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Florida is at it again

26K views 129 replies 38 participants last post by  VallelyJ 
#1 ·
Boat/US and SSCA are getting the word out as fast as we can. We really need your HELP RIGHT NOW! Late Wednesday in Tallahassee an amendment to the anchoring pilot program legislation was introduced that if passed would allow most Florida counties to restrict anchoring.

You can read the amendment HERE

We NEED YOUR HELP AGAIN RIGHT NOW because this anti-boating amendment will be debated on the Senate floor on Thursday May 1.

Please CLICK HERE to send an email and urge all senators to vote NO to any amendment offered to Senate Bill 1126 or House Bill 955 - the FL Fish and Wildlife Commission bill.

Or CLICK HERE to find the phone number for your Senator, and leave them a voice mail message if needed.

We need to raise our voices LOUDLY in Tallahassee RIGHT NOW.
 
#2 ·
You do realize, it's not a question of if, but when. Within 10 years I would wager there'll be no anchoring from Lake Worth to Miami. It's like gentrification of the waterfront.

Not that I won't join the battle, it's just that I don't think we can win the war.
 
#5 · (Edited)
But, take heart. This is just happening in south Florida, which only has about a 5 per cent native born population, where the 95 per cent who came in, don't really like boats, but do like condos with unobstructed views. I lived in south Florida. It is transplants from New York and New Jersey that are almost always the "condo commandos" and the driving forced behind this kind of thing.

Once you get to the panhandle, you never hear any of this silliness. Mostly, I believe, because once you get to the panhandle, the ration goes up to about 80 per cent native born Floridians, who grew up liking and owning boats.

The good thing for me, is that Florida on my boating schedule, once I get past Carrabelle, quits being a destination, and becomes just stops on the way to the Bahamas. I just skip over the places, that don't want visiting boaters (and, I guess if there is a saving grace, it is that most of the regulations are being enacted in places where they have just about destroyed all of the natural beauty that used to make their areas a good destination in the first place). I mean, who wants to anchor in an area surrounded by twenty story condos?

So' I'm enjoying the Bahamas. And, thank God for hurricanes there, or they would be next on the list of places the same people would want to move to and destroy.
 
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#52 ·
Looks like the fight was lost in Annapolis years ago. I used to anchor a 16 foot day sailor up in Back Creek, then the city let a local marina extend their docks to nearly the channel.- No mo free achoring. Now it looks like the city decided to turn the anchor field into a mooring field.
 
#4 ·
Dave, just followed your link but was excluded because I am not a Florida resident. My boat is. How can non residents who keep their boats in Florida have a voice in this issue? We spend a lot of money in Florida every year and are the targets of exclusionary laws.
 
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#19 ·
"......it's painfully obvious the Yankees that have taken over don't want "us" here and they bought the government"
I was born in Florida. My parents were born in Florida. 3 of my 4 grandparents were born in Florida.

I remember as a little kid my mom told us kids that if we ate our vegetables, always told the truth, and said our prayers every night that when we die we will go to a place where there are no damn Yankees.
 
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#7 · (Edited)
Yeah, but the problem with any kind of legislation like this is that it can be introduced over and over and over again until it passes. They won't stop. Every time they lose, they identify why they lost, and work on that problem for the next time.

I hate to say it, but it's like marijuana legalization. Look how many times the marijuana groups were defeated, in any state, before they win. Why? Because, they don't care how many times they lose. They just tweak the bill, and get someone to introduce it again. Once a group decides they want a law passed, and has the money to lobby for it over and over again, sooner or later, they will get it passed.

It's like playing a basketball game against someone with no time limit, where all they have to do is score one basket to win. You know that no matter how much better you are than them, sooner or later, they will win.

And, the people behind these anchoring regulations, have been successful in passing a lot worse legislation than this. Look what did to the property tax rates, and highest and best use tax rate schemes, to force people to sell their homesteads for condo development and you can see how much damage they can do when they really put their minds to it.
 
