HOST Advisory Board Meeting
August 11, 2005
Kim Beasley Bill Mossman
Bob Heidrich John Regan
Chris Woolaway Kimo Corstorphine
Robin Bond Scott Osborn
Jeff Brennan Scott Cunningham
Captain Terry Rice (Ret.) Tom Heberle
LCDR Rick Raksnis Randy Swindell
INTRODUCTIONS
Robin asked everyone to introduce themselves.
AGENDA ITEM #1 Call to Order
Robin called the meeting to order. A quorum is present.
AGENDA ITEM #2 Approval of the Minutes of last meeting.
Robin Bond asked if there were any proposed changes to the Minutes from the February 17, June 2 and April 21. Hearing none, the Minutes were passed by consensus.
AGENDA ITEM #3 Treasurer’s Report
Chris Woolaway reported that we have a total of $1,383.95 which is after spending funds to support Robin’s trip to the Harbor Safety Conference.
American Savings sent us a notice that they will now start charging us a monthly maintenance fee of $5.00. It may be time to look for a new bank.
AGENDA ITEM #4 Next Membership Meeting Topics ( August 25th, 2005 )
• Chris Woolaway suggested that we ask for a presentation on the installation of a pipeline extending out to about 30 feet of depth from just adjacent to Honolulu Harbor . David Rezachek, Associate Development Director of Honolulu Sea Water Air Conditioning Development LLC is interested in giving a presentation of the plans.
• Bill Anonsen is willing to give an update on Maritime Security Cruise Ship update. Essentially this is a report on the lessons learned from an NCL/security community exercise that was conducted recently. There was a general consensus that this might be of general interest.
• Rick Raksnis said that there is a new Damage Control School that has just finished their first class. They may be willing to come and give us a presentation on their activities and curriculum. Joe Curtis has been invited to speak about the advanced fire fighting school. They have extended the HOST board an invitation to come out and see a real fire.
• Ward Graessle will be willing to give a brief talk and show some pictures regarding the salvage effort of the Casitas.
• Robin said that we have the video “Sharing the Bay” which lasts about 15 minutes. It would be a good video to show what can be accomplished by a harbor safety committee. It may be that we could do a similar video on some of the issues in Hawaii .
AGENDA ITEM #5 Pending HOST Safety Issues
• SOP 6-98 Commercial VHF Comms. Scott Osborn has submitted a first draft which has gone to the Board for comments. He and Robin will make minor adjustments and get the SOP out to the membership.
• Safety At Sea Subcommittee. – Rick Sheema and Susan both busy right now but are moving forward to set up classes for the windward and Waianae sides.
• Kawaihae Harbor Tug and Barge Safety – Nothing new on this but Tom Heberle pointed out that it is not just tugs. They are starting to see some cargo ships going there such as the loading of the deep sea water for export to Japan .
• SOP 7-98 Multiple Cruise Vessels Visiting Offshore Port Anchorages – Kim said that we are now putting together a committee. We have Troy Brown, Jeff Connors, Kim Beasley and asked if anyone else wants to join in. LCDR Rick Raksnis and Captain Terry Rice volunteered and suggested that Hal Silva from Maui be invited.
• Clean Water Act/State water quality subcommittee – Nothing new here.
• Tug Assistance – The Harbor Pilots have submitted their letter to Barry Fukunaga and would encourage anyone with an interest in this subject to write a letter to Harbors. He also raised the question of whether a harbor escort tug could also play a role in homeland security. Rick Raksnis responded that the USCG has different requirements for different MARSEC levels. This could be a possible subject for consideration at the AMSC. Captain Terry Rice raised the concern that lines of authority and liabilities may be legal issues that would bear on this subject.
AGENDA ITEM #6 – New Business
Nothing really new at this time.
Be thinking about topics for the next General Membership meeting.
Bob Heidrich relayed a story of an offshore race just after the TransPac. Due to heavy off shore weather the race route was rearranged and unfortunately crossed the entrance to Honolulu Harbor . Unfortunately many of the commercial vessels leaving that morning knew nothing of the change of routing. It would have been nice if Aloha Tower could have informed the commercial shipping of the potential conflict just outside of the harbor. This could be something that HOST could possibly look into. It is definitely a safety issue. Matson did a good job of avoiding offshore conflicts but some sailboats sailed between tow boat and barge which can be very dangerous. Tom Heberle and perhaps LTJG Quincey Jones could get together and at least identify the current process. Bob Heidrich agreed to head a subcommittee to look into this issue. Scott Cunningham suggested that Bill Davis of Harbors could assist.
AGENDA ITEM #7 – USCG Concerns
Captain Manson Brown told Rick Raksnis about a report from the Seattle area regarding a study on what size tugs are appropriate for modern cruise ships. He will try to get a copy of that report for discussion purposes involving the USCG.
LCDR Raksnis also reported that the vessel “Casitas” is off the rocks.
The efforts to conduct major clean up efforts in the northwest Hawaiian Islands will continue for this year. A vessel called the “Free Bird” is being considered to replace the “Casitas” which ran aground on Pearl and Hermes reef.
This is also going to involve a deeper diving effort in conjunction with the USCG Cutter Walnut. USCG personnel are allowed to dive deeper than the NOAA folks and some nets have been located in these deeper waters. There is currently no guarantee for funding for Federal assets for next year.
AGENDA ITEM #8 State of Hawaii Concerns
Scott Cunningham wanted to thank the Pilots association for their comments regarding assist tugs. He reported that a recent incident did occur where a dock line was dropped early and sucked into a bow thruster, disabling it. Luckily there was an assist tug available.
He attended an interesting meeting with some energy companies proposing to develop Ocean Thermal energy to contribute to the HEI grid. Offshore concrete platforms would be installed that may be able to accommodate a broad variety of additional operations. One of these platforms could also be used to generate hydrogen for the new cars. The one they are proposing would be about 15 acres.
AGENDA ITEM #9 Coast Guard Auxiliary – John Regan had nothing new to report.
AGENDA ITEM #10 Announcements
September 17th is the 2005 “Get the Drift and Bag It”.
Chris Woolaway distributed the NOAA Mariners Guide to Marine Weather Services. Also she can get a poster on Marine Photos to determine wind speed.
NEXT MEETINGS
General Membership Meeting:
August 25th, 2:00 pm , Honolulu Community College Marine Training Facility.
Executive Board Meeting:
September 8th, 3:00 pm , Hawaii Yacht Club located in the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor .