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DNR versus Liveaboards
The battle continues. The Liveaboard Association of Puget Sound has filed suit to prevent their eviction on June first. You'll find their press release on page 36 of the print edition.
Anwer to "Why" on Liveaboard Issue
Dear Richard,
I have an answer to your "why" on the liveaboard issue. Currently, my husband and I are living aboard our sailboat in Port Townsend, but for the last five years we lived on anchor in Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island. I was president of our liveaboard community organization, BAMBI (Boaters and Mariners of Bainbridge Is.), and was at constant war with three waterfront property owning families who have made it their lives' commitment to do away with liveaboards in Eagle Harbor. We worked with attorney Ted Spearman, the Association of Bainbridge Communities, City Council, the Historical Society, and many of our supporters on Bainbridge to overturn a local ordinance that outlawed our 100 year old community in August of 1995. We even brought in one of the DNR's own legal experts on Public Trust Doctrine who said it was her legal opinion that we did not violate this doctrine. In ways, we won. The council formed a Harbor Commission to help draft a plan on regulations for our community. They decided to limit the numbers and charge some sort of fee in the future. In a public meeting, a representative from the DNR claimed that the city had misinterpreted communication from the state and that the DNR had not said that the anchor out community couldn't exist, but that it couldn't expand. They left the ultimate decision to the will of the city council.
And here is your why...
The three families who had spent years fighting for our community to be outlawed were outraged. I believe they have been down lobbying Olympia (something they have done before) and I have very specific reasons for believing this. First of all, the language Jennifer Belcher used "Hong Kong Harbor" and talk of a motor home in a state park are direct quotes that Kari Wright used in her letters to the Bainbridge City council. Secondly, Kari has invited state officials and media to tour Eagle Harbor with her before, but the unfortunate thing is that she lies about which boats are liveaboards (pointing out all of the dillapitated ones and no well kept ones, of which there are many) and how many are liveaboards (she would say most, but there are only about 25 out of the 80 plus anchor outs). Furthermore, after numerous unfounded reasons for outlawing liveaboards were proven fruitless, they finally ended up with this absurd water-dependent argument they've been throwing at the Eagle Harbor liveaboards for two years now. I guess the Vibrans, the Parkers, and the Wrights have finally courted Ms. Belcher into joining in their irrational thinking.
Some things to consider:
1. The Bainbridge Island Comprehensive Master Plan includes liveaboards as part of the islands affordable housing stock. They are required to have a certain amount and the Housing Authority supported liveaboards, saying that to outlaw them would set the Island back 5 years in it's affordable housing goals.
2. The DNR's "new" interpretations don't apply to existing uses. Our community has been documented for over 100 years. How long have you been there? Our leading historian, Jerry Elfendahl, and the Historical Society supported liveaboards as part of the islands history and diversity.
3. Attorney Theodore Spearman on Bainbridge Island has all of our documentation and contacts (and there are boxes) including how to contact Rachael Paschal, the Public Trust legal expert, other liveaboard communities like those in Saulsalito, CA to see how they dealt with legal issues, and a wealth of other info. I would love to see him get some reimbursement for his legal advice. He is an expert on the issue and a wonderful supporter, not to mention a strong negotiator.
4. There is a man named Ryan Landworth who, along with three other houseboaters in Lake Union, won a recent lawsuit against the City of Seattle who tried to outlaw houseboats a couple of years ago—not floating homes mind you, but houseboats, which are technically vessles that may look more like houses, but operate completely as vessls. This sets good legal precedence for our case.
5. We must fight together to preserve all liveaboard lifestyles in our state, those at marinas, in yacht clubs, at ports, at private docks, AND those at anchor. We need to share resources and support each other. I am not in favor of new laws. They are not needed. What we may need is enforcement of existing laws IF problems are discovered AND documented properly. As Alice Schisel from the Dept. of Ecology finally admitted to me 4 years ago on the phone, "The issue is not really the environment. What it really comes down to is that you people don't pay property taxes and the waterfront property owners don't like that, but of course I can't say that on the record."
6. I bet liveaboards who own their own slips are really upset.
Thanks for all of your work on this issue.
Sincerely,
Teri Johnson
Sea Pilgrim
Thank you for filling in more background as to why this is suddenly happening. You'll notice that in all our comments, we've specifically targeted the Liveaboards in Lake Union, as that is where the immediate focus is. We don't want to muddy-up the waters, as DNR has attempted to do, by bringing in other locales and situations at this time.
