Along the South Coast of Massachusetts, springtime brings more than flowers. It brings the beginning of a very active boating season. Boat owners’ thoughts turn to all things maritime, from having moorings set, engines tuned-up, sea-worthy testing to launching their watercraft at public boat ramps or planning outings. But this spring there are other considerations – serious considerations. COVID-19 considerations.
On April 22, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs published a three-page memorandum on the subject of “boating and various other marine and inland waterway-related activities.” It was written in light of Governor Baker’s stay-at-home advisory and essential-services order. Yet how to enforce distancing requirements, how to ensure that only family groups are on a given vessel, remain unclear and fall to self-policing and local harbormasters.
First let’s take a closer look at the memorandum itself. It first addresses inland boat ramps and canoe launches. It makes the clear statement that, “ramps and launches… managed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts remain open for use by boats being launched by vehicles registered in the Commonwealth…” Exempted are locations already closed; those remain closed. Launches and ramps managed by municipalities remain open subject to the discretion of the individual town.
Mattapoisett Harbormaster Jamie MacIntosh said that any vehicle not bearing a Massachusetts registration will be turned away at the public ramps. Of the restrictions listed by the MEOEE he said, “Really it’s common sense stuff… Don’t congregate around the boat ramp, that allows things to keep moving.” MacIntosh said that some harbormasters are adopting the slogan “Launch-Hail-Leave” as a way to drive home that point.
Over in Sippican Harbor, Isaac Perry, harbormaster for the town of Marion, said that the memo was quite clear but for one bullet point, the very last bullet point that he thought was at best ambiguous. In this section under the heading “For Hire Boating” the line reads, “…any other operation or use of a vessel that is not registered to the passenger,” is not permitted.
That raises the question: Where does that leave launch services?
MacIntosh said, “The Coast Guard still controls activities on the water,” adding that the Coast Guard views launch services as “essential” and wondering aloud if that might supersede the state mandate. “It’s a wait-see situation… we are holding off on launch service right now… it’s pending.”
Meetings in both Marion and Mattapoisett on Tuesday set initial plans in motion.
Perry attended Tuesday’s Marion Board of Health meeting with a plan to open docks and floats on Wednesday, May 6. Marion will restrict its floats to the owners or those approved by the harbormaster. “This isn’t going to be a transient dock where the people are going to be coming and going,” said Perry, who will oversee a 20-minute limit of usage.
In addition to keeping all state orders, Marion is keeping its public bathrooms and public showers closed.
In Tuesday’s Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen meeting, Town Administrator Mike Lorenco in his report discussed measures including the necessity of face coverings, social distancing in and around public launch, and other boating outlets. The measures also mandate that boats may not congregate, that people on a boat must live in the same household and that boats for hire, whale watching and other recreational boating activities remain prohibited. To view the memorandum, visit mattapoisett.net.
Lorenco has said in prior meetings that commercial fishing is considered an essential service, that the harbormaster would be putting up signage regarding the public launch area, and that only Massachusetts vehicle registration would be permitted at the public launch.
On May 1, the MEOEE sent out additional guidelines regarding launch service. Those are: “a Captain of the launch boat and staff must keep distance and wear PPE as well as person boarding the shuttle boat; if social distancing cannot be done then separate trips must occur to adhere to six-foot social distancing requirements; persons using the service must wear PPE/face masks and practice social distancing; after dropping off passengers, on reverse trip the launch service boat must be disinfected after every trip; same rules for the floating docks, any tools that are used by boatyard staff at any time must be disinfected and PPE must be used.”
According to MacIntosh, Mattapoisett will regulate people as they come to the boat ramp, require distancing in the dock and launch areas, and limit the number of people on the wharves at any one time. “Vacating the area quickly will speak volumes,” he said.
The memo notes, “Masks and face-coverings should be worn in public in accordance with DPH advisory when distancing is not possible.”
Other activities not permitted include charter-boat fishing, sailboat rentals and lessons, canoe, kayak, and paddleboard rentals, rafting rentals, organized fishing tournaments and derbies, whale watching and other pleasure cruises.
Recreational boating requirements state that only family groups from the same household are allowed on a boat, no multiple household groups permitted on ramps, docks, piers and strict social distancing employed, and that boats on the water must maintain distancing (no grouping of boats permitted).
As of April 30, when Massachusetts faced an extension of Governor Baker’s emergency order until May 18, boaters with the ability to adhere to restrictions and requirements have been allowed to begin boating again. Others will have to trim their sails a bit longer.
To view the memorandum, visit mass.gov/eea, mattapoisett.net and marionma.gov.
By Marilou Newell