Contributions by Arne Waldau

Arne Waldau says:

description

Policy for Accessibility for Leisure Boats at L:a Skratten
Through its various activities, the club hosts a large number of visitors each year on the club island from

members
guests of present members
participants in any event sanctioned by SSG
persons or organizations to whom the board, usually through the supervisor, has granted access to the island.
These visitors are referred to below as authorized and others as unauthorized.

Our location near the mainland in a metropolitan area means that everyone traveling to or from the archipelago from the northern route passes through our area, which often becomes the first or last stop during a weekend. The pressure from the surroundings is therefore significant and often troublesome.

It is in the club's interest to minimize the number of unauthorized visitors. The primary goal is to prevent excessive wear and tear on the island, including theft and vandalism, and secondarily to avoid additional work and irritation among SSG's members.

In principle, we do not allow unauthorized mooring at our docks or parts of the island that are often used by authorized individuals (e.g., the swimming rock). We can allow short-term mooring of unauthorized boats (max a few hours) for lunch etc., if this does not inconvenience authorized individuals. We will try to deter land walks. To offer good events, we have in recent years acquired new property and expanded the facility. Overall, this has led to an increased privatized portion of the island's area. It is no longer possible to stroll freely without being near some part of the facility or among our belongings.

We have no current agreements for spontaneous visits from members of other clubs, but we do not deny members from our nearest neighboring clubs in Gäddviken, namely FBK and SBK. A member who invites a guest for overnight mooring automatically becomes the host and responsible for the visit, which, except in special cases, goes against this policy. As a host, you should also be at Skratten at the relevant time.

Our attitude towards unknown visitors should be courteous. They may be authorized and should be treated as such until we know otherwise. In practice, this means, among other things, that we may have to have a discussion with skippers who have chosen not to respect the signage and individuals we do not recognize but who may still have fully legitimate reasons for their presence. All docks should be marked "Private only SSG" or equivalent wording.

From the Swedish Boat Union's recommendations "THE BOAT AND THE RIGHT OF PUBLIC ACCESS"
The freedom under responsibility that the right of public access gives us also applies at sea. For those out in leisure boats, there are some things to particularly consider regarding anchoring and mooring. Mooring with a leisure boat is usually assessed in much the same way as camping; a day or two at the same place if there is no risk of disturbing nearby residents. But we must ensure that we do not moor next to laid fishing gear or so that residents are prevented from, for example, using their own boat places or docks. Do not use other's docks unless it is absolutely necessary.

How should we act towards visitors?
The club is represented by the supervisor. In their absence, a board member takes over first, followed by any member. Below are some recommendations.

• Think about what we want to achieve! We want to keep the number of visits down. Removing everyone at all costs is too expensive. Most turn away because of the signs. Others take a chance, moor, and leave when we speak up. However, there are a few that nothing affects. The balance to find is when it is worth the effort and irritation to remove these as well. This is determined by each person in the situation they have ended up in.

• Behave correctly. Give proper reasons for the evictions. Refer only to the club's visitor policy, which has been jointly established by the members. Note: No made-up reasons such as space at the dock. This does not hold up in a discussion. The right of public access can be brought up. The basic idea is that you only have the right to be on someone else's land if you do not disturb or come too close. So we can get support for our arguments in the right of public access. The docks like other parts of the facility are not covered by the right of public access (SBU's recommendations).

• Do not be ashamed to inform about what applies.

• Never shout. We only lose from that.

• During eviction during mooring; do not disturb a mooring that can only be interrupted with difficulty. If possible, resolve the situation while the mooring can be easily interrupted or wait until after the boat is secured.

• Only address the responsible skipper on board with any calls. Ask for the captain instead of scaring the living daylights out of a temporary guest on board who knows nothing anyway.

• Avoid excessive zeal in "police work". Do not play police at all if it feels unpleasant. This is especially true when meeting someone who is really stupid. We should not have expectations that make us associate Skratten with discomfort.

• Ask questions instead of drawing hasty conclusions, e.g., "Are you a member?" or "Do you know that this is private land?" This usually leads to the counter-question: "Am I not welcome?" From there, it is usually easy to take the discussion about membership further.

• If asked "if it is okay to moor here," the answer should imply that the member who allows it is themselves breaking our rules. It is therefore not you as a person who is being difficult.

• Agreements on cooperation between clubs to grant club islands to members of other clubs do not include SSG. Referrals to this type of agreement are either misunderstandings or cheekiness. We only receive specially invited guests. Even if the unauthorized person belongs to a club that has chosen to have a more open attitude towards visitors, that does not change our decision.

• It is the club's wish that those who intervene do so according to our policy and these recommendations and with good judgment. In such a case, one can also count on full support from the club. Choosing to act differently is at one's own risk. Also, consider that the club can be harmed by actions that are not correct.

1 x helpful | written on 12. Aug 2025