A Free Boat Anchorage Downtown Sarasota ? (NE of Ringling Bridge)

[sharkwatcher]

A free Boat Anchorage Downtown Sarasota?

I've emailed with the "owners" and this appears to be the real deal, but apperaently no one has treid it yet.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, sharkwatcher.

[Wavewacker]

Welcome!

Just remember, nothing is free, IMO. It could be the owner has an issue with the authorities and they are pushing back in some way.....who knows what motivates them. Could be the owner bought some of that famous water front property in FA at a real steel of a deal, only to find later that it was also under water! It could be they are just good folks,but that reads fishy to me. The picture indcates an area shaded, that's not three acres more like 80+! I suggest you proceed with caution and do your due diligence.

[denverd0n]

Yeah, something about that just smells funny. For one thing, the area that they are showing appears to be the connector between the back basin and the area out front. As such, that might be considered a navigable waterway, and if it is then the Coast Guard is NOT going to allow anchored boats to block the access.

I also wonder if they've been trying to get the people who own the land to pay them for access--trying to make money off of their ownership of the submerged land--and those folks have refused. And now their idea is to "get even" by cluttering up the waterway with a bunch of anchored boats. That's probably not going to fly for very long either.

I guess I'm just echoing what the others have said. Can't hurt to investigate, but I would move slowly and carefully, and not just blithely rely on being able to anchor there long-term.

[belizesailor]

Not sure about this location, but when I lived in the area years ago, the anchorage near Golden Gate Park had essentially become a boat slum. There were some regulatory issues (don't know the details) which prevented the City/State from enforcing their anchorage regulations and the end result was a bay full of derelict boats and derelict people.

I suspect that any offer of free private anchorage would quickly degrade into the same state. I sure would not offer my private property up to use by just anyone.

[keyspc]

Pangaea's New Wandering Website

[belizesailor]

Googled up some info on FL recent anchoring legislation battles....geez...sounds like I left at a good time!

[DSDman]

Sounds to me like the conversion went like this. Hey expensive hotel want to buy some property out your back door for the marina? Hotel says nope. property owner says ok talk to you in a year or so. place add on craigslist.

[Khagan1227]

Sarasota is part of a pilot plan to draw up an ordinance to regulate anchoring of boats.

The current PROPOSAL states boats will be allowed to anchor outside the mooring field for a maximum of 90 days. The boat must be then moved for 24 hours before returning for another 90 days.

Currently, there are no restrictions to anchoring there. The area mentioned by the OP is covered in ActiveCaptain, so you can get further details from there.

[Kettlewell]

Keep in mind that at this point there is "free" anchorage in most of Florida. In short, not sure what this is about, but I will find out and report back. Under Florida law non-liveaboard boats (basically 99% of us, as "liveaboard" is strictly defined in Florida law), can anchor pretty much anchor wherever we want for as long as we want for no charge, and most localities can't restrict us, whether they want to or not. Sarasota is one of five localities participating in the "Pilot Program" that will allow them to create some local anchoring ordinances, but they are not in place yet. The only one with ordinances that have been passed and approved is St. Augustine. More information here.

[Nobleshift]

It has been my experience that many local municipalities ignore what state & federal laws govern free anchorages. Unless you can quote law, and don't mind the impending CG/DHS boarding for quoting said laws, best to move every so often. Florida is a police happy state and not forgiving of those who stand up for themselves. IMHO.

[Kettlewell]

When in Florida it is useful to have this document on board in order to show local officials who often don't know the state law.

[hellosailor]

Floirda being a "sunshine law" state...it should be simple enough to go online to the county tax assessor's office for Sarasota and see just who the listed owners of that property are. if the names match, then a simple contact letter could confirm if this is a legitimate offer. (Won't confirm what's behind the offer, just will confirm if the offer is from the owners.)

[keyspc]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

When in Florida it is useful to have this document on board in order to show local officials who often don't know the state law.

I have proven that that piece of paper is limited in use to REALLY pissing off local law enforcment
Yes i quote "We didnt change the law, expect to see us a whole lot untill you leave"
Followed by vist from children and familys saying kids couldnt live on boat,ticket 250 for useing ziptie on waste valve etc,etc

[hellosailor]

"We didnt change the law, expect to see us a whole lot untill you leave"

I'm generally for the less-is-more solution, but sometimes I see these 4-packs of wireless security cameras and I start to wonder...let 'em all stream live to a solid state drive and when some, ergh, ashoal starts to act like that, pass the feed off to their superiors AND the press. I've got no tolerance for bullies, in or out of uniform, and a mandatory "misfeasance, malfeasance, abuse of power" complaint can get many of them OUT of uniform when it is backed up by "But gee we only have your word for that, he said he said...Oh, video?"

Like the woman in Florida who got stopped by a cop who now is dealing with the fact that he was RECORDED abusing her and smashing her cell phone. Which memory card survived the smash and is putting that cop into a new job path right now.