#8 ·
The only real and lasting solution for this continued anchoring miasma is to get this issue to the Supreme Court of the US.
The US Constitution and its subsequent issue of 'admiralty law' with respect to regulation of 'navigable water' is quite clear ... and should be 'redefined' and made even more clear, .... including recovery of all legal costs to successfully bring and adjudicate such action against all these ILLEGAL AND INVALID transgressions by 'local' governments upon 'the people' who happen to be 'boaters'.
The applicable 'articles':
Article I, Section 8
Article IV, Section 1
Article IV, Section 2 & 3
Article VI
Article IX
Article X
Article XIV

Its really beyond time for the SCOTUS to stop the rabid assumption of and perversion of US admiralty law by 'landholders' to illegally control by invalid local laws upon **PUBLIC WATERS** as defined by well established federal laws.
What's next ... local laws that determine how long one can be present on public highways and byways? how long one can occupy a certain portion of a sidewalk? The abandonment of the right of especially 'foreign' vessels as defined by US federal/international law to travel/anchor in such navigable / public waters? Toll booths on waterways?
 
#9 ·
Problem being, once the laws are in place, it requires someone (you?) to file suit challenging the validity of said law. See Capt MacDougall Case in St Augustine. Much time and money involved in overturning an existing law. In the MacDougall case, the city declined to fine MacDougall for failure to move his vessel thus removing the "damages" required for him to bring lawsuit against the city and it's officials (Tricky these lawyers).

In the words of Barney Fife... "Nip it... Nip it in the bud!"
 
#10 ·
I'm a native-born, Floridian from the SW part of the state. I am very disappointed that my home has become such a laughing-stock, and so unwisely strangling the geese that lay the golden eggs.

I'm not just talking about cruisers, but tourists in general. Florida was not built on industry or technology. Florida's prosperity depends on agriculture and tourism, and they're just crapping all over it.
 
#21 ·
It's not even Yankees in general. It's people from New York and New Jersey from what I saw when living there. I would not be surprised to find out there are more people from New Jersey living in Florida than in New Jersey.

For some reason, they don't know how to compromise, and they will never stop arguing until they get their way.
 
#23 ·
At 4pm the proposed amendment by FL state senator Smith was defeated.

There are very active and well-financed elements in Florida that simply don't want to see boats anchored in their "paid for" view.

As a representative of SSCA I will continue to work to bring forces to bear against those elements.

As an individual I avoid Florida as much as I can. As a small businessman I am happy to support owner-aboard/training deliveries from Norfolk or Beaufort NC to the Bahamas, avoiding the ICW and especially Florida.
 
#28 ·
HTML:
And yet Fredric Karlton, the most notorious waterfront homeowner in regards to this issue, is a Florida native - born and raised, and a graduate of UF... Go figure... :-)
My wife who is a Near Native ( she' was actually born in North Carolina but grew up here) graduated from UF and most of her classmates were from....
wait for it.......... New Yuk. The fact that this guy who might be called a near native just proves that even the University of Florida ( go gators ) can produce a real dipstick... his diploma should be revoked and he should be anathema for any self respecting gator. Unfortunantly the the fact of the matter is that once you go south of Gainsville you actually start going north again. It has always been that way, Flagler didn't start development for the poor southerners or Florida Crackers, no it was for the wealthy northerners.
By the way, if you are a northerner and not a *****, love boats and the water then you get a pass on bein Yankee. The real problem as always is the bought out Viper politicians that are so pervasive in this country.:mad:
This is a great thread.... thanks for starting it and hopefully continuing it along with the fight.:D
 
#29 ·
The northeast is full of great coastal/boating towns. Are there many problems with laws being passed in those towns to keep boats from anchoring? If the people leading this charge for a horrible law were from Kentucky or Colorado for that matter you would be bashing them instead. It is more than obvious that Florida has become a haven for NYers, Jersey folk and also full of people from Illinois, Canada, Michigan etc. Maybe the Floridians got too greedy way back when by begging for tourist dollars and selling all their land to the first bidder that came along. Nobody wants to see giant condos going up all over the beaches and waterways either. I know I would rather have a view of palm trees when i'm out on my boat however the Floridians that care so much for the views are too busy selling all the land for condos and strip malls. It's just part of life. I don't think it's fair to blame an entire region for the actions of few. Maybe someone should hire some guys from NY or NJ to help these people who are trying to pass this law change their mind :)
 
#30 ·
You NY bashers, in case you were not aware, NY consists of the more generally obnoxious NYC/LI area and the 95% of NY that is much more like VT, NH, ME and Canada. Please don't ever confuse the two, we who live upstate don't!
 
