Anchoring Restrictions Proposed from MD to FL. Time to Protect Your Rights!

Anchoring Restrictions Proposed from Maryland to Florida

Boats anchored along the Indian River in Melbourne, FL. Photo by N.Birnbaum

Jack Dozier, Publisher of the Waterway Guide and the well-loved Skipper Bob Guides has sent the following update on Anchoring Restrictions likely to be put in place soon all up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Cruisers and local boaters alike, should get involved in if their communities are subject to these restrictions or they can support organizations that speak for us like the SSCA or Salty Southeast Cruiser Net and make your voice heard.

Whether you’re a recreational boater, cruiser or yachting down the ICW for the season, these issues will affect your plans. Stay in touch and stay on top of these important issues.

Here’s the update:
“With the summer cruising season in full swing, cities from Maryland to Florida are considering or are in the process of implementing restrictions on anchoring, both for transient and local boats. In many cases, these restrictions are in response to problems directly caused by derelict boats in the harbors. However, most will affect cruisers as well as locals.

Here’s a rundown of the various proposals under consideration and in the implementation process, plus links you can click for additional information:

Boats in Annapolis. Photo by N.Birnbaum

• Annapolis, MD — Annapolis officials, faced with a petition from Mears Marina asking that they restrict anchoring in the area adjacent to the marina on Back Creek, will hold a hearing June 28 to gather public input on the proposal. The proposed restrictions would affect only a small portion of Back Creek. However, Annapolis Harbormaster J.P. “Flip” Walters tells Waterway Guide that if a no-anchoring zone is approved off Mears Marina, other marina owners on Back Creek are likely to ask for similar restrictions near their own facilities. Read More

• Carolina Beach, NC — Carolina Beach (Atlantic ICW Mile 295) is moving ahead with plans to install a field of 10 moorings in Myrtle Grove Sound directly off of town in an area that has fallen out of favor for anchoring due to poor holding. Town officials say they hope the moorings, plus a new dinghy landing, will encourage cruisers and other boaters to visit Carolina Beach and will help to revitalize the town’s waterfront. The moorings should be in place by this fall. Read More

• St. Augustine, FL —St. Augustine will continue to gather public feedback on its proposed anchoring restrictions at a workshop scheduled for June 30. St. Augustine city officials continue to mull over potential anchoring restrictions outside of the mooring fields installed earlier this year around the Bridge of Lions (Atlantic ICW Mile 778) and in Salt Run. The city is one of five municipalities participating in the pilot Florida program run by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) that allows municipalities to place moorings and regulate anchoring on a trial basis. St. Augustine’s proposed 10-day limit on anchoring generated some controversy at a public workshop in late May, with cruiser representatives arguing that anchoring should be allowed for much longer than 10 days at a stretch. Read More

• Stuart/Jensen Beach/Martin County, FL — The city of Stuart, in partnership with Martin County, has just been accepted into the pilot Florida FWC program. Stuart and Martin County have not yet formulated plans for their participation in the pilot; the first step should be public workshops, to be held this summer. Meanwhile, Martin County has proposed a $1 million mooring field with 51 moorings that would be located in a popular anchorage located in the Indian River Lagoon south of the Jensen Beach Causeway and east of Indian River Drive at Intracoastal Mile 982. The mooring field, which is not included in the FWC pilot, would include a dinghy dock, shower and laundry facilities on shore.

Vessels anchored along Miami Beach, off Belle Isle. Photo by N.Birnbaum

• Florida Keys — Monroe County, which encompasses all of the Florida Keys, also will participate in the pilot Florida FWC mooring program, and is exploring potential anchoring restrictions at three sites that already have mooring fields: Key Largo, Marathon and Key West. The county held workshops in all three sites in June, and is continuing to gather public comment on various possible proposals. As with the other four sites in the FWC pilot program, any restrictions on anchoring in the vicinity of mooring fields will need to be approved by the FWC.

