Other side of anchoring restrictions

[jhulmer]

Originally Posted by PrivateerAnthem

Helpful tip for the OCDs wringing their hands trying to convert Florida coastal waters into the thing they had Up North:

1. Go to eBay and buy a few Jimmy Buffet cassettes (8-tracks if you must).
2. Mix up a rum drink of your choice.
3. Consume 1 and 2 simultaneously (while anchored safely).
4. Lighten up.

After gasping at the above, repeat #4.

NOW DEN!

[mikeod]

Come to Newport RI they only want 1200 a month for a mooring. You can anchor in the anchorage but they make you leave CITY waters every 14 days for 4 days or pay 50 a night for a mooring for 4 days. I was told this is because 1 boat was anandoned a few years ago. And if you want to place a mooring its a 30 YEAR WAITING LIST. If you are not a resident you will never get a permit. The marked special anchorage i was told is a city anchorage and local rules apply. I thought all waters were US waters. Check into titusville mooring field last time i was there they had one side of the river marked as no anchoring its a mooring area for 200 moorings but only maybe 30 moorings were there. So you cant anchor in mooring area even if there are no moorings. This was same over a 3 year period. I was told the moorings are there but they dont put. Balls on unless needed.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I wonder every time this Florida anchoring thing comes why it seems to bother people so much (most of them not in Florida). Most of the rest of country the local city and habormaster can make up anchoring restrictions as they please (and they do).

The difference in most of the rest of the country is it is self enforcing.

A liveaboard on a derelict boat in maine is lucky to last the first winter and they rarely repeat.

Same thing in s. florida is a comfy lifestyle.

Rarely is there a city trying to scare away cruisers. It's the derelict boats that are a problem.

[a64pilot]

Thing is, a cruiser to most looks an awful lot like a derelict does.
All they know is they see a whole lot of boats and wish there were fewer

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Thing is, a cruiser to most looks an awful lot like a derelict does.
All they know is they see a whole lot of boats and wish there were fewer

Where I'm currently at in Florida it is pretty easy to tell the between the cruisers, live aboards that never move, and the derelict. Though between the second two you have to sometimes really pay attention.

[a64pilot]

That is because you know boats and are a lot closer to them. Average person is surprisingly ignorant

[sailorboy1]

It's also because when I've seen enough I can just move my house to a different view. The average homeowner doesn't get the opportunity

[jeepbluetj]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

... Average person is surprisingly ignorant

Truest thing I've heard today.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Thing is, a cruiser to most looks an awful lot like a derelict does.
All they know is they see a whole lot of boats and wish there were fewer

Have agree to disagree. It's usually quite obvious even to shoreside folks and a pretty boat that cruises in stays for a couple days and cruises out represents a dream to many and adds to the scenery. On the other hand a boat that is clearly kept afloat with duct tape and bailing twine, that hasn't moved in months and is filthy....is not thought of the same way.

Proceed with demonizing me if you must but this is why communities are enacting anchoring restrictions. Many of these waterfront communities derive a great deal of their income from the waterfront tourism and if tourists feel like they are entering a bad area, they will simply go elsewhere.

[markpierce]

Feel so fortunate that mooring fields for recreational boats are rare in the San Francisco estuary (bays, rivers, and sloughs). Notable exceptions include mooring buoys in Ayala/Hospital Cove on Angel Island (state-run park) and the occasional private yacht club. There are countless places to anchor or pull into a berth.

[tdoster]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

That is because you know boats and are a lot closer to them. Average person is surprisingly ignorant

I would say the average person in Florida are pretty good about telling the difference - and it is pretty obvious to tell the difference between a boat that is ready to go to sea and one that is one storm away from being someone else's problem.

The problem is people with no means or ability to take personal responsibility when they find they can't afford their lifestyle choice. And irony has it that most of the people here are feeling that Florida is taking away their freedom to cruise, when in fact, they are going to great lengths to attempt to ensure we have the freedom and ability to cruise indefinitely in the state RESPONSIBLY.

