Maryland Bans Recreational Boating for the Duration

[CassidyNZ]

Originally Posted by nhschneider

In New Zealand, the Maritime NZ Director has 'urged' boaters to stay at home. His primary concern is that if a boater needs assistance, it exposes his staff unnecessarily.

In San Diego, while boat ramps are officially closed, using your boat for sailing, fishing, etc is permitted as long as 'physical distancing' is maintained.

Stay safe and healthy.

Fair winds and calm seas.

Things have changed in NZ. Initially the reason for not going boating was directed at small, mostly “fizz” boats inasmuch as a possible breakdown out there would expose Coastguard personnel to contamination during a “rescue”. This was more of a request from Coastguard than a directive.

Yesterday the government issued a directive banning “all boating”. So up to yesterday, I would have been allowed to get on my boat, go out to a quiet spot and anchor up for a week. Now, that’s illegal.

Still wonder though, how will anybody police this? No authority will go out there for fear of contamination - who is going to even find me? But I have a wife who unerringly obeys the rules so house-bound I am.

I’m still confused that I am allowed to go to a supermarket where there are 100 other customers, 200 staff and that’s OK but I’m not allowed on my boat with just me and my family who live together in the same house anyway.

This whole Covid carry-on defies any logic.

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by bailsout

Like rust, stupidity never sleeps. With human overpopulation being the source of most of the destruction on this planet, why such a fuss over the value of human life? If you value yours, take the necessary precautions and stop putting a government of questionable intelligence take away your personal freedom.

Unfortunately, stupid people who won't self isolate without government orders, would/will eventually cause the death of millions of us who have self isolated without needing the gov to make us do so. Each of us is not an island alone. We live or die according to behavior of the masses.
This disease is contagious beyond anything we have experienced since bubonic plague. What is really stupid is that as of today all US state governments have not demanded the population to shelter in place.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by garyfdl

The OP said: "zero risk of transmission" if he goes boating.

So, you're never going to need food, fuel, a pump-out, clean clothes, parts or ??? LMAO....

I am the OP and I stand by what I said. Re-read the post, recognizing that I was speaking specifically about the way I personally sail.
[note--The boat in my Avitar is not my current ride. I now sail a Corsair F-24.]

• I specified either solo or with family members. No buddies. Zero.
• I day sail. Food comes from home. Clothes go home. I have not used the head in 3 years, but if I do, I have WAG bags that go home with me.
• I burn about a pint of gas when I sail. Please.
• Parts. I have so many at home... I doubt it. The boat is in very good shape at the moment with nothing on the to-do list. If needed, I won't be going in West Marine anyway. I can either fix it with what I have or wait until July. If the engine dies, I'll sail into the slip, which I have done numerous times.
• The marina is very small and I very seldom see anyone. I haven't seen anyone on my pier in a year.
• I do not stop on the drive to or from the marina. Period. I seldom did before. There is no club. I don't hang out.

But I am staying home, and the OP clearly implied that. I made no hints about circumventing the rules. But if zero risk sticks in your craw, perhaps I should have said "managed very safely," or with less risk than than walking on the sidewalk in front of my house, which is considered acceptable.

My wife is diabetic and my parents, nearby, are both past 90. I'm staying in as much as humanly practical, going for groceries every 1-2 weeks and that's about it. I'm thankful that my work allows that.

[boat driver]

Originally Posted by hpeer

Another blanket statement without an ounce of support or explanation.

The states are basically saying stay where you are-
If the issue was not already getting out of control, MD is flat out reacting as Rhode Island-
stay put and hibernate. they don't want your sickness.
Blaming the East Coast fears squarely on New York and the Governor Cumo'a daily demanding attention for his 2024 Presidential run, the epic escape from NY has spread to rural areas and so- adjoining borders closed.

good luck but one is better to hole up and stay.
If you have insurance /hurricane concerns prior to June 1, you might begin immediately discussing with your insurance company the options.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

I expect them to take the coronavirus more seriously than some are doing.

Well they are at least a month late on that.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Montanan

see above.

STAY AT HOME order. If your boat is your home then you should stay on it. If it is not your primary residence then you should not be on it. All rather straightforward.

It is not rather straightforward for full time cruisers who are not already at their home port. As I mentioned above, we are 8,000 miles from our homeport. There are many cruisers who are far from their home country or home state.
Non-local cruisers in the south still have to deal with the upcoming hurricane season.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Montanan

Paul, et. al.,

The Stay At Home order is just that. The intent would be to not permit transiting. Options are simple, moor the boat, and return to your residence in Bellingham. One should not be traveling from port to port.

The word quarantine is of Italian origin, it means 40 days as that was the length of time for ships to remain isolated before they were allowed to moor to land and proceed to disembark cargo, crew or passengers.

The rules and definitions of the ad hoc orders for essential travel are rather consistent across the various jurisdictions and are well established. Relocating a non-essential asset to a different location is not included in the list of essential travel activities. The non-essential boat can stay where it is; no matter how one tries to worm through a loophole of logic, its transport is non-essential from a societal perspective.

