New Addition to the Travel Lexicon: ‘Vagabond Neurosis’

World Hum’s Most Read: Oct. 4-10

What We Loved This Week: Bajofondo, Rattlesnake Cake and Leaf Peeping

Travel Headline of the Day: ‘Fear Grips Global Stock Markets’

Love Herring in Sweden

From artery-clogging casseroles to a fermented concoction that smells alarmingly like vinegary flatulence, Lola Akinmade digs in to a smörgåsbord of herring and explains how to best appreciate Scandinavia’s favorite fish. 

The Water Is Wide

Bronwen Dickey considers Tim Butcher’s “Blood River: A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart,” which takes readers deep into the Congo

Vagrant Ruminations of a Compulsive Traveler

Where does the urge to hunt for that “fleeting fix of elsewhere” come from? Peter Wortsman recalls a life of travel inspiration. 

Rolf Potts: Revelations from a Postmodern Travel Writer

His new book “Marco Polo Didn’t Go There” includes his best stories from the past 10 years. Michael Yessis asks him how travel writing has changed in the last decade—and what he sees for the future.

Notes From an Unofficial Tourist Greeter

Summer is over, and so is Julia Ross‘ season as an ambassador to travelers in Washington, D.C.’s Woodley Park neighborhood. She’s happy to be off duty.

10 Great Travel Race Movies

Slow travel is well and good. But there’s something irresistible about a great travel race movie. World Hum Travel Movie Clubbers Eva Holland and Eli Ellison share their favorite vicarious thrill rides.

How Should I Spend My Time in Spain?

Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel

Controversial Hawaii Superferry to Resume Operations

Now stopping the ferry is ‘justice’?  That attorney’s comment sounds like an actionable threat too. 

Good for the judge.  The ferry idea has been in development several years.  This is a state-of-the-art, multi-million dollar, custom-designed-for-Hawaiian waters boat, built in Alabama.  It went through sea trials there, was ‘driven’ to Hawaii and had more sea trials in Hawaii. 

There are already many, many other much larger international shipping container-ships plying the same waters.

Now it’s ‘problem’?

you dont know jack buddy.

the superferry was built for the military by a company called austral (they are the leading maufacturers of defense support vessels) they plan on using it whenever they want and they let the public think its for them.

do your research.  i sure have.

aloha

j is dead on regarding the boat.  army already has them and they have been around for war games here on kauai for several years.  there is a strong relationship between hawaii superferry and the military, pure and simple.

further, the superferry will operate at more than two times the speed of any ships currently in hawaii.  and that’s just the beginning.  as j said, you don’t know squat man.

Neocon, John Lehman’s Superferry will slice right through the Humpback Whale Sanctuary.

In 4 weeks of testimony both the plaintiff’s and Hawaii Superferry’s expert witnesses agreed that it will kill whales.

The cruise ships and freighters go very slowly...because the cruise ships want to take all night to get to another island to save fuel costs and the barges and freighters are also saving fuel.

The DLNR speed limit is 10 knots where whales are present.

HSF will be going 3 times as fast. The first whale to die will be one who comes every year with her calf outside Kahului Harbor.  We tried to get Gov Lingle to at least make them slow down the last couple miles into the harbor so HSF wouldn’t mow down this whale.

But Lingle wants to run for national office and she’s doing favors for Rove, Cheney and their neocon friends.

This operation is using almost 200 million of State and Federal money.  While our public housing crumbles and Lingle withholds the funds to repair it.

Lingle put out her deceptive “conditions” that weren’t even conditions—just BS SOUNDING like conditions but every one of them ending in “if feasible”. Meaning, they’re optional.

Anyone who takes the Superferry is morally responsible for the whales it kills—even if they don’t kill it on their particular trip.

CUZ, NO TAKE SUPERFERRY!

Wow.  At first I thought this wasn’t a big deal - I’m amazed that these ferries haven’t gotten more press.  Increased speeds make a huge difference to wildlife/ecosystems. 

I agree with MP - maybe the ferry can’t be stopped politically, but if we recognize our moral obligations as tourists we can stop this by putting it out of business.

