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New Hanover ramps closed - Please send the county a note to protest

4K views 28 replies 17 participants last post by  bad luck 
#1 ·
Hey all -

Asking for your help. New Hanover county just closed all public boat ramps. UPDATED - they actually have now closed all PUBLIC and PRIVATE ramps AND MARINAS. They did this because of a few idiots who continue to congregate, get drunk, and party at a few sandbars. So, instead of addressing the specific issues when and where they happen (which they SHOULD HAVE BEEN DOING ALL ALONG), they have decided to close ALL boat ramps (even on the river).

I guess Julia Olson-Boseman thinks this is easier. https://www.wect.com/2020/04/03/new-hanover-county-set-close-all-boat-ramps-friday/

Please send them a note encouraging them to rescind this decision and simply address the problems when and where they exist. The issues are in a few specific spots, all well known. https://www.nhcgov.com/contact-us/ Better yet, call them and speak to them directly 910-798-6855
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RANT -for those who want to read on
Look, I get it. Like many people, I am not sure 100% whether this is hype or as serious as our friends in the media say, but I have tolerated watching my freedoms slowly taken away in the interest of public safety. In most cases, the precautions made some level of sense, even if they seemed somewhat extreme.

This is the last straw for me. When the government oversteps this far, it risks losing what little credibility it had left and you get very very serious backlash. If they are under the mistaken assumption that people will "gradually" get irritated the more they restrict, they are sadly mistaken. People tolerate it up to a point, and when that point is crossed, things explode suddenly and violently.

We're getting near that point. Everyone I talk to is at or near the point where they want to push back.

The county needs to take action, yes, but not by locking down every resident who is minding their own business and keeping their distances, but deal with those who are blatantly putting everyone else at risk.

Rant over - please make it clear that this is a very very bad idea.
 
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#2 ·
Do you think a virus with no brain, no army, no political office even cares about your outrage? People ( i.e. organisms) were forewarned of the virus's modus operandi and decided not to accept that. Now our gubment, which we elect, has decided that collectively, we are no match for this brainless, unarmed, unaffiliated adversary given out own modus operandi, and they need to take drastic action in drastic times to protect the majority. Take a chill pill, put up your fishing rods for a bit, and take a good hard look at why they made this decision.

Teach a man to fish and he'll give away all your good spots.
 
#3 ·
@Greenmonster ; I feel your pain. I was particularly upset earlier this week when my home lake (Jordan Lake) was closed because a number of jack holes decided to ignore warning and crowd boat ramps last weekend with friends and family. The reality is that a lot of people in the US are not taking the virus seriously and don’t realize how much they are potentially endangering others by flouting the guidelines in place for everyone’s safety. The reality is that the virus doesn’t care if your black, white, orange, Democrat, Republican, young, old, born again Christian or Flying Spaghetti Monster believer.... it may make you and your loved ones really sick and will definitely wreak havoc on our economy until enough people take it seriously that we get the spread under control. I personally am not afraid of the virus, but take precautions to protect my wife and kids. If you can’t use your favorite fishing hole right now, take some time to explore a new spot by foot or ask around about private ponds that are isolated. I took my kids out to a pond yesterday and they had a great time reeling in a few scrappy bass and building a nest for Big Bird out in the field. After a few hours of pond fishing, I felt a lot better and less likely to rip politicians’ heads off, plus I get to spend some quality time with the kiddos. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Take care and stay safe.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#4 ·
Someone on another forum had a good point. We have shut down boat ramps, local parks, and tons of local businesses. But someone can still fly here from NYC and go shop for non essential items at the local walmart. If they are going to shut things down shut them down for everyone. Airports, big businesses, small business, everything. It is getting ridiculous how the winners and losers are being chosen.
 
#5 ·
A little overreacting don't you think?
Get upset at not having enough respirators or the price gouging on PPE.
Or the mishandling of this pandemic my The Angry Creamsicle.
Or US Senator Richard Burr stock dumbing trades.
It's just fish, they will be there next month.
But not 7,000 deaths in USA so far from Covid-19.......

Please stay safe, if not for you... for me.........Thanks ....ICM
 
#6 ·
Careful, Billy. We don't and won't agree on the politics, and this is not the place to discuss them. Happy to have that discussion by phone, not here.

