Letter to the Editor: Should Moving the Bait Barge Bother Racers?
July 19, 2012
Byline: Vince Moorhead
Your July 6-19 issue story “San Diego Bait Barge Must Move by 2014,” was a good one, discussing the quandary the barge’s operators currently find themselves in, because of the Navy’s demand that the barge move temporarily during construction of new fuel pier. The only problem: Where do they go?
I was surprised to read comments from Cortez Racing Association members objecting to the bait barge possibly moving to an area near their sailboat race starting line, off Harbor Island’s east end.
The organization spokesman suggested that the bait barge needed to move out of the view of hotels and restaurants and harbor tour boats, and out of the path of their boats, as if a well-maintained facility — one with a 60-plus-year history as a harbor tradition that supplies fresh fish for sportfishing boats every day of the year — is some kind of an eyesore.
There’s a danger in pitting one type of boater (sailboat racers) against another (sportfishing enthusiasts).
Don’t be so quick to criticize: Some boaters might call those evening beer can races an “eyesore” or a “navigational hazard” for harbor tour boats, too. But where would you move them to?
Vince Moorhead
San Diego
