I don't know the particulars of the issues in
Florida. A negative to the mooring balls in the
BVI is that it gets pretty cost prohibitive for cruisers. Moorings are $30/night which hits $900ish/month. That's much more then I pay for my slip with
power and
water. Many moorings have been placed where many of us used to
anchor for free!! In deep
water moorings do allow more boats to be more densely packed than if they were anchored. Many charterers in the BVI don't have good
anchoring skills so it is easier for them just grab a mooring. Moorings do protect
coral and turtle
grass. Overnight moorings can be installed by whomever received the
permit to do so. Most are installed and maintained by one company and they do a good job. Unfortunately others are maintained to the whim of the installer and appear to only get attention after they fail...
Coincidentally today I was forwarded an
email from the owner of a
charter company on Tortola. Amongst some other changes the BVI is enforcing, is a $1000 fine for
anchoring where
coral could be damaged. If the
charter guest doesn't pay the fine the
boat will be confiscated. I'm all for protecting coral. Two very large company's guests have already been hit with fines. As is typical, fines/policies are randomly enforced without notice down here.
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