Here we go again…a new Florida House bill would eliminate several popular anchorages

[captain mitch]

Here is the letter that we just sent to several of the Florida Legislators.
Hopefully a few of you will do something also:

Good Day,
Thank you for taking the time to read our opinion on recent bill HB 1051 to be presented to the Legislature
We, (my wife and I) are not only Florida residents, but boaters also. We travel on our 51' sailboat for much of the year and enjoy anchoring in many locations, both in and out of Florida.
HB 1051 seems to us to be a mis-guided attempt to eliminate the problem of derelict and unsightly boats that take up permanent residence in some areas.
I say mis-guided as HB 1051 is deleterious to those of us who maintain our boats as "Yachts" and take great pride in their appearance and our decorum. (It references not anchoring in "Recreational Boating Zones" after sunset and before sunrise, just when most recreational boating is NOT active!)
As we travel, we spend considerable monies with the local shops, and , for the most parts make friends where we visit.
I am aware of a very few un-happy home owners in the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale areas who, after buying a home on the waterfront, decide that they do not want to see boats in their neighborhood.
These are the same type people who buy homes near the airport, then complain about the planes flying over!
There are already laws in place, both local and state, to deal with the ugly and derelict boats, but they require the police to actually enforce them.
Bills such as HB1052 have created a considerable negative opinion of Florida within the cruising community and we now have many friends who skip past Florida and head to the Bahamas and the Caribbean instead.
All to satisfy a very few "locals" with the funds to influence the introduction of a bill to serve their needs.
We urge you to vote against HB 1051 when it comes up.
Very truly yours,
Robert & Maria Mitchell
Vero Beach and Sarasota, Fl.

[sailersteve]

Florida boating regulation clearly states ;No one may ski or aquaplane between the hours of 1/2 hour past sunset and 1/2 hour before sunrise !
This is from the ( Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission ).

[TomLewis]

“We want a fun and festive place, but the floating trailer park atmosphere is not consistent with the type of community we’re building,” Gaetz said.

What a total jerk. Equating us to trailer parks, I believe that is discriminatory. This guy thinks he can diss all of us that enjoy a different drum beat. What a jack---. I bet he's afraid of water. I have lived in trailer parks, CA and Fl, yes maybe a little rough around the edges, but great times none the less. I guess those of us who don't live in 5000+ sqft. houses are indigents.

Sorry, I don't get mad about much, but this one tweaked me.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by captain mitch

SNIP

Bills such as HB1052 have created a considerable negative opinion of Florida within the cruising community and we now have many friends who skip past Florida and head to the Bahamas and the Caribbean instead.
All to satisfy a very few "locals" with the funds to influence the introduction of a bill to serve their needs.
We urge you to vote against HB 1051 when it comes up.

SNIP

One basic tactic of lawyers/debaters is to try and put yourselves in the place of the other side and understand their position. Sadly this is something I seldom see folks against anchoring restrictions do.

Supporters of anchoring restrictions do so because they see too many boats anchored. They don't differentiate between what I wall call junk boats and the kinda boats all the CF folks cruise in. There are simply too many boats period. So saying the bill will result in fewer boats is their goal.

There are also lots of folks who are not "very few locals with funds". Lots of environmentalists think there are too many boats damaging the environment. Not just with defective heads, but with simple trash dumped over board or on shore. A couple of times a year most marinas have a cleanup and remove massive amounts of trash. There is also the issue of destroying sea grass and coral. Another issue is how larger cruising boats make life harder for kayakers and other similar sized small boats that bigger boats view as obstructions. Fuel spills are also an issue. Saying others pollute worse will simply get the response that one bad act does not justify another bad act.

Claiming there is an economic advantage from cruisers also gets negative response from those supporting the bill. Look at any marina in a big popular city and they are full. Cruisers who anchor out are view as hangers on who are trying to get by on the cheap. In addition any real economic analysis will show regular tourists who stay on land contribute much more to the bottom line than cruisers.

There are plenty of out of the way places where there is no problem anchoring. None of the proposed restrictions are for these areas. The restrictions are only for the crowded areas where there are a lot of folks who are annoyed by too many boats.

I can remember when fishing licenses were first proposed for fresh water fishing with the promise that Florida would never have licenses for salt water fishing and there were no limits. Still wonder how Florida imposed salt water fishing licenses given that promise. The reason was a huge increase in the number of folks fishing in salt water. The same is now true of the huge increase in the number of folks anchoring. I don't see how there won't be more anchoring restrictions.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by captain mitch

OK , now what we need is a method of voicing our minds to the Fl. legislature !!l

Regarding the renewed effort in Florida to restrict anchoring:
The Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) Concerned Cruisers Committee (CCC) is a group of SSCA members who actively represent the global cruising community's interests. We work on issues that impact our cruising experience from anchoring limits in the US to visa time limits in Europe. SSCA has joined together with other regional and national boater’s rights organizations to represent cruisers' concerns before the Florida legislature. The SSCA CCC has established itself as a source of marine expertise, knowledge and a voice of reason with the Florida legislature. Of greatest importance for the SSCA CCC is a bill that will finally resolve the ongoing issues regarding anchoring in Florida.



In order for SSCA and its partners to succeed we need your financial help right now to support our team’s expenses, advisers and costs that were ever so critical to our success last year. We do not have much time as the legislative session starts on January 12, 2016. So please join the effort to defend cruisers’ rights by making contributions to one or all of our campaigns today. Also please share this with your friends and those you know in the marine industry.


