Another Anchorage Gone

RoyS

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Jun 3, 2012
1,739
Hunter 33 Steamboat Wharf, Hull, MA
Another anchorage gone and all the rest will follow.
B089128F-3C9B-436C-9547-A78A83C51092.jpeg
 

RoyS

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Jun 3, 2012
1,739
Hunter 33 Steamboat Wharf, Hull, MA
Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor has fallen. I and many others have anchored here for thirty years. Save the eel grass crowd is coming for your anchorage next.
 
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Likes: Tom J

dLj

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Mar 23, 2017
3,372
Belliure 41 Sailing back to the Chesapeake
@jon hansen Interesting article. It is aimed at the Pacific coast however, and @RoyS is on the Atlantic coast. Is this the same problem on the East coast? I don't know, but I do know that there can be differences from one side to another. If anyone knows more about this, I'd like to hear.

Additionally, that article states

"As a result, there has been significant degradation of eelgrass, primarily from human impacts such as urban development, dredging, pollution, and sediment runoff from upland areas."

No mention of anchoring to cause degradation, at least as a primary source mentioned in that article. It would seem to me that, if indeed the primary sources of degradation listed in your attached article are the primary sources, then the effort to protect eel grass should be better directed to curb those problems. My fear is that this may be a case of it being easier to put on a band aid affecting a group with less political clout than the opponents of the real root cause of this problem may possess.

Just an observation.

dj
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
It looks like in Maine, the issue was people releaving themselves and the Eelgrass was being impacted. The sign says they moved the "restrooms" 2500ft and stopped anchoring. Was that to keep people from coming ashore to get rest from the moved rooms?

The sign is confusing me.

Out here in the Wild West coast. We have lost our since of wild. No more willy nilly anchoring. You might just stand up on the side of your boat for relief. Port Townsend has a whole program, but it is based on anchoring in the shallows. First 50 to 100 yards along the shoreline, "where the eelgrass grows." Ok to build a pier or two from shore through the eelgrass but a few transient anchored boats is disruptive.
 
Dec 28, 2015
1,837
Laser, Hunter H30 Cherubini Tacoma
It looks like in Maine, the issue was people releaving themselves and the Eelgrass was being impacted. The sign says they moved the "restrooms" 2500ft and stopped anchoring. Was that to keep people from coming ashore to get rest from the moved rooms?

The sign is confusing me.

Out here in the Wild West coast. We have lost our since of wild. No more willy nilly anchoring. You might just stand up on the side of your boat for relief. Port Townsend has a whole program, but it is based on anchoring in the shallows. First 50 to 100 yards along the shoreline, "where the eelgrass grows." Ok to build a pier or two from shore through the eelgrass but a few transient anchored boats is disruptive.
Two signs, one post situation I think. Kind of like trying to figure out if you can or can not park in a downtown area with all of the signs.
 
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Likes: jssailem
May 24, 2004
7,129
CC 30 South Florida
Eel grass? How do they figure is boats anchoring and not an invasive crabs invasion that might be destroying it.
 

RoyS

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Jun 3, 2012
1,739
Hunter 33 Steamboat Wharf, Hull, MA
I anchored in front of that sign last night in about 15’ (at low). During the night with 120’ rode out I swung about 45 degrees. This morning when I hauled my anchor there was no eel grass or anything else stuck to the line, the chain, or the anchor. Usually there is mud on the anchor. There is no eel grass down there. I doubt anyone can quantify what the impact on anything except the imaginary eel grass will be with this new anchoring restriction.
 

RoyS

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Jun 3, 2012
1,739
Hunter 33 Steamboat Wharf, Hull, MA
No mention of anchoring to cause degradation, at least as a primary source mentioned in that article. It would seem to me that, if indeed the primary sources of degradation listed in your attached article are the primary sources, then the effort to protect eel grass should be better directed to curb those problems.
You are absolutely correct. Plymouth harbor was recently dredged. The Blynman Canal was recently dredged. Boston Harbor was recently dredged. Those are only a few bottom dredging projects that I know about where eel grass was removed by the acre. So, in the wisdom of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, anchoring should be banned to save the eel grass. We, as a nation, foolishly grant certain government agencies unlimited authority over our lives. In my state these agencies are not filled with experts, rather they are filled with political hacks. A small contribution to the Governor, for example, will open the door to your preferred employment area. We could live with that dead wood on the payroll, except some of these hacks take action on subjects they know little about. That is why my favorite anchorage is now gone and will likely never be seen again.
 
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Likes: Gene Neill
Sep 23, 2009
1,475
O'Day 34-At Last Rock Hall, Md
Welcome to the brave new world. The state in never wrong and the children citizens like the experts having parental control. Not PC to question the "enviromentalists".
 