How about a little understanding for the position some cruisers are in? Leave your boat in the hurricane season, perhaps at anchor in a creek, and go home is not an option for many.

I'm far too far away from the Chesapeake to get there, so this does not directly affect me. Where I am I can't even get a flight out to the US even if I wanted to, so we are here for the duration of the lockdown and even tnen it isn't clear that tbe downwind countries will openup anytime soon.

[ArmyDaveNY]

Sweden is open for business, including their bars, clubs, and restaurants. Interestingly, they have a much lower rate of infection and deaths than their neighbours Finland, Denmark, and Norway.

There are some experts who say isolation will only delay the of things being all clear. Once 80% of the population are exposed, then and only then will it go away. Maybe. Time will tell.

The CDC at their daily noon reporting says that around 3,600 have died so far in the U.S.. This year the U.S. has lost over 22,000 so far due to the flu.

So, it is all right for me to go to the grocery story and to gather in groups of up to ten, but in some states it is not all right to go by yourself on your boat. It is all right to go for a walk or a run, but not all right to go on my boat. Hmmm.

While it is certainly more contagious than many viruses, it seems to be relatively low in the mortality rate. SARS is far deadlier and MERS is even worse. Keep in mind that based upon what we know so far, 98 or 99% of those who die have other problems such as obesity, smoking, leukemia, COPD, respiratory illnesses, heart problems, etc. Keep in mind that the majority of people exhibit no symptoms and the overwhelming majority exhibit either no symptoms or very mild symptoms.

Essentially, each person needs to decide for themselves how much precaution they need to take for them and their families. Not much difference than throughout history.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by ArmyDaveNY

Sweden is open for business, including their bars, clubs, and restaurants. Interestingly, they have a much lower rate of infection and deaths than their neighbours Finland, Denmark, and Norway.

.......

Sweden is definately taking a different approach than their neighbors. It is not true that they have a much lower rate of infection or deaths. There are no signs of their approach working better than their neighbors at this time.
Here's a good article in tbe New York Times describing the Swedish approach
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/28/w...ronavirus.html
And here is the current as of today graph for confirmed cv19 cases in Sweden

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Sweden is definately taking a different approach than their neighbors. It is not true that they have a much lower rate of infection or deaths. There are no signs of their approach working better than their neighbors at this time.
Here's a good article in tbe New York Times describing the Swedish approach
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/28/w...ronavirus.html
And here is the current as of today graph for confirmed cv19 cases in Sweden

Things change quickly, that's for sure. I wish I could remember where the article was but it was three or so days ago. It is possible that they were at one time infected less, or it is possible that the rate was the same, but the data was insufficient. Time will tell whether they are choosing a better way, one that is not as good, or one that is equally good but different.


It will also be interesting to see which method, if any, yields a faster return to normal. It is also possible that there is no right answer and that nothing will actually make a difference. Only time will tell.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by ArmyDaveNY

Things change quickly, that's for sure. I wish I could remember where the article was but it was three or so days ago. It is possible that they were at one time infected less, or it is possible that the rate was the same, but the data was insufficient. Time will tell whether they are choosing a better way, one that is not as good, or one that is equally good but different.


It will also be interesting to see which method, if any, yields a faster return to normal. It is also possible that there is no right answer and that nothing will actually make a difference. Only time will tell.

In a few years there will be some fascinating papers by the epidemiologists. Great comparisons between the Nordic countries, between euro and north America, between the west and asia. I'm seeing a ton of newly minted PhDs.

The preferred approach for a given country or area has a lot to do with the existing health care and public health infrastructure. Flattening the curves purpose is to avoid overwhelming the hospitals. It only reduces the mortality when compared to an overwhelmed health care system. If you had unlimited health care available, tnen you would just deal with each patient as they came down with cv19 without social isolation.

(I know a little about the Swedish approach only because we are lockeddown here in a marina and one of the boats is a Swedish boat with medical doctor onboard. Lots of talk about cv19)

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Well they are at least a month late on that.

Yet still with time to flatten the curve if people do the right thing now.

What people do now matters a month from now.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by Paul L

It is not rather straightforward for full time cruisers who are not already at their home port. As I mentioned above, we are 8,000 miles from our homeport. There are many cruisers who are far from their home country or home state.
Non-local cruisers in the south still have to deal with the upcoming hurricane season.

It’s pretty straightforward, and has nothing to do with what’s written on the back of your boat at this point.

[garyfdl]

Originally Posted by thinwater

if zero risk sticks in your craw, perhaps I should have said "managed very safely," or with less risk than than walking on the sidewalk in front of my house, which is considered acceptable.

Yeah, it does "stick in my craw" - because some yahoo will read that and think: "if he can do it, so can I" - and because I have family who are on the front lines dealing with this mess and our hope is that when (not if) she gets sick, she can survive.

There is no "zero risk".

Stay at home.

[hpeer]

And since my boat IS my home?