Squatter On Your Mooring Ball ( Canada )

[myosys]

Originally Posted by Johnny Cruiser

Have a nice day and hope you learned something. Your freeedom ends where mine begins and vice versa.

Don't mess with Texas!

For next year, I'm going to put one of my 10' dinghies out on my ball since there has been a rash of idiots tying up to it when I'm out sailing. Like others have noted, after a long day, the first mate and I just want to tie up and get ready for the workweek. NOT wait 20 minutes for some idiot to get off the helix I installed at great expense!

Right on John.

-c-

[Elysium]

Phil,
You certainly touched on it by saying that we are all a 'little' opinionated!
However, I have absolutely no interest in breaking the law just to 'equalise the situation'. As I said earlier, I am happy to be reasonable, so long as I am not being taken advantage of. One of the BEST things about boating is that we are all part of a community. We are always willing to lend a helping hand. Nothing is more disgraceful than a boater who forgets this!
In fact, aren't we members of this forum for that exact reason?

Mike O. - I am with you regarding overcrowding and the impact it has. Absolutely. We all hate a crowded anchorage. But as the Baby Boomers continue to retire, the number of boats keeps growing! Right now, our option is that we can bring the concern forward to Transport Canada and your local MLA. Hopefully they will increase the minimum inter-mooring distance, or designate specific areas as mooring field, anchorage and channel. Though certainly some would say 'When does the Red Tape BS end?!'

For those concerned with the eventual abandonment of the concrete block and fouling hazard on the seafloor, yes, this could certainly be a problem. But I believe it is those people not interested in playing by the rules that are really causing the issues. For example, I have actually overheard someone talking about stealing a bunch of bike racks to chain together and drop down as a mooring anchor. Nothing would foul a Bruce more than a bunch of bike racks!!! A 3000lb square concrete block, 3/4 sunk into the silt....not so much.
If it were possible to have a more environmentally sound option, then I would be totally for it. Screws do not work where I am. The bottom is too soft. Where my block sits, Tsehum Hbr is deep and the block would never be a striking hazard. I would also bet that it will be used until the day the concrete begins to crumble into gravel.

All said - to get back to the actual point of the thread....The RCMP just called me back and had very clear things to say.
1. It is THEFT to tie your boat and refuse to move from a private mooring ball that has been placed in accordance with Transport Canada regulations. Foreshore lease or not.
2. The detachment was working hard to keep Tsehum Hbr free from derelict boats, theft, illegal squatters, etc. In fact they had raised and removed at least three sunken derelict boats with the Coast Guard last summer.
3. The officer was also pretty sure he knew the boat and its owner. Not only was he going to go and speak to the guy, but he was going to do it immediately! Apparently he had told him to vacate someone else's private mooring two weeks ago, which was how he came to be on mine.

I told him that it would be fine for the guy to stay until he was able to find a safe alternative (with a two week cap). If the boat still remains after week two, the Officer will deal with it.
I thought that was pretty damn awesome.

[sailcruiser]

Great news! I hope this is the end of this for you. Keep us posted on how it turns out.

Johnny Cruiser great story to learn from. I glad the judge got to see his true colors. Hopefully he learned from this experience. At least he has the assets to pay the judgement or it sounds like you'll get a decent boat. :-)

SC

[jackdale]

Elysium

That ended well. It got done the Canadian way. Not very showy or dramatic, but effective.

I will look for your boat next time I am at the Van Isle fuel dock.

[Jd1]

Originally Posted by Elysium

Phil,
All said - to get back to the actual point of the thread....The RCMP just called me back and had very clear things to say.
1. It is THEFT to tie your boat and refuse to move from a private mooring ball that has been placed in accordance with Transport Canada regulations. Foreshore lease or not.
2. The detachment was working hard to keep Tsehum Hbr free from derelict boats, theft, illegal squatters, etc. In fact they had raised and removed at least three sunken derelict boats with the Coast Guard last summer.
3. The officer was also pretty sure he knew the boat and its owner. Not only was he going to go and speak to the guy, but he was going to do it immediately! Apparently he had told him to vacate someone else's private mooring two weeks ago, which was how he came to be on mine.

I told him that it would be fine for the guy to stay until he was able to find a safe alternative (with a two week cap). If the boat still remains after week two, the Officer will deal with it.
I thought that was pretty damn awesome.

