Keehi Small Boat Harbor - Anyone Have Personal Experience ?

[jimi71]

Are there any forum members living in (or have lived in) Keehi Small Boat Harbor?

I'm looking for opinions on the conditions, also any information on boat security/crime.

I am considering this Marina due to the allowance of pets and would like to get to know anyone currently there.

I appreciate any info and welcome all to comment!

Thanks,
James

[Thermal]

James,
There are three marinas here in Keehi lagoon, Keehi Small Boat Harbor is (mis)managed by the state. It is in a sad state of disrepair, at least a quarter of the docks are gone, have long since floated away, with only some concrete pilngs remaining. Security is non-existent, and there is a fair bit of crime, vandalism, car-stealing, drug dealing, etc. The harbor also has a large number of mooring balls in the lagoon, which used to be an anchorage. Although living aboard is not allowed, there are at least several dozen liveaboards out there - every once in a great while they will do a "raid" and kick people off their boats, but everybodys back in a couple of weeks. I was a liveaboard out there for about 5 months til I got a slip in one of the private marinas. Thought the mooring balls were preferable to the docks - more peaceful and secure, and bought a kayak to get to shore since outboards tend to walk away there and anything that needs to be rowed appaerantle doesn't appeal to the thieves.
In addition to all that, Keehi is right at the end of Honolulu international's runways, so there's a constant stream of jets overhead, including Aloha Airlines' ancient and very noisy 737's and a few F15's now and then. Also a lot of noise and dirt coming from the concrete recyling plant, likewise, the marinas are all on Sand Island Access rd. where ever bit of ocean freight coming into the entire state rolls down the road on trucks. All the trucks, and most of the planes don't run at night though, and its a lot more peaceful.
That's an awful lot of negative stuff, but the upside is it IS in Hawaii, there are still some open places for your boat. Can also make do without a car, the city is'nt that big, and I get around by bicycle. To see other parts of the island, the buses have bike racks that are seldom used.
The marina I'm in, La Mariana, doesn't allow pets either, yet there are a few liveaboards with dogs anyways. The marina is oned by a 90+ year old woman, and noboy there seems to pay any attention to what's going on in the marina, there's even quite a few boats that just sort of pulled in one day but never paid any rent...
A bit of advice - If you do want to live aboard in Hawaii, then get your name on the waiting list at Ala Wai small boat harbor - the wait seems to be getting shorter all the time, I know several people that have gotten in in less than 3 years, and although that marina is also dilapidated, the location can't be beat. You don't even need to own a boat to get on the list, just your $15, or $100 for non-residents.

Aloha,
Berndt

[jimi71]

Thanks Berndt!

Thats what I was afraid of, I had heard about the issue of crime and drugs from another person living in the area. I actually called Keehi Small Boat Harbor today and talked to someone about the slip rates, etc. They do allow pets, and the slip rates are very reasonable (although there is a wait) but when I ask him about crime he pulled one of those, "welllll, you see, there are some instances...." which made me feel that he wasnt 100% honest about the situation.

I did call Ala Wai and the person was very nice... they do allow pets but only on the 6th pier and the rates are still reasonable. He is sending me a "waitlist packet" and as you said, you don't need a boat to get your name on, just a boat when you actually get the slip.

I tried calling La Marianna today as well, but no one answered the entire day.

My biggest obsticle is my pets...I have two small dogs, a female basset hound and a mini schnauzer...they are my wife and I's biggest concern and something we are not willing to part with. Geting them over there (hopefully on a 5 day quarunteen instead of the normally longer one) is one thing, keeping them there without someone telling us they have to go, is another.

Thank you again for the great information and please, if anyone else wants to chime in here it is much appreciated!

James

[Thermal]

James,
The folks at La Mariana seem to be in the office 10-3 HST or so, and are often gone during lunch. The number in the phone book is 808 848-2800. Supposedly this place has been sold and is in escrow right now, undoubtedly things will change here when the new owners take over - nobody knows whats going to happen.
Fogot to mention about the state: dealing with those people can ruin your whole day - seem nice enough until you atually have a boat there, then its a jekyll and hyde scenario. Bureaucrats as far removed from boating as you can get and can give a whole new meaning to aloha spirit!
Good luck

[awr401]

Aloha ,

I have lived on oahu for 2 years, I would like to live at la mariana. I am purchasing a 30 Cal. What are the chances of that. If I don't get a slip I'll just move around in transient while my name is on everylist. What do you think.

