By Steve Blakely

One of my rituals at the start of everyboating season used to include a cruiseto Annapolis to check out the Navy’sspring training vessel. A combat or sup-port ship is anchored off the U.S. NavalAcademy for a week or so, while boat-loads of midshipmen are ferried overand put through their paces aboard aworking vessel.

My favorite was the nuclear attacksub the Navy brought up in the early1980s. These are beautifully sinister-looking creatures, grey-black and sleek,all business. My visit was ignored, evenas I lazily sailed past the full length ofthe submarine, as close as 20 feet off itsport hull.

But that was then. Today if I triedthat, chances are my boat would beseized or sunk, and I’d be in jail ormaybe even down with the boat.

After Al Qaeda suicide bombers in anopen runabout nearly sank the USSCole in Yemen in 2000, followed a yearlater by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks onthe homeland, the U.S. Department ofDefense established strict securityzones around all its ships and installa-tions. What’s more, DOD is seriousabout enforcing them.

Since civilian boats and planes (notto mention cars and trucks) havebeen used as deadly weapons before,our military forces now have ordersto shoot to kill if they have no otheroption to protect themselves orstrategic facilities from a potential im-minent attack by a civilian craft. Asthe Cole attack demonstrated all toowell, even a very small boat can bedeadly — and post-Sept. 11, the Navyand Coast Guard must treat al lboaters as potential threats untilproven otherwise.

No civilian Americans have died ina security zone violation, but therehave been some very close calls (es-pecially with private airplanes). Ondomestic waters, Coast Guard andNavy personnel are constantly on thelookout for boaters who put them-selves at risk by blundering into a se-curity zone and presenting a potentialthreat without even knowing it.

“It’s absolutely a concern, especial-ly whenever you have very large mili-tary vessels moving through crowdedrecreational boating areas like wehave down here,” says Lt. Cmdr. RichCondit, spokesman for Coast GuardSector Hampton Roads, which in-cludes Norfolk Naval Base, the largestNavy installation in the world. “Wehandle a tremendous number of es-corts, and almost every escort thereare [boaters] who are unaware theyare in a security zone.”

Chesapeake Bay in particular haslots of places for boaters to bumbleinto a security zone, from the huge

Aberdeen Proving Ground north ofBaltimore to the massive NorfolkNaval Base. Add in a dozen or soother military facilities scatteredthroughout the Chesapeake, a fewsensitive commercial sites patrolledby the Coast Guard (such as thelargest liquefied natural gas shippingterminal in the nation), and you caneasily find yourself sailing into trou-blesome waters. In the case of a Navyship under way, the security zone lit-erally is a moving target that may becoming at you.

If you’re a pleasure boater, ignoringor not recognizing a security situa-

tion, or being completely oblivious tothe military presence on the Chesa-peake, could put your life at risk.Here’s a rundown of what’s where onthe Bay, and how to navigate the se-curity zones.

Getting through “The Zone”Following the October 2000 attack

on the USS Cole, the federal govern-ment implemented 100- and 500-yardsecurity zones around its ships: • Pleasure boats must stay at least 100yards away from all Navy and CoastGuard-escorted ships (whether an-chored, docked, or under way) unless

authorized to pass by an official patrol.Closer than 100 yards, security forcesare authorized to use lethal forceagainst a civilian vessel if deemed nec-essary to stop a possible attack. Ifyou’re in tight situations with less than100 yards of clearance, you must estab-lish VHF radio contact (Channel 16)with the ship or its escort. Otherwise,you can expect, at the least, a fast andunfriendly visit by a heavily armed pa-trol boat.• When passing within 500 yards of aNavy ship, skippers are to reducespeed to a minimum and follow any di-rections from the vessel or escort.

Violating the rule is punishable by afine of up to $250,000 and six years injail — or worse, if you get really closeand ignore official orders. Bear in mindthat guards may have only seconds todecide whether to open fire. A power-boat approaching at 30 knot (on autopi-lot, for example, and the skipper isdown below) will cross the 500-yard se-curity zone in about half a minute, andthe 100-yard exclusion zone only sevenseconds later.

The Coast Guard has “a whole dif-ferent set of tools for engaging boatsfor going to them,” Condit says,which he would not discuss. But henotes that recreational skippers alsohave an obligation to help avoid secu-rity zone conflicts.

“They own a portion of that respon-sibility as well, to know where theyare and to respond to directions. It’lltake two sides to keep everyone safe.”

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NAVIGATING CHESAPEAKE SECURITY ZONESThe Department of Defense is serious about enforcing security zones, and you should know the rules

This is the type of greeting you could recieve for getting too close to military vessels.

continued on Page 4

A “sonic cannon,” or long-range acoustic device, blasts a tight beam of painful,

debilitating, siren-like sound over long distances.

