Proposed anchoring legislation for Florida

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by motion30

Right now the FWC has laws on the books that can remove these derelict boats. They just are not doing it

They do actually. The problem is the details of the system. To do it:

- they identify and sticker a boat
- a time period starts
- after the boat gets put on a list
- when list gets big enough it gets submitted to elsewhere
- elsewhere adds it to their list
- that list gets big enough and gets divided up in groups
- they submit that for funding
- once funding is approved they send out for bids
- once bids are in and reviewed they are submitted for award
- finally bids are awarded and sometime after work starts

I have seen sticked boats with people living on them. But no one can even find out the legal owner. FWC can’t tow the boat or do anything till they can serve the owner etc.

It isnt like a parked car that can be towed to a lot. Where do you take a bunch of boats?

[Davy J]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

They do actually. The problem is the details of the system. To do it:
-snip-
It isnt like a parked car that can be towed to a lot. Where do you take a bunch of boats?

I understand what you are saying, however, after hurricane Irma, they didn't have any problem pulling thousands of boats out.

In fact the two empty lots on the west end, on US1, on Big Pine Key, had so many boats they were stacked on top of each other.

At that same time, I was at the Garrison Bight Marina, they had several crews that would leave the dock everyday and stack junkers on a crane barge just east of Wisteria.

[motion30]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

They do actually. The problem is the details of the system. To do it:

- they identify and sticker a boat
- a time period starts
- after the boat gets put on a list
- when list gets big enough it gets submitted to elsewhere
- elsewhere adds it to their list
- that list gets big enough and gets divided up in groups
- they submit that for funding
- once funding is approved they send out for bids
- once bids are in and reviewed they are submitted for award
- finally bids are awarded and sometime after work starts

I have seen sticked boats with people living on them. But no one can even find out the legal owner. FWC can’t tow the boat or do anything till they can serve the owner etc.

It isnt like a parked car that can be towed to a lot. Where do you take a bunch of boats?

I agree this is a procedure, but is to protect the owner of the boat, no?. I have no sympathy for the owners of these derelict boats and they do get fined if they can chase them down. there has been people here in Key West that went to jail over this.. in Hollywood last year there was three boats towed and destroyed as far as I am aware. They drug them up on the boat ramp and two guys cut them up with a sawzall and threw them in the dumpster. Like I stated in an earlier post they said the disposal fee was $18,000 per boat

[motion30]

And to be fair of the two boats I saw them cutting up, at least one of those has been sunk perhaps both. I suppose that added to the Total disposal fee

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Davy J

I understand what you are saying, however, after hurricane Irma, they didn't have any problem pulling thousands of boats out.

In fact the two empty lots on the west end, on US1, on Big Pine Key, had so many boats they were stacked on top of each other.

At that same time, I was at the Garrison Bight Marina, they had several crews that would leave the dock everyday and stack junkers on a crane barge just east of Wisteria.

Noted, but sunk boats are a different issue i think and funding after a hurricane is different. When i left Boot Key this past Feb there still the same trawler on the rocks next to the city marina entrance, the sunk boat that caught fire, a couple of sunk bost right in past the bridge, a few sunk boats along the Boot Key mangroves in the bridge area, plus a couple sunk ones in the main anchorage.

All these boats were there the year before when I was there.

Sunk boats and floating derelict boats fall into different categories. I know of lots of abandoned boats in Florida with stickers on them that have the hatches open or missing. I have seen these boats now for 4 years now. No one even puts a float on sunk boats because the US liability worry.

2 years ago while o mooring i. sarasota i complained to the marina that the moorings were80% empty but they put me on one right next to an anchored derelict boat. They gave a story it just arriving the day before, which of course was BS because I can tell a boat that has just sat a looong. The sheriff boat cones right out of that marina so why is it still there? But next day they came and put a sticker on it. 5 months later when i went through that was still there with a sticker on it.

Sorry, starting get wound up to ranting.

[tvbforever29]

If anchored in the channel, there are already laws in place for law enforcement to act. This is about derelict vessels and wealthy landowners who want to own the water views in front of their McMansions.

[tvbforever29]

Sorry that happened to you. There is money available from the state for municipalities to dispose of derelict vessels. However, it isn't being fully used because the municipalities and FWC aren't following through.

[tvbforever29]

There is a fb group sharing information and contacts for the FL state legislators called Cruisers Rights Network - Save Florida Anchorages. You can learn more there and then contact all of our legislstors and let them know what you think and spread the word. The legislature only meets for a little while longer, and they can vote on these new bills anytime between now and the end of this year's session.

[tvbforever29]

In Fb, look up the group Cruisers Rights Network - Save Florida Anchorages, to get more info on what is being done and to learj more about what is a stake and the movers and shakers behind the bills. There is only a very short time to make your voice heard before our legislators vote on these bills. Reach out to all the representatives, not just the ones in your district. Contact info for all of them is provided withhin the fb group. Also reach out to all boating organizations operating in FL and spread the word to your bosting and cruising friends. These bills will create more hardships for liveaboards, transients, state and local law enforcement, and will drastically change how people can travel through Florida waters on the way to the islands.

And as people have said here, affordable housing can be difficult to find in the coastal areas of Florida so living in an RV or boat may be someone's only option. Logistics of having to move one's home as often as a municipality requires, could be less than 90 days, puts people at risk during hirricane season. And for families with children living aboard, it means changing schools every couple of months, and what about parking vehicles, dinghies, medical and veterinarian care?

For people just passing through, it may not seem like this should concern you, but if liveaboards are moving onto mooring balls and into slips, where will you stay when you come to visit?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Sailing Ohm

Anyone have an info about when/how we can go and fight against this? I can’t find much online...

Find Your Elected Officials in Florida
State House ➥ https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Secti...sentative.aspx
State Senate ➥ https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/Find
Email Governor DeSantis ➥ GovernorRon.Desantis@eog.myflorida.com

[Secondshift]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I’m interested in this part.

What advantages are these out of district people getting by sponsoring this?

Furtherance. They've been pushing the limits and "testing the water" to see what they can legally get away with. Eventually many of these rules will become statewide, even nation wide.

Stuart/ Martin County has been included in the Mooring and Anchoring Pilot Program since about 2009. I actively attended all local meetings and the county board meeting when it was passed.

At the original meetings it was suggested that if a mooring field was available it might be made mandatory. A mooring field has recently opened in Jensen.

https://www.martin.fl.us/JensenBeachMooringField
(from the website) --
Proof of Marine Liability Coverage with a minimum coverage limit of $1,000,000 per occurrence and a $3,000,000 aggregate including Hull Insurance Coverage.
Certificate of Insurance naming Martin County Board of County Commissioners as the additional insured, including Waiver of Subrogation.

My insurer only covers up to $500,000.00 when I called to get a quote. Any suggestions.
First I'll need to add some davits as all dinghies must be kept aboard.
Oh, and if you leave for a period of more than 24 hours without making arrangements with the harbor master your boat is forfeit.

Two additional mooring fields are planned for the Manatee Pocket.

[SKMT]

I'm confused...weren't all those Miami locations already banned a few years ago?

[tvbforever29]

There were some locations with bans but the new legislation is expanding to include all of Monroe County, adding more locations in South Fl, and likely causing more confusion for everyone and more opportunities for other municipalities to ask for anchoring limitations or outright bans in the future.