Superferry counts 125,000th traveler

School starts today at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Jazmine Poouahi of Wailuku went to school via the Hawaii Superferry.

She's not the only one. Her father, Calvin, was counted as the 125,000th passenger the Alakai has carried between islands.

The whole Poouahi family - mom Yolanda and brother Isaac - escorted Jazmine, their vehicle loaded with her school stuff. The 2008 graduate of Kamehameha Schools Maui is majoring in accounting at UH, according to 'Ahahui Ka'ahumanu, the royal Hawaiian society for women, which awarded Poouahi a $500 scholarship.

"Today is a special day for our company as we have reached a significant milestone for our service." said Hawaii Superferry President Tom Fargo. "We congratulate and thank Calvin and his family for voyaging with us and representing an important milestone for the people and businesses of Hawaii. The Poouahis are representative of the many families that have traveled together over a busy and active summer."

As a reward, the Poouahis were given a year's worth of trips - one round-trip voyage per month for the family of four plus a vehicle - and a gift basket of Hawaii Superferry logo items and other goods available at the onboard gift shop, the Calabash.

All the other passengers on the voyage received a limited edition T-shirt commemorating the milestone voyage.

Superferry has had "a very good summer," said Fargo and in fact it reached 100,000 passengers so quickly the company didn't have time to capitalize on the event.

It was ready for 125,000, however. The Poouahis were typical, in that a survey by Qmark Research found that 80 percent of Superferry passengers have been residents. The survey found 98 percent would recommend Superferry to friends and family and 92 percent rated the experience very favorable, Fargo said.

The ferry has now completed 486 voyages - 488 by the time your read this - and has not missed a trip since April 6.

Summer should be the best time, as seas are calmer.

Fargo said he anticipates having to miss a trip at some point.

"Just like airlines or anybody else we will have mechanical issues," he said.

Last winter, the ferry had numerous weather-related issues that kept it in port for weeks at a time. The company had initially estimated that it would be prevented from sailing by weather about 1 percent of the time - three or four days a year.

Its first season it did much worse, but since resuming operations on April 7, things have gone forward without a hitch.

There are no whales to worry about this time of year, the north shore is calm and the other principal source of criticism - interisland transport of dangerous or forbidden things - has not created any obvious problems, according to Fargo.

Passengers and vehicles are screened.

"We are finding a few things," Fargo said Tuesday, although he believes most are brought "not maliciously." As riders become more familiar with the rules, he said, he expects interceptions to decline.

Screeners have confiscated nets, "opihi once in a while," shrimp. Things like nets are held and given back to the traveler when he returns to his home island.

Commercial traffic accounts for about one-fifth of the business, and Superferry has several large commercial accounts, like Love's Bakery and several freight expediters. Fargo said "one thing that surprised me a little bit are the small business folks who are using the ferry." These are the "Ford F150" drivers who find it worthwhile to take themselves and their tools between islands - tilers, roofers, farmers and many other trades.

They are paying full fare, too. Hawaii Superferry can pass through its fuel costs, and since these have been up steeply since April, the fuel surcharge now amounts to 68 percent of the base fare. Commercial customers are being charged this amount, although private vehicles will have the surcharge waived as a promotional fee through October.

The Alakai has transported more than 34,000 vehicles, of which 2,800 were commercial.

* Harry Eagar can be reached at heagar@mauinews.com.