NYCkayaker Coast Guard and Kayakers

Thu Sep 20 09:00:43 EDT 2007

I¹ve been silent on this... But will now put in my two cents...

Although I don¹t think motorized support vessels are needed for every group
of kayakers in NYC waters ‹ and I don¹t think it will come to this ‹ I do
believe that Coast Guard's request for support boats are warranted in
certain situations, such as 50 human-powered boats in the 5-boro Ramble
particularly when they are crossing NY Harbor between Brooklyn and Staten
Island. The amount of commercial boat traffic going in and out of the harbor
there can be numerous. And the CG has the right to be concerned. They are
very busy on any given day, rescuing boaters on vessels that are sending out
an emergency signal.  There request for support vessels in heavily
trafficked waters should not cause Erik frustration, but an understanding of
what the Coast Guard goes through every day. I will give you one example.

Quite a few years ago, the Catamaran I was sailing on in Cape Cod Bay went
over, and my friend and I, despite all our efforts could not right the boat,
even though we had done it before. It was dusk and the Coast Guard, came as
quickly as possible. The crew had already rescued two different ships out in
the Atlantic that day.  I had spent an hour in the water attaching ropes to
the Cat so they could right it.  It turned out there was a crack in one of
the boat¹s pontoons and part of it had filled with water ‹ that is why
despite all our efforts to right the cat we couldn't. Just after they raised
our boat they received another distress call in the Atlantic about two hours
off shore.  If they had received that call a few minutes earlier they would
have abandoned the catamaran and let her drift or sink, because life is more
important than a boat.

The CG deserves applause and when they ask for support vessels to back up a
large group of kayakers, the dialog should never be frustrating, but
understanding, cooperative and accommodating. Perhaps the Coast Guard, from
what I hear, felt frustrated with the five-boro ramble. What worries me is
that the Coat Guard¹s frustration with your negotiations may in someway
damage the good rapport many kayaking organizations have with the CG. The
CG¹s job is to prevent accidents

By the way, I can assure you there is an incredible amount of large ship
traffic that goes through the NY harbor. Have you ever looked out the window
as a plane as it is circling over the NY Metropolitan area. There are
hundreds of huge vessels that appear to be lined up entering and leaving the
harbor at one given time. The CG has the responsibility to try to prevent
large organized groups that tend to spread out all over the place from
having an injury or death. If you don¹t want the CG to implement
requirements for a support vessel, than my suggestion is to keep your group
small. If you have fifty boats crossing the harbor, then you should expect
the CG to be concerned.

I¹m glad the ramble was a success and hope to join you next year, if
possible.

All my Best, David

On 9/19/07 1:38 PM, "bob1may at optonline.net" <bob1may at optonline.net> wrote:

> Well stated Eric.
> 
> Absolutely the CG is a necessary and important agency, with a lot of good
> people doing their best to do a difficult job.
> 
> While I don't believe that events such as the ramble meets the standards of
> "extra or unusual hazards to the safety of life on the navigable waters" that
> require the organizers to file a permit application, I agree that it is good
> and fine idea to "notify" the CG, and even seek their advice in planing.
> 
> My argument was with the CG's imposition of "required" safety vessels.  By my
> reading of the law, the CG does not have the authority to make such a
> requirement.
> 
> If the CG want's to suggest safety vessels, fine.  If the event organizers
> want to voluntarily implement the suggestion - and have the financial means to
> do so, fine.
> 
> But acceding - without question - to a "requirement" that may not be lawful is
> wrong.
> 
> Bob
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Erik Baard 
> Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 12:52 pm
> Subject: NYCkayaker Coast Guard and Kayakers
> To: nyckayaker 
> 
> 
> Hi All,
>  
> I didn't dive into the debate over kayaker consultation with the U.S. Coast
> Guard earlier because I was too busy planning and executing the Ramble. One
> thing that must be kept in mind is context.
>  
> Meeting CG requirements and adhering to CG methods was a great source of
> frustration, though I am grateful for the daily work of that agency to keep
> our harbor safe from accidents and worse. Kayakers shouldn't be put off by the
> Ramble in 2008 because it's produced in concert with the CG. Remember, this is
> an event to promote a NYC Department of Parks and Recreation endeavor,
> co-sponsored by the city and the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance. Those two
> entities have a host of legitimate reasons for needing to bring the CG aboard
> and satisfy the demands that such a relationship entails. This is not a
> spontaneous paddle, or a paddle shared by a group of friends peer-to-peer,
> however large. 
>  
> What the Ramble does work to achieve, however, is the establishment of more
> launches. The presence of those launches will enable many, many more
> spontaneous outings, and tours of kayak groups. So I view this as an
> investment: we put our energies into working with the CG for this event, and
> reap the reward of a more fully accessible harbor. With more places to pull
> out, we'll have a strong argument that for most trips there's less of a need
> for safety boats and such.
>  
> I hope that makes sense.
>  
> Salty regards,
>  
> Erik
> 
> Erik Baard
> 
> http://www.licboathouse.org <http://www.licboathouse.org/>
> http://www.naturecalendar.com
>  
> 
> 
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