Water jet packs need some regulatory love

Got to admit, those water-propelled jet packs sound very cool — and on these hot summer days, that goes literally as well as figuratively. There’s something James Bond-ish about being levitated off the surface by jets of piped-in ocean water.

Marine critters, on the other hand, might not be impressed. Big, lumpy humans stirring up all the sand and sediment, and then coming down for a landing on the reef? Possibly painful for the person but definitely hard on the fishes.

So it makes perfect sense that the state Department of Land and Natural Resources is looking at these gizmos and other thrill craft for regulation. Go ahead and have your fun, people, but do it in a place that will do as little damage as possible. It’s a big ocean, after all.

We’re not done with the Superferry yet

The Hawaii Superferry vessels that stopped running interisland four years ago were purchased by the Navy last year. But the state paid $40 million for barges, ramps and other Superferry-related equipment that it now is auctioning off, with bids opening this week online at $250,000 for the entire lot, according to the state Department of Transportation.

The nostalgic package includes stairs, ramps, light poles, forklift extenders, crates and chains, spread across harbors on Kauai, Maui, Hawaii island and Oahu.

Bon voyage, various stuff.