Coast Guard shuns protest flotilla Anti-LNG group warned against Head Harbour to Eastport ‘Sail-a-Bration’

ST. STEPHEN, New Brunswick – Some Canadian mariners wonder why their planned seagoing flotilla this weekend has prompted the U.S. Coast Guard to send a warning volley across their bow.

Dubbed a “Sail-a-Bration,” the event that was organized by the anti-liquefied natural gas group Save Passamaquoddy Bay is planned for 3 p.m. Saturday.

Plans call for the flotilla, which will include kayakers, canoeist, schooners, tugs, yachts, fishing boats and dinghies, to assemble at Head Harbour near Campobello Island and sail to Eastport, Maine.

In the past, big ships and small boats have navigated the dogleg waters near Head Harbour and sailed to Eastport unmolested by Coast Guard officials from either side of the border.

“We’re meeting with our friends and friends of friends and families out here by the lighthouse at Campobello,” said Lesley Pinder, a St. Stephen physician and member of Save Passamaquoddy Bay. Then the group plans to have a snack, “chat, wave our flags and have a little razzmatazz and come into Eastport,” Pinder said.

That was the plan until Pinder learned two weeks ago that U.S. federal law prohibits a flotilla of 50 or more boats without a regatta- or marine-event permit issued by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The permit must be submitted 135 days ahead of the event and is subject to approval of the U.S. Coast Guard.

“The event you are organizing requires a Marine Event Permit, under 33 CFR 100.15,” Lt. j.g. William Schrade, operations officer for Coast Guard Group Southwest Harbor, told Pinder in a letter.

Schrade warned Pinder that she could be held liable if an accident occurred during the event. He recommended she postpone Saturday’s event and apply for the permit.

In a telephone interview this week, Schrade said his call to Pinder was a courtesy to apprise her of U.S. law.

A few days later, Pinder received a letter from the U.S. Coast Guard’s Southwest Harbor’s group commander, R.S. Burchell Jr. He told Pinder that because of the short timeline, the Coast Guard was unable to carry out its responsibilities and, therefore, was required “by law to prohibit the event, at least in U.S. waters.”

Burchell was on vacation Thursday and unavailable for comment.

Art MacKay, who is a member of the Save Passamaquoddy Bay group, said Thursday he was concerned because, in the past, mariners enjoyed the bay regardless of which side they started from. “Actually the border doesn’t exist until you get to Ottawa and Washington. Now they’re trying to bring it here. We really are neighbors and relatives here,” he said.

Although they are out for a day of sun and fun, Pinder and MacKay agreed they were there also to draw attention to the group’s opposition to an LNG terminal.

The Passamaquoddy Tribe recently entered into an agreement with the Oklahoma-based Quoddy Bay LLC to build a $400 million LNG terminal at Split Rock near Eastport.

Pinder suggested the company build the LNG terminal at Walker’s Point in Kennebunkport, referring to former President George H.W. Bush’s family compound. “Security is very good there. It’s on an outcropping of land, so it won’t impede traffic,” Pinder said. “The president is pro-LNG, and I think Walker Point is a perfect place to put it.”

Pinder said although Canadian mariners planned to remain in their own waters, she had spoken with the Canadian Coast Guard. “I’ve asked them to come to protect us from the Americans,” she said. “I expect they’ll know where the international waters are.”

But MacKay wonders whether the U.S. Coast Guard hasn’t set a precedent. He said he believes the Canadian government also could restrict ships and boats in their waters including the USS Ramage, which is due to dock today as part of Eastport’s July Fourth celebration. “That little strip of water between the dotted line at Eastport is in fact internal waters of the United States. If that’s the case, then Head Harbour passage is internal waters of Canada,” he said.