State to mull reopening Pohoiki boat ramp

[Rob Tucker]

Trying to reuse the old boat ramp would wreck the new beach. You would need a substantial channel and a larger pond area to maneuver a ocean going boat.

[leilanidude]

Really, how much beach would be taken out of service by the boat-ramp reclamation project?
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Again. Obvious that you have no clue since you don't live here.
The new beach is taller than the break-wall. There is no point in even trying to dredge it.

[Guest]

That's why I asked the questions!!![] I have seen pics of the area, but not lately.

[Guest]

quote:

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Originally posted by Rob Tucker

Trying to reuse the old boat ramp would wreck the new beach

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Perhaps, but the new beach is wrecking the boat ramp, and the boat ramp was there first, and is probably a bigger economic asset than a black-sand beach.

[LazyLehua]

We need a boat ramp...maybe not there out of respect...but perhaps another location. Don’t think they need to fund a study to figure out they need a boat ramp...what a waste of $$ and resources.

Stacey
Living the life in Cali and Hawai‘i

[Guest]

quote:

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Originally posted by LazyLehua

We need a boat ramp.
Stacey

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You have a boat ramp. It is there, but a beach is squatting on it. Time to fire up the dredges, IMHO.

[glinda]

build a new boat ramp somewhere else....

I think the Pohoiki ramp has sentimental value for sure but it isn't the best alternative if we are starting from scratch and exploring all options. If we need a natural harbor structure, shape of bay etc, the whole coastline offers very little in the way of choices and Pohoiki stands out as a sort of kind of maybe could be considered a bit safer than the alternatives. But if we are able to consider artificial structures, like Honokohau in Kona, then wow Puna'd be stylin'

I imagine a small boat harbor similar to Kona's, but in Kaimu, would be perfect. There is already a great road (highway 130) going right to it. The entire area, what used to be Kaimu Bay, is (I assume) one state own parcel that could house the waterways, parking and any, on land, industrial development. This is also a much more centrally located part of the coast, so as to make the entire area more accessible to fishing.

Kaimu would also not be competing for use. Even if the sand is dredged and the ramp at Pohoiki reestablished, boaters would still be sharing the bay with other activities, and as such it could never be a great place for either the boaters or the other users of the beach. There also is no room for any expansion in Pohoiki. Considering that the south coast is a great fishing ground and could be a major contributor to our fishing industry, a new harbor in Kaimu would be able to foster that industry's growth in a way the ramp at Pohoiki would never be suited for. And, again, the road access is stellar, as I imagine is helco's infrastructure.

[MarkD]

Kaimu would be a good site. Under any normal set of circumstances, the environmental studies and permitting for dredging out a Honokohau-style harbor anywhere in Hawaii would be immense.

Pohoiki boat ramp benefitted from the bay, the indent in the coast. The shore at Kalapana lacks such indents, if I am not mistaken. Honokohau is what....50 times larger? But it includes a harbor.

If the project is only a ramp, it might get by being only 3-4 times larger than Pohoiki.

But even that might warrant many years of studies--unless special consideration is given because the project would be on newly laid lava, i.e., acknowledgment that the basis for environmental degradation is reduced.

I don't believe the U.S. coastal planning has had a situation like this. Will Hawaii's environmentalists be OK with this??

(Honokohau was built in the 1960s--before strict new environmental restrictions on shoreline modification in the U.S. were enacted.)

[My 2 cents]

I think Puna has a substantial need for a boat ramp AND a beach, and I think Pohoiki is an either/or situation. If you think the sand can simply be rearranged to allow for a boat channel through the beach you have absolutely no clue as to how ocean waves and currents work. Mother Nature will put the sand where SHE wants it. The only way to re-open the boat ramp permanently is to restore it to its previous state by getting rid of all or most of the sand by trucking it elsewhere (where?) and not only would that cost be enormous but I doubt that the environmental red tape would be any less than a new boat ramp at a new location.

Speaking of Mother Nature, I think there is still a distinct possibility that she could decide to move the sand herself either up or down the coast or out to sea and the boat ramp re-opens on its own. And then closes again. Over and over. We see beaches all over Hawaii rearrange themselves from summer to winter year after year. Why would we expect this to be any different?

[randomq]

Wouldn't it make sense to carve a channel and cove into the new lava rock? Nothing living there yet. Kaimu is also relatively new, but god forbid someone saw a turtle there once...