Coronavirus rules amplify boaters’ class divide on South Florida waterways | Opinion
On Easter Sunday, far from an ordinary holiday in the age of coronavirus, boaters who could sail from private waterfront docks enjoyed smooth sailing in South Florida’s nearly empty waterways.
On Monday as well, those with no need of public ramps from which to launch were out in warm, breezy weather.
The Miami-Dade Police Department’s Marine Patrol reports that officers encountered 72 vessels anchored in county waters on what would have been normally a workday.
All were “abiding by the [COVID-19] regulations,” spokesman Lt. Juan Villalba Jr. said.
But missing from the pleasure boating and fishing scene were “ordinary anglers,” as James M. Ford of Homestead describes himself.
Also left out were the island transplants and the blue-collar guys for whom living the American dream means getting out on the occasional weekend the 14-footer with a canvas canopy to shelter from the hot sun.
“It may just be trifling, that’s up to you to decide, but it is irksome to me that while the public ramps, and marinas are closed to those of us who trailer boats, there seem to be no restrictions on boating from private docks and ramps,” Ford said.
“As it is, the measures taken so far have had the effect of turning a beautiful public natural treasure into a private playground for the wealthy and their friends,” he added. “Someone needs to explain why this is not class warfare.“
His concern — echoed by thousands of grounded boaters on social media and those who’ve signed a change.org petition — isn’t trivial at all.
From the quality of the neighborhood and the housing where you live and ride out the Florida shutdown to your ability to afford basic needs like food, the coronavirus pandemic is amplifying class divides.
In the case of boaters, a staple of Florida life, it’s defining who has a right to be on our waterways.
It’s far from fair.
If you have a yacht or boat docked on a waterway behind your home, you can take it out as long as you follow the rules of social distancing, which, according to MDPD’s marine unit in charge of enforcement, include:
▪ No more than 10 people are allowed aboard each vessel.
▪ Vessels must maintain a distance of at least 50 feet from other vessels.
▪ “Rafting” or the tying up of one vessel to another is not permitted.
▪ Landings are not permitted on state-owned uplands (islands and sandbars) in the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve.
But if you live in say Homestead or Hialeah and your boat is stored at your house and you must use a public dock or ramp to reach a waterway, you can’t take your kid fishing at all. You can’t blow off quarantine cabin fever.
Public docks, ramps, marinas, and fueling and marine supply depots were ordered closed by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez after drone video by Airborne International Response Team captured hundreds of boaters anchored and partying in the midst of coronavirus at Haulover Inlet’s sandbar on March 20.
The goal was to keep group parties out of the water and to punish, bad, reckless behavior.
Truth be told, a lot of us were happy to see people who were practicing social defiance instead of distancing forced to stay home.
But anglers are right to question if their rights to fish and sail the seas aren’t being violated.
They’ve started the petition and a Facebook group to lobby for reopening, and people are offering alternative solutions to closing.
Chief among them: Enforce the social distancing rules and heavily fine rule-breakers, but open the public-access ramps, marinas, and fuel docks.
They argue that boating “can provide an outlet for families under quarantine to relieve some stress.”
“Keep the sandbars and islands CLOSED to prevent crowds, but let us get on the water SAFELY,” the petition asks Gimenez.
A similar fight played out on the west coast in Manatee County.
After people complained of class disparities, county commissioners there overruled the public safety chief, 4-3, and voted last week to reopen county-owned boat ramps.
The winning argument: While low-income residents are being denied access to the water for fishing and feeding their families, boaters with access to private docks have not been restricted at all.
The boat ramps had been closed by the public safety director on March 26 for the same reason as in Miami-Dade: large gatherings of boaters near Beer Can Island.
The reopening wasn’t without dissent.
Public Safety Director Jake Saur said the board’s decision could send a “mixed message” about the county’s efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19.
“My hope is after the action by the board, the public continues to heed the message to social distance,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, at a pivotal point in our fight against COVID-19, that we could possibly send a mixed message that now is the time for the public to be at home. They should only be out for essential business. We should all do our part to flatten the curve.”
That’s the key point on this issue: None of us should be out there at this critical moment.
Not rich, nor poor.
That those with access and wealth are complying with the rules of less than 10 people per boat and 50 feet of distance between boats when anchored isn’t of comfort to those who can’t enjoy the sea.
“I, too, would like to take my son out fishing,” said a retired member of the Coast Guard who was caught by the Gimenez order with his boat under repair and hasn’t been able to bring it home.
“Why can the rich do it and not the poor?”
It’s a good question Mayor Gimenez ought to consider.
The #SaltLife shouldn’t be, in the time of coronavirus or otherwise, a playground solely for the wealthy.
This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 5:48 PM.
