Detroit, Dallas, Atlanta: Under the Radar, Black Boating Spreads Across the U.S.

Look out over the horizon! It can’t be! It looks like a fleet of boats, all piloted by black boaters. Is this an alternate universe? Nope… it’s Detroit!

By Kai Beasley

“It will bring a tear to your eye to see 100 or 150 boats coming in off the lake, all captained by black people. It’s a blessing from God,” says Beverly Tolbert, a.k.a. Ms. Bev, founder of E-Dock and Friends (EDAF) Soulful Boaters. According to Ms. Bev and many others, the African American boating population is a forgotten market, although nationally, the number of black boaters is on the rise.  “We do feel like we’ve not been given due diligence. But things are changing,” says Ms. Bev. “The African American boating population in Michigan is the largest in the nation. In terms of numbers at my marina, there are 400 slips and I would say that 80 to 90 percent of (the boat owners) are African American.” Other marinas in the Detroit area have high numbers of black boaters as well. The same is true in other areas of the country. Look in and around any city that is on or near the water, and you’re likely to be pleasantly surprised by the number and size of minority boating clubs that exist.
E-Dock and Friends is organized cruising at its best. Based out of Harbor Hill Marina in Detroit, it’s not a club in the strictest sense. There are no dues, no requirements, no protocol – just fun and boats. 
“We’ve been doing it since 1993,” says Paul Harlen, a reverend in the city of Detroit, and founding member of EDAF. “It started out as a small group with maybe five boaters. We kind of ran together and did a lot of boating trips.”
Harlan was a relative youngster when he began boating with E-Dock at the age of 28. Then, he owned a 25ft Bayliner. Now, at 43, Harlan owns a 42ft Sea Ray Aft Cabin that he keeps at Harbor Hill Marina. 
Today, 918,849 people call Detroit, the largest city in Michigan, home. About 83 percent of them are African American. Though the city produces quite a few black boaters, anyone and everyone is encouraged to enjoy the famed EDAF cruises.
“We really began building fellowship among boaters, not just African American boaters, but boaters as a whole,” Harlan says.  “We’re actually encouraging them to get out and see the different shores that are available to us by water.”
Each year, the group chooses a different lake to cruise. Ports like Cedar Point, Vermilion, and even marinas in Cleveland, Ohio, are among the destinations that these Detroit boaters have visited. So what’s a weekend with E-Dock & Friends organized cruising like?
“It reminds me of a big family reunion,” Ms. Bev says. “It’s a family atmosphere that we want everyone to enjoy.”
EDAF events have gotten so popular that the number of boats can stretch across the horizon. In 2000, E-Dock & Friend’s Lighthouse Cove Marina weekend hosted over 170 boats, RV’s from 35ft. to 45ft. in length, Corvettes from Atlanta and South Carolina, ski club members, and family and friends for an entire weekend of fun, food, water and occasionally, Cuddles the Hip Hop Clown.
Social networking was the primary driver in Mark Rowland’s decision to create the Black Boaters Association of Texas.  “I’ve probably been boating on our lake for 14 or 15 years now and when we first got started you would see very few African American boaters on the lake,” Roland says. “But as we would see more and more, we started to say, ‘You know, it’s too bad there’s not some way that we can communicate, or meet up and hang out a little bit.”
The group, whose home base is Lake Lewisville, in Lewisville, TX, now has about 20 core members who pay dues. However, attendance at group events can reach numbers of more than 70 people.
Lake Lewisville, which spans 23,280 acres with 223 miles of shoreline and is surrounded by 9,000 acres of protected wilderness, is a haven for a myriad of water sports. Its 25-foot depth holds some of the biggest fish you’ll lay your eyes on. Many of the BBA’s events involve fishing, or the consumption of fish (number’s one and two on Inland Boater’s list of top activities on the water).
Association members have boats ranging from 12-foot bass boats to 50-foot yachts and everything in between. Their occupations are just as varied, with jobs that include everything from airplane mechanics to business owners. 
The association’s reputation has grown so much that last year they were able to start a whole new chapter in Houston. Rowland has found that more and more African Americans are getting interested in boating, even if they don’t own boats. 
“Not everybody in our group is a boat owner,” Rowland says. “I would say that maybe only 1/3 of our group owns boats. You certainly don’t have to own a boat and we try to stress that, even though it’s a boat club.”
New minority yacht clubs are springing up all over the place. The membership of the Black Boaters Club of America (BBCA) in Northern Georgia has grown to 55 in the four months since it officially opened in Northern Georgia, says Wanda Wallace, founder, president and CEO. BBCA is based at Lake Lanier, which offers 37,000 acres of freshwater fun that attracts more than 7 million visitors each year who enjoy boating and jet skiing.
Aqualand Marina, the home of the BBCA, is the world’s largest inland marina and is located only a short drive from Atlanta. The marina’s all-inclusive seasonal and annual dock space includes 310 covered wet slips, 1,428 open wet slips, fiberglass dock boxes and a private boat launch. The marina also provides amenities such as a ships store, two covered pavilions, a public and a members-only picnic area, and a dockside restaurant.
Attend a Black Boaters of America event and you’re likely to see boats between 30 and 60 feet. Events include cookouts, potluck dinners, concerts, country balls and a whole lot of networking. To date, it’s one of the few groups of its kind in Georgia. Wallace and others hope to start up new branches as far west as Las Vegas.
“We just want to bring African Americans together as a community in a family environment to come out and enjoy one another,” Wallace says. “It’s a blessing to see how many people have caught on. And this is just the beginning.”