Hey, there! Log in / Register
Citizen complaint of the day: The Fort Point Channel dock squatter
By adamg on Fri, 05/08/2015 - 9:27pm
A concerned citizen complains about this guy who seems to have set up housekeeping on the one public-access dock in Fort Point Channel:
Fort Point Harbor Walk squatter has returned. Scaring off visitors who dare to venture onto the dock.
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
He's been there since the thaw
Off and on. He has had quite the camp going there at times - tent, boat, etc. all set up on the dock.
Probably the same guy as in years before.
He stayed out over the winter as well
My son and I helped him find things to secure his tarp when the deep snow had buried everything. Amiable and interesting guy.
He can be amiable
He can also be raging and bizarre. Such is his issue with living indoors and around other people.
He is harmless. Leave him be.
He has been on the harbor for quite a while.
http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/12/10-things-to-know-about-the-gu...
Harmless maybe
But he's a hazard to navigation when tooling about the Inner Harbor. One of the whale watch or commuter boats is going to make hamburger out of him.
Different guy?
This may or may not be the same guy. The canoe looks different (darker color at ends; curvature; sticker). So does the equipment (red vs. purple lifejacket; green vs. black bags; foam bumpers). And while it's hard to compare one blurry profile to a shot of someone's backside, one guy looks older and has pale arms, but the guy above looks younger and has tan arms (but very pale legs!). If it's the same guy then that's a 51-year-old dude above and the canoe man lifestyle looks like a good way to slow the aging process.
There's also this sighting, including a comment about getting robbed (which would explain all the new gear) and better photos here.
Sorry if this comment is more suitable for the forensic team over at reddit.
I don't have a problem with him doing camping there (was he even doing that?) or just rearranging his gear. In the photo above he's not scaring anyone off: it looks early in the morning and all his stuff is off to one side. If he's threatening passersby, then that's different.
I'd think spending your life
I'd think spending your life rowing around in a canoe would allow you to be pretty muscular, especially in the shoulders. Also, it's not unusual for someone to be pale in spring-- how much sun do you get on your arms in the winter?
So what?
It's a public landing.
Not when
He's occupying half of it.
Scaring off how?
Scaring off by yelling, cursing, and threatening? Or scaring off merely by his imposing presence?
Public includes him - he can use the dock too as long as he doesn't prevent others from doing so.
This is the problem
He can use the dock. For all I care, he can camp there as long as he doesn't destroy it in the process (fires, garbage, toileting).
Screaming at people who come down to get pictures of the city, or who use the dock to launch boats is not acceptable, and that's where the line is drawn. It may be "his home", but he doesn't own it. This is what he has been doing - both last fall, and now. Understandable? Perhaps. Acceptable? No.
I'm seeing a lot of theoretical scenarios from people who do not frequent this area. I suggest that they spend some time in Fort Point and find out for themselves how welcome they are on the dock he happens to be using at the time, and what happens when they attempt to use it.
Sounds like a job for
Govna Dukakis.
Yes, if that's what he's doing, he needs to move on or be moved on. He can't appropriate public space for private use any more than the rest of us can.
But he's lived there for 40 years
He shoveled that dock, and by God his space saver better not be touched by any of you yuppie comefromers.
Complainers
It's the goddam Fort Point Yuppies who want to see this guy gone. If he was driving an Audi instead of paddling a canoe, that would be a different story.
He's welcome to camp at Carson Beach instead?
Someone should let him know!
Not true
www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/inside-our-agency/agency-regulations/
If he was driving an Audi he
If he was driving an Audi he could sleep in that.
This is the kind of thing that bothers the heck out of me
This guy does NOT have the right to live or set up camp on that dock. It is a PUBLIC dock. There are so many couch potato key board jockeys who spend way to much time imagining the lovable vagabond homeless people who need our help and would be so appreciative if we just brought them all our expired cans of soup from our pantries.
