(Part of the prep work for the delivery to Long Beach involved moving Chasch Mer from Kaneohe Bay to the Ke'ehi Marine Center in Honolulu where she would be taken out of the water and put on stands. I talked to Gib and these were some of the things he said on 3/5/11:
...sailed from Kaneohe to Waikiki; it was pouring rain, very little wind, went by rabbit island which we could hardly see, it had 8 waterfalls and I had never seen anything (like it), it was always a dry island....
3/6/11 ...this morning just motored the boat from Waikiki to haul-out (at ke-ehi).
...sailed from Kaneohe to Waikiki; it was pouring rain, very little wind, went by rabbit island which we could hardly see, it had 8 waterfalls and I had never seen anything (like it), it was always a dry island....
3/6/11 ...this morning just motored the boat from Waikiki to haul-out (at ke-ehi).
FYI
Last night/this Am tsunami caught Chasch Mer in a very bad position. She
was a sitting duck, hauled out at Ke'ehi Marine Center. This is the same
marina which suffered the most damage & lost the most boats in the state.
Had the waves been just a few feet higher & stronger our baby might not be
able to race again. It was a very helpless feeling knowing I could not take
her out to sea. I could do nothing.
Enjoy the time God has given us to spend with our boats. You never know
when they will be taken away.
Aloha,
gib
3/11/11
Gib,
Woke up at 415 am and turned on the news. Hard to understand, coming in after the fact, until I really paid attention and got the point.
Thank you for the note. I was worried.
I'm happy all is well.
Dave
3/11/11
Gib,
Woke up at 415 am and turned on the news. Hard to understand, coming in after the fact, until I really paid attention and got the point.
Thank you for the note. I was worried.
I'm happy all is well.
Dave
3/13/11
Gib,
I am fishing for material and the tidal wave/Chasch Mer on stands/Oahu damage qualify.
If you have any local newspaper links or links to stories that you have seen regarding the items above I'd like to see them. I would also like to hear what occurred in your words about what you experienced.
This is relevant material regarding the delivery part of the book I am developing.
thanks.
I am fishing for material and the tidal wave/Chasch Mer on stands/Oahu damage qualify.
If you have any local newspaper links or links to stories that you have seen regarding the items above I'd like to see them. I would also like to hear what occurred in your words about what you experienced.
This is relevant material regarding the delivery part of the book I am developing.
thanks.
MAUI SAILING NEWS
On-going tsunami surges changing about 4' from beginning to end. Video taken on March 11, 2011 at 12:30 PM at the Lahaina Harbor, Maui - 9 1/2 hours after the first wave.
On-going tsunami surges changing about 4' from beginning to end. Video taken on March 11, 2011 at 12:30 PM at the Lahaina Harbor, Maui - 9 1/2 hours after the first wave.
 |
| ONE HOLE OF MANY (Photo courtesy of Al & Pat Shannon) |
3/14/11
Damn it Dave,
I will send you some links to the Lahaina harbor damage. That is covered far better than Oahu harbors. You can also check on line local TV: KHVH, KGMB, HITV & KHON. The harbor where Chasch Mer was hauled is a wreck, I don’t know how many boats lost (5-20) and most docks torn out. The thing for me was the helpless feeling I could not take my boat out to deep water & safety.
Aloha,
gib
Maui Sailing News
TSUNAMI STRIKES -- March 11, 2011 -- Report from Ma'alaea and Lahaina Harbors
As you are no doubt aware, the Hawaiian Islands were struck by a Tsunami around 3:00am this morning. Maui's two small boat harbors emptied out during the night, as boat owners headed for deep water in anticipation of the approaching tidal surge. But not everyone was able to evacuate from their slip. Some had to ride it out in the harbor(s).
Maui Boat & Yacht Club member boats which rode out the event in their slips included Boondoggle, Front Street, Snickers, Jennie Mae, and Coquette. It is with great fortune that these member vessels managed to make it through without major damage. Other less fortunate vessels suffered everything from cosmetic damage, to major structural damage, to outright sinking in the case of at least two boats. The rest of our member boats were able to make it out to deep water.
Docks and dock boxes were severely damaged and some disappeared. A trimaran in Ma'alaea Harbor capsized. I can not imagine how that happened, but it did. Large electrical closets were swept off the parking lot and into the harbor. Fresh water was off. Debris and diesel are spread throughout both harbors. A 27 foot catamaran by the Lahaina Harbor dinghy dock was swept onto the parking lot. A powerboat in Ma'alaea Harbor sank when her mooring lines ripped that boats transom off. Another powerboat in Lahaina Harbor flipped and sank.
