Civil Rights Attorney Needed Marathon FL

[markpierce]

Private cops chased me away from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet ("you are illegally anchored") even though I was anchored well outside the 500-foot "no approach" zone. The government never responded to my queries regarding this event (Christmas Eve, 2011.)

[captain58sailin]

Any fool knows that Kennedy was killed by Castro. 9/11 was not just an attack by terrorists.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by familycruisers

Spoke with Sean from the municipal marina. He was speaking with the fwc captain. He stated the spotlights were just used for navigation. I asked "through anchorages? He stated " to see anchor lines and such"
We had planned to go to Marathon. Up in the air now. Maybe just head to the islands instead.

If you choose to head for the islands please take a few moments to write the Florida Tourist Bureau and tell them why.

[Dulcesuenos]

Multiple times Weve anchored just NW of Boot key using the land as shelter from the wind and have never been bothered.now I definitely wont stop in boot key city marina ever.
I wonder dies have anything to with opening of the new Restaraunt owned by Eric Stone?

[JPA Cate]

Let's hope the outcome of this is better training for new hires.

[svseachange]

A mate of mine arrived in Boot Key Harbor last night. He said there were plenty of mooring balls free.

Has an informal boycott already begun or is it normal to have lots of availability around Christmas?

[READY2GO]

it is still normal to have empty morning balls right now. The waiting list doesn't usually start until January.Alll of this is a shame, as it really is a nice place to be other than that. Hopefully things will get sorted out. We will see what the FWC's attitude is on the 18th.

[Waterway Guide]

Does anyone know roughly how many officers are being trained, how many boats are being used for training, or when the training period will end? I'm not getting any response from the field office. Thanks in advance. (Post here or message me, if you'd prefer.)

[CarlF]

For a government organization to call a public face-to-face meeting is certainly cause for optimism. One of the calls/letters (or perhaps word of this thread) got the attention of someone senior.

I always like to give the benefit of the doubt. The young officers may have no idea how a searchlight seems to someone sleeping in a boat. I expect they were told to patrol the anchorage and are doing their best. Getting tangled in an a anchor/mooring line is probably a good way to lose your job and make the boat owner really upset. Perhaps they'll agree to not do routine patrols through the middle of the anchorage after dark. I can't believe it does much good.

I hope everyone at the meeting takes a deep breath.

[tdominic_97]

Make the FWC Christmas cookies and say you baked them for them, because you see them all out there working so hard, and that they deserve a cookie. You would be so surprised how much power a small thing like a cookie has on an homesick 20 year old.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by markpierce

Private cops chased me away from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet ("you are illegally anchored") even though I was anchored well outside the 500-foot "no approach" zone. The government never responded to my queries regarding this event (Christmas Eve, 2011.)

Curious - what jurisdiction would private cops have, if you're not on private property?

[svseachange]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

Curious - what jurisdiction would private cops have, if you're not on private property?

The exclusion zones for most of the naval installations on the East Coast we past seem to be enforced by private contractors.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by CarlF

SNIP

Getting tangled in an a anchor/mooring line is probably a good way to lose your job and make the boat owner really upset. Perhaps they'll agree to not do routine patrols through the middle of the anchorage after dark. I can't believe it does much good.

I hope everyone at the meeting takes a deep breath.

Anyone who has moored in the City Marina should have no problem avoiding the mooring line as they are strictly regulated in length. The balls are in straight lines and as long as you keep your course there is no problem.

My real question is why there are patrols after dark. Not to mention well after dark as the reports are search lights being shined in portholes at 10:30 PM. While in the past there have been some property crime a search light would seem to alert criminals.

One issue that has been discussed in the past is that the City Marina is not designated as an anchorage so an anchor light is required. It is not clear why a mooring field would not be a designated anchorage. A few years ago there was some effort to get boats to use an anchor lights.

Problem with this is conventional wisdom is that most anchor lights on sailboats are at the top of the mast which is often 50ft above the water line and can easily be missed by a small boat that is within 100 yards. Many experienced cruisers also have what are sometimes called anti-dinky lights. In many cases they are those cheap solar yard lights on life line stanchions that are basically at eye level and easily seen by small boats.

The sad thing is that while Boot Key Harbor is the best natural in the Keys and has a great community spirit among the folks who keep their boats there a lot of government actions have resulted in a negative image in the minds of many boaters. These recent actions by FWC have only reenforced this negative image.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by tdominic_97

Make the FWC Christmas cookies and say you baked them for them, because you see them all out there working so hard, and that they deserve a cookie. You would be so surprised how much power a small thing like a cookie has on an homesick 20 year old.

^^^^ Yes, and, as well, it's physical evidence of a caring attitude, as well as just treating them as you would an invited guest to your boat.

It's like "what goes around comes around," or "do unto others..."

Ann

[Thin Line]

UPDATE:
We will be attending the Marathon city council meeting tonight, I will be one of the people speaking on behalf of the harbor. Yesterday I spent an hour with one of the higher ups of FWC in the office addressing some of these issues, as well as discussing the meeting they have agreed to on Dec 18th at 6pm. This has turned out to be a good thing, sometimes it takes things such as this to fix a problem. Tonights meeting with city council is to put this on public record, there will be no discussion and it will be two minutes each speaker.

One last thing.. Do not let this steer you away from Boot Key. My family and I have lived here over a year and this is the only time there has ever been an issue. The community here is strong and the harbor really is a great place, this was a temporary problem.

Thanks again for the support, remember we are all in the same boat ;-)