Adam

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha AWR,
Are you buying "Olali" from John? It is a good value and I even considered buying her. I've sailed her from Hilo to Honokahau and back again and also back to Honokahau. So through the Alenuihaha channel three times on her. Only broke a gooseneck once and that was repaired as soon as we got back in port. I believe she is in need of new rigging or at least a good check. You can replace the worst pieces one at a time which would not be too expensive.
Taking the route from Honokahau to the lee of Maui and then on to Molokai and on to Oahu is a "milk run," "cake walk," "piece of cake," "easy as pie" if you wait for the right weather window. Ask me about it if you are curious.
Regards,
JohnL

[SkiprJohn]

Oops! sorry to hijack this post. Apologies all around.
JohnL

[roverhi]

'Thermals' letter seems to be a copy of an earlier post. Still mostly correct but dated. Aloha Airline's demise is lamented. There cargo side is still in business but flights are much less frequent. Annette, owner of LaMarianna, died a couple of years ago. Lot of huhu about the estate. Claims that a supposed friend took advantage of her advanced age and condition and had her sign over the rights to the marina. That's in the courts but may be nearing settlement. Hope whoever ends up with the marina keeps it the way it's been.

Many years ago, I had my boat in LaMarianna. Enjoyed the marina, the old Hawaii ambience, but didn't enjoy the KC135s at 0600. This was before they'd rewinged the KC135's with TurboFan engines. They had four J57 TurboJets with water injection. Take off roll was so long they'd start down at Hickam field before the official runway for HNL. The ground would shake and conversation stop as soon as they went to full power and they were two miles away. Think they'd climbed all the way to 150' by the time they went directly over the boat. If you think Aloha's planes were noisy!!!! Imagine it's now almost quiet at Keehi

Can't say enough good things about the State of Hawaii Harbor's Division. If you ever need a poster child for privatization of geovernment management, it's them. They won't charge enough to maintain the marinas largely because their bruddah's have boats in the marinas and are too cheap to pay reasonable slip fees. Since the marinas aren't making money, the State lets them slip into ruin. It's really a crime.

Aloha
Peter O.

[Celestialsailor]

I was visiting a friend on another Rawson 30 over Christmas time and he also stated that the anchor out In Keehi was full of druggies. To be honest the State is to blame for the poor condition of docks and crime. This could really be the oyster of the Pacific. There is no reason they could not breathe life into this boating industry and make it a Antigua west.

[Vega1860]

Lived in Hawaii for thirty years. Lived aboard at Ke'ehi Marine Center (Next to La Mariana) for two and at Ala Wai for sixteen. We sailed away to the Pacific Northwest in May of 2007 and I wonder why I waited so long. Hard to imagine an island state could be so inhospitable for boaters.

Sorry to hear about Annette, even though she must have been close to 100. She was a sweet old lady and I loved that dirty old island style bar and restaurant, even with the airplanes.

[Thermal]

Gee, can't believe this thread floated up again! Yes, my old post is a bit dated now. Things are definitely quieter since Aloha's 737s passenger fleet quit. The state is slowly starting to repair some facilities, albeit at a glacial rate of speed. The "F" dock at Ala Wai has finally been replaced, and they a starting to work on some of the others. On the other hand, Keehi looks as run-down as always. They have started enforcing the "bouy run" rule which says that you must demonstrate that your boat is able to go out to the furthest bouy out the channel and back under its own power once a year. This has resulted in a few of those floating piles of junk breaking up on the reef out there and being cut up and hauled away. The dozen or so boats that have sunk at their mooring ball are still there sitting on the bottom. Another thing that has changed for the worse is the state's concept of "first come, first served". You must now fill out a form to get on a waiting list for first come, first served transient mooring since they are all "occupied", and you might get a call from them a couple of months later. The fact that some of those transient slips or mooring balls haven't had a physical manifestation of some sort of vessel on them for the last several months seems to be totally irrelevant.
My boat is still down at La Mariana, although I moved onto land about 6 months ago - my tolerance for harbor related ******** in Hawaii has been exhausted. That was fortuitous since after Annette passed away, the new managers instituted a NO live-aboard policy. Again, the dozen or so people that they knowingly allow to live on board seems to be irrelevant.
It would not be a good time to buy a boat out here with the intention of living aboard unless you have a huge resorvoir of patience to deal with the BS. An all-out don't give a damn mindset would also be useful as you could then just move around from place to place ignoring anything they have to say. The same bureaocracy that keeps you from doing things the right way then works in your favor as it will take several monts at each place for them to actually get you out.

