Flotsam & Jetsam

Your letters and such...

Regarding Kitrick Nielson’s article Nissan Coastal Cruising, David Peebles writes:

As you discovered, Puget Sound is not a friendly place for an itinerant seafarer. Almost all of the tideland is privately owned, and jealously guarded. The best source of useful info is a pamphlet put out by the Washington Water Trails Association (I was on their board 20 or more years ago). WWTA sought out all the publicly accessible shoreline they could find, and made pacts with as many private entities as they could. Their goal was to have camp-worthy beaches no more than one day apart for "human propelled" small craft (which includes sailboats as well). They do charge a fee for overnight camping; joining the organization is helpful.

There is legislation that makes much (though not all) of the intertidal zone public, but much of that can only be accessed via private property. Some years ago, a low-ranking ranger tried to shoo me off of a beach (I had landed my kayak for a lunch break) but I asserted my rights to use of the intertidal zone, and he backed off.

B.C. is better, as the public has certain rights to use of tidelands, but I can't cite any details. Best to contact officialdom in B. C. for that info.

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Reader Cameron S. writes:

You should have a nautical poetry contest. Yours is one of the only publications that might have the courage to do it, and I’m sure your audience includes plenty of bards.

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From Glen-L Marine, builder David Sauer sends photos of his custom Duet 25, which he says been to Isle Royale, Vancouver Island, Door County on Lake Michigan, and up and down the Mississippi, and St Croix Rivers many times.

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“A keen wind from the west struck our faces, and as swiftly as it had come the fog rolled away from us, in one mighty mass, stripping clean and pure the starry dome of heaven...”

― Erskine Childers, Riddle of the Sands

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