HAWAII OCEAN SAFETY TEAM

Advisory Board Meeting

June 14, 2012 (3:00 pm)

Hawaii Yacht Club

Minutes

Attendance:

Darren Bullock              Tom Collins               Bob Heidrich                         Arlen Walsten

Chris Woolaway           CDR Ben Gates       Ling Ong                               Alan Hong

Brad Rimell                    Anne Stevens          Robin Bond

1.         Call to Order 1500 (3:00 pm) Robin called the meeting to order at 3:15, and introductions were made.

•         Approval of the Minutes of the May 10 meeting:  The circulated minutes were approved.

•         Treasurer’s Report – Chris reported that HOST has $1,866.07 in the checking account.

•         New Advisory Board Member for Recreational Boating – Alan Hong’s appointment was approved.

•         Topics for the June 21, HOST Membership Meeting:

           a.    Update of the June 4-7 Hurricane Exercise:  Anne Stevens is contacting Gary Greedy of State Civil Defense to be a presenter.

           b.    Update on Mandatory Boater Education because of State rules:  Board members were unsure of any new information that could be of interest to the General Membership. So the presentation is deferred.

           c.  There was discussion about the current incident that the Coast Guard is investigation off of Kaanapali were a large catamaran hit a swimmer with their propeller.  This multi-use of the ocean reaffirms the “Share the Ocean” concept.  

           d. Brad volunteered to contact Oceantronics for a short presentation.

•         Pending HOST Safety Issues
  • Flare disposal project – Arlen Walsten updated the Board that the first delivery to H-Power was done today.  The 300 pounds of flares went well and the next delivery will be about 500 pounds. Arlen will do an announcement at the General Meeting.
    • Brad brought up about the Bright lights at Pier 29 as a concern.

•         Continuing HOST Business  

           a.    Falls of Clyde safety issues and general update – Chris updated the Board on the work going on in July with collaboration of the National Park Service.  All of this work needs to be done for dry dock.

           b.    Marine debris from the Japan tsunami – Chris mentioned the debris that has come ashore off of Oregon and that the currents are actually protecting Hawaii but that may be due to change.. 

           c.     Update of Lahaina Tendering Video – Robin updated the Board as the State has approval to video the Lahaina operations.  Jim Walsh is providing the vessel.

           d.    Share the Ocean – Update and reprint of the Diving Safety Reminder – Robin mentioned that the State of Hawaii DOBOR is going to fund the outreach on this with brochures, bumper stickers, etc.

           e.    Keehi Lagoon range marker update – Chris and Brad:  Anne Stevens reported for Bill Davis that the MOU would be submitted to the City next week.  Chris will follow up.

           f.     Open ocean canoe racing safety issues – John Benson – John is unable to attend, so no report.

•         New Business

           a.    Election of new Board Officers – Bob Heidrich reported that no new officers were nominated and the members voted to keep the same Officers.

           b.    Suggestion to develop a procedure to divert tsunami debris from entering Hanauma Bay- Robin and Alan led the discussion on what had been proposed before for oil spill mitigation.  Kim was not in attendance but concerns were expressed as to what might be done to protect sensitive areas from marine debris.  The discussion will be continued

9.       USCG Concerns: CDR Gates reported that last week the Coast Guard conducted a tabletop exercise, with a focus on “effective response”.

           Darren Bullock gave a quick presentation on the MTSRU Port Continuity Tabletop exercise (TTX) they did as part of Makani Pahili 2012.  The TTX was held at Pier #19 on 04/05 JUN.  First day of the TTX consisted of participating agency presentations on pre-landfall actions and post-landfall actions during hurricanes.  Second day consisted of discussions about actions to take during the closure of the Port of Honolulu and opening up an alternate port at Pearl Harbor (JBPHH) to conduct cargo operations.  Over 50 participants from 30 different agencies participated to discuss five main objectives, centering on critical aids-to-navigation, actions pre-landfall of a hurricane, actions post-landfall of a hurricane, vessel prioritization once port opened, and utilizing JBPHH as an alternate port.  Exercise was very successful, but did provide some lessons learned and actions items for all participants.  TTX also shaped the future of MTSRU exercises for the next 2-4 years.

           CDR Gates reported that the Coast Guard and the Navy have signed a MOU for the use of Pearl Harbor by commercial vessels as a safe harbor in case of a disaster.

10.     State of Hawaii Concerns (DOT Harbors and DLNR). Anne reported that there was a problem with a vessel from Guam going into Kewalo and confusion about what the flags they were flying mean.  The suggestion is that HPD needs to have additional training.

           Robin reported that DOBOR has asked for a grant proposal from HOST to assist with the parking and Harbor Safety Summit travel – Chris was tasked to write a grant proposal. 

11.     Coast Guard Auxiliary and Power Squadron Issues – There was none reported.  

12.     NOAA Issues – There was none reported.

13.     Announcements: Chris reported that on July 25^th a special presentation is being held at the Pier 7 Falls of Clyde: Dr. Matthew James, Chair of the Department of Geology at Sonoma State University (California), will give an hour-long talk on the 1905–06 scientific collecting expedition to the Galápagos Islands conducted by the California Academy of Sciences. It will include the history of the expedition’s two-masted schooner Academy (ex-Earnest), which was built in 1875 for the U.S. Coast Survey.

           Dr. James grew up on O‘ahu and did his undergraduate work at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He is the recipient of the 2011 Karl Kortum Award for Maritime History for his work on the 1905–06 expedition. He has worked on Galápagos science, history, and conservation for 30 years, since first visiting the islands in 1982 on a paleontology expedition.

           Seating is limited. Please RSVP to Susan Yamamoto by email at geovision@hawaii.rr.com.  There is no public parking at Pier 7.

14.     Next Meetings:     AdvisoryBoard Meeting: July 12, 2012 (3:00 pm)

                                           Membership Meeting: June 21, 2012 (2:00)

15.     Adjourn 1700 (5:00 pm)