Seattle Anchoring Law Legal ?

[Cheechako]

Boy..... I had no idea. I have anchored on Elliot bay, mostly over toward Salty's restaurant (west seattle), I have anchored on Lake Union underneath the fireworks, I have seen boats anchored directly off the Seattle waterfront docks listening to the summer concert series, and of course half the boats in Seattle anchor around the hydro races at Seafair..... the SPD may be too busy shooting people and covering their A** to care about boats... :>)

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Boy..... I had no idea. I have anchored on Elliot bay, mostly over toward Salty's restaurant (west seattle), I have anchored on Lake Union underneath the fireworks, I have seen boats anchored directly off the Seattle waterfront docks listening to the summer concert series, and of course half the boats in Seattle anchor around the hydro races at Seafair..... the SPD may be too busy shooting people and covering their A** to care about boats... :>)

Me too. This is the reality of these laws, it's just a measure they put in place to keep "boat bums" from cluttering up anchorages with decrepit old derelict boats which are about to sink. The fact of the matter is that you can anchor wherever you want around here, within reason, and noone will bother you unless you stay for a long time and your boat is a hulk. There have been serious problems with that here in the past, I've been around it for decades. I for one am glad that homeless alchoholics are much rarer on the water around here than they used to be. These people obviously need a place to stay, but what was happening in that regard around here in the '90s just wasn't safe. There were a number of drownings that resulted. These people were not "boaters", they were squatters with boats. Boats that never ever moved, leaked oil everywhere, sank fairly often with no insurance,etc etc. I have seen extreme examples. In a city where it's easy to get an old decrepit wooden boat someone doesn't want to be responsible for anymore for free, laws like this start to make sense, IMHO.

[Cheechako]

Yeah..... as long as you dont get a cop who is hell bent on proving something... In the old days it seemed the cop on the beat knew when to overlook something and when not to... Hopefully that tradition continues... because legislatures have been meeting for ~200 years with the goal of making more laws every year!
Whooops! Rant over!

[STG]

Seattle may sound to some like it is anti-boating, but it is far from it. I was born and raised here. I have been living aboard at a Port of Seattle owned and ran marina which has one of the largest live-aboard communities on the West Coast. The Seattle management is very boat friendly.

There have been some fairly recent political issues in other juristictions which have caused some folks here to be cautious when discussing boating, and I think it comes across more negative than intended.

[delmarrey]

Captnmike's web site has lots of good info for the Seattle area!

Important Seattle Area Boating Information | Boating Safety Tips, Tricks & Thoughts from Captnmike

[Cheechako]

If you are living aboard at SHilshole.... it wasnt always like that. Glad rhings have changed! I remember a lot of room filled meetings/shouting sessions fighting the Port about living aboard and replacing the boaters with condos!

[Capt Phil]

When we were on our search for a place to moor permanently in Seattle, we must have been talking to the few who really hated boaters in general and liveaboards in particular. It was really discouraging to get cursed out over the phone by someone I'd never met. The municipal agencies and marinas we called were less than helpful and a couple just hung up on me as I recall. Shilshoe were among the least helpful. The year was 2003 so things might have changed since then but the memories linger on. Capt Phil

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Capt Phil

When we were on our search for a place to moor permanently in Seattle, we must have been talking to the few who really hated boaters in general and liveaboards in particular. It was really discouraging to get cursed out over the phone by someone I'd never met. The municipal agencies and marinas we called were less than helpful and a couple just hung up on me as I recall. Shilshoe were among the least helpful. The year was 2003 so things might have changed since then but the memories linger on. Capt Phil

In 2003 the waiting list for liveaboard status at Shilshole in the 40' range was ten years long. Management here has gone from truly terrible to pretty good. I wonder who you spoke to. It is almost impossible to reach the actual office at the marina by phone if you don't have a boat here, the number is not listed anywhere. I wonder if you spoke to the giant ******** at the billing department downtown, they are not boaters and not pleasant.

[cal40john]

Events can get permits to anchor, completely different than dropping a hook when you want. Are you familiar with the Duck Dodge after race raftup? Informal race Tuesday nights that afterwards raft up to party. They at times didn't get their permit and had to drift.

I've posted before I've seen people put down a hook from a 20' ski boat to sunbathe for a couple of hours and the cops tell them to pull it up.

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Boy..... I had no idea. I have anchored on Elliot bay, mostly over toward Salty's restaurant (west seattle), I have anchored on Lake Union underneath the fireworks, I have seen boats anchored directly off the Seattle waterfront docks listening to the summer concert series, and of course half the boats in Seattle anchor around the hydro races at Seafair..... the SPD may be too busy shooting people and covering their A** to care about boats... :>)

[Capt Phil]

Happy to hear about the improvement in management, minaret. I probably talked with the folks downtown who were the only ones I could reach long distance from SoCal. I'm sure things have changed over the years. I grew up and worked commercially for many years in the PNW and was really taken aback at the reception I received trying to re-establish our residence up there. I understand that, generally speaking, the reception is cool at best on both sides of the border towards liveaboards plus the costs are going through the headliner. Capt Phil

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by cal40john

Events can get permits to anchor, completely different than dropping a hook when you want. Are you familiar with the Duck Dodge after race raftup? Informal race Tuesday nights that afterwards raft up to party. They at times didn't get their permit and had to drift.

I've posted before I've seen people put down a hook from a 20' ski boat to sunbathe for a couple of hours and the cops tell them to pull it up.

When I still lived in Bothell (up until 1993) we kept our boat at a private dock just inside Seattle city limits in Lake City.
When one of the 4 year old dock pilings broke off at water level ( due to enviro's outlawing replacement pilings have ANY preservative )
we had to anchor out our boat in front of the house.
Sure enough, a Seattle water cop showed up within about 2 hours and told us to move it.
When I pointed out the piling, he "graciously" gave us 8 hours to find an alternative dock. What a guy !

[Ironhorse74]

Originally Posted by minaret

In 2003 the waiting list for liveaboard status at Shilshole in the 40' range was ten years long. Management here has gone from truly terrible to pretty good. I wonder who you spoke to. It is almost impossible to reach the actual office at the marina by phone if you don't have a boat here, the number is not listed anywhere. I wonder if you spoke to the giant ******** at the billing department downtown, they are not boaters and not pleasant.

Shilshole Bay Marina

Number for the Marina connects you directly to Shilshole. I was moored there from 1999 to 2004 always found everyone to be pleasant.

[chris5977]

The law doesn't specify what the penalty for unauthorized anchoring is.

[senormechanico]

Hah ! Try arguing with the water cop who tells you to move and you'll find out.

[Cheechako]

Yeah, it's a common thing. I remember when Seattle added the water cops.... maybe 20 years ago now? I couldnt figure out whey they did so , but supposedly did to help with crime from coming from the water. Of course what really happened is they had little to do, so harrassed the people trying to enjoy the water, and still do. I'd sure like to see the statistics and see if the crime rate went down since they've been there. maybe a big budget savings is in order... :>)