Maui Locals Push to Change Name of Kamaole I to 'Shipwreck Beach'

A group of Kihei residents is planning a concept to change the name of Kamaole Beach Park I in town to 'Shipwreck Beach' ~ in honor of a sailboat that has been sitting smack-dab in the middle of the sand there since early December.

The sailboat named Dolphin has been beached since it was pushed ashore by strong swells and winds during the Kona low storm event Dec. 5 to 6. Neighbors frustrated with the state and county for lack of action moving the big boat are organizing a plan to live with it.

"At first we felt kind of sorry for whoever the owner was, and for the poor boat on its side," said Myra Kennedy, who lives in a condo complex across South Kihei Road. "Then after a while we kind of got used to it. It's cool to look at, the kids like it, and if you sit close enough you can actually get some shade there."

Kennedy and a group of about 25 concerned friends and neighbors have been trying to help the owner to move the boat ~ and the owner is trying to raise funds online to do so ~ and and begging the state and county for help.

After a couple of months of no movement, the group started thinking "outside the box," as Kennedy termed it. Then, when some folks tried to physically dig the boat out, only to have the tide roll in that night and sink it even further, they got serious.

"It's apparent that help is not on the way to get this huge thing out of the middle of Kam I, right in front of the lifeguard tower," said Joanna Jensen of Kihei, Kennedy's neighbor. "So we thought, Why not make it a state monument, and change the name of the park to 'Shipwreck Beach' so tourists would want to come check it out?"

Along with the beach name change, the locals anticipate asking the county for permits for booths to place on sidewalks nearby to sell Dolphin sailboat memorabilia, and to raise funds to form a nonprofit organization to help other boat owners in need.

"It was not the first small private sailboat washed ashore during a storm on Maui, nor will it be the last," Kennedy said. "Since it looks like the boat is not going anywhere, let's formally make it a monument, market it to attract visitors, and try to raise some funds to help the next boat owner."

"We could even have an  big annual fund-raiser there called 'Shipwreck Days,' complete with a parade down South Kihei Road," Jensen said. "The possibilities are endless." 

The owner of the retail Dolphin Center nearby expressed interest in joining the effort. "We can make this area 'Dolphin Central' on Maui!" he said.

Some residents have even suggested to change the boat's name to the "USS Minnow" ~ and try to shift the whole package to a Gilligan's Island theme.