"[Bulkheads] interrupt the hydrodynamics of the shoreline and affect the function of natural beach flow," he said. "The energy has to be absorbed somewhere else."

Southold Town Trustee Dave Bergen said that the town code doesn't allow the construction of new bulkheads, but permits existing ones to be repaired. Though he said the trustees are listening to Mr. Hardy's ideas, he said tearing down existing bulkheads is nothing to be taken lightly.

"If that were to happen, I don't know if it would create an area that would be walkable," Mr. Bergen said. "And I don't know of any other town that would do this."

Mr. Hardy says that town trustees are not the only ones responsible for poor public access. He says some of the old-time property owners along the creek have been good stewards, but many of the new ones have not.

"They buy property as a market investment, and they don't care about anything else," he said. "It's our job to make them care."

Though Mr. Hardy and company were ready to stir up some trouble, anger waterfront property owners and maybe get arrested, only three people and one dog came out to greet them as they tramped by.

"We're examining our right of public access," Mr. Hardy told one home¬­owner.

"Nice day for it," said the man, chewing a toothpick. Then he walked back into his house.

Rosa Hodgson, owner of Lighthouse Manor (a historic home built in the shape of a lighthouse), asked the group for phone numbers so she could walk across their lawns, too.

"If that's what turns them on," she said. "As long as they don't do it every day."

Mr. Hardy had some words for Ms. Hodgson at a trustee's meeting a few weeks ago after she'd applied for a permit to improve her dock and bulkheads, which had been in place around her backyard long before she acquired her property about 30 years ago.

And he had words for her again Saturday afternoon, saying that if she got rid of her bulkheads, nature would give her more land.

"I thanked him for the information," she said.

But she did acknowledge that she's seen the rich peninsula of beach behind Lighthouse Manor turn into the soupy sand bar it is today.

"There was a bird sanctuary in front of me," she said. "You could just walk to the end."

When John Kramer saw his neighbor of many years walking through the water, all he could say was, "Wow -- you guys must be bored!"

"I couldn't figure it out," Mr. Kramer said. "They were walking through marsh grass and everything."

He said there are no beaches in the creeks, and there's plenty of opportunity to walk, uninterrupted, at places like Founders Landing in Southold and Cedar Beach farther to the west.

"I love to walk the beaches, too," he said. "But to say, 'I want to walk in Jockey Creek'? Even if there were no houses, there would still be no [walkable] beach."

A native of Southold, Mr. Kramer has lived on Jockey Creek since 1989. He's been the head of SoutholdVOICE, an organization of property owners, for two years. He said property owners get "beat up on" too much.

"People from Manhattan come out here for quiet," he said. "They don't come out to fight."

He said Mr. Hardy is wrong about property owners along the creek not caring about the waterfront. He said that they've invested too much of themselves into living there.

"Who cares more about the creek than John Kramer?" he asked. "Don't call me a bad guy because I want to build a dock. Anybody can walk through if they want to."

Lily Dougherty-Johnson, along for the march on Jockey Creek, did just that Saturday afternoon. The Greenport native said that whether or not this ragtag demonstration will have any effect on the law or the environment, to her it was worth doing.

"It can't hurt," she said, up to her knees in water.

See a video of the march on Jockey Creek and more interviews in the right sidbar. eschultz@timesreview.com

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What N.Y. state law has to say

Sometimes, the law's a beach:

Excerpts from New York cases involving waterfront public access:

Creation of Southold Town Trustees, New York State Legislature, Law of 1883, Chapter 615: "Such board of trustees, or a majority of them, are hereby authorized and empowered to manage, lease, convey or otherwise dispose of all or any part of all such common lands, waters and lands underwater... to the public right of navigation."

Arnold's Inn, Inc. v. Morgan (New York Supreme Court, 1970): "...the right shared by all to navigate upon the waters covering the foreshore at high tide and, at low tide, to have access across the foreshore to the waters for fishing, bathing, or any other lawful purpose."

Adirondack League Club, Inc. v. Sierra Club (New York Appellate Division, 1994): "...the public's right to navigate includes the right to use the bed of the river or stream to detour around natural obstructions and to portage if necessary."

Compiled by Doug Hardy

Southold's current town code involving decks and bulkheads

The construction of a permitted bulkhead as per § 275-11, which is to replace an existing functional bulkhead, subject to the following:

[1] That the new bulkhead is constructed substantially similar to the design and measurement of the existing bulkhead; and

[2] The new bulkhead is in the same location as the existing bulkhead.

[3] Any such operations shall require the addition of a nonturf pervious buffer area.

(k) Minor changes to existing, valid Trustee permits. The Trustees reserve the right to determine whether the changes qualify for administrative review.

(l) Minor restoration or alterations of landscaping.

(m) Decks.

(n) Minor alterations to existing permitted shoreline structures including stairs, bulkheads and docks.

From Town of Southold, New York, Chapter 275, Wetlands and Shoreline

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