No. Wrong. Their rights don't trump ours. He can't hog the dock. He can't scare people away. he can't pitch a friggin tent there. He's an adult and needs to follow the same rules I do. If I parked my boat there and made it my permanently free parking spot guess what?
I would be made to leave! Stop feeling bad for all the junkies, freaks, drunks and people who have chosen to check out of society for just a second and start to be concerned about the people who work, raise families and follow the rules. If he needs help he should ask for help or seek out help and then row row row his boat towards that help. It's his responsibility.
Go ahead, call the coast guard then...
Unless someone confirms he was threatening people, he's breaking 0 laws. The coast guard has confirmed this a few times. You could live the same life rather easily if you're really that jealous.
Otherwise? Just continue ignoring the dock you wouldn't care about otherwise. You seem more upset that you're not getting a piece of the pie than anything, and you're just masking it by considering this person some kind of personal threat.
If you parked your boat there it would probably rot away unused while you toil around on the internet looking for something to be upset about.
Someone DID confirm he was threatening people...
.....right here on this board it was confirmed at least once.
Coast Guard doesn't give a shit, nor do most people.
I'll second this. I work at
I'll second this. I work at Boston Rescue Mission and so have experience in the homeless segment of Boston. Help is very much available. You will be provided food, shelter, and eventually job placement and housing. If you are mentally disabled, you'll see a doctor. All free, and people are very nice too in this industry! He may not know this, but we also have out reach programs every week. He does not need to live there
While I agree that he shouldn't get free dock rights
I can tell you that if I were homeless and had to choose between roughing it on a dock or staying at any shelter in boston, I'd take the dock. No offense--shelter folks do amazing, thankless work, but I'm sure that for a lot of homeless/mentally ill people, a shelter is just a new form of hell, especially for an independent outdoorsy type.
Cappy, pull the big stick out
Cappy, pull the big stick out of your ass. You sound like such a dbag.
What's the problem now?
We are just gong to go right ahead and assume that this guy never said or did anything to intimidate anyone, and that you are simply a person who is easily intimidated. Also assuming that the "citizens complaint"board is nothing but a way for bitter angry people to let out the hate. Okay? Okay. Honestly, when this guy sets up at the end of the dock do you suddenly think about how you want to sit in that exact spot, like a tired 2 year old?
I wouldn't assume that
If the complaint is that he is scaring people away from there then I would assume he is doing something to do that. Your assumption that everyone who complains are the crazy ones while the guy living in a canoe is probably just a normal guy is what I find ponderous.
Anyone who complains is just jealous? Welcome to the Bizarro world.
Let the authorities determine if he is doing something wrong. The problem is that they rarely ever answer a complaint or look into anything. Until after someone gets hurt.
No Actual Allegations
I need a specific accusation of him doing something. Even if you want to pretend he gives people dirty looks, that would be a pretend something. All we have hear is one persons assertion that this guy makes them nervous. We need to know if it's valid or just the accuser's nervous condition. Why would you assume that this guy was threatening people on this vague posting?
Not calling it jealousy, just being a miserable person in general. When you see a homeless guy sitting on a bench do you start to complain about how you would rather be the one sitting there? I am not convinced that this guy sitting on the end of the dock means no one else can use it.
Talking to people is a great little trick I use. It would be much better to have a casual conversation with somebody, rather than creating a story in your head. This will serve you better than being that little old lady who peaks through her blinds and calls the cops at the first sign of teens, or this modern day equivalent of posting something on a message board and claiming a person has no right to simply be in a spot.
upon further review
Aaaand now people are posting that yes he is a crazy man who screams when others come on to the dock. Mea culpa, I'm out.
Tragedy of the commons
Nothing you can do about it.
Discovery Channel
should do a reality show on these canoers........Fort Point Bush People.
Wait, so is everyone in this
Wait, so is everyone in this thread telling me that I'm free to set up a tent on any public land/dock and sleep overnight? What about a bonfire and a party?
I don't know if living in a
I don't know if living in a docked boat is always allowed. But either way, it's not the same thing as living in a tent, which most definitely can be banned on public land.