Antisocial Boating?
Boating enthusiasts are some of the friendliest and most welcoming people you will ever meet. Raft ups and chance meetings in remote anchorages are part of what draws people to this pass time that we all love so much. What if suddenly we couldn’t raft up with 20 other boats and party all day and all night? What if we had to just smile and wave as we greet the crew aboard a beautiful Bertram that is sharing a picturesque cove with us for the night instead of approaching and inviting them on board for Happy Hour? Would we abandon our boating lifestyle in favor of X-Box or Botany?
I think that we can all agree that there are many other reasons to continue boating given the latest restrictions to ensure social distancing on our local waterways. Before your minds run wild with all of those reasons... Let’s review how the COVID-19 Virus has affected recreational boating thus far in South Florida. As the Pandemic grew, the general population increased their awareness and began changing behaviors. People began maintaining their distance from one another, washing their hands and keeping them away from their mouth, nose and eyes. Many boaters continued to enjoy the freedom that their boat afforded them and continued life on the water as usual. A few even organized Raft ups and big parties in those early weeks. The actions of a few almost cost each of us the freedom to enjoy our boats responsibly.
With a hitch or two, recreational boating is alive and well in South Florida. Fortunately, policy makers have helped to preserve most of the freedoms that boaters enjoy. Fuel is available, repair services are available, and only a few restrictions have been announced which will help speed our return to normal. Give thanks to law enforcement for this privilege and let’s finish with a list of all the reasons that we still want to get on board and spend a day on the boat!
- Catch your 1st (or 51st) billfish
- Head offshore and watch the sunrise
- Scuba dive the Lady Luck
- Put that spear gun to use and hunt down dinner
- Dinner for two at anchor
- Take the kids tubing
- A sunset happy hour cruise
- And, and, and, and
A couple things to remember before getting underway. Rafting up with another boat is not permitted. You may not have more than 10 people on board a boat at any time. Be sure to have a BoatU.S. Unlimited Gold membership. As an essential service, your TowBoatU.S. provider is still available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the unfortunate event that you do require our service, tow boats are sanitized twice daily, tow boat captains are trained in social distancing, and we will not require a signature for most services to further our commitment to keeping you and our crew safe.
Enjoy your boat and stay healthy!
