For most of my 50-plus years operating from Lahaina Harbor, commercial and recreational vessels that did not have slips were forced to keep their vessels on offshore moorings, either on the Lahaina Roadstead or at Mala Wharf.

During Kona weather, many of these vessels would run over to Halepalaoa Landing, where they could anchor in the protected lee of Lanai. Occasionally, some vessels would head to Honolua Bay, which can often provide even better protection from Kona winds, although this carries the added risk of exposure to potentially large surf.

Hula Girl was at anchor off Halepalaoa Landing when sometime during the night lost its anchor and was forced to seek refuge elsewhere. In those Kona conditions, the only prudent and logical location would have been Honolua Bay, which is downwind from Lanai and provides “day-use” moorings for both recreation and commercial vessels.

This was clearly unintentional. Unlike the grounding in 2023 of the large motor vessel Nakoa, Hula Girl is a relatively lightweight catamaran that can be removed with minimal environmental damage. Whether the vessel itself can be salvaged is another question.

Community activist Kai Nishiki later posted, “the grounding demonstrates that it’s time to ban commercial boats from our sacred bay for good.”

This vessel was not operating commercially at the time, and in fact, even if Honolua Bay were closed to all boating activity, it would still have had the right to seek shelter there under maritime law that allows ships to seek shelter in a safe harbor during dangerous conditions.

Capt. Randolph S. Coon,

Co-founder of Trilogy Kula