However, this issue has become a lightning rod for liveaboard issues around the state. And just as I don't believe liveaboards should be subject to a blanket law that covers the myriad of situations in the state, neither can I give a blanket support to every liveaboard situation in the state. This is not a black and white, one law fits all, issue. Think that's the whole point.
I believe the liveaboard sites throughout the state are so diverse and unique that they need to be dealt with individually, as the site dictates, on a local basis. You laudably attempted to do that in Eagle Harbor, correctly seeking a solution through local authorities and those immediately involved. All for naught if the DNR can override any community solutions.
For or against, I think these issues should be settled by those involved in each area, as you attempted to do, not by an uninformed, authoritarian in Olympia.
Put People Ahead of Dollars
In 1995 I was laid off from Satsop Nuclear Plant, Elma Washington. After one year of retraining I was hired by Kaiser Aluminum. In September 1998 the steelworkers union was forced to strike due to unfair labor practices imposed upon it by Kaiser Aluminum, which is now being prosecuted by the federal government for illegally locking out the Steelworkers.
Now I'm under threat from the state of Washington of losing a life style that I began 38 years ago; that of living on a vessel moored in many harbors around the world.
In 1962 I was introduced to living aboard when I was assigned to the USS Essex, home ported in Quonset Point, Rhode Island. Coming from the Midwest I was impressed by the beauty of Naragansette Bay. I lived aboard two other ships, one home ported in Yakosuka, Japan and the other in San Diego California. While aboard these last two ships I got to experience the Vietnam war. While aboard the Essex I got to experience the Cuban missile crisis.
It was while stationed aboard the USS Terrell County in Yokosuka that I bought a book written by a young Japanese man named Keniche Horie, he had sailed across the Pacific from Yokohama to San Francisco in a 19 foot sailboat he had built himself. He left illegally because at that time that kind of adventure was looked down upon by the Japanese government. The lure of the sea was stronger than his fear of punishment from his government. He is now an active environmentalist who recently sailed a vessel across the Pacific made out of recycled aluminum beer barrels. His book changed my life.
I sailed my third sailboat down the coast of Mexico where I met my wife. My first son was born in Hawaii where I lived after my voyage of 26 days from Cabo San Lucas. I lived in small boats in San Diego, Honolulu, Tacoma and now Olympia.
Well, here I am illegally locked out from my job and now facing the threat of being locked out of my lifestyle.
With rogue corporations and misguided government officials, it's no wonder there is so much unrest in this country. If governments and corporations don't wake up the first decade of the new millennium will make the protests of the sixties look like child play. The infringement of the government and rogue corporations on the freedoms and rights of people on a global scale will cause global unrest heretofore unseen in the world.
What took place in Seattle and Washington, DC is just the beginning unless our lawmakers and Corporate leaders start listening to the people and put people ahead of dollars.
Derek Wolf Knudsen
Olympia Wa.
Ousting Liveaboards in Hawaii
Richard,
Lake Union is not an isolated case. In Hawaii, the DLNR on Kauai is making a focused effort to evict liveaboards in spite of the well documented evidence pointing out that liveaboards are an asset to the harbor. They quote pollution and when state agencies measure the level of pollution they find it is simply not there or not coming from the boats.
Case in point, on Hanalei Bay, the local residents screamed of effluent pollution caused by the boats in the bay. "My God people, think of the children and them swimming in all that 'crap'." When the state measured the pollution they found it not coming from the boats but from the river and the local residents septic systems that drained directly into the river that drained into the bay. Whoops, nothing said about that in the local paper.
This "kick out the liveaboards" effort here on Kauai is, like Lake Union, spearheaded by one individual apparently with some personal agenda. I just don't get it. Is it a power issue pushed by some individual who feels powerless and just can't stand to see someone else enjoying life ? I think that the issue will never be resolved before it goes to a Supreme Court and puts an end to the petty tyrants once and for all. Let me know how I can help your efforts there. I would be glad to.
Dale Thomas
Kauai, Hawaii
It seems in most of these cases, it's people's perception of liveaboards over what liveaboards actually are. Don Stonehill of the Liveaboard Association of Puget Sound was on the Dave Ross talkshow here, and one of the comments by a caller was that liveaboards "have had a really good thing and have been found out".
Tired of Government Sticking Their Noses In
To the Editor:
For the first time in my life, I feel compelled to write in and give my two cents worth. I am sick and tired of hearing about the liveaboard issue, just like I'm tired of hearing about the abortion issue. Why is it that people in government are always sticking their nose in other people's business?
I've heard the arguments; liveaboards pollute. What about the rain water runoff from our streets? What about our sewage treatment plants pumping thousands of gallons of chlorine into our rivers and estuaries. (Chlorine isn't really that great a chemical.) By the way, how many organisms live in a gallon of Clorox?
