NEW TRENDS IN PROTEST: SURFERS HOLD OFF SUPERFERRY

HONOLULU ADVERTISER - Hundreds of protesters on surfboards, swimming in the harbor and lining the docks held the Hawaii Superferry at bay for nearly two hours yesterday at Nawiliwili Harbor on Kaua'i, setting the stage for a legal showdown in a Maui courtroom this morning. The U.S. Coast Guard used force to secure waters around the harbor where swimmers and surfers created a human blockade that had prevented the Superferry's 350-foot-long vessel, the Alakai, from entering the harbor. . . Kaua'i swimmers and surfers, cheered on by nearly 300 protesters on shore, occupied the middle of the harbor channel and turned back the Superferry.

At least 34 people swam out into the path of the ferry during the late afternoon. They stayed until three Coast Guard rigid-hulled inflatables, with a Coast Guard cutter standing by, began powering between the swimmers and surfers, appearing to charge at individual swimmers, taking one surfer's board and apparently trying to haul some of the group out of the water.

"They had a hook," said one female surfer. "I splashed them, and they told me that was illegal. They tried to hook me, but I paddled away as fast as I could."

Some of the protesters were arrested, but it was not known how many.

Earlier, the ferry backed out of the harbor about 6 p.m. after a half-hour standoff with 16 swimmers and surfers during which only a single Coast Guard vessel was present. As people on shore cheered and chanted slogans, the ferry remained on station a half-mile outside the harbor. . .

Surfer Dennis Chun said he tried to tell Coast Guard officers that the group was acting in defense of the Hawai'i Supreme Court, which ruled last week that the Superferry needed an environmental assessment. . .

"It's not too common for federal forces to go against the citizenry," said psychiatrist Gary Blaich, who was watching the event. "It's been a while."

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