• Ferry bad idea then, now The return of an interisland ferry does not make sense economically or as a mode of travel between islands. Many of us are aware that the waters between Oahu and Kauai are some of
• Ferry bad idea then, now
The return of an interisland ferry does not make sense economically or as a mode of travel between islands. Many of us are aware that the waters between Oahu and Kauai are some of the roughest in the world. As a 4-year-old child my parents took my bother Dick and I to Kauai for a vacation on the interisland boat, Hualalai. It was rough, my mother got seasick and I fell out of the bunk in our cabin — not fun, even for an adventurous child.
Does anyone remember the Hydrofoil in the ‘70s? Most of us took one trip to check it out, then went back to flying on the interisland airplane. How many of us have four hours or more to sit on a boat as it goes from Oahu to Kauai, often in rough water? I would rather take a plane that takes 20 minutes — plus the hour wait before it takes off and yes, even the irritation of going through TSA lines (I suspect some sort of checking would be required for the ferry also).
To quote the Superferry blog “… but also because it took several hours to travel between islands, through deep, unprotected waters that are rougher than the sheltered waters mainly used by the extensive auto ferry systems of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest …”
I know many residents of Oahu, my hometown, are eager to escape to Kauai’s less crowded beaches — and bring their cars to overfill our already at-capacity roads. I have high school classmates on Oahu who got mad at me because they wanted to come camping with their cars on Kauai and I was against the Superferry. Do we need more cars on Kauai or campers in our parks?
Kauai residents need to carefully consider the proposal to bring back a ferry system. Is that the way you would travel if it were $15 or $20 cheaper? What about a state subsidized airline? I can guarantee that most Kauai residents will take the ferry only once.
Carol Ann Davis, Poipu
