I received an email from Bill out of Richmond a few days ago. He was forwarding an email from Boat US about a National Park Service survey looking into boat access on Chesapeake Bay. Bill said he was passing it along in the case that I was not a member of BoatUS or that I was not receiving their emails. I am a member and I do receive their emails, but I completely missed this one. Thanks for forwarding it Bill.
Below is what BoatUS had to say....
Do you think boaters need better public access sites around the Bay? The National Park Service wants to know. They are holding a series of public meetings at which boaters can tell them where facilities like ramps and dinghy docks should be located. BoatU.S. encourages you to attend one of these workshops to share your thoughts in person.
The meeting dates and locations are:
Tuesday, June 21 – 5:30pm to 7:30pm
Fish and Boat Commission Headquarters (Susquehanna Room)
1601 Elmerton Avenue
Harrisburg, PA
Fish and Boat Commission Headquarters (Susquehanna Room)
1601 Elmerton Avenue
Harrisburg, PA
Wednesday, June 22 – 5:30pm to 7:30pm
Ft. McHenry Visitor Center
2400 East Fort Avenue
Baltimore, MD
Ft. McHenry Visitor Center
2400 East Fort Avenue
Baltimore, MD
Monday, June 27 – 5:30pm to 7:30pm
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (Room A-10)
901 G Street NW
Washington, DC
Tuesday, June 28 – 5:30pm to 7:30pm
Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries Headquarters (Board Room)
4000 West Broad Street
Richmond, VA
If you cannot attend one of the public meetings please visit the National Park Service web site, www.baygateways.net for more information. Starting June 21st, 2011 there will be an interactive map of the Bay on this web site where you can pinpoint actual locations that need better boating access.
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I cannot attend any of the meetings, but I am interested in having some input through their interactive map. What caught my eye, and what I knew from previous research, is that there is not a lot of access to the bay on Virginia's eastern shore. There are more ramps as you get into Maryland, but the closer you get to the Bay Bridge on Kent Island the more expensive it can get. Even as far south as Crisfield we were told that a pass to use the local ramps could cost $40 or more. (A local hotel helped us out by letting us leave the jeep/trailer on their property for free. There are some nice folks out there in the world.)
Looking at ramps, parking, security is always a major part of planning a trip. Maybe I'll put in my two cents. Water access is important to me. I spend much of my time sailing in Norfolk, a city that once had the motto "City by the Sea". Because of lack of boat ramps I sometimes think of it as "City where you can't get to the Sea."
I'll look into the NPS survey a bit more. Thanks again for the note Bill.
But in the meantime, leftovers anyone??
steve
3 comments:
Interesting... Are you aware of the smart phone app called "Boat Ramp", it's a navigation tool that puts up a map showing boat ramps, you can select city, county, state etc... or just your current location, it'll put up a google type map indicating the ramps. I haven't used mine enough to figure out all the features (public vs private etc...) I don't think it was free, but under $5.
Dawn
Hey Dawn,
good to hear from you. I'll check out that app.
I see you are about a month out from your bike ride. More time spent these days on the bike than on the kayak?? (or Dawn Patrol???)
Will you carry the SPOT on the ride?
steve
You're more than welcome. Just send me a handful of those crawfish and we'll call it even.
Actually, consider it consideration for the vicarious enjoyment I get from looking at your great pics here (despite the concomitant jealousy they also generate within me!).
I really have to get my boat back together and go for a good, long sail.
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