Re: [Paddlewise] "Commado" Camping

From: ralph diaz <rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 09:08:15 -0700
Donald R. Reid wrote:
> 
> I've been following this train of thought for the last
> several days .... Mark Lane and Rich Beatty have brought up
> the subject of some form of adverse possession or other
> principle that can result in a public right of way due to
> usage over time.
> 
> I have lived in Brazil off and on for over 20 years ... and
> it is very interesting there in the fact that all marine
> land is considered public domain from 15 - 25 meters from
> the high water line.  There all no private beaches .... they
> belong to the people of Brazil ... called 'marine land'.
> There are no fences allowed on 'marine land'.

Most countries have similar rules, i.e. a fairly wide-band of shoreline
ABOVE the mean high tide line is public.  Depending on your outlook, the
US is either foreward looking or backward looking regarding this.

BTW, I was impressed in my visits to Puerto Rico to find that something
similar applies there, i.e. a wide band of the beaches belongs to the
public.  The hotels, no matter how much they would like the situation to
be different, cannot ban innocent passage along the beaches in front of
their property.  Also, and this is critical, there must be access to
those beachs from the land at decent intervals.

Just a word about my "romanticizing" commando camping.  I don't think I
have.  Getting in after dark, stumbling around without lights, not
talking loudly, getting your tent down in very early morning light and
on your way before the sun comes up is hardly my idea of "romantic."  I
see it as a necessary evil at times when you can't find anywhere else to
camp.  Many people are new to camping and kayak camping and don't have
the wisdom and savvy of many of the old hands who populate this
listserve.  I set down guidelines in order to help the unaware ones make
as little impact as possible on the privacy of land. 

ralph diaz


-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024
Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com
"Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not
to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************
Received on Mon Jul 10 2000 - 06:10:32 PDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:27 PDT