I think that people who live in 2000 square foot ramblers are probably more of a bane on society than a bunch of free thinking liveaboards. Individualism is becoming more and more threatened everyday, so if you do or do not live aboard, stand up and voice your opinion for the survival of free and alternative thinking and living in this country.
Brian Pouillon
A Liveaboard Challenge
Editor, 48 North:
I'd like to issue an open challenge to all Puget Sound liveaboards, potential liveaboards, or anybody who thinks they ought to be able to spend as many nights as they wish aboard their boat without government sticking its nose down the companionway: Help pay for the lawsuit. We're giving $40 to help pay the legal bill to challenge DNR evictions. That's a buck for every foot of length overall for our Westsail 32. We challenge every concerned boat owner to follow suit: $1 times LOA. At first we were going to give just $32, but what the hell—we can afford to pay by the same measure every marina uses. That darn bowsprit is costing us money again. Checks go to Liveaboard Association of Puget Sound, 117 E. Louisa St., PMB #233, Seattle, WA 98102.
Brian, Barbara and Lillian Cantwell
Former (and future) liveaboards
S.V. Sogni d'Oro
Westsail hull No. 777
Bremerton, WA
GPS—Trust Me, I'm for the Government
Greetings again from Panama. As a "p.s." to my earlier letter about two boats being lost by going on a reef, one in Panama and the other in the Galapagos recently, once again we've had a repeat of nearly the same situation. Last night, March 21, a U.S. sailing yacht enroute from Isla San Andreas (in the southwest Caribbean) to Bocas del Toro (northwest corner of Panama) attempted a night entry into the islands and surfed onto a reef. Fortunately, the two owners were able to get into their liferaft and were picked up a short while later by the local cruisers alerted to the call. When they launched the liferaft, their last view of their boat was of it on its beam ends, taking water from the breakers with masts nearly parallel to the water.The accident was a couple of hours after dark , and as luck would have it, on a low tide. Although tides down here are only around 2 feet or less, it was enough for the abandoned boat to bump over the reef and reach calm water a few hours later with the incoming tide. The boat is "back on its feet" this morning, missing about a quarter of its skeg and rudder and most of the fiberglass on its keel. The owners still have about a 130 mile slog against the trade winds to a haul-out facility in Colon, so the fun isn't over yet.
Talking with the owner this morning, he said he thought he was right on course, following the channel, the GPS was telling the truth, and the channel buoys were all in a line. Unfortunately, the last update of the chart was in 1983, the latest cruising guide was 1991, and the existing buoys have since drifted, sunk, or been relocated. The most important buoy marking the outer edge of the reef, a flashing red buoy labeled "8" on the chart, is now about where buoy # 6 used to be and the reef is unmarked except by breakers. He said when he passed buoy #8 in the channel, he figured he was in the clear and made his turn for the anchorage. Unfortunately, this was a direct course for the reef and by the time they realized their error, the incoming surge was too strong to overcome.
There were obviously extenuating circumstances and it is easy to second guess. They had been out for several days and nights, were very tired, and didn't feel like spending another night at sea. There was a full moon, calm sea, and the charts were plainly marked. Had the charts reflected the channel correctly, they may have made it easily.
The owner of the Swedish flagged Halberg-Rassey lost last month in the San Blas Islands had reportedly made a circumnavigation about 10 or 15 years ago without GPS and using only traditional methods for a best guess of their location. After the accident he stated that they never attempted a night entry on that trip because they were never completely sure of where they were. This time with the accuracy of GPS, they were lulled into believing everything was okay with a clear shot at their waypoint, and didn't realize a reef was still between them and their waypoint. Had the charts agreed with the GPS, it may have been different. Our next big leg is from Panama to Belize, along Nicaragua's Miskito Cays, Vivarillo Cays, etc. We're thinking about putting a small sign above our GPS to read "trust me, I'm from the government" as a gentle reminder of reality.
Over and out,
Dennis Russell and Sonja Ericson,
S/V Golondrina
currently in Bocas del Toro, Panama
Thanks for another informative letter. We don't put these in to scare people, but to remind them that electronic aids like GPS are just that—aids. They don't replace common sense or seamanship.
"Over and out"? I believe the proper phrase is "Roger, wilco, over and out", according to the Commander John Wayne school of radio communication handbook.
Looking for Low-Tech Sailors
Dear Richard,
Hello from balmy Southern California. I get my 48¡ North at the West Marine store in San Diego and devour it immediately. Although I don't miss the winters in Vancouver, my former home port, come spring I long for the wonderful sailing opportunities of the Pacific Northwest.
