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Max wrote:

(DonQuijote1954) wrote:

Things get more difficult all the time...

Beautiful day for kayaking. Perfect where I live, since I live here,
in a wild place, mostly because I can walk to the bay, barely one
block away. So I just walked my kayak there until I heard someone--the
park guard--screaming. "No kayaks here!" "

I think this situation is the sort of thing that could be changed with a
little low-level public activism.

Very briefly, i would offer the following suggestions.

1. Find other kayakers in your area and start a club or group.
http://www.google.com and the stores who sell kayaks are
a good place to start. You probably also have some sort of
Miami Amateur Athlete monthly publication available for free
at either bookstores or sporting goods stores.

2. Learn the schedules of the county and park district boards, and
start attending their meetings. Once you've gotten a feel for the
rhythm of these meetings, arrange for time to address the boards,
for both you and your kayaking friends.

2a. Get a copy of the bylaws/ordinances for your parks.

3. Continue your correspondence with the boards.

4. Find a professional mediator/conflict resolution expert. It'll
cost you not-too-much money, and that person will be able to help
you avoid a confrontational environment.

5. Try to avoid irate letters to the newspapers.

Good suggestions. I'd also suggest trying to find out the history of
the prohibition. Has it always been in place or was it enacted
in response to some specific incident? If it's the latter then you
may be able to suggest procedures that would avoid that type of
problem but still allow reasonable paddling access.

It would also help if there's at least one board member who would
support a change in the regulations and can help you develop the
most effective way to go about it.