• Sarasota, FL — Sarasota, another of the five Florida municipalities selected to participate in the FWC pilot program, is moving ahead with a long-delayed plan to install moorings in the city’s main anchorage. At the same time, Sarasota will begin the process of developing an ordinance that potentially could place some restrictions on anchoring in the vicinity of the mooring field. The city has struggled for years with the problem of derelict boats in the main Sarasota Bay anchorage, located downtown directly off city-owned Marina Jack marina. Read More

• St. Petersburg, FL — St. Petersburg, the fifth Florida municipality participating in the FWC pilot, is poised to install moorings in its North Basin by this fall, and plans to ban anchoring there beginning sometime this summer. Once the city eliminates anchoring in the North Basin — also known as the Vinoy Basin due to its proximity to the Vinoy Hotel — cruisers who want to visit downtown St. Petersburg by boat will have little choice but to pick up a mooring or rent a slip, since there’s no other safe anchorage nearby. Read More

The numerous recent notices concerning restrictions on anchorages are at once alarming while at the same time offer a solution. The issue looking for a solution is that some anchorages may, over time, become a home for derelict boats and misfits if there are no controls.

Anyone who cruised through the Keys in years past may remember the uncomfortable situation that existed at the Boot Key Harbour anchorage prior to its cleanup and the placement of moorings by the city of Marathon. Now, instead of dozens of rag-tag and often abandoned boats and the issues that came with them, there is a well-organized mooring field full of boats that any of us would be happy to live alongside.  The inhabitants of the mooring field now contribute to the Marathon community rather than put a strain on it. For a modest mooring fee, the city provides a secure mooring, pump-out service, dinghy dockage, shoreside facilities with laundry, bike rakes, trash collection and other services.

The anchorages being considered for mooring fields are generally located in areas popular with transient cruisers, which happen to also be population centers. It should come as no surprise that areas of dense population have more restrictive policies regarding … well, just about everything. We generally accept this as the price of convenience and accessibility.

If anchoring restrictions were to spread to remote and unpopulated areas we would have serious concerns, and unfortunately, once started, those in control of restrictive government policies often have a hard time knowing where to stop. However, as long as restrictions on anchoring are limited to populated areas with a high concentration of boaters, we believe a mooring field with its amenities can offer advantages over an anchorage. Our responsibility as cruisers is to be involved in the regulation setting process to keep it from getting out of hand.”

Jack Dozier
Publisher
Waterway Guide/ Skipper Bob

Thanks to Jack Dozier and the Waterway Guide’s Boating Resources for keeping us all informed.

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Florida’s Recreational Boaters Could be Caught in the BP Oil Catastrophe

I’ve been watching the reports out of the Gulf (Louisiana, Mississippi), listening to fisherman and oystermen who somehow managed to survive Hurricane Katrina, only to face the worst man-made environmental catastrophe yet. It brings tears to my eyes, hearing them say how they never thought this could happen. Hell, BP has said the same thing and that makes me angry.

The Feds want to expand drilling as did the State of Florida, that is until Governor Crist decided it wasn’t really in our best interests. I’m glad he’s left the Republican Party for his run for the Senate. He is truly an Independent after all. And we need more like him. At least US Senate candidate Kendrick Meek is also against more offshore drilling. Who among the Gubernatorial candidates is also against such drilling. I just discovered (in a Miami Herald article) that the State Legislature was depending on those profitable oil leases to “fill a $6 billion budget hole expected next year.” Now it looks like the State is caught between a rock and a hard (if not sticky & oily) place.

In a recent interview with Wolf Blitzer, on the Situation Room, Meek said, “I’ve been consistent as relates to being against offshore drilling in Florida. I can’t say that by every candidate in the race. It was news flash as of two days ago that the governor switched his position once again on offshore oil drilling, and it’s important. There’s not one Chamber of Commerce along the Gulf Coast area, either be a Republican or Democratic county or what have you, they’re saying that they want offshore oil drilling. What has happened now in the gulf is the perfect example that can wreck Florida’s tourism economy, and we’ll continue to work with the administration on that issue.”

