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cindydavis · 13-07-2008, 08:46

BOATER SUPPORT URGENTLY NEEDED FOR GULFPORT MOORING FIELD

Please act now! Support your right of public water access and keep the boating tradition alive in Florida.

YOUR SIGNATURE COUNTS!
SIGN the online petition SUPPORT MUNICIPAL MOORING FIELD IN GULFPORT, FLORIDA at Support Municipal Mooring Field In Gulfport, Florida*-*Online Petition

YOUR OPINION COUNTS!
EMAIL each of these Gulfport Mooring Field permitting decision makers and express your concise, respectful support of the Gulfport mooring field. YOUR EMAIL MUST ARRIVE BY JULY 28th to be considered.

Pinellas County Commissioners at Pinellas County e-mail form and click boxes for the Pinellas County Commissioners as well as the Interim County Administrator (8 boxes total).

Tracy Hurst; US Army Corps of Engineers at Tracy.E.Hurst@usace.army.mil

Brian Johns, Environmental Specialist II; Water and Navigation Control Authority at BJohns@pinellascounty.org or Water&Nav@pinellascounty.org

Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) at citizensservices@dep.state.fl.us Reference Permit 52-0153995-003; Gulfport Mooring Field

Please pass this along to your friends and any club or organization with an interest in boating or public water access.

Thanks for your support.

Captain Cindy Davis
Gulfport, Florida

ssullivan · 13-07-2008, 08:54

To be honest, I don't understand why anyone would "support" a mooring field. An anchorage would be much more appropriate.

There are already way too many moorings in most locations in the USA. Good anchorages are being destroyed every day.

How many times have you checked out a chart while cruising, found the perfect anchorage, only then to arrive to a fleet's worth of moorings, half of which don't even have boats on them, taking up the anchorage?

You can't anchor in the field without getting yelled at. You can't anchor anywhere nearby because all the proper depth/protection spots are choked full of moorings. You are forced to leave or pay for a mooring.

Not good.

imagine2frolic · 13-07-2008, 09:12

Maybe it's Cindy putting in the moorings?lololololol

AnchorageGuy · 13-07-2008, 09:30

How would a mooring field support the right to public access? It would actually impede that right. We have been dealing the issues and problems of anchorages being converted to mooring fields for quite some time now. Might I suggest you contact these officials and voice you OPPOSITION to another mooring field.

lannen · 13-07-2008, 09:43

Captain Davis,

What would the advantage be in having a mooring field at this location. Do you have more information on the reasons for establishing a mooring field vs the anchorage that is already being used?

scotte · 13-07-2008, 10:44

Interesting... Gulfport mooring field attracts opposition - St. Petersburg Times

If derelicts are the problem, then they should just get rid of the derelicts and leave everyone else alone. As far as being financially motivated - that's probably the real reason behind it, so local government can get "their cut".

sluissa · 13-07-2008, 10:50

I don't even think she's coming back to listen. This looks about the level of spam. I also disagree in general with mooring fields. No way I'll support one going up without a good reason. (FYI, being too lazy to punish people who leave derelict boats out there is not a good reason.)

ssullivan · 13-07-2008, 12:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck Baier

Might I suggest you contact these officials and voice you OPPOSITION to another mooring field.

DONE!

The forum is requiring me to type in a longer response than, "Done!

", so I'm wasting space with this sentence.

ssullivan · 13-07-2008, 12:05

And that article linked above should be in here in its entirety, I think:

However the Cruisers Forum doesn't encourage copyright violations, so Gord has edited Sean's post to eliminate the violation, leaving the readership the hardship of clicking on the link Sean provided.

Goto the
Source: Gulfport mooring field attracts opposition - St. Petersburg Times

exranger · 13-07-2008, 12:30

It's just another attempt to put a knife in the back of cruisers. I live in St. Pete, this is not supported by local cruisers I know!

ssullivan · 13-07-2008, 14:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssullivan

And that article linked above should be in here in its entirety, I think:

However the Cruisers Forum doesn't encourage copyright violations, so Gord has edited Sean's post to eliminate the violation, leaving the readership the hardship of clicking on the link Sean provided.

Goto the
Source: Gulfport mooring field attracts opposition - St. Petersburg Times

Awww.... damn. Sorry, Gord. I'm making too much work for mods right now. I may bow out a bit. Don't want to be a burden. I thought I had seen you paste in things (about lightning, I think?) then reference the source. I was trying to do what you had done. Again, sorry.

