Operation Beach Blitz!
Cue up that Darth Vader Evil Empire music as the backhoe marches down Cruz Bay beach. DPNR wasn’t kidding when it said it was cleaning up the beach. Backhoes stormed the beach Wednesday, scooping up wayward dinghies, kayaks and other unauthorized boats, smashing them and putting them into dumpsters. The shaky-looking wooden dock straight out from the Beach Bar? Gone. Ocean Runner, Low Key Watersports and Noah’s Little Arks have all moved their boats further off the beach. We hear DPNR will accommodate those businesses with a marker channel that will let them bring boats in to pick up guests, but they’ll otherwise have to stay further out.
The one survivor from Wednesday’s clean-up? That big old army boat. Despite best efforts, that one fought back and wasn’t hauled away. Yet.
June 21st, 2007 09:51
Do you think the million dollar plus Grande Bay condo owners will want to look out on wayward dinghies, kayaks, boats, a shaky-looking wooden dock and other unsightly rubbish? There never was such an effort before, why now? I think, just maybe a few Cruz Bay souls lost their over night accommodations or their special place for a smoke.
June 21st, 2007 09:57
Ooops, look like the homeless population just took a jump. Years are a blur now, but I remember when we used to stay at Lavender, we’d watch a guy row to his covered bome boat. I think it’s been gone for a couple of years.
June 21st, 2007 09:58
bome = home
June 21st, 2007 10:37
I remember seeing the rowboat guy in Feb 2005. We were drinking at the Beach Bar and the seas were up, really wave-y.
He had a tennis racket, the old wooden kind, which is why I remember him.
He declared he was “going home”, climbed in his tiny row boat, and away he went.
June 21st, 2007 12:57
Rowboat man was still around as of a few weeks ago. We caught him in one of our sunset pictures:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/230/550229369_851e956f56.jpg
I can’t imagine swimming at Cruz Bay beach though.
June 22nd, 2007 12:13
It might end up to be a good thing if the beach gets cleaned up. Certainly for the restaurants/bars & other merchants. But the boats are what gives Cruz Bay some of its charm. How far out will they have to stay?