I read with pleasure Lance Ekhard's story "Another February Adventure," in the April issue of 48¡ North. How refreshing to find that there are still people out there sailing simply and low-tech. People who consciously avoid complicating their lives and learn that they can cruise safely and enjoyably by increasing their skills and taking time to be in tune with the wind, weather and currents.
I am in search of other people who, like Lance Ekhard or the Pardeys, choose to cruise without an engine and with only the basic navigation and comfort equipment. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against technology, but I value simplicity and if I can sail safely (although slowly) without an engine, then why not.
Thus, if possible, I would like to see more letters and stories in 48¡ North from people who cruise the low-tech "hard way". They can also reach me at seagypsygirl@hotmail.com or (619) 322-4406.
I sincerely applaud Lance. He can crew for me anytime.
Sincerely,
Barbara Molin
We chartered a CSY 40 out of St. Martin in the Caribbean, and during the checkout we noticed most of the electronics didn't work; Depth Finder, Knotmeter, Windspeed Indicator. Each time we discovered an electronic gizmo that didn't work, John, our intrepid man from the charter company, would say, "Agh, people have sailed all Ôround the world without these things." It would have been nice to have them, but we got along fine without them.
Needs a B-25 for Whidbey Island Race Week
I am hoping that someone out there can put me in touch with a B-25 owner up in the Seattle / Vancouver Area. What I am looking for is a B-25 owner who would be willing to charter us his boat (we would use our own sails) so that a group of us from SF Bay (look up the race record for Zilla) can race Whidbey Island Race Week using his or her boat. It would be truly ideal if the boat was within water delivery range of Oak Harbor.
Please contact:
Mark Van Selst
mvselst@email.sjsu.edu
415-309-0160
Wants to Do Duck Dodge
Hi Richard,
I am looking to crew on someone's boat during Duck Dodge races on Lake Union. I recall seeing a page on the Web last year where people exchanged information on skippers needing crew and crew needing skippers, etc. Do you know if that page still exists, and if so, where it is?
Much thanks,
Mark Aalfs
The Official Duck Dodge Page is at
The home page will take you to the crew page, or you can email direct with your vitals.
What IS Spike?
Hi!
Just found my April 48 North again, (I read it quick, then my husband grabs it and squirrels it away, forcing me to dig frantically when I want to find something in an article!), and I have a question about your Gaspacho recipe. I know what all the ingredents are but one. You have "Spike". What is spike??? My mom, who cooks quite often with different spices, had no clue. So, could you tell me? It would be nice to be one up on Mom, at least temporarily...
Thanks,
Dee
According to Kathy, "They carry spike in the gourmet sections of grocery stores or in kitchen shops. It is a salt-free herbal seasoning with ingredients such as coriander, pepper, garlic, onion, paprika and such. It has been around forever. If unable to locate, substitute 'season to taste'."
Center for Wooden Boats Geared for the Whole Family
Dear Rich,
Our Tradewinds 2000 Auction surpassed our expectations. An incredible turnout and an abundance of donated items made for one fun-filled and successful evening. We could not have done it without your contributions.
On behalf of our Board of Directors and the Auction Committee, thank you for your generous support of the Center for Wooden Boats. The funds raised from this year's auction will directly support our educational and community related programs developed to realize our mission. The Center's mission is to provide a community center, where maritime history comes alive, and our small craft heritage is preserved and passed along to future generations. Tradewinds is just one of the many activities that which helps keep this historic place vibrant and alive.
Our next event, Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival, is scheduled for the July 4th weekend. Our upcoming year and its programs are geared for the whole family. We invite you to visit us soon. Again our thanks. Your support is instrumental to our success.
Dick Wagner Bob Perkins
Founder Executive Director
The Center for Wooden Boats is one of the treasures of Seattle. For those of you who haven't visited it, do so. And don't miss the Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival. These works of wood are part function, part art, and interesting and fun. Great for the family.
Bahama 25'
I recently purchased a 1974 Islander Bahama 25' sail boat. I would like to get literature, specs., manuals, etc. pertaining to this boat. I haven't been able to locate anything on the web about this company. If you could help me in this matter I would appreciate it. Please respond to me at: rtoews@nidlink.com.
Thank you,
Ron Toews
Westerly 32
Hello: I am looking for information on the Weatherly 32, a boat produced in Seattle in the early 80s. Any info is welcome.
Thanks,
Jerry Anderson
jera@earthlink.net
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