If you do nothing else, join SSCA: http://ssca.org
Contribute to SSCA legislative efforts: https://www.gofundme.com/Right2Anchor . This money pays for the expenses of our efforts.


Contribute to the Maritime Heritage Freedom Political Action Committee:https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr… . This money gives our advisers the tools to effectively gain the support of legislators.


Volunteer your time and energy to SSCA and the SSCA CCC. Contact office@ssca.org or CCC@ssca.org.




ssca.org
ssca.org

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by captain mitch

... If many of us write reasoned comment letters to the Fl. Reps. it will at least give them some pause.
Can anyone here provide the names and addresses?? That would be most helpful

The legislature of the State of Florida is composed of a Senate (upper) and House of Representatives (lower).

Representatives Of The Florida House ➥ Florida House of Representatives - Representatives for 2014 - 2016 { Crisafulli }

Florida State Senators ➥ Senators - The Florida Senate

FWIW: An originally composed, handwritten, or typed and signed letter, is the most effective means of communication (other than a face to face meeting). It is far more effective than photocopied form letters, postcard campaigns, or emails.

[WindwardPrinces]

Here's a local writeup of the Destin bit.

Seems to me that it pretty clearly sets a precedent for areas to control local anchoring, for any reason whatsoever. In fact, it's not so much the local area, as it's being voted in by the Florida legislature.

Bill would make it illegal to anchor a boat overnight at Crab Island - News - Northwest Florida Daily News - Fort Walton Beach, FL

[zeehag]

best of luck with your anchoring woes.
the precedent was set in west coast against anchorages. federal anchorages and protection thereto and thereof were lifted as we have no RIGHT to anchor. we have no RIGHT to put dinghies anywhere so we can access land and stores for provisions.
we allegedly pay no property taxes so therefore we as cruisers are pariahs to communities desiring tax base.
and so it goes.
cali lost the war.
as folks cruise south on west coast, , they must find marinas into which to place boats. the anchorages are 3 day/72 hours only and only with permission from the port authorities in those areas. some places, the anchorages were removed.
yearly, san diego agrees to cooperate with cruising via baja haha, and those boats ate granted permission to anchor in the remaining (once federal)anchorages with the restrictions all others also face.
the days of free anchoring are done, at least for a while.
as the folks on land see us as tax evaders and derelicts, thanks to the reporting on living aboard and despite appearances of cruising boats -- newspapers and radio shows, the anchorages disappear. there has been a precedent against the keeping sacred of federal anchorages. those closed in san diego were federally designated anchorages. so... your precedent is already out there.
best of luck in the fighting of this war. we are grossly outnumbered and control is the issue, nothing else. govt wants control of people. we are not controllable, therefore not welcomed.
btw--there is NO right to anchor. forget that part, is not reality. never was. is a PRIVILEGE to anchor. you might hear that lot in your battles. we did.

[WindwardPrinces]

If anyone knows what Boats US or SSCA thinks of this, please post it here.

I googled it, but only found commentary from last year.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by WindwardPrinces

If anyone knows what Boats US or SSCA thinks of this, please post it here.

I googled it, but only found commentary from last year.

Unfortunately, everyone is complaining but few will donate even a $1 to help fight this legislation.

I suggest everyone lookup the SSCA gofundme page and donate whatever they can - even if we don't win completely, at least we would have some representation...

https://www.gofundme.com/Right2Ancho...tion_receiptv5

[WindwardPrinces]

Originally Posted by zboss

Unfortunately, everyone is complaining but few will donate even a $1 to help fight this legislation.

This is a "get the word out and engage people who are passionate about the issue to reach out to their representative" kind of thing. If I had a choice of everyone who cared about this writing their representative, or giving a dollar to that fund, I'd say write your representative, though I'd encourage people to do both. This is a situation where complaining is the right thing to do, if you do it in the right way.

It seems to me that this forum is a great way to keep this community informed, and to request their help. This is the time to come together.

[Blue Crab]

I mention again that this appears to be a new issue in Fl for some. It's not. The issue is at least 30 years old. Some restrictive ideas have been adjudicated already. No need to reinvent the wheel; get with the established programs.

[w1651]

I just emailed both my rep and senator. If you do email them I would suggest you use your address and name and let them know you do vote. Though I always say I will fire them for more effect.
This has to be dealt with fast and harshly. If everyone can get the word out and they see civilians are upset they will back down.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by w1651

I just emailed both my rep and senator. If you do email them I would suggest you use your address and name and let them know you do vote. Though I always say I will fire them for more effect. This has to be dealt with fast and harshly. If everyone can get the word out and they see civilians are upset they will back down.

"Quickly" would have been the better adverb to go with "harshly." Also, you don't seem to have an appreciation of how difficult it is to "fire" a gov't employee. Nor any idea of how empty your threat. And, I might add, little appreciation for how the world works vis-à-vis the wealthy waterfront homeowners v. the boat-anchoring unwashed.

In the words of the immortal Bard you appear to full of sound and fury. Still, new blood, energy, and especially money for lawyers is needed. Welcome to the fray. It's almost over. Where ya been?

[WindwardPrinces]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

And, I might add, little appreciation for how the world works vis-à-vis the wealthy waterfront homeowners v. the boat-anchoring unwashed.

In the words of the immortal Bard you appear to full of sound and fury. Still, new blood, energy, and especially money for lawyers is needed. Welcome to the fray. It's almost over. Where ya been?

I think waterfront homeowners are outnumbered by boaters, and many ARE boaters. We need a balance here.