was discarded after officials with the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation discovered the cost of installing the temporary fix was almost as high as the replacement for the section.
Joe Borden, the Kaua‘i district manager for the division of boating and ocean recreation, informed boat owners of the pending demolition plans in a letter dated Dec. 13.
“Though plans are presently being made to replace the portion of the catwalk, for your own safety, no one is to traverse the condemned portion of Pier B,” Borden stated in the letter to boaters. “You are reminded to find an alternative route to your vessel i.e., dingy, kayak, etc.”
Faced with that dilemma and a scheduled demolition date of Dec. 20, boat owners seemed quiet.
“The Menehune are at work,” one of the harbor maintenance workers said while severing the electrical and water conduits from the condemned section of the catwalk last Thursday. “You see the fence? The Menehune came last night.”
The restricting fence with its locked door had indeed vanished from the condemned section, leaving a wide-open expanse to the boat slips.
As the crane was rolled off its trailer, another silently made its way down the harbor entrance and disappeared into the trees.
“No worry,” the caretaker said. “The Menehune are already taking measurements.”
The actual demolition of the condemned section took place Friday morning under the scrutiny of what one eyewitness said was a fairly large crowd.
A photo of the missing section was published on Saturday morning causing one anonymous phone caller to remark, “You guys are outdated.”
Between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, a replacement section for the demolished catwalk appeared.
Made of steel I-beams and untreated 4x12s, the section mimics the architecture and appearance of Pier A which is still operational. Metal hardware securing the structure to its concrete base glistened in the Christmas morning sunlight.
But, as the maintenance worker had predicted, the fencing which provides security for the boat owners, appeared on the new section.
Menehune, on a Hawaiian Folklore Web site, live in Hawai‘i, but are not Hawaiians. Instead, they are a group of tiny, muscular, hairy people who live in the mountainous forest.
The Web site speculates that the Menehune legend derives from the original settlers of the Hawaiian Islands who sailed from the Marquesas and were defeated by the subsequent settlers from Tahiti.
Workmen feats of the extremely strong males make up a lot of the stories of the Menehune, the Web site continues. They build large projects such as dams, temples and fishpond walls.
Menehune usually come out en masse after dusk when many of them together complete an expertly-crafted job in a single night.
Plans for the permanent replacement of the condemned section of Pier B is scheduled for July.
In the meantime, boat owners on the far side of the condemned section won’t have to get their feet wet.
