6 • Feb. 26 - Mar. 10, 2016 • The Log


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Letters/Online Comments Why the secrecy?


Re: Coastal Commission dis- missed executive director(Feb. 12 issue). Take the commission to court; demand transcripts of closed door meetings. This smells very fishy. How close to develop- ers are the commission mem- bers? How many gifts and back- handers (gratuities) have they accepted? This needs to be inves- tigated. Far too many crooks and unethical officials.


Noel Anderson Submitted on TheLog.com


Protection of California’s most precious resource ended


Re: Coastal Commission dis- missed executive director (Feb. 12 issue). Sadly, this is yet anoth- er example of what happens when special interest groups, with deep pockets and only their own self interests in mind, are allowed to run amok. Yes, the California Coastal Commission is challenging and sometimes diffi- cult for developers and others to work with (DPBA has long experi- ence here) but the commission’s job is not to make profit making big coastal development project permits quick, easy or cheap. Instead the commission’s legally


mandated goal is to protect and preserve coastal access, as a highly valued asset of the people of the State of California, and to be always vigilant in efforts to permit only those projects com- patible with this goal. It’s also true that this is an amazingly dif- ficult job to do, and the tools are not just the developers’ sales brochures. Detailed coastal development and use plans are necessary, to be carefully studied and refined where appropriate, before an irrevocable permit is issued. The point here is that the terms “quick, easy and cheap” simply can not apply if the com- mission mission is to be accom- plished! As those of us who are familiar with our court systems can attest, civil and criminal jus- tice is not quick, easy and cheap either. Fortunately there are laws in place to protect our court sys- tems and until yesterday, these protections also applied to the Coastal Commission as well. Regardless of the law though, monied special interests always seem to find a way to get their way. Certainly they did that yes- terday regarding the California Coastal Act. Now the critically important director’s job is just another political appointment. It follows that soon staff work may be politicized too. Is it too late to do something about this? Sadly, it appears the answer is yes in Lester’s case, though we applaud and sincerely appreciate the efforts of all those who tried. Regardless, we can still reach out to our electeds, to be loud and persistent in explaining to them that we do not wish to sell our entire coastline, and thereby access to the ocean itself, to


Who needs a U.S. Coast Guard License? By David Weil, Esq.


Q


requirements during a bare- boat charter, so we need to be understand bareboat charter- ing before we can answer his question. A bareboat charter (also


A


known as a “demise” charter) is a lease arrangement where- by the charterer takes on all of the rights and obligations of ownership without actually transferring title, and the


those private parties who in turn would give us no access, or only limited access for a price. Recreational boaters in particu- lar, I’m talking to you.


Roger Beard, president of Dana Point Boaters Association Submitted on TheLog.com


Fast Facts – The Boats of ‘Miami Vice’


Did you know three sailboats and a speedboat were used in the television series “Miami Vice”? One of the leading characters in Michael Mann’s show, Sonny Crockett (portrayed by Don Johnson), spent some time on the water as a liveaboard and cruiser. Three boats were used to characterize St. Vitus Dance, the boat Crockett lived aboard: Cabo Rico 38 (pilot episode), Endeavour 40 (season 1), and Endeavour 42 (seasons 2 through 5). Crockett also navigated South Florida’s waters aboard a ciga- rette speedboat, Wellcraft 38 Scarab KV. The film version of “Miami Vice” (2006) featured Mojo, an MTI powerboat, and three Donzis (38 ZR, 43 ZR and 38 ZF Daytona).


Source: IMDb.com


Does an individual who is selected and compensated by


someone to skipper their bare- boat charter sailboat need a Coast Guard license? The com- pensation in this case did not involve a cash payment and it consisted of only airfare, hotel, and meals during our trip. The skipper was not chosen, recom- mended, or required by the charter company and he has no ownership interest in the vessel.


Our reader is con- cerned about Coast Guard licensing


owner is generally protected from liability against third parties. Like most principles of maritime law, bareboat charters were developed to manage the safety and com- merce of ocean going mer- chant ships, but the concept is equally applicable to recre- ational boats. To create a bareboat char-


ter, the owner of the vessel must completely relinquish possession, operation, main- tenance, command and navi- gation of the boat to the char- terer. The charterer must sup- ply the captain and crew and pay for the operation of the vessel during the term of the charter. If the owner is allowed to manage or operate the boat in any way, it is not a “bareboat” charter and the operation would be treated like a conventional charter boat that carries passengers for hire. The yachting community is


probably most familiar with the concept of bareboat char- tering through the sailboat charter operations that are


common in the Caribbean and elsewhere. Those opera- tions typically involve the chartering of a sailboat in the 30 to 50 foot range for a week or two, where the charterer’s party has the freedom to use the boat without supervision from the owners or the vessel managers. Since the boat is often chartered without a pro- fessional captain, the charter- er must demonstrate profi- ciency in the operation of the boat before leaving the dock through the completion of various tests or through certi- fication by the American Sailing Association. As noted above, bareboat


charters often leave the dock without professional captains, but our reader is concerned about whether a captain on a bareboat charter who receives some form of compensation would need a Coast Guard license. We will note preliminarily that when the Coast Guard looks at compensation for any purpose, they do not distin-


On Board With Johnson by J.R. Johnson See ATTORNEY page 20


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