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Radio contactThe best way to stay out of trouble

with a nearby Navy ship is to communi-cate early and clearly. That means mon-itoring and using your radio, especiallysince a military ship in the neighbor-hood may be trying to contact you. Al-ways know generally where you are onthe water, and where you are in rela-tion to the ship. Identify where you’reheading and what you intend to do.

More than likely, the bridge officerwill readily agree to your request andthank you for the call, since they nowknow you’re awake and what your in-tentions are. If not, they’ll let you know

(in which case you are responsible forchanging course).

Once you have announced your plan,be sure to stick to it. Any sudden, unan-nounced turn toward the ship will beseen — and treated — as a threat.

Don’t be surprised when Navy shipson maneuvers clear private vessels fromtheir operational area. They will alwaysidentify themselves on the radio as “war-ship” or “naval ship” (not by name), andwill give you specific instructions whatto do. Listen to your VHF and be pre-pared to respond if one is nearby.

And in the case of warships underway in a narrow channel (notably en-tering or leaving the Norfolk NavalBase or in Thimble Shoals Channel, the

southern opening in the ChesapeakeBay-Bridge Tunnel), escort vessels willorder all maritime traffic to get out ofthe way with a radio command to“Clear the navigable channel!” This isan order — not a request — but the re-sponse is easy: Simply maneuver yourboat outside the lateral buoys (still indeep water) and let them pass, with acourtesy call to the escort vessel.

Close callsThere have been numerous reports of

tense military-civilian encounters incrowded harbors, notably (in theChesapeake) where the IntracoastalWaterway passes the Norfolk NavalBase — which has led to some serious

warnings to recreational boats that tres-passed into a warship’s security zone.

By far the closest call with a securityzone violation involved a small Cessnaflying from Pennsylvania to North Caroli-na last May. The two pilots did not haveproper charts, got lost on their waysouth, were not using their radio, andstumbled into heavily restricted airspaceover downtown Washington. Their igno-rance caused thousands of people to befrantically evacuated from the Capitoland the White House, and Blackhawk he-licopters and F-16 fighters were scram-bled to intercept the plane. Officials latersaid the men were seconds away frombeing blown out of the sky when they fi-

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The following list includes only the majorfacilities with security zones that boatersare likely to encounter while cruising themain body of Chesapeake Bay.

Upper BayAberdeen Proving GroundThis huge facility covers the waterfront of

the Bay’s Western Shore from the aptlynamed Gunpowder River northeast of Balti-more almost up to the town of Havre deGrace. Among the major operations at APGare the Army’s Test and Evaluation Com-mand (which includes the Pentagon’s pre-mier testing range for ammunition, artilleryand military ordnance); the Army’s Chemi-cal and Biological Defense Command(chemical and biological weapons); and theNavy’s Underwater Explosion Test Facility,which conducts shock and vibration testingin an inland pond. It’s easy to tell whenAPG is active: The thunderous concus-sions of heavy explosives can be heard(and felt) for miles up and down the Bay.

Nautical charts show a long magenta se-curity line enclosing the APG perimeter(marked with yellow special-purpose buoyson the water). The entire area is closed to thepublic Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5p.m., but during weekends and national holi-days boats may navigate through the area oranchor; fishing and crabbing is allowed; andwater skiing is permitted no closer than 200meters (about 220 yards) to shore. Prohibit-ed at all times are swimming; touching bot-tom, shore or piers; or entering exclusionareas. Military range boats patrol APG’s bor-der, especially when testing is under way.www.apg. army.mil/apghome/sites/local

Curtis Bay Depot and Coast GuardBase, Baltimore

Curtis Bay, off-limits to the public, is aheavy industrial area just south of the InnerHarbor of Baltimore, immediately below theI-695 bridge across the Patapsco River. Forthe Coast Guard the Curtis Bay Yard is itssole shipbuilding and major repair facility,and essential to its fleet support operations.Curtis Bay Depot is part of the Defense Na-tional Stockpile and base for the Army Re-serve’s 949th Transportation Company,which tows a lot of barges. www.global

security.org/military/facility/curtis-bay.htm

U.S. Naval Academy and GreenburyPont, Annapolis

Because it is a school (rather than aweapons base), the academy is generallyopen and much more welcoming to thepublic, although a photo I.D. is needed toget past the gate and on campus. Visitingboats can anchor in the clearly markedpublic mooring or anchor fields in SpaCreek near the Naval Academy.

