Anchoring Restrictions in Magothy River

[S/V Pearl]

Saw this on Beth and Evans' blog, Just a litte further North | Beth and Evans .

Apparently police asked them to leave anchorage as resident felt they had been there long enough.

Is Maryland the new Florida?

[Kettlewell]

I hope Evans very politely told the police to bugger off as there are no laws limiting how long you can anchor there. Since when does a landowner control the view of the public waterway in front of his home? I suspect that is a very isolated incident as there are lots of sailboats based up the Magothy, and I'm sure lots of people anchor out in the area.

[S/V Pearl]

I forwarded the link to E & B's blog to a contact at MD DNR. There were no complaints filed or investigated by Nat. Res. Police. It was confirmed that there are no anchoring restrictions there or in most of MD. My contact said it was an isolated case and hopes E&B weren't discouraged and will come back again.

[Exile]

It would be nice to know which marine police agency was involved. Presumably, the MD DNR police is a state agency and there are probably other county and perhaps municipal law enforcement agencies in the area that have marine contingents. Maybe B & E will respond.

It would also be nice to know what the policy is of these agencies when acting at the behest of a landowner vis-a-vis an anchored vessel that is not otherwise violating any laws/regulations. In this case the vessel had already planned to move on, and it looks doubtful they could have been required to do so by the marine police, but boaters shouldn't have to be concerned about such intrusions, no matter how polite.

[Kettlewell]

If I were a landowner on the Magothy I would enjoy looking out and seeing Evans anchored there! Why would you have a waterfront view and not want to see beautiful and interesting boats?