Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 368 AUGUST 2016 • FOGHORN FOGHORNFOCUS: SAFETY B eautiful weather, warm water, and a cultural history that thrives around the ocean make the isolated islands of Hawaii a hotbed for recreational waterway users. Traditional six-man Hawaiian outrigger canoes, stand-up paddle- boards, kayaks, and other human- powered watercraft are used by locals and visitors throughout Hawaiian ports every single day of the year. In addition to recreational waterway use, Hawaii is extremely reliant on ships for commercial transport of goods as well as carrying passengers for tourism. Approximately 98 percent of food, machinery, clothing, and other supplies that enter the state come through the commercial harbors of Hawaii. Hawaii also has one of the largest small passenger fleets in the country. Coexistence of recreational crafts and commercial vessels is paramount to the safe management of the waterways throughout the State. The Hawaii Ocean Safety Team (HOST) is a non-profit organization made up of industry, recreational, and governmental waterway users and regulators whose purpose is to promote stewardship of Hawaii’s waters and enhance ocean safety. HOST recently began receiving an increase in reports of close calls between human-pow- ered recreational craft and commer- cial ships. In a majority of these cases, human-powered craft were impeding safe passage of cruise ships and other large commercial vessels while tran- siting narrow channels in and out of Talking Story: Resolving Waterway Conflicts By LCDR Nicolas Jarboe, U.S. Coast Guard port. HOST’s response to these close calls was not to seek punitive or reg- ulatory action against those at fault, but to address these serious safety concerns by using what Hawaiian’s call “talk story” as a means to resolve this waterway conflict. “Talk story” is a term used in Hawaii to simply sit down and chat. It is a way for people to bring up concerns they have, to share personal experi- ences, or to express their opinion on something. The term is imbedded in the Hawaiian culture and has a disarming effect when people are asked to the table to talk story. HOST members from the small passenger fleet, recreational waterway users, tug and barge operators, local pilot’s association, and the Coast Guard formed a working group and invited leadership of the canoe clubs on Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island to a series of talk story sessions. This working group created a presentation outlining the dangers of impeding the safe passage of vessels that can only operate in a narrow channel. They covered the applicable navigation rules of the road and shared experiences of close calls where operators nearly had to make a decision to run the ship aground or collide with the human powered craft. They discussed the potential environmental and economic consequences of grounding a ship or the potential loss of life in a collision. But most importantly there was an op- portunity to simply “talk story.” These talk story sessions gave the recreational paddling community and commercial operators a forum to share openly possible ways to make the waterways safer. Canoe clubs near commercial ports conveyed the importance of commercial operators sounding their one prolonged blast when getting underway to indicate they are leaving the dock. Industry committed to spreading the word among commercial operators to sound