Many long years ago, when the Old Gray Mare was all that she used to be, an annual October sailing regatta on southern Biscayne Bay began attracting floating audiences so large and rambunctious that the audiences themselves attracted even larger, more rambunctious audiences.

Hell, raised on every Columbus Day weekend, subsided for a year and rose again. Once that part of the bay became Biscayne National Park, something had to give, didn’t it?

It hasn’t given yet — even though regatta organizers in 2006 complied with a National Park Service request to re-route the sailing race out of park waters.

Race? What race? It’s not certain if the thousands of carousers noticed. They were having such a good time drinking, drugging and dumping stuff in the bay so revolting that you might drown a guest for dumping it in your pool. They ran aground and rafted up by the hundreds over shallow grass flats that were trying to nurture the bottom end of the marine food chain.

“Please don’t do that,” park rangers kept asking them, but they kept doing that.

This year, maybe they’d better stop. The park, repeating its recent policy for the weekend, is imposing a rule limiting raftups to five boats and proclaiming “zero tolerance” for violations.

It’s also publicly asking boaters to consider not going to the park on a weekend that’s sure to be crowded and likely to be hazardous. With the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Intracoastal Waterway running right down the middle, that’s about as close as Biscayne can get to turning boaters away.

Biscayne’s new superintendent, Brian Carlstrom, will experience his first Columbus Day weekend there. He issued a statement that appears to fall between categories of invitation and admonition:

“We welcome visitors to come and enjoy a weekend boating responsibly in the park. However, boating, alcohol, and crowded conditions characteristic of the Columbus Day Weekend gatherings are a dangerous combination that threatens public safety.”

Rangers, supplemented by boat-patrolling officers from just about every local, state and federal enforcement agency that has a boat, will pay particular attention to rafting, too-loud music and “illegal commercial activities,” the park’s announcement says.

The seven party houses of Stiltsville, on the flats south of Key Biscayne, will be off limits except to those already authorized to use them.

The assemblage of non-park law enforcement has been going on for a long time. They help rangers enforce special Columbus Day weekend rules every year. They arrest people, issue tickets and investigate accidents — including six deaths in the last 10 years, by Biscayne’s scorecard. Last year, arrests and other violations exceeded 200.

There might have been more. Patrollers have complained in the past that that they see laws being violated as they cruise around the perimeters of vast raftups, but they can’t get through the crowds to write tickets and make arrests.

One year, suggestions were made for rangers, disguised as partiers on unmarked boats, to infiltrate, mingle with the throngs and catch people abandoning inhibitions to commit offenses. Then, by leaping from boat to boat, they could lead their prisoners out of the mass.

Rangers replied something like this:

“No. We’re afraid.”

They can be bolder this year if the five-boat rafting limit can be enforced effectively.

“With zero tolerance enforcement in place, fines in excess of $5,000 and up to six months jail time, the price is high for failure to boat responsibly and abide by laws and regulations in the park,” said Wayne Rybeck, the park’s incident commander. The risk and liability associated with operating a boat and partying in a national park are substantial.”

He suggested that boaters appoint designated skippers to stay sober, watch out for swimmers and drunks, and admonish their crews not to jettison trash. They shouldn’t run their boats at night.
Biscayne’s experience with the five-boat rafting limit could be reflected in a revised general management plan, tentatively planned for public release in November.

Two years ago, a plan to designate a few small zones for limited rafting caught an uproar of public objection and rejection. That idea and other proposed restrictions including no-fishing zones were so unpopular that the management plan was withdrawn for revision. It’s almost ready for re-release.

For more on what to expect of Columbus Day weekend in the park, see Biscayne’s website at www.nps.gov/bisc . Updates on the general management plan can be found there as well.