On Tues., 6/5/12, at approx. 5:50 p.m., one (or more) of four Namolokama O'Hanalei Canoe Club 45' racing canoes (crewed by 24 Namolokama O'Hanalei Club paddlers) collided with the transom of my sailboat (HokuLe'a), which was resting at anchor on it's mooring in Hanalei Bay, resulting in significant damage below my stern waterline. The canoes were participating in one of their Mon. - Thurs. afternoon training sessions, in which they often race around Hanalei Bay, using the moored recreational and commercial boats as "rounding buoys" - frequently passing at "race pace" speed, only a foot or two away from the moored boats. Despite numerous requests to the paddlers to maintain a courteous distance from my boat (and all of the other boats) at anchor, my requests were ignored and the situation continued - unabated. Approx. one month ago (5/12), I proposed and was granted a private meeting with the Namolokama Club President expressing my concern for the potentially unsafe and unquestionably disrespectful behavior of the club paddlers when practicing in Hanalei Bay, and respectfully requesting the clubs cooperation in resolving this issue before the inevitable collision occurred. He was very cooperative and it is my understanding that the subject was brought up immediately, at a club meeting - instructing the club paddlers to remain a safe distance from the moored boats.  The result of that meeting was, unfortunately, that the canoes came as close as possible. On the afternoon of the collision with my boat, all four of Namolokama's canoes, in single file, passed from bow to stem, parallel to the port side of my hull, at "race pace", less than one foot away from my topsides, then turned sharply to port as they passed my stern - "clipping" my transom in the process. I was on board my boat at the time, and clearly witnessed the event - so there is no question as to what happened and who the responsible parties were. The paddlers continued without stopping. Make no mistake, this was NOT an unavoidable collision. This is clearly the result of careless (13-244-7) and reckless (13-244-80) operation on the part of the Namolokama paddlers, in violating the speed and proximity restrictions (13-256-39) (13-244-9) specified in the DLNR/DOBOR Administrative Rules. There is no "grey area" in respect to interpretation of the Administrative Rules. They are very clear and specific.
HANALEI                       