+xIs the NW Passage Canadian or International waters?
If the latter as is claimed by Peter, it seems to me the Canadians had no right to close it.
If Canadian, then by all means, they should be free to keep everyone out.
Hi Bill,
You bring up legal/colregs issues which, in the end, certainly apply. I do not know the legalities. I am focused more on judgment and what is in the best interests of the cruising community. It may have been perfectly “legal” to have transited the NW Passage, but I wish the skipper had swallowed his disappointment, and respected Canada’s wishes. And I wish all in our cruising community to keep in mind that we are pleasure vessels and guests: the rules and regs may not strictly apply to us, but we need to respect them none-the-less.
I relish the freedom that our sport benefits from and very much want to keep this freedom from outside regulation. Skippers who are undisciplined or dis-respectful invite regulation/limits-to-freedom in just the way Jon described in the previous post. Once regs and rules are devised, they take on a life of their own.
An example: there little in the way of regulations applying to pleasure vessels in polar waters while there is a whole set of regs for commercial vessels in polar waters. There has been an uptick in recreational vessels needing assistance in polar waters: notably in the NW Passage from Canadian CG (many times the boat was poorly prepared and/or the skipper/crew had little ice experience and, sometimes bad luck). And there is an uptick in worry that rules and regs may be required for pleasure vessels. In the interests if forestalling outside regulation, a group of high latitude recreational sailors have worked up guidelines for pleasure vessels in polar waters: the Polar Yacht Guide (discussed elsewhere in the Forum).
More to the point:
It is covid time and countries are allowed to be skittish. It is Canadian villages that border the route and would be sought for bail-outs if the vessel/crew was unlucky. It would be vulnerable Canadian village people who would get covid if bad luck prevailed (say a villager rowed out to sell some fish to the transiting vessel). The villagers are vulnerable in a number of ways, but particularly vulnerable to covid because of the often-higher-tech treatment demands.
For the above, that is enough for me to give permission for Canada to close the NW passage.
In addition, it is Canadian CG vessels that patrol it. I am pretty sure also that it is Canadian ice breakers that keep it clear and that occasionally clear the way for stuck pleasure boats.
Finally, you bring up the legalities (territorial limits): I would suggest, as pleasure vessels, that we pay strict attention to the legalities, but that we also recognize that most were written with commercial vessels in mind. If we, as cruisers, absolutely need a harbour of refuge or a right of innocent passage, then go for it, but when it is a choice which flaunts a country’s stated wishes, then I would wish a cruiser to, perhaps disagree, but to respect and abide by the country’s wishes.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy