Help Save Studland Bay - anchorage rights!
Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 1:31 pm
Many of you that visit YBW Scuttlebutt will of course have read the threads on the Conservancy campaign to declare Marine Conservation Zones within UK Coastal Waters. The goal of these is laudable - preserving UK marine life is something that I think we can all agree is a great idea. However, many of the restrictions that are being proposed have a very high impact on boaters in coastal areas, in particular a number of areas have been designated as potential sites for a blanket ban on anchoring.
The most significant of these, and indeed the test case, is Studland Bay. Studland is of course a highly popular anchorage in the UK South Coast, offering in a small part protection from even Southerly and Easterly weather from the Channel, and having no tidal gate. It is also an area of stunning natural beauty that is a very desired cruising destination in its own right.
Discussions and "data collection" have been under way for the past 18 months - however, this process has had precious little representation from the actual boating community. The Royal Yacht Association (RYA) has been involved as a stakeholder, but their attitude has been more one of "partnering" with the Conservancy movement rather than objecting. Indeed, many of their video presentations to the boating community smack of "this is coming, and really it is good for you", rather than questioning the need for it in the first place.
UK marine biologists working for the Conservancy movement have indeed admitted that eel grass and seahorses (the two threatened organisms) are actually flourishing in Studland Bay, and have been for decades of growth in numbers and coverage. But that has not stopped the movement for a ban on anchoring, because of POTENTIAL damage from anchors to the eel grass - those same anchors that have been in use in Studland for the past 3 decades while the grass has grown and grown!
The Boat Owners Response Group is an informal group of activists that have decided that UK leisure boaters needed a more robust voice in the process. For the past 3 months, we have been working to publicize the imminent dates of decisions and proposals, drafts of which are being circulated and considered which include proposed anchor bans in several areas of the UK, not just Studland Bay. We have been directing much of our energy on YBW, because that is where we met, and we have established the start of our own web site. As we have evolved, we have become a closer partner to the RYA, and due to our messaging campaign have now been invited to the Finding Sanctuary discussion process as legitimate stakeholders in our own right - representing UK boat owners in concert with the RYA. We have also had very positive coverage in both Yachting Monthly and Practical Boat Owner.
I'm coming to you today because we have posted a poll on our website, one designed to seek out opinions on anchorage rights. It's a simple poll - "Do you believe Studland Bay should be a No Anchore Zone?". Originally, flow from YBW generated a positive flood of NO votes. Then the Conservancy forums got wind of it, and have flooded it with YES votes, pushing for a ban. This is a public poll, and is being monitored closely by both sides.
I am here to ask you to spend a minute, pop over to the BORG website, and vote NO to a ban on Anchorage rights. Even if you never cruise Studland, it is only the first test case, many others have been proposed in the current drafts of MCZs.
You can find the poll and our website at http://www.boatownersresponsegroup.com. Please feel free to pass this on to as many boaters and boating forums as you can...we need all the help we can get.
Regards,
SailBob
The most significant of these, and indeed the test case, is Studland Bay. Studland is of course a highly popular anchorage in the UK South Coast, offering in a small part protection from even Southerly and Easterly weather from the Channel, and having no tidal gate. It is also an area of stunning natural beauty that is a very desired cruising destination in its own right.
Discussions and "data collection" have been under way for the past 18 months - however, this process has had precious little representation from the actual boating community. The Royal Yacht Association (RYA) has been involved as a stakeholder, but their attitude has been more one of "partnering" with the Conservancy movement rather than objecting. Indeed, many of their video presentations to the boating community smack of "this is coming, and really it is good for you", rather than questioning the need for it in the first place.
UK marine biologists working for the Conservancy movement have indeed admitted that eel grass and seahorses (the two threatened organisms) are actually flourishing in Studland Bay, and have been for decades of growth in numbers and coverage. But that has not stopped the movement for a ban on anchoring, because of POTENTIAL damage from anchors to the eel grass - those same anchors that have been in use in Studland for the past 3 decades while the grass has grown and grown!
The Boat Owners Response Group is an informal group of activists that have decided that UK leisure boaters needed a more robust voice in the process. For the past 3 months, we have been working to publicize the imminent dates of decisions and proposals, drafts of which are being circulated and considered which include proposed anchor bans in several areas of the UK, not just Studland Bay. We have been directing much of our energy on YBW, because that is where we met, and we have established the start of our own web site. As we have evolved, we have become a closer partner to the RYA, and due to our messaging campaign have now been invited to the Finding Sanctuary discussion process as legitimate stakeholders in our own right - representing UK boat owners in concert with the RYA. We have also had very positive coverage in both Yachting Monthly and Practical Boat Owner.
I'm coming to you today because we have posted a poll on our website, one designed to seek out opinions on anchorage rights. It's a simple poll - "Do you believe Studland Bay should be a No Anchore Zone?". Originally, flow from YBW generated a positive flood of NO votes. Then the Conservancy forums got wind of it, and have flooded it with YES votes, pushing for a ban. This is a public poll, and is being monitored closely by both sides.
I am here to ask you to spend a minute, pop over to the BORG website, and vote NO to a ban on Anchorage rights. Even if you never cruise Studland, it is only the first test case, many others have been proposed in the current drafts of MCZs.
You can find the poll and our website at http://www.boatownersresponsegroup.com. Please feel free to pass this on to as many boaters and boating forums as you can...we need all the help we can get.
Regards,
SailBob
