Portable Watercraft and Accabonac
[september 1, 2014: estimated publication date]
[photo: kayak racks]
The Accabonac Protection Committee counts among its members many individuals who enjoy kayaking, canoeing and using other portable watercraft around Accabonac Harbor. The APC values such low-impact recreation as a responsible means of enjoying the beauty of our town waterways and takes pride in its achievements that have helped keep Accabonac accessible and pristine.
The APC for many years has been concerned that the growing number of portable watercraft stored overnight at Louse Point negatively impact not only the beauty of this area but also its fragile ecology, killing shore undergrowth, hampering efforts to re-establish beach grass and other native species and providing ideal habitat for mosquito breeding.
After the 2006 season saw over 130 kayaks and other craft left on the beach in August, the Trustees, urged in part by APC, initiated a permitting process for storage in 2007. They placed two-tier racks, located off beach grass, at both Louse Point and Settler’s Landing on Three Mile Harbor.
Residents who would like storage space, good for one season, must apply to the Trustees each spring. As of 2014, they receive many more applications than the 150 spaces they have available, so the applications must be winnowed down to that number. They tell us they have ticketed craft left on the sand and have also impounded some. They have asked the town for space at Landing Lane on the harbor to place additional racks, but that area is designated a nature preserve and as such cannot have any structures placed there. They are requesting a loosening of restrictions on nature preserve properties so they can be carefully used.
The APC applauds the initiative of the Trustees in taking action to address a growing problem, and it recognizes the ecological benefit of the smaller ‘footprint’ currently taken up at Louse Point by portable watercraft.
Despite the improvement provided by the racks, APC and the Trustees agree that the ideal would be for all portable craft to be returned to the owners’ property rather than left on the beach. We will continue to work with the Trustees to help save the beaches of the Harbor.
