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Sean Morton of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary has been at the center of the PWC debate since facilitating an infamous 2003 PWC working group, which brought together environmentalists, industry officials, the Coast Guard and towsurfers for input into the draft management plan. The four-day working group was “a philosophical discussion of where they were or where they weren’t appropriate.” As a result, Morton and his colleagues at NOAA have drafted a new joint management plan much like the old joint management plan.

“It was, without a doubt, the hardest facilitation I’ve ever done,” Morton says. “We wanted to restore the original intent. We also wanted to discuss the possibility of finding a way to permit towsurfing at Maverick’s. We made it clear that there would be no other options anywhere. If you want to tow- surf into a 3- or 4-foot wave, you can do that outside of a marine sanctuary.”

Morton says that, outside of the four existing offshore zones, the only possible exceptions to the ban would be for harbor patrols and search-and-rescue teams. As for towsurfing, Morton says, a narrow exception for use at Maverick’s is being considered.

“There would be a list of potential conditions under which this kind of exception would occur,” Morton says. “The waves would have to be over a certain size. They could only be in the water at certain times. We’re talking very limited use.”

But, Morton warns, even a limited use plan for Maverick’s was met with a lot of resistance from conservationists.

Other ideas which would allow for towsurfing on big days at Maverick’s, such as a permit system or a lottery for users, will be mentioned in the draft management plan, Morton says. But since no consensus could be made during the 2003 working group, they won’t be considered part of the plan.

According to Morton, the new set of proposed rules for PWCs will be coming out in Spring 2006, after which the public will have two months to comment. Morton and his team will then make changes to the plan, there will be a review by the government and then a final draft will be implemented no less than six months after the introduction of the draft.

“So this will go into effect probably in January of 2007,” Morton says. “At the very soonest.”

And then will come the sticky issue of enforcement.

“We’ve discussed a network of enforcement that would include the Coast Guard and the cross-deputization of the Department of Fish and Game, the Harbor Patrol and State Parks,” Morton says. “But obviously, it could get very expensive and very complicated to monitor and enforce.”