George Raffa · 13-07-2008, 16:14

I live a few blocks from the Gulfport anchorage and my morning exercise walk goes by the area.(when I get up) My wife and I often eat at the open air restaurants and watch the boats. We keep our IP around the corner at Pass a Grille. I have not observed any problems with derelict boats. This is an excellent anchorage and offers excellent dock age for dingies giving access to the restaurants and shops. For the "yes" argument for a public mooring site as a "local" it would be fun to see more boats in the basin and an advertised public mooring field could accomplish this. The commercial enterprises in the area would like/need the business that more boats would bring. Besides the business from the boats, people simply like looking at the boats while visiting the area. Boats add to the the sea side village feel. Today I counted 7 boats close to the city pier. Not exactly a economic boom. With that stated if the city of Gulfport wanted to attract more boats then it would be cheaper just to advertise the excellent anchorage the area offers and make sure the Dingy dock is available at no cost. They could advertise on web sites like this very inexpensively. If the city really feels they would like a mooring site for economic benefit they could raise the cost for phase one;25 moorings, from the local business that would benefit from the boats and offer them at no cost to visitors for a week,etc. If the local business can not cost justify the expense then do not place a mooring field in, period. I have sent my thoughts to Gulfport city council.

cindydavis · 15-07-2008, 08:41

Hello fellow boaters. A group of us in Gulfport have been attending city council meetings for years to encourage Gulfport to become more boater friendly. We have been instrumental in getting the dinghy dock at the pier, the visitor dock at the Municipal Marina, longer hours at the Casino Pier, and an improved kayak launch at Osgood Point, among other things. We also participated in the removal, at significant public expense, of numerous derelict vessels, which cause so much ill-will toward boaters. The derelict issue is separate and distinct. Every derelict or abandoned vessel hurts all of us. Though small in number, they are highly visible, and give weight to arguments against any aspect of public support of boating as a hobby or lifestyle.

I am a private citizen, who stands to make not one dollar from a mooring field. I have been in discussion on a draft legislative proposal to prohibit mooring fields from use as subterfuge to deny anchorage by legally compliant vessels in navigation on any public waters of the State of Florida.

I have invested several years of my life and a great deal of personal money to promote public access for all legally compliant boaters. This included numerous trips to Tallahassee, discussion and correspondence with county, state and federal agencies and many marine industry representatives. My own cruising has suffered significantly as a result of my concern with Boater Rights now and in the future. My boat is in the marina and I have moved ashore.

Many of the stereotypes I have tried to rectify are that cruisers are irresponsible, selfish, cheap, non-productive, dirty members of society and only inches away from derelict status themselves. I have heard politicians refer to cruisers as “freeloaders” and “parasites.” Like it or not, that attitude prevails among many elected representatives, nearly all environmental groups and in much of the general public.

Many of the folks who oppose the mooring field, oppose boating in general and work hard to deny access to boaters.

They fought the construction of the Municipal Pier in 1998.
They fought against a guest dinghy dock.
They fought against construction of transient piers at the marina.
They passed ordinances which deny dinghy access to any part of the city’s shoreline.
They took money from the Marina fund to support other failing amenities in the town.
They pushed to increase fees in the marina.
They gutted the marina emergency fund (money paid by boaters and set aside to reconstruct boater facilities in case of a catastrophic event) to use elsewhere in the city.

Some have publically stated that their objective is not only to defeat the mooring field but to have all of Boca Ciega Bay, with the exception of the ICW and the access channels to the marina, declared an exclusion zone. They do not want any vessel other than a kayak or canoe to be able to operate in the bay outside the channel, or in any depth which is less than 6’ at mean lower-low water. However, they support private and commercial kayak and canoe use (vessels which pay no registration or use fees) in prime areas from which they wish to exclude legally compliant registered / documented vessels.

This has been a long and painful struggle here in Gulfport. It saddens me that cruisers would work against their own interest by support of any action that detracts from a means to continue to enjoy our preferred recreation and lifestyle. When you sign the petition to oppose the Gulfport mooring field, you give strength and credibility to the people who insult your lifestyle, your choice of recreation and your right to access public waters.

Development and environmental extremism are working hand-in-hand to get boaters off the water. Those folks are well organized, inter-connected, well funded, committed and have political and media clout.

My hope is that cruisers will come together in a positive way, acknowledge the realities of the challenges we face and support every initiative which benefits us individually or collectively. For us to survive, those who oppose us must see the economic and cultural benefit of including cruisers and other boaters in their community.

I encourage you to go to http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/support-municipal-mooring-field-in-gulfport-florida.html and read the petition in its entirety.

Respectfully,
Captain Cindy Davis
Gulfport, Florida

AnchorageGuy · 15-07-2008, 09:42

That is all very eloquent but a mooring field still does not fit your lofty goal. Free and unfettered access to all Floriduh waters does not go hand in hand with a mooring field, UNLESS this mooring field will be free to all and not contain any nearby anchoring restrictions as is now the current law in the state of Floriduh. Your legislature has already passed laws to stop local municipalities from passing laws and regulations contrary to the current state laws regarding anchorages and fair passage as proof in Marco Island and Stuart court cases against those municipalities. This sounds like another ploy to circumvent that legislation and you have stated nothing to date to show specifically how this would help. As much as these land owners would like to close off these waters they can not do this according to current state law. So how would adding a mooring field or NOT change this unless the legislation is changed.