The Rights of Boaters

I got an email the other day from a gentleman asking "CCB" what we thought  about the notion if he bought a kayak and wanted to kayak around Bridgeport Harbor. Would that be legal? What would other boaters think? Is it safe? So that got me thinking about the bigger issues of the rights of boaters.

After all it is our mission at CCB to promote and protect Long Island Sound for boaters and quite frankly when you strip away the funding issues, nasty weather and the fact that we work in a harbor that has a little worse public image than Abbotabad on a bad day, that is the biggest challenge to what we do: Battle the slew of factors at work to shut down our waters to the public.

But to truly understand the heart of the gentlemen's question we need to take it one piece at time- first up. Safety- Is it Safe? 

Well there is an inherent risk in traveling the marine waters of the United States. There are tides, winds and waves. There is the risk of drowning at all times. There is a risk of being dashed on the rocks. And at times the risk of being mortally wounded by an errant bullet from a duck hunter. It is not safe for non-swimmers, for the faint of heart or for those who lack a basic knowledge of water safety. It is not safe for those carrying large quantities of cash, those who cannot defend themselves against evil-doers or those who cannot recognize dangerous situations. But otherwise, its perfectly safe.

Once you understand that water safety is a learned skill that can be taught and the risks can be managed with proper education and common sense, all arguments against the safety of the seas can be quelled. But the illusion of safety (or more to point lack there of) is a great tool to keep the vast populous off the water. So why not convince everyone that it is so unsafe that you don't even want to go there. That the wind and waves are far too hostile to even try. Quit now before you get hurt!!! That sure makes the lives of government officials easier and makes sure that the voter doesn't cause any stir about poor water quality, lack of infrastructure or mismanagement of the resource. Water safety is a tool to help people enjoy the water as much as it is a tool to impede people from going to sea. Unfortunately we have scared a great many people off the water, we have failed to teach 80% of our residents how to swim and instituted a bureaucratic gauntlet of regulation and fees pertaining to water access. So why not be afraid?

What about other boaters? Will people yell at me if I go out in a boat? Maybe. Power Boaters and Sail Boaters spend a lot of time yelling at each other. Dads yell at kids, husbands yell at their wives, instructors yell at their students. In short there is a ton of yelling going on out on the water. And I find those who yell the loudest are usually the most scared or uninformed. So that goes back to education. Most yelling happens because someone thinks something that is not quite true but wants to say it really loudly.

We need a Boaters Bill of Rights. A list of basic rights of Boaters on the water. And the first one would have to be you can go where you want to go despite the complaints of others. It is your God given right to sail, power or paddle along any coast anywhere you like as long as it is connected to the Atlantic Ocean in some fashion (Pacific for the left coast). And if somebody doesn't like it, please refer them to that pesky life, liberty and pursuit of happiness clause we hold so dear in this Country.

"Get out of my way, I am bigger" doesn't fly in this country. "This is my beach" doesn't fly in this country. "Your not allowed to go there" doesn't fly in this country. And any one that wants to tell you that with an elevated voice clearly doesn't know what they are talking about. Oh sure you need to be nice about it, but with a little common sense, a certain amount of self control and the proper vessel, (IE a kayak) you can go to France and back again and no one can say or do anything about it. That's the freedom of boating.

But what about the law. Is it legal? That's the $64,000 question isn't it? Just cause its against the law doesn't mean illegal. Towns, Cities and States pass laws all the time that aren't legal. (Just ask the Prop 8 Crowd in Washington this week) That's why we have courts. The problem is when some one in a uniform tells you its illegal or gives you a piece of paper that says you are breaking the law, we automatically think they are right.  Some would have you believe its against the law to sail a boat certain places. That's like telling someone its against the law to run vs walk. It may be a bad idea to run on a pool deck, but you're not breaking the law if you do it. Same thing with sailing vs motor vs paddle. It may be a bad idea to sail in Fairfield's South Benson Marina. And you could even get a ticket for doing it. But if that idea was taken to highest court in the land, it would fail miserably cause no one has a right to tell you the manner in which you are allowed to travel. They can tell you the speed at which you can go, the advisability of not going there and they can even hand you a bill when you get in trouble for going to that place and having to rescue you when you crash your boat. But it is your right just the same to go where ever you want.

We're gearing up for the battle of our lives with the State at CCB. They seem to think they can tell us where we can go, how we will get there and what method we will use to do it. As long as I am in charge, we will fight that battle from the highest hills of the land to the lowest bowels of the sea. Its not that I am trying to cause trouble or that I am even sure we will win. I am fighting that battle cause its the right of everyone to enjoy the water regardless of income, residency or social standing.  If we back down now, we will run from the State for the rest of our days because there is a constant battle to keep our waters open to all. I am fighting for the freedom of my fellow citizens and the future of our children. So if its legal to go boating where you want to or not will be determined on a case by case basis, but at each turn I will fight for the right to go boating.

 But even asking the question "is it legal?" shows we have an uphill battle. The default position for 10,000 years has been our waters belong to all of us and those rights come from our maker exclusively. The law of the commons. It has only been the last few decades that we thought we had to ask permission from the State to use those waters. The water that sits off shore in Milford is no different than the water that sits at the bottom of the Ocean or off the shores of Normandy. So how can one Hartford bureaucrat tell me where and how I may go boating in Long Island Sound? Well I am willing to let a court decide that point and if I lose I lose and will go to prison quietly if I have to, to prove it. But I refuse to walk quietly up the beach with my head hung low, because someone tells me they think its illegal for me to be there and not even have the nerve to ask them why.

So is it legal to take a kayak around Bridgeport Harbor sir? You bet your ass it is. But will someone try and stop you? At every step of the way. Your choice is to bravely sail on despite the bevy of reasons to quit or shrink away from the seas in the face of fascism. Either way, you will always have a spot on my crew and rest assured I will be fighting for your rights as a BOATER AND AS AN AMERICAN as long as I am breathing. Because everyone deserve the right to access the water ALWAYS.