Crist made the right move and declared a state of emergency in the state’s panhandle ahead of a possible disaster.

“The oil slick is generally moving in a northerly direction and threatens Florida’s coast,” the executive order reads. “Oil continues to spill from the well as all efforts to stop the discharge have failed and may not succeed for an extended period of time.” (washingtonindependent.com). The warning applies to the counties of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay and Gulf.

Boaters and Marine Industry Will Be Affected

Florida has the highest number of registered recreational watercraft in the United States (988,652) and is a major recreational boating destination for non-state residents, with an estimated 350,000 non-registered boats actively using Florida’s waters in 2006. Recreational boating and its associated marine industry sectors, including manufacturing, sales, dockage facilities and marinas, and repair businesses generate a significant amount of economic activity. A study conducted for the Marine Industry Association of Florida estimated that the state’s marine industry had an economic impact of $18.4 billion and employed more than 220,000 Floridians in 2005.(Source: Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability an office of the Florida Legislature).

Here’s a link to an excellent animated image of the movement of the oil and placement of booms in the Gulf.

Oil spill growing in the Gulf

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/oil-spill-map.htm

Who Will See The Worst Of It?

A University of Florida professor and oceanographic expert says he believes the east coast of Florida might see the worst of the impact of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

In an article by Joe Callahan on www.gainesville.com, “…state health officials say the chemical-like smell reported to be wafting occasionally across parts of the state, including Alachua and Marion counties, has not been definitively linked to the oil spill but that they continue to monitor the reports.

Y. Peter Sheng, coastal and oceanographic engineer at UF, said the six-day ocean current models released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reveal that the western coast of Florida, from the Big Bend to Cedar Key, could be spared.

The oil slick that’s growing south of the Louisiana coast could get caught in what’s called the “Loop Current,” which flows through the Florida Straits and becomes the Gulf Stream.

Circulation of the Loop Current through the Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf Stream runs up the eastern coast of Florida. Sheng said he believes it is entirely possible, even probable, that this will happen, thus impacting the beaches from Miami to Jacksonville. The Loop Current is about 35 miles south of the slick, which currently is 125 miles wide and 40 miles long.

“I would say the east coast of Florida has the higher probability (of being impacted by the oil spill),” said Sheng, adding his opinion is based on NOAA’s ocean current forecast and wind direction.

Sheng said until the slick gets to shallow water, wind will not greatly impact the oil slick’s movement.

Lauren McKeague, with the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said state officials are treating the encroaching spill as they would a hurricane and will continue monitoring its growth over the weekend.

Meanwhile, with officials predicting possible landfall of oil on beaches in northwestern Florida by Monday, NOAA has contacted UF Sea Grant agents in Panama City to determine how they can assist with the impending disaster.

Steve Theberge, one of the agents contacted, said NOAA hasn’t given them marching orders yet but is determining who can help and what their capabilities are, looking for everything from boat operators to those who can clean animals covered in oil.”

It’s possible that we will all have to get involved; to save our boats, to save our endangered wildlife, to save our beaches and to save our precious coastline.

In order to protect boats, the Boat Owners Association of the United States suggests:

• If a marina or boat club puts oil containment booms in place, do not attempt to cross the booms with a boat. This will only spread the oil and damage the booms or possibly the vessel’s running gear.
• If there is oil in the marina, refrain from running engines or other devices that have seawater intakes such as air conditioners or refrigerators.
• Hauling out the boat will prevent damage, but it is unclear if these costs will be reimbursed by BP.
• If the spill is sighted coming toward the marina or is already there, call the BP Community Information Hotline at 866-448-5816 to report it.
• If your boat comes in contact with the oil, call your insurance company to file a claim. Uninsured boaters can call the BP Hotline at 800-440-0858 to file a claim.
• Damage to a BoatUS-insured vessel caused by the oil is covered. BoatUS members can call 800-937-1937 to file a claim.

Has the Oil spill affected you or your boat? Let me know by leaving a comment.

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