Directly across the Severn River from theacademy is Greenbury Point, which used tohave 19 towering VLF (very low frequency)radio towers that communicated with theNavy’s submarine fleet. Satellites made thetowers obsolete, and all but three were torndown in the 1990s. The surviving towers arenow owned by Maryland and remain one ofthe best nighttime navigational aids in thearea. www.usna.edu///homepage.php

Middle BayChesapeake Bay Detachment, Chesa-

peake Beach, Md.This facility on the Western Shore south

of Deale, Md., has a large parabolic anten-na that conducts research in radar, elec-tronic warfare, optical devices, materialsand communications. It also houses a tech-nology center for safety and survivability,which conducts fire research in simulatedship environments. A Navy tower about 10

miles across the Bay on the Eastern Shore,on Tilghman Island, allows for “unique” ex-periments in radar and electronic warfaretechnology. Since this facility is close tomy home port, I occasionally had to sufferthrough these experiments when fighterjets would suddenly roar overhead barelyabove the water, trying to evade detectionby the radar base on shore.

www.nrl.navy.mil/content.php?P=CBD

Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant andCove Point LNG Terminal, Md.

These two energy facilities are justnorth of Cove Point on the Bay’s WesternShore, above Solomons Island, Md. Bothhave 500-yard security zones enforcedby the Coast Guard. The Cove Point liq-uefied natural gas terminal accounts forabout a third of all LNG imported to theUnited States and is the largest of itskind in the nation, but its remote locationmakes it relatively easy to secure. Nucle-ar plants and LNG facilities are consid-ered prime terrorist targets, receiveheavy security attention, and should begiven a wide berth by recreational boatsat all times. www.calvertcliffs.com andwww.dom.com/about/gas-transmission/covepoint/index.jsp

Patuxent River Naval Air Station,Solomons Island, Md.

The sprawling Pax River base, just south

of Solomons Island, stretches along 25miles of shoreline at the mouth of thePatuxent River. It is the Navy’s principalaviation R&D, test and evaluation facility,and is headquarters for the Naval TestPilot School and the Naval Air SystemsCommand. If you spend any time aroundPax, you are likely to see a variety of Navyplanes flying about, including some of itsbiggest, newest and even smallest(drones, or “unmanned aerial vehicles”).

www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/patuxent-river.htm

In addition to the main Pax base, thereare three nearby target ranges that plea-sure boaters need to avoid:• Bombing targets about six miles south-southeast of Cedar Point (marked on chartsby a magenta prohibited zone). • Bloodsworth Island, about 17 miles south-east of Cedar Point, just below HooperStrait. The island was used as a bombingrange until 1996, and in 2005 the Navy ex-pressed interest in resuming “live-fire” activ-ities there, although local and congressionalopposition has blocked those plans for now.The key bombing zone is marked on chartsby a magenta prohibited zone, but the entireisland is off-limits. In the late 1980s, beforeactive bombing was stopped, I once sailedpast Bloodsworth while it was being shelledby a Navy destroyer. Seeing the yellow muz-

A boater’s guide to where the hot water is

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Norfolk Naval Base at the mouth of the James and Elizabeth rivers is where numerous tense

encounters have occurred between Navy security forces and the constant parade of recreational

and commercial boats passing by on the Intracoastal Waterway.

See Security, Page 13

See Hot water, Page 13

nally responded to the jets’ warningflares and turned back. They were arrest-ed immediately upon landing.

On the water the Pentagon is gradual-ly acquiring “non-lethal” weapons tolessen the risk of accidental death. Onesuch device came to light in November2005, when the cruise ship SeabournSpirit was attacked by pirates off Soma-lia; news reports revealed that thecrew’s use of a “sonic cannon” provedinstrumental in thwarting the attack.Technically known as an LRAD (long-range acoustic device), it is a dish thatblasts a tight beam of painful, debilitat-ing, siren-like sound over long distances.

Read your chartsSecurity zones around military in-

stallations and facilities existed longbefore the war on terrorism, and theyare clearly shown on nautical chartsbut were often loosely enforced. Vari-ous security measures taken after theCole and Sept. 11 attacks not onlyadded teeth to those exclusion areas,but also created new security zonesaround important non-military facili-ties, such as bridges, airports, powerplants and other energy facilities,locks and dams, and certain docks.This is why it’s a no-no to anchornear a bridge, even just to fish.

In the Chesapeake, two such highlysensitive facilities with 500-yard secu-

rity zones are the Cove Point liquefiednatural gas ship terminal and theCalvert Cliffs nuclear power plant,both just north of Solomons Island,Md. The Calvert Cliffs security zoneclosed off some prime fishing groundsbelow the nuclear plant’s heat dis-charge pipes, much to the dismay oflocal anglers.

How do you find out where the secu-rity zones are in your waters?