RoyS

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Jun 3, 2012
1,739
Hunter 33 Steamboat Wharf, Hull, MA
And consider, these politically correct fields of interest, like environmental studies, result in thousands of students seeking to pursue a career in that area. Universities expand their departments in these areas, often headed by zealots, to accommodate the influx of interested students. Shortly, these students all graduate looking for a mission. They find few opportunities in the private sector, so into the government they go. They each will spend the next forty years regulating you and me. Lots of opportunity for damage there. But villains like me want to anchor their modest sailboat and maybe watch the sunset. We can't have that, can we? Save the eel grass!
 

RoyS

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Jun 3, 2012
1,739
Hunter 33 Steamboat Wharf, Hull, MA
According to the USDA eelgrass seldom grows more than 3 meters deep in the Northeast. This is due to the murky water here. This is consistent with my own observations. Any restrictions on anchoring or mooring should only be in waters three meters or less deep. Our Massachusetts DCR appears to not be aware of this and simply bans anchoring with a few signs along the beach prohibiting anchoring altogether. Your tax dollars at work.
 
Aug 18, 2020
10
Pearson 31-2 Harraseeket River S. Freeport
I anchored in front of that sign last night in about 15’ (at low). During the night with 120’ rode out I swung about 45 degrees. This morning when I hauled my anchor there was no eel grass or anything else stuck to the line, the chain, or the anchor. Usually there is mud on the anchor. There is no eel grass down there. I doubt anyone can quantify what the impact on anything except the imaginary eel grass will be with this new anchoring restriction.
You sound like a spoiled child who just had their toy taken away from them. 5 minutes of Googling tells me that there is indeed an Eelgrass test plot in that area, one of just a few key strategic areas targeted for regrowth. Damage to Eelgrass from anchors is well documented and quantified.

Here's some interesting reading for you and others that are worried this is a case of government overreach:



 
May 17, 2004
5,026
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
My question would be “Who’s sign is this, and by what authority is it placed there? No citation of civil code, even if it were legal. Just about anybody can make a sign and stick it on a post in the ground.
Good question. There’s nothing on the NOAA charts suggesting it’s a restricted area (other than being a no-discharge zone). A quick scan of the Local Notice to Mariners for this year doesn’t show anything about eelgrass, and I can’t find anything particularly recent from Google. The links form HobieDog are interesting but seem to be about rather dated and don’t actually seem to apply anchoring prohibitions.
 
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Likes: Leeward Rail
Jul 27, 2011
4,988
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
You sound like a spoiled child who just had their toy taken away from them. 5 minutes of Googling tells me that there is indeed an Eelgrass test plot in that area, one of just a few key strategic areas targeted for regrowth. Damage to Eelgrass from anchors is well documented and quantified.

Here's some interesting reading for you and others that are worried this is a case of government overreach:
We don’t know whose sign it is, government or otherwise. The study you cite has probably ended. Once the funding for a study runs out the study site(s) is(are) often ignored, or at best infrequently monitored. BTW. “Overreach” is everywhere now, from the White House to one’s neighbor on a sidewalk. We should all be concerned.
 
Nov 22, 2011
1,192
Ericson 26-2 San Pedro, CA
My question would be “Who’s sign is this, and by what authority is it placed there? No citation of civil code, even if it were legal. Just about anybody can make a sign and stick it on a post in the ground.
Great point and one worth exploring.
 

RoyS

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Jun 3, 2012
1,739
Hunter 33 Steamboat Wharf, Hull, MA
Sign is from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Our State Environmental Police enforce their edicts. Spoiled brat I may be, but in every situation like this that I find myself in, I ask myself what the Founding Fathers would have done. In my mind you might find that they were all spoiled brats also.
 

RoyS

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Jun 3, 2012
1,739
Hunter 33 Steamboat Wharf, Hull, MA
Read most of the eelgrass restoration report referenced by HobbieDog. Interesting that one of the test sites was at Peddocks Island, although not on the side where everyone anchors. Planted at 6' depth the eelgrass failed to take and it was not recommended to plant there. Looking at the data in this report, you will see that the planting depth was seldom over 10' deep. In our murky water here there is not enough light down there to support eel grass. I will supply a short (two page) fact sheet from the USDA on eel grass that also states that eelgrass does not usually grow in Northeast waters below 10' deep (three meters). The signs installed by our Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation on Peddocks Island make no mention of depth. They are on the opposite side of the island from the original failed test site. The original test site is never disturbed by boaters as it is too shallow and was probably the best island location to support eel grass, but did not. As I mentioned above when I anchored here in 15' (at low) and retrieved my anchor rode there was no eel grass or anything else stuck to the line, chain or anchor. Usually there is mud on the anchor but not the last time. This spoiled brat is indeed upset with this overreach by our state government. USDA Report to follow.
 

RoyS

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Jun 3, 2012
1,739
Hunter 33 Steamboat Wharf, Hull, MA
Here is the USDA Fact Sheet suggesting that eel grass usually does not grow here in the Northeast in water over 3 meters deep.
 

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