I thought that by now there would have been a bunch of passenger accounts or at least news specials discussing the events on and around the Super Ferry. All I find are a few big time news stories, protestors and day old stories. I am sitting at home this morning after getting home before 1am Tuesday morning.
I am not going to lie, we were bribed for there bad business. We all got letters as disembarking pier 19; A place to stay if needed, transportation to wherever we need, food, flight back to Kauai in the morning, the company wants to keep us happy and keep the public for the ferry. Hey we even got tote bags and lunch saks after waiting the first 30 minutes outside of Nawiliwili. Everything on the boat was good business, friendly people, helpful crew, comfy seats and big screen TV’s. The bad business was not taking care of a problem that they knew they were going to run into again!
As we were leaving Oahu I called a family friend on Kauai. He was golfing and said he would be back in the water again in a few hours. I told him good luck, and his response was that all they needed was a small crew and he told me have a fun boat ride. “I wish I could see you but I doubt it.”
He was serious, never would I have guessed that 50 surfers and 5 teams of canoe paddlers would have shown up and swam circles around the coast guards. They didn’t swim circle literally but they did do what was planned.
From inside the boat they told us a C-130 just flew in additional assets; a team of people who train for this. I was a little weary at their ambiguity of “assets” but I remained confident that we would be docking soon. Once it got dark all we could see was the two stationary blue flashing lights of the Coast Guard boats “helping us” get docked.
Check in was smooth and fast, we didn’t even have our boarding passes. We just gave them our name, popped the hood and the trunk and they gave us a ticket. We lined our cars up while the Maui passengers drove off. They checked under our cars with mirrors like at the airport then we drove up the big metal ramp to park and find a seat.
We went straight to first class to find huge recliners and many tables and lounge seats. There were complimentary food and beverage which did not completely run out. There were cold cut sandwiches, coffee and beverages. They are set up for a more elaborate setup with beer and better food but for being comped’ it was a pleasant surprise. After years of dorm food at UHM I am not too excited about future Sodexho ferry catering.
Everyone was soo excited to be on such a luxurious boat. Photos were being taken of everything.
When we get the official word we are heading home people cheer, it was a mix of fear and restlessness. No one wanted to vacation where they were not wanted, if one irate local say my girlfriends turquoise blue superferry tote it would have been bad news bears.
The alakai boat master told us we were heading back because the T-13 that flew in was only half their crew and it would 10pm before the remainder come in which was needed to clear the harbor. The boat master also didn’t want to take the chance in going in, what if they missed a single surfer… What if that surfer were to get injured? That would have been even worse business.
I was happy to go home; my girfiend and I were already worried about our trip home. She had school and I had work. Skipping two days for a vacation was in our plans, who would know how long it would take to get back on the alakai if we got off. I also got a newer car; I wouldn’t have wanted my baby to be pounded on like the previous night.
One thing I didn’t mention, there was an owner aboard and he wanted to give us the correct experience so they are giving us 5 more tries at it.