The 3am tsunami was only the beginning of a long ordeal for boaters. Severe tidal surges and currents ripped into and out of both Ma'alaea and Lahaina Harbors all day. Both harbors were officially closed and the boats that were out all night and all day to escape the tsunami effects were not allowed to re-enter the harbors. Ma'alaea Harbor re-opened around 6:00pm and all the boats made a mad dash to tie up in their slips before dark, but some of them were left with nothing to tie to. Lahaina Harbor is officially closed for the night, so everyone is shut out for another night. They should be able to re-enter Lahaina soon after daybreak.
Much work will need to be done on vessels, moorings, docks, and equipment. But to this writer's knowledge, no loss of life or serious personal injuries were sustained. We can all be grateful for that.
U.S. Navy A Civil Beat reader asked a question we thought many of you might have had after the Hawaii tsunami.
Why didn't the Navy take its ships to sea the way most Honolulu boat owners did? Did the Navy have information that the general public wasn't privy to?
It only seems rational that the military would want to safeguard its multi-million dollar investments, including a visiting aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln.
"We didn't feel like there would be that big of a danger," Lt. Commander John Perkins of the Navy's Pacific Fleet told Civil Beat.
I will send you some links to the Lahaina harbor damage. That is covered far better than Oahu harbors. You can also check on line local TV: KHVH, KGMB, HITV & KHON. The harbor where Chasch Mer was hauled is a wreck, I don’t know how many boats lost (5-20) and most docks torn out. The thing for me was the helpless feeling I could not take my boat out to deep water & safety.
Aloha,
gib
Maui Sailing News
 |
| Ma'alaea Harbor, Maui 3:00pm this afternoon |
 |
| Lahaina, Maui |
TSUNAMI STRIKES -- March 11, 2011 -- Report from Ma'alaea and Lahaina Harbors
As you are no doubt aware, the Hawaiian Islands were struck by a Tsunami around 3:00am this morning. Maui's two small boat harbors emptied out during the night, as boat owners headed for deep water in anticipation of the approaching tidal surge. But not everyone was able to evacuate from their slip. Some had to ride it out in the harbor(s).
Maui Boat & Yacht Club member boats which rode out the event in their slips included Boondoggle, Front Street, Snickers, Jennie Mae, and Coquette. It is with great fortune that these member vessels managed to make it through without major damage. Other less fortunate vessels suffered everything from cosmetic damage, to major structural damage, to outright sinking in the case of at least two boats. The rest of our member boats were able to make it out to deep water.
Docks and dock boxes were severely damaged and some disappeared. A trimaran in Ma'alaea Harbor capsized. I can not imagine how that happened, but it did. Large electrical closets were swept off the parking lot and into the harbor. Fresh water was off. Debris and diesel are spread throughout both harbors. A 27 foot catamaran by the Lahaina Harbor dinghy dock was swept onto the parking lot. A powerboat in Ma'alaea Harbor sank when her mooring lines ripped that boats transom off. Another powerboat in Lahaina Harbor flipped and sank.
The 3am tsunami was only the beginning of a long ordeal for boaters. Severe tidal surges and currents ripped into and out of both Ma'alaea and Lahaina Harbors all day. Both harbors were officially closed and the boats that were out all night and all day to escape the tsunami effects were not allowed to re-enter the harbors. Ma'alaea Harbor re-opened around 6:00pm and all the boats made a mad dash to tie up in their slips before dark, but some of them were left with nothing to tie to. Lahaina Harbor is officially closed for the night, so everyone is shut out for another night. They should be able to re-enter Lahaina soon after daybreak.
Much work will need to be done on vessels, moorings, docks, and equipment. But to this writer's knowledge, no loss of life or serious personal injuries were sustained. We can all be grateful for that.
 |
| Lahaina Harbor |
KHON2: Boaters watch as their homes float away after tsunami
The tsunami warning triggered a mass exodus from Waikiki and most boat harbors but not everyone heeded the warnings.
The Moana Hotel moved some of its guests to the Princess Kaiulani while others simply left Waikiki. "It's in the red area and I'm living on the second floor so I'm kind of screwed if it comes,” said visitor Johan Brunsell.
Island residents fled for higher ground. Tantalus Drive was filled with hundreds of vehicles. A handful chose to wait this one out on the beach.
"The umbrella post is about three feet and it came in higher than that pole out there and it came and splashed on top of this wall,” said Matthew Niess who witnessed the tsunami.