The best way, now and in the future,is to read your (up-to-date) charts care-fully, looking in particular for magentalines and circles that indicate restrictedor prohibited waters. While the CoastGuard is currently working to consoli-

date its maze of Web sites into a one-stop “Coast Guard Homeport,” the sys-tem is not yet operational, and officialssay the new system will not providelocal security zone information onlinein a graphical format.

So be sure to read your charts. Pay at-tention to where you are and what’saround you. Listen to and use your VHFradio. And remember that if you’re inthe wrong place on the water at thewrong time — and clueless about whatto do — the Navy and Coast Guard willnot want to be your friend. n

Steve Blakely is an editor in Wash-ington, D.C.

Soundings May 2006 Home Waters 13

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zle flashes from the deck guns, and watchingthe artillery shells arc through the air and ex-plode on shore, was an impressive sight.• Hannibal target ship, about six milesnorthwest of Smith Island (below Bloods-worth Island and just above the Maryland-Virginia state line) is an old coal ship thatwas sunk in the Bay for use as a bombingand strafing target. It is a quite active tar-get, so be alert for Navy range boats oper-ating to the west of Smith Island; they willwarn you out of the area if planes or heli-copters from the Pax River base are shoot-ing up the Hannibal. www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-h/ag1.htm

Lower BayIn this region there are numerous mili-

tary bases (mostly but not always Navy)that have exclusion zones extending offthe shore. They are marked with special-purpose buoys and are routinely patrolledby range boats. • York River — Three contiguous facilities linethe south shore of the river: Camp Perry(Armed Forces Experimental Training Activi-ty); Cheatham Annex (Fleet Industrial SupplyCenter); and Yorktown Naval Weapons Sta-tion, which the Navy describes as its “premierweapons facility,” where munitions are loadedaboard Atlantic Fleet warships. For obviousreasons, the Naval Weapons Station is heavi-ly guarded. www.nwsy. navy.mil• Langley Air Force Base — The oldest con-tinually active air base in the nation —home to the First Fighter Wing — occupiesthe entire western side of the Back River.www.langley.af.mil/1fw.shtml• Norfolk Naval Base and Craney Island FuelDepot — the largest naval base on earth, atthe mouth of the James and Elizabeth Rivers.Headquarters to commander-in-chief, AtlanticFleet; supreme allied commander, AtlanticFleet; Fleet Marine Force; Naval Air StationNorfolk; and Naval Station Norfolk. This iswhere numerous tense encounters have oc-curred between Navy security forces and theconstant parade of recreational and commer-cial boats passing by on the Intracoastal Wa-terway. The base is home port to aircraft carri-ers, nuclear submarines, and other massivewarships that take up a lot of space when en-tering or leaving the harbor. To slake the At-lantic Fleet’s enormous thirst, the Navy’slargest gas station in the United States — the

Craney Island Fuel Terminal — is immediate-ly across the Elizabeth River from the southend of the Norfolk Naval Base. Skipperspassing this area need to be extremely alert,tuned to Channel 16, and prepared to takeevasive action if instructed to do so.www.navstanorva.navy.mil and www.nor.fisc.navy.mil/code700/fuel.htm

Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Va.This is the oldest shipyard in the country

devoted exclusively to ship repair and over-haul, dating to 1767 and located on the south-ern branch of the Elizabeth River about eightmiles south-southeast of the Norfolk NavalBase, in Hampton Roads. It works on asmany 55 ships on any given day and is con-sidered the best-protected of the Navy instal-lations in the Hampton Roads area when ahurricane threatens. www.nnsy1.navy.mil

Little Creek Naval Amphibious BaseThis huge base shares Little Creek with

several civilian marinas, so be sure not tostray into the Navy’s facilities; bear to star-board upon entering to find the commercialmarinas. Local charts warn visitors to bealert for Navy diving operations at themouth of the creek. www.nablc.navy.mil

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, linkingVirginia Beach and the Eastern Shore ofChesapeake Bay.

The reason for the tunnels is that the Navysaw a continuous bridge over the mouth ofthe bay as a security threat, were it to col-lapse (accidentally or otherwise) and closeoff access to Norfolk. As a result, the road-way burrows underneath the mouth of theChesapeake in two spots: the southernThimble Shoals Channel (used primarily byNavy ships) and the northern ChesapeakeChannel (used mainly by commercial andrecreational vessels). If you see low-flyinghelicopters in the area, they are Navy heli-copters towing sonar “slides” and sweepingthe channel for mines. www.cbbt.com

Information in this list comes from publiclyavailable documents and Web sites, two inparticular: the DOD Installation Directory,online at www.denix.osd.mil/denix/public/es-programs/conservation/legacy/bay/watershed2.html#directory,and GlobalSecurity.org,an information clearinghouse on defenseand national security issues, online at www.globalsecurity.org.A

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