The Maui News reports on Superferry’s first day back. [Comments by Karen Chun]
Ride `really, really rough’
Superferry sails, but voyage not smooth; many suffer sickness
By CLAUDINE SAN NICOLAS, Staff Writer
KAHULUI — After a two-month layoff for repairs, the Hawaii Superferry returned to Kahului Harbor on Monday with a load of passengers facing no protests except the one in their bellies. [No protests because we know that Superferry is on its last legs.]
“It was one of the most miserable rides I’ve ever had,” said Kim Lane of Seattle.
She and other family members were part of the first set of passengers disembarking from the 350-foot Alakai after it arrived at Kahului. They said they dealt with high swells and rough seas for most of the three-hour-plus sail between Oahu and Maui. Those conditions caused many passengers to fall ill.
Terry O’Halloran, Superferry director of business development, disputed the report of many passengers being severely ill on the voyage, although he admitted the Honolulu-Kahului leg was rough. [These guys are in such denial. They think they can change reality by PR.]
He said it had been a good voyage. ["Denial, denial. Do you think anyone believes you any more?] The vessel was bounced by swells and strong trade winds in the channels between islands, but it was “much calmer” on the downwind Kahului-Honolulu return trip.
Passengers arriving in Kahului said many of them were puking during the ride.
“The crew was really trying to keep things clean, but there were vomit bags all over the place,” said passenger Monica Bishop in describing her ferry ride.
“You open the bathroom door and there’s puke on the sink,” said Brian Driscoll, a ferry rider from Fargo, N.D., who said he was among those who avoided illness.
“There were sick people all over the place,” he said.
Lane quickly added that Superferry crew members were friendly and cheerful, despite showing signs of seasickness themselves.
“It was really, really rough. . . . It was so bad you thought you were going to fall out of your chairs,” said Bishop, who rode the ferry with her husband, Doug, and four children. The family plans to move from Oahu to Maui and decided to use the next week and a half looking for a place to live on the Valley Isle.
Immediately after coming ashore, a Bishop son declared he would not return to Oahu on the ferry. Read more