The surges at Waikiki caused no damage but that was not the case at Keehi Small Boat Harbor at Sand Island and the La Mariana Sailing Club. "Beautiful boats have been damaged and the harbors has been damaged the slips the docks,” said Max Mankovsky, boat owner.
At first light, reality set in. "50, 60, 70 boats right now just kid of floating around,” said Larry Marvel, boat owner.
Powerful surges ripped away docks and piers with vessels still tied together. "There were three docks here -- ours is gone -- middle dock is done it's just a lot of damage -- it's really bad,” said boat owner, Bob Morency. "What would have helped was if the boat owners would have come down here and did what we should have done was take the boats and go,” said Marvel.
The ocean wasn't done.
"Boats you know are heavy and they move with surges and when they're left tied together they're going to move together they're going to snap and break,” said Marvel. Officials estimated 200 boats were affected and damage to the public infrastructure was about $1 million at Keehi Small Boat Harbor. Damage at Haleiwa Boat Harbor was estimated at $300,000. The damage to private infrastructure could only be described as in the millions.
"We can't continue with our lives floating away,” said boat owner, Marcus. Dreams dashed in one night. "It's definitely going to be dangerous for a long time,” said Morency. “There's going to be sunken boats out there there's going to be chemicals in the water it's going to take a long time to clean this up.”
KHON2 video clip:
http://www.khon2.com/content/news/editorschoice/story/Boaters-watch-as-their-homes-float-away-after/upqYv6N_GE-GqGr5DBqF-A.cspx
Why Navy Ships Stayed Docked in Pearl Harbor During Hawaii Tsunami
U.S. NavyWhy didn't the Navy take its ships to sea the way most Honolulu boat owners did? Did the Navy have information that the general public wasn't privy to?
It only seems rational that the military would want to safeguard its multi-million dollar investments, including a visiting aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln.
"We didn't feel like there would be that big of a danger," Lt. Commander John Perkins of the Navy's Pacific Fleet told Civil Beat.
Perkins said the Navy monitored the tsunami as it passed Guam and decided it was not necessary to man the ships and get them to deeper water.
"The decision, the timing, to get the crew basically to man the ships and get the ships under way versus what we thought the initial wave was going to be like... there were quite a few things that went in there," Perkins said. "So being able to get that number of ships under way — instead what we did was double line them up at the pier."
Basically, Perkins says the threat wasn't severe enough to go through the logistics of calling in the hundreds of sailors required to get the vessels under way.
Instead, the Navy tightened and doubled the lines fastening the ships to the dock as a precaution.
On March 11, the day after the tsunami, the Navy released a press release, where officials acknowledged the harbor received "a half-meter surge" of water. No homes at the joint Pearl Harbor/Hickam base were evacuated during the event.
The Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai — the world's largest instrumented multi-environmental range capable of supported surface, subsurface, air, and space operations simultaneously — did evacuate personnel and moved two helicopters and two C-26s off base.
As for whether the Navy had any information the public didn't, Perkins said no. Or at least it didn't rely on information not available to the public in making its decision. We think it's safe to say that the Navy has information not available to the general public. But in this case, it said Guam's experience was the deciding factor.
"The decision, the timing, to get the crew basically to man the ships and get the ships under way versus what we thought the initial wave was going to be like... there were quite a few things that went in there," Perkins said. "So being able to get that number of ships under way — instead what we did was double line them up at the pier."
Basically, Perkins says the threat wasn't severe enough to go through the logistics of calling in the hundreds of sailors required to get the vessels under way.
Instead, the Navy tightened and doubled the lines fastening the ships to the dock as a precaution.
On March 11, the day after the tsunami, the Navy released a press release, where officials acknowledged the harbor received "a half-meter surge" of water. No homes at the joint Pearl Harbor/Hickam base were evacuated during the event.
The Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai — the world's largest instrumented multi-environmental range capable of supported surface, subsurface, air, and space operations simultaneously — did evacuate personnel and moved two helicopters and two C-26s off base.
As for whether the Navy had any information the public didn't, Perkins said no. Or at least it didn't rely on information not available to the public in making its decision. We think it's safe to say that the Navy has information not available to the general public. But in this case, it said Guam's experience was the deciding factor.
TimesUnion.com slideshow link
Super Hawaii Tsunami [This Will Happen] link
Top Comments
I'm an engineering student...lots of math, etc....I've been working with some of the top experts in the fields of oceanography and volcanic geology on a theoretical means to avert such a disaster where by people, instead of evacuating, line up shoulder to shoulder along the coast and punch the wave directly in the face. It has shown some promise among persons with incredibly huge balls.