However, closing boat ramps directly impacts people on this forum. There is NOTHING about getting in a boat and fishing that puts the safety of other humans at risk of Coronavirus. To close down the boat ramps because a few select idiots want to party and ignore the guidelines is the equivalent of closing down I-40 because there are a few people who speed.

We've given up a LOT of our constitutional rights in a very short period of time. That's a fact.
1) business owners are not allowed to run completely legal businesses
2) People are being told they are basically under house arrest - without having committed a crime, no due process, and no guilt.
3) Public parks are closed.
4) Beaches are closed
5) Churches are closed (Religious freedom??)
6) Malls are open, big box stores are open, btw - hmmmmmmmmm

I could go on. Each of these, arguably, are reasonable for a short, specified duration, because the directly address scientifically proven risks associated with this illness.

Closing boat ramps is punishing a population for the poor choices of a few. It is not "public safety" - it's retribution at worst, and absolutely lazy, heavy handed, mismanagement of resources at best.

We have the coast guard, we have police, they have boats, they know where these people congregate. I won't disagree with those who, thanks to CNN are terrified of this thing. There are definitely two schools of though about how dangerous it is. We're all gonna die eventually, some of us sooner or later, but I don't want to be the cause of giving you or anyone else this illness.

But tell me how taking my kid fishing this weekend is going to cause that?
 
#7 ·
I just think fishing or boating it's not a big deal.
It hasn't stopped anyone from driving to Pender Co. to launch.
You make some very good points on given up our constitutional rights, considering what's at stake I'll remain vigilant.

Stay safe.......ICM
 
#8 ·
Closing boat ramps, due to stupidity of others is ridiculous. Yet, go to your local golf course and look in the club house, parking lot, tee off areas and how many adults are riding in the same golf cart. Don't see social distancing going on there ! The covid 19 is not all hype, I lost my younger brother to it a few days ago, but he was battling cancerous brain tumors and contracted it in hospital due to radiation treatments destroying any immunities. Closing boat ramps is not the answer, if golf courses, big box stores etc... are allowed to do business as usual. We all need to take precautions, wash your hands, practice social distancing, only members of your household in your boat, use some common sense. If not, they're going to close all the ramps in NC ! Sorry to see yall are loosing your accesses to "Public waters"
 
#9 ·
Going to the grocery store is a WHOLE LOT riskier than getting in your tow vehicle, having -0- interaction with anybody along the way, or at the boat ramp, launching the boat, going out on the water, fishing well away from other boats, recovering and doing it all in reverse order all the way back to your driveway.
The problem is once the word "NO" is invoked, then no other (or very little) work is involved in policing the issue. Always less work to say no. A lot more work to say yes.
 
#10 ·
It is not the fisherman who are the issue, it is the pontoon and larger boats that are party boats that have been going out. Crowded parking lots and ramps, many more people are not working and wanting to ‘get outdoors’.
 

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#11 ·
It’s pure BS these ramps are closed .....every town has declared a state of emergency, so they can do what they want.....give govt a chance to flex its muscle, rarely will it not.....So instead of attacking problem of groups gathering in pontoons , sand bars, etc...they just ban everything when they could have taken a targeted approach, AND now patrol these areas/activities, when if they simply would do that to the targeted offenders, that would work


For example, down here at oak island, 1 bar was open on beach and serving food/drinks outdoors (to go....), playing music, etc.....solution was to close 8 miles of beach, even though no parking/residents only here.....so now, their PATROLLING AN empty beach .....
 
#12 ·
I think our law enforcement officers have better things to do right now than babysit a bunch of idiots. It sucks, but hopefully will only be for a short time and for a good cause, deal with it.
 
#13 ·
Any advice that includes the phrase "deal with it" is begging to be ignored. It basically means that things are going my way, so go to heck if you disagree with me.
 
#15 ·
I personally see two schools of thought with the closure of these and that of the closures of the ramps that are likely coming soon.

1. Disagree with closure- You’re at a much lower risk out in your boat than you are in the grocery store.

2. Agree with closure- It’s not the guys out fishing or even partying that live in the immediate area that are the problem. It’s the people traveling from outside of the area to utilize these facilities. In saying that, restricting it to locals only would be a nightmare to enforce.
 