[msp2hnl]

Is the Ko Olina a better choice? I'm moving to Honolulu this summer and would eventually like to have a slip at Ala Wai, with the idea of staying at Ko Olina until my name comes up on the Ala Wei list

[tcul]

I drove by this weak. Still kind of messed up. Not the best part of town. Kind of reminds me of that bar scene in the movie "Airplane", 1980. You know, where there was a big skid row fight where the disco music starts and all the bums and seedy dock charactors start "boogeying".

TC

[Mako Kidd]

I received both my CONDITIONAL OFFER OF AVAILABLE OFFSHORE MOORING (ball) and my CONDITIONAL OFFER OF AVAILABLE BERTH FOR "D" CATEGORY SLIP last week Thursday by certified mail. I was so excited that I was almost jumping for joy. I currently moor on a temporary slip way out at Waianae Small Boat Harbor, but I live in town, so getting two offers at Keehi Small Boat Harbor was fantastic news. I was thrilled until I actually went down to inspect the slip that they were offering.

You see, Category "D" slips are relegated to the 700 and 800 piers which are the oldest and most delapidated docks I have ever seen outside of third world countries. Not only was the slip's dock all crooked and a serious safety hazard, there was only a single cleat to which I would be able to tie my vessel. Well, I'll let you decide whether you'd tie your boat to this dock or not, here's a photo I took on Saturday...



Not only was the dock a lawsuit waiting to happen, I took a look around at the other docks on the pier and saw that, of the occupied slips, all were inhabited by homeless crackheads. No doubt, all squatters, my wife actually spoke to one of these people who was "waiting for this other girl to come off her boat, so I can kick her ass." She went on to tell my wife that she had received a notice that she had to leave within 72 hours or have her boat impounded. We plan to return on Wednesday to see if any of these vermin have actually vacated the pier. Here's a photo of the boat in the slip immediately adjacent to the one they offered me...



There's absolutely no way I could even consider taking the risk of moving my boat here. I have less than 14 days to decide whether I am accepting their offer, refusing this offer - but maintain my position on the wait list, or drop from the list by not responding. If I do make my first refusal, it is a minimum of six month's wait before I can come up for another slip offer. What kind of a system is that where the state can get away with offering up these ghetto accomodations and the only option is to have to wait another 6 months? It's absolutely ridiculous.

I spoke to one of the harbor agents and they told me that they are really trying to clean up the area. I agree that they've been making progress, but the result is that the transients have all migrated to the only two piers that my boat can be assigned (category "D"). I was also told that my boat cannot be re-assigned to another category unless I modify the vessel by adding or subtracting from its length. So let me get this straight, homeless people can live on the boats unmolested for years, but I can't get a decent slip for my boat because it's 36 inches too short for the next category up. That sounds fair, don't you think?


Well, I guess there's always the ball they offered...

Mako Kidd

[tcul]

I looked at a Cal 30 there yesterday, Sunday before MLK day. The gate to access one of the wharfs was wide open and I was able to walk right up to any boat. Could have jumped aboard the boat of my choice, copped me an outboard and drove off.

Talked to a lady living at the end of the dock. She said there were only a couple druggies left. Don't know if it was the one mentioned above. She said they are definitely cleaning the place up. There is a brand new dock between where the decent people are, and the two druggy docks (800?). It was totally vacant of boats. Probably waiting for the management's brudahs first choice.

TC