The link below is still in the early stages. Select queries on the right and just click search to show them all, then take the map over Florida. These are just the bad ones...

https://public.myfwc.com/LE/ArrestNe...VesselMap.aspx


The only time it becomes a problem is when people are personally affected by it. Have a derelict drag anchor and do damage to your boat tied at a dock and the months of not only trying to get the owner to take responsibility, but remove the sunken boat off your dock and the red tape involved will make anyone change their tune. This happened to a friend who not only could not get their boat out to make repairs because the derelict boat they could not touch until it went through process was in their way, but still had thousands of dollars and countless hours of their own time just trying to get life back to normal.

The back story on the boat is that it was bought by a young family who lived on it for a while and then had to move back into an apartment. They anchored and left the boat unattended for a couple of months before the first strong norther of the season made it someone else's problem. This is not an uncommon occurrence in Florida. They had no money and no insurance.

Our friends are not rich. They worked hard and saved all their lives to purchase a modest house on the water to enjoy retirement in the same way many of us cruise on a very strict budget.

The issue I have as a cruiser in Florida with the mooring fields as I trust my anchor more than some of the moorings and being a responsible boater, I am signing my life away renting a mooring that if fails still becomes my responsibility for damage. So, they need a solution, but one that makes sense and fair to everyone.

[tdoster]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Have agree to disagree. It's usually quite obvious even to shoreside folks and a pretty boat that cruises in stays for a couple days and cruises out represents a dream to many and adds to the scenery. On the other hand a boat that is clearly kept afloat with duct tape and bailing twine, that hasn't moved in months and is filthy....is not thought of the same way.

Proceed with demonizing me if you must but this is why communities are enacting anchoring restrictions. Many of these waterfront communities derive a great deal of their income from the waterfront tourism and if tourists feel like they are entering a bad area, they will simply go elsewhere.

There is no demonizing for stating fact. I don't think I have ever heard of anyone complaining about a couple vessels being anchored. It is when they turn into a sort of shantytown when it becomes a problem to communities. Let's be honest in the fact that as cruisers, that is not somewhere most want to anchor anyway, especially in any kind of weather. I am not sure about you, but I try and stay upwind of anything that looks like it was anchored 6 months ago and left on a Danforth picnic anchor by some kid who can't even afford to register his boat.

Have no issue with the same kid who anchors somewhere like Lake Surprise in the lower keys with nothing around him to bother, until it sinks and we the tax payers have to remove it - then it is a problem.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I wonder every time this Florida anchoring thing comes why it seems to bother people so much (most of them not in Florida). Most of the rest of country the local city and habormaster can make up anchoring restrictions as they please (and they do).

And this is good or bad?

I've never had this experience anywhere along the AICW from the Chesapeake until Florida. You are pretty much allowed to anchor anywhere you choose... I guess you mean up north where you only have like a 3 month sailing window

There no doubt needs to be more pump out options available but its entirely plausible that they have a composting head. We were at dinner with a few other cruising couples this evening and were the only ones without a composting head. Its getting very common.

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Where I'm currently at in Florida it is pretty easy to tell the between the cruisers, live aboards that never move, and the derelict. Though between the second two you have to sometimes really pay attention.

Can't disagree there.

BTW - the mooring field program came back with some final recommendations. Even they recognize that the state cannot wholesale limit anchoring, although under the next administration we will be lucky to be able to sail in florida at all.

http://myfwc.com/media/4126646/ancho...port122116.pdf

If adopted, this will:

- remove almost all viable, desirable, and weatherly anchoring areas in southern florida from just south of Cape Canaveral down to the top of the keys (aka the 150 foot offset).

- Cause boats that need engine work completed (and who doesn't once in a while) to be "derelict".

[sailorboy1]

I've been in St Augustine twice in the past 1.5 months and anchored in front of the same small boat. I've never seen anyone on it and think I saw it in the same spot 2 years ago when I came here on vacation.

But it looks Ok and it doesn't brother me than it is here.

[crabcake]

Originally Posted by zboss

Even they recognize that the state cannot wholesale limit anchoring, although under the next administration we will be lucky to be able to sail in florida at all.

Is it really necessary tio interject inflammatory politics into what should be a civil discussion.

Can you point to anything the next administration said that would limit cruising or boating in general in Florida, or anywhere else for that matter?