Who’s looking out for recreational boaters’ interests?

All along the California coast, the story repeats: local officials announce plans to redevelop marinas and waterfront districts, usually increasing the number of larger slips and decreasing small slips. Sometimes, like San Pedro’s Ports O’ Call Marina, docks are demolished and not replaced. Yes, it’s important to maintain and renovate marinas. And yes, boats are getting larger and all need somewhere to dock and call home. But what about the little guys, the people with the “starter boats” in the 20- and 30-foot range? Where do they go when they’re displaced? In July, Arv and I were in Los Angeles and stopped in Marina del Rey, one of his favorite old haunts. We drove around looking at marinas, as we often do. Seeing many empty docks and older marine businesses closed for demolition and reconfiguration brought this issue home. I’ve read the “official line” repeatedly from every locality where this occurs: we’re committed to maintaining a supply of boat slips of all sizes, including smaller lengths. Yet somehow when the number of dock slips plunges by a quarter to a third, it’s always the smaller slips that disappear and the docks accommodating larger yachts and megayachts that miraculously expand. Does anyone care about regular boaters,...