DBW-50thAnnBook-PROOF

L E T T E R F R OM T HE D I R E C TOR

Welcome to Our 50th Anniversary Publication!

For decades, California’s reputation as a boater’s paradise with an abundance of water recreational opportunities has lured millions of visitors to the Golden State and increased the desire of many residents to enjoy the water. For the past 50 years, the Department of Boating and Waterways (Cal Boating) has improved and safeguarded the boating experience for all users – from Mission Bay in San Diego to the crystal clear water of Lake Tahoe and along every lake, river and stream in between. Long before Cal Boating was established, the growing popularity of recreational boating revealed a pressing need for state government to address boating safety issues and provide facilities for the boating public. By 1957, national retail sales of boats had approached $2 million, nearly tripling the amount from the beginning of the decade. In the same time period, outboard motor sales had expanded by 250 percent. The growing boating community began to rally for creation of coastal “harbors of refuge,” which grew out of the boaters’ need for a safe haven to berth their boats on the coast during storms and inclement weather. In the 1950s, California boat owners could obtain a rebate on the gasoline taxes used to propel their vessels. But boaters saw an advantage in putting their gasoline tax dollars to use collectively rather than receiving individual rebates. The idea of having a special fund and a state boating agency to implement a safe harbors program began to take shape. Finally, in the late 1950s, boaters were successful in introducing legislation that established the Division of Small Craft Harbors within the Department of Natural Resources, along with a five-member Small Craft Harbors Commission.

Raynor Tsuneyoshi Director Department of Boating and Waterways

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50 Years: The Department of Boating and Waterways, 1957 to 2007