Well blow me away !!!! I would have bet serious money, given all the derelict boat issues we have, that you would see no action until you are old and gray. I am seriously impressed that the RCMP is actually responding to this issue.
I guess I have seen (and heard) of way too many situations where anything under 10k or so just gets written up and filed (this is with land bound issues though).
I hope things get all sorted out!!!

[avb3]

Originally Posted by Elysium

.....
All said - to get back to the actual point of the thread....The RCMP just called me back and had very clear things to say.
1. It is THEFT to tie your boat and refuse to move from a private mooring ball that has been placed in accordance with Transport Canada regulations. Foreshore lease or not.
2. The detachment was working hard to keep Tsehum Hbr free from derelict boats, theft, illegal squatters, etc. In fact they had raised and removed at least three sunken derelict boats with the Coast Guard last summer.
3. The officer was also pretty sure he knew the boat and its owner. Not only was he going to go and speak to the guy, but he was going to do it immediately! Apparently he had told him to vacate someone else's private mooring two weeks ago, which was how he came to be on mine.

I told him that it would be fine for the guy to stay until he was able to find a safe alternative (with a two week cap). If the boat still remains after week two, the Officer will deal with it.
I thought that was pretty damn awesome.

Very cool, and good you are working with a knowledgeable detachment member, not all are.

Everything you did was by the book, although I empathise with some of the left coasters who got the frontier justice urge; a lot of us in Alberta get that sentiment at times. In the end, it is always best to do the right thing.

[SaucySailoress]

I deleted a few posts which were plain and simple insults, and would like to remind posters to be kind and courteous to each other... we take the 'be nice' rule very seriously. If you think someone is not happy, then it would be better to cheer them up, rather than hurl insults

Out of interest, how much is it to make and install a mooring ball in Canada these days?

[markpierce]

Wondering ... Do you have legal title, recorded? Can one go to the public records and find that you have ownership? Can one just plunk a heavy weight in public waters tied to a float and claim exclusive rights to that space with its associated float? What rules apply to your harbor? Do you have a lease with the local government, whatever?

[avb3]

Originally Posted by markpierce

Wondering ... Do you have legal title, recorded? Can one go to the public records and find that you have ownership? Can one just plunk a heavy weight in public waters tied to a float and claim exclusive rights to that space with its associated float? What rules apply to your harbor? Do you have a lease with the local government, whatever?

I think Elysium explained in couple of postings in this thread that he followed all applicable regulations, and marked the mooring identifying it as his.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by markpierce

Wondering ... Do you have legal title, recorded? Can one go to the public records and find that you have ownership? Can one just plunk a heavy weight in public waters tied to a float and claim exclusive rights to that space with its associated float? What rules apply to your harbor? Do you have a lease with the local government, whatever?

In the USA one has to get a permit from the Harbor Master and the mooring has to approved. Which is fairly easy up here in the PNW but the farther South you go the harder it gets.

>>>> Mooring Fees Comparison for southern California 2010

http://www.southbeachharbor.com/regulations.html

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by avb3

I think Elysium explained in couple of postings in this thread that he followed all applicable regulations, and marked the mooring identifying it as his.

I think not my specific questions have been answered. I'd appreciate a direct response from Elysium.

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by SaucySailoress

Out of interest, how much is it to make and install a mooring ball in Canada these days?

IT depends on how much you put in to it. I've got a 600 pound train wheel and 100 feet of very heavy chain with the usual assortment of fittings and a couple of floats and a very heavy duty yoke for attaching. I've got about $1400 in mine both materials and labour.

As Happy Seagull points out some people haven't taken as much trouble, some not enough trouble, doing it on the cheap.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Johnny Cruiser

Have a nice day and hope you learned something. Your freeedom ends where mine begins and vice versa.

John

While I understand your point I feel this was pretty extreme! I don't believe we need boaters suing other boaters for $6000 for basically a short term mooring usage issue.

Isn't there a similar behavior thread about someone down in FL not liking boaters anchoring in his waterfront view?

[David_Old_Jersey]

A bit late now, but I would have phoned the fella up - and asked him to leave. If the conversation went well would give him a week or so......and suggest somewhere else he could moor or drop the hook.

Plan B would be to tell him the mooring was to be removed for maintanence.

Plan C would be to do so .


Anything "creative" would not involve announcing one's problem by Google........certainly not with enough info to identify self.


But sounds like the problem is being sorted .

[shorebird]

I hope your very generous offer of allowing him to stay for a couple weeks won't be used against you. Since he now has your permission to occupy the mooring ball, he is no longer "stealing" the moorage, but may be a "tenant" and as such, may be more difficult to have removed.