#35 ·
I know that's true. My next door neighbor was from Albany and he hated the NYC area and he was a great guy (and he was a boater, too). And, really, parts of NJ are the same way.

But, upstate New Yorkers aren't miserable people, so they aren't looking to move like the NYC/LI/northern NJ ones are.

But, my wife and her family were all from New Jersey, right outside the city limits of NYC and they were the biggest bunch of a-holes I ever saw in my life (and guess where they all moved to?).
 
#33 ·
More and more I can't come up w/ a reason to even visit FLA.
Would seriously consider becoming a "resident" via St. Brendans but don't even want to give the state any business.

As an aside...
Heard a story on the radio today about a survey of states and IF you wanted to move and could, would you move out of your state.
Top three answers were MD, CT, and IL. Gee, all tax hungry states.
 
#37 ·
Heard a story on the radio today about a survey of states and IF you wanted to move and could, would you move out of your state.
Top three answers were MD, CT, and IL. Gee, all tax hungry states.
Saw the same story. The interesting thing to me was that Montana had the lowest percentage of people who would like to leave, and it was still 23%. That seems awfully high to me, for the lowest state.
 
#38 ·
Not long ago I heard about reports concerning new rules that affected drivers licences in Florida. If I recall correctly, it was about drivers' licences having to be in English - possibly with or without an official translation (e.g. additional cost). It did not take long for a small-scale revolt to bring about some modification: all those Quebecers herding south in the fall represent enough business for those affected to realize their bread and butter was at stake.

Since anchoring = no marina fees, it follows that the marine industry may well be conflicted about these new rules and not as anxious to lend its weight to combating anchoring restrictions.

I also read an article in Cruising World about the need for a Florida licence for a recreational vessel - somehow to be linked with Florida residency. The article was not entirely clear, but fines were being issued to vessels transiting from offshore to other destinations in the U.S.(Furthermore, this rule had started out as an offense that would attract criminalpenalties! Go figure!)[

All of this suggests to me that the legislative assembly of Florida will eventually come up with a doozy that will send a huge shock through the tourism business/retirement industry and do long-lasting damage to its image (and revenues).

Before that, as so many here have already commented, many of us, myself included, are limiting our visits to Florida - in my case for transit to other destinations. After all, the only vote I have in Florida is my money.
 
#44 ·
I suspect that most of the people who live within her district are happy with what she is doing. Were I one of her constituents, at the very least, I would be donating to her opposition at the next election (not to mention voting against her). May do that anyway... Donate to her opposition, I mean, since I don't get to vote for or against her.
 
#48 ·
The reason, according to the latest poll, that 47 percent of the people that live in Maryland want to move out is oppressive taxation, which we definitely have. 44 new taxes in the past 8 years of the O'Mally administration. The second reason was long, cold, wet, nasty winters - which we obviously had this past year for sure.

I would have bailed out of here 35 years ago, but my loving spouse says NO! So, I'm kinda stuck, but just kinda. Next fall, it's off to the Florida Keys again, and they welcome live-aboards in Marathon's Boot Key Harbor. In fact, if you wish to stay in the Mooring Field, you MUST BE a liveaboard. Same holds true for the city marina.

$300 a month will get a mooring ball for you in Marathon, while there is a free anchorage area I'm not sure how long that will be around. However, if you anchor there you must pay for a weekly pumpout, which is only fair. $5 bucks a week ain't gonna kill any cruiser I know of.

My wife might come down to visit me on this next trip, but only if my daughter or son goes with her. It would be nice to have her aboard, but I know she won't stay for long, despite the beauty of the region and fantastic sailing. That's OK, though. I've made lots of great friends down there last year and many are still there.

Cheers,

Gary :cool:
 
#54 ·
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