"the superferry was built for the military by a company called austral (they are the leading manufacturers of defense support vessels) they plan on using it whenever they want and they let the public think its for them.
do your research.  i sure have.”

Can you show us the research. Austral is Australian, all US military transports are built in the US. For what possible purpose could the US Navy use this ship, your argument is rather lacking.

The argument for the whales is lacking a little two as the company seems to have done the studies, it appears that most people are really concerned about how the ferry will effect Island life, a bit like the airplane. It will, but be honest what you are attacking.

Austral used to be an Australian company.  I think that Lehman bought it (same guy who is major HSF investor and neocon buddy of Cheney’s)

“The company seems to have done studies” [on whales}

HSF seems to have done a lot of things if you read their PR.  When you try to pin them down to facts, it’s like nailing jello to the wall.

I watched 4 weeks of sworn testimony where experts testified (even HSF’s own expert) that speed kills and that speed and big size kills even more.

Facts are facts.  DLNR says everyone else has to go 10 knots through the Humpback Whale Sanctuary.  Lingle says Superferry can go 25 knots...and FASTER if it wants to. 

Whale damage can be caused by smaller, slower, boats.  But whale kills have been scientifically shown to increase dramatically at speeds in excess of 13 knots. 

Mostly we see small boat collisions with whales where often it is the passengers that get killed but not usually the whale.

This huge, gas-guzzling speeding, heavy ship will (not may) WILL kill whales.  That was the sworn testimony of experts in court.

And don’t be fooled by the no propellers argument.  Yes, propellers slice up whales.  But it is the blunt force trauma of the Superferry’s twin hulls that kills them.

LARGE COMP.ALWAYS TRY TO BLOCK NEW THINGS THEY BELIVE WILL COMPETE WITH THEM.ALL REGS. AND SEA DUTIES WILL BE WORKED OUT THESE PEOPLE ARENT FOOLISH CHANGE IS A MUST FOR THE FUTURE. LOOK AT THE CRUISE LINES THE LAST 10 YEARS HAVE FAITH. LOOK ALOT CLOSER AT THE FACTS IT WILL ALL WORK OUT FOR EVERONE IM NOT A DRUM BANGER I BELIVE WATCH LOOK AND LISTEN AND GO FROM THERE.

"LARGE COMP. ALWAYS TRY TO BLOCK”

This is one of the untrue rumors that HSF has been putting out.  There is no large company involved in the fight to make HSF do an EIS.  Many small donations have been made by regular people and that has financed the lawsuit (along with a substantial discount, I believe, on legal fees)

I WISH that some large company would help us out since we are looking at completely drained coffers now...not that we’ll let that stop us.

“CHANGE IS A MUST FOR THE FUTURE”

Must for whom? The mainlanders coming over here to destroy our culture and ‘aina?  Yeah, they’d like us to believe that it is inevitable that Maui will look just like LA in a few years.  I’d like to try and hold out against that.

“LOOK AT THE CRUISE LINES”

Actually that is one reason everyone is so up at arms about HSF.  In fact one of the HSF VP’s was involved with the company that went bankrupt, was bailed out by the NCL deal which saddled us with cruise ships in already overloaded Kahului Harbor.  Same back room dealing.  Same MARAD loans.  Same EIS exclusion.

Now our surfers paddle through waves of cruise ship sewage dumped 3 miles offshore.  We have 7mph currents so it takes about 1/2 an hour for it to wash up on Kanaha beach when the wind is right.  Most the time the cruise ship sewage collects at Big Lefts over by Paukukalo.

It’s so disgusting that when we (outrigger) paddle through their sewage we try real hard not to splash.

So you bring up another sore point.  The neighbor islands have been loaded down with unwanted and damaging businesses that degrade our environment, clog our roads and generally make life unpleasant for us.  It simply isn’t worth the pieces of silver that Lingle et al have sold us out for.

We’ve had enough.  That’s why the big reaction to yet another project being shoved down our throats over the objections of our County Council and Mayor.

Heard a great comment from a local the other day.  She said, “The first time the Superferry pulls in with a baby whale impaled on the front, that will be the finish of it.” Her husband is from England and says it happens all the time there.

David