Behind the Buoy

Richard Schwartz Publisher Emeritus
Michael G. Sciulla Editor & Publisher



May 2007

Our last editorial outlining the Coast Guard Commandant’s proposal to require recreational boaters to get a license for national security reasons struck a nerve.

Before BoatU.S. Magazine was even delivered by mail, letters to the editor began streaming into our offices from readers who had read the editorial either online at BoatUS.com or My.BoatUS.com.

While we certainly received a fair amount of comments that were short and to the point on both sides of the issue, what was most interesting were the many thoughtful letters especially those from retired Coasties or those who served in the military, police or security fields. A number of private pilots also entered the fray — drawing parallels between what happened to general aviation in the aftermath of 9/11 and warning of what could happen in the future to recreational boating.

When all was said and done, the number of those opposing the Commandant’s suggested course of action outweighed those in favor by a factor of 10 to one. A representative sampling of these letters appears on pages 16-17.

Since our editorial was published, the Coast Guard has announced that the Department of Homeland Security will be hosting a “Small Vessel Security Summit” in Washington, D.C. in late June. Representatives from recreational boating, small commercial and fishing vessels will be invited.

With this deadline fast approaching, it is imperative that we come up with viable alternatives to the two options that Coast Guard officials have floated — a license or some kind of required AIS (Automatic Identification System) device.

One such idea might be a nautical version of the Neighborhood Watch program which has been implemented by many communities around the country in recent years. In fact, there is such a program for our waterways and it’s called America’s Waterway Watch.

The idea behind both is to educate and empower ordinary citizens to keep their eyes and ears open and to report to the authorities any behavior that might be considered suspicious. On land the theory is that criminals will be deterred if they think people are watching. The hope is that terrorists would think twice about using our waterways if they thought that millions of recreational boaters were watching their every move.

Of course, the success of any such program depends on the level of involvement at the grassroots level and in the case of our waterways, a commitment by those responsible for law enforcement and national security to provide the resources to make the program work.

How many of you are aware that we already have such a program? How many have volunteered to be “eyes and ears?” How many know who or what number to call if suspicious activity is observed?

We suspect the answers to these questions are: Not many, not many and don’t know.

Case in point: The subject of America’s Waterway Watch program came up during a recent presentation by the Coast Guard to a group of nearly 150 boating writers. When asked, less than a handful knew the actual name of the program and nobody knew the actual number to call to report suspicious activity on the water (877-24WATCH).

Before the powers-that-be decide to license every boater or require the purchase of expensive AIS equipment in order to gather information on law-abiding users of waterways, the Coast Guard should focus on enlisting the support of the boating public.

America’s Waterway Watch needs to be expanded well beyond the Coast Guard Auxiliary and Reserve to include tens of thousands of ordinary Americans.

A serious intelligence-gathering program of this magnitude would require Coast Guard brass to make Waterway Watch a priority and provide the command and control necessary to enable it to succeed.

But, given the Coast Guard’s modest support and backing for the program over the past few years, whether they are up to the task is questionable. Nonetheless, the concept needs to be explored as an alternative to the more bureaucratic and expensive approaches now being considered.

Those who have ideas on how to invigorate the waterway watch program or how to  better secure our waterways are encouraged to share their thoughts with us at  letterstoeditor@BoatUS.com.

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