#16 ·
It's surprising that anyone on what you would think is a message board of folks who adamantly support the Constitution and the individual God given rights to freedom and liberty are so willing to just accept this for what it is. If people want to gather in groups, hang out on pontoons, or sit on a sandbar with their friends and family, its their right to choose to do so, whether its a bad choice or not. Constitutional principles are based upon free will and your right to suffer or reap the benefits of your choices (these are also those of a Christian belief system which I imagine many of you also espouse) If you don't want to participate because of the danger, then don't, but don't prevent anyone else who does.

Accepting the "reality of the situation" is exactly what has lead the temporary use of government control to become a permanent fixture worldwide; and exactly why our nation's reluctance to any government control historically kept us living free. If you are not aware of of how these concessions have lead to the permanent loss of freedom from a historical perspective, I suggest you become so informed, because there is much more at stake right now than loss of fishing access. The only thing that will return normalcy to our lives is everyone who is able returning to their normal life.
 
#18 ·
Unbelievable. It's also your right to freely swing your fist wherever you want to in your pursuit of happiness. However, your right to swing your fist ends abruptly where my nose begins. It's a scientific fact that reducing human interaction significantly reduces the virus's spread. This is not about individual rights, this is about a pandemic with deadly consequences. Your argument is nothing but a red herring. Be safe.

Teach a man to fish and he'll give away all your good spots.
 
#27 ·
These are laws, not rights. Your right to assembly is covered by the 1st Amendment, your right to be secured on private property, covered by the 4th, and your right to travel covered by the 5th. What you are referring to is under the 10th, which is why you see laws different from state to state. The state cannot not by the supreme law of the land, the US Constitution, take away from your rights. There were no provisions for how scary the world gets, or how much you may personally not like what another is doing.
 
#20 ·
Its been interesting to see the divide in opinion on this. It seems like it's about 50/50 - those who would argue that we should take a moderate approach and simply enforce a few reasonable laws, vs. those who would prefer a drastic approach and shut everything down completely, regardless of the specific risk of the activity. I'm obviously in the former camp, but it is clear that there are those on this forum in the latter.

I'm even hearing of people reporting their neighbors to the police for walking on the beach . . . alone, and challenging people who are getting in their cars to go somewhere asking if it's an "essential" trip. Now the beaches are issuing citations for people walking on the beach, even though they are walking alone. Crazy stuff.

Ramps here are scheduled to open on Monday. In the spirit of prudence and obedience, I've made the decision not to challenge this at this point, though I'm hearing of plenty of folks doing so.

Having said that, if the county and local governments continue to push further, I'm thinking that we need to organize a day of civil disobedience. Pick a day and publicly push back on the regulations that are clear government overreach. Show up at every beach access, every boat ramp, and with more than the required amount of "social distancing," remind our public servants that if they push their authority too far, we will push back.

I really hope that our governments will make prudent decisions going forward, but I have to say that I'm increasingly alarmed at what I am seeing.

I hope they know how incredibly close they are to that kind of reaction. Even for those of you who are
 
#21 ·
Having said that, if the county and local governments continue to push further, I'm thinking that we need to organize a day of civil disobedience. Pick a day and publicly push back on the regulations that are clear government overreach. Show up at every beach access, every boat ramp, and with more than the required amount of "social distancing," remind our public servants that if they push their authority too far, we will push back.

I really hope that our governments will make prudent decisions going forward, but I have to say that I'm increasingly alarmed at what I am seeing.

I hope they know how incredibly close they are to that kind of reaction. Even for those of you who are
I'm not going to add points to the main debate here, many have said what I would have. I agree with this 100% no matter what your opinion is on anything. I really feel if more people did this not only when it gets this bad, but got out into the streets for all issues that effect us as individuals or as a community the people in power would be much more careful about their actions. So going forward, if the people over you are over extending their power, do something about it right away. Organize and show them what the power of people can do, just please do it in a non violent way.
 
#26 ·
What’s going to happen is that certain ramps will close and force people to use other ramps, which will make the open ones more crowded... and increase the chances of getting them shut down as well. Leaving them ALL open will be safer, in my opinion, because of this reason.
 
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