Next message: Peter Pisciotta: "[world-cruising] Circumnavigating in a Power Boat - impressive passages"
Just received from another list:
>May 3, 2006 Salty Southeast - This is one of the
>most important Salty Southeast
>supplements in many years. Even though it is rather
>lengthy, may I be so bold as to respectfully ask
>everyone on this mailing list to read this message
>from first to last. The importance of its contents will
>soon become apparent. Anyone who has been
>keeping up with the cruising news on the Salty
>Southeast Cruiser's Net knows about the problems on
>the Georgia portion of the Atlantic Intracoastal
>Waterway. There has been NO dredging on the
>Georgia Waterway WITHIN THE LAST FIVE YEARS!
>Just look at the dozens of messages from fellow
>cruisers on the "SC and Georgia" page of the Salty
>Southeast Cruiser's Net
>(http://www.CruisersNet.net <http://www.cruisersnet.net/>), and you will
see what
>this total lack of Waterway maintenance has
>wrought. The picture in't pretty!
>
>Then, on Monday morning of this week, my blood ran
>cold when I received the following e-mail: Thanks for
>all of your help to the cruising community. I was told
>today by the Corp of Eng. in Savannah that the
>Coast Guard had notified them that in 30 days they
>were going to remove all markings in Hell's Gate. They
>do not want to be responsible for marking a channel
>that is not there and that is not going to be
>dredged.This will in effect close GA to cruisers. I
>spoke with Rosemary Lynch of the AIWA this morning
>and hope to get this news out to everyone asap.
>There should be an outrage.Jim Bulluck
>
>I immediately telephoned Jim, and learned that his
>information comes from a confidential, but fully
>reliable source. There followed several conversations
>between myself and Rosemary Lynch, Executive
>Director of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway
>Association. She telephoned three USCG officials and
>was told that, yes, the markers were going to be
>removed. However, and here's a little good news, as
>of this morning, May 4, Rosemary has learned that
>there has already been enough noise created such
>that the USCG will at least temporarily move and add
>to the markers on Hell's Gate, rather than remove
>them. While this news is certainly welcome, it is, at
>best, a "band-aid" on the problem. If Hells Gate and
>other problem stretches of the Georgia Waterway are
>not dredged soon, make that VERY soon, this
>situation could go beyond recall.
>
>For the last five years, both I and many others, have
>tried to get the word out about what a closure of the
>Atlantic ICW would really mean. I think the problem in
>understanding this concept lies in the fact that the
>Waterway has been with us our entire lives. It was
>constructed in the 1930's and the vast majority of
>we cruisers were born a bit later than that. So, it's
>one thing to say that the Waterway may be closed,
>but its an entirely different matter to come to grips
>with the very real impact of an ICW closure.
>
>And, let me tell you what it will mean. The semi-
>annual snowbird migration of cruising craft along the
>Atlantic ICW will be dramatically disrupted. Cruising
>and boating in the Southeastern USA will be
>fundamentally changed forever. All cruisers, marina
>owners, repair yard owners, coastal property
>developers and anyone else who makes their
>livelihood from any part of the marine industry needs
>to think on that for a few very long moments. And, if
>that's not enough, just take a stroll out to the
>Beaufort, SC, Georgetown, SC or Beaufort, NC
>waterfronts this weekend. Look at the dozens and
>dozens of cruising craft docked and anchored there.
>Ask yourself how many dollars these Waterway
>travelers are spending on dockage, boat repair,
>dining, shoreside accommodations, and by way of
>more other avenues of commerce than I can began
>to count. The bottom line is the economies of all
>coastal regions from North Carolina to Key West will
>be dramatically impacted if the ICW path is cut!
>
>Florida is not safe either, even though the Sunshine
>State has the Florida Inland Navigational district, a
>semi-independent arm of the State government with
>property taxing authority, which often dredges where
>the "Fed boys" do not. If the snowbird migration is no
>more, can you imagine the impact it will have on
>exactly the same businesses as those described
>above in the Carolinas and Georgia. I can just see
>Bahia Mar in Fort Lauderdale only half filled during the
>winter months, or Conch Harbor in Key West with
>multiple empty spaces. Again, the economic impact
>on not only the marine industry, but on many aspects
>of Floridian coastal commerce will be dramatic!
>
>And, consider this! If the ICW is closed at Hell's Gate
>(south of Savannah and Isle of Hope), there is no
>good "way around" this problem stretch for cruisers.
>Those of you who have read the notes on the Salty
>SE Cruiser's Net know there is a seaward route
>around Hells Gate, but as a later posting on the Net
>makes clear, this passage is lengthy, largely
>unmarked and difficult at best for first timers. Let's
>also ponder on the fact that moving south from Hells
>Gate, the nearest all-weather capable inlet is the St.
>Johns River in Florida. To the north, the nearest all-
>weather capable inlet is the Savannah River. I think
>I'm safe in saying that a majority of snowbirds will be
>very uncomfortable going offshore from Savannah
>River to the St. Johns River. Many just plain won't do
>it, so you can say goodbye to the spring and fall
>transient seasons!
>
>Well, at this point, you may be asking, "why are we
>having this problem?" The short and simple answer is
>that beginning in 2002 (possibly earlier), the decision
>was made in Washington to begin allocating Federal
>waterway maintenance funds based on an 1890's
>formula, which ONLY takes commercial tonnage into
>account. This plan of action blithely ignores the hard
>and fast fact that at least since the 1970's, the real
>economic impact of the Waterway has been through
>the auspices of people like you and me, or, if you will,
>the cruising community.
>
>During the intervening years, the Carolinas have been
>lucky enough to have courageous members of their
>congressional delegations, from BOTH parties mind
>you, who have fought the system and been
>successful in securing just enough monies to keep
>the Waterway open. The cruising community owes
>huge debts of gratitude to people like North Carolina
>US Senator Richard Burr and North Carolina US House
>member Mike McIntyre. South Carolina has been
>similarly lucky. However, no member of the Georgia
>congressional delegation has taken an interest in the
>Waterway and five years of no dredging is the
>catastrophic result! We need to change that NOW.
>Below, Rosemary provides the web sites of both
>Georgia's US Senators and two key Georgia US House
>of Representative members. Everyone in the cruising
>community needs to e-mail these public servants. E-
>mail them more than once if you can. HOWEVER, for
>those of you on this list who are citizens of the state
>of Georgia, your actions are KEY. May I suggest that
>you e-mail everyone on Rosemary's list as often as
>you possibly can, particularly Rep. Jack Kingston
>
>to learn more -
>
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=6jo5evbab.0.v9s5evbab.dubzznbab.753&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.CruisersNet.net
--
Best,
Bryan Genez
"Capella" V40-158
New Bern, NC
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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