Stay out of Georgia

[CaptainForce]

Yeah, I don't understand why so many people have these stories of sufferring from gestapo tactics. They may be true, but what are they doing to attract this attention? I've been anchoring in Florida and Georgia waters since 1972 and I've never, not at any time, been approached or questioned by any authority while at anchor. I was once boarded by the DNR in Georgia waters while underway an politely questioned about my cruising path and desination. Once, I was given a citation in Volusia county for an expired registration sticker, but that was with just cause. I've never had any unreasonable encounter with authorities in Florida, Georgia or any US East Coast State. Take care and joy, Aythya crew

[FSMike]

I think the major point is being missed here.
The Georgia law which is causing such consternation does not affect how long you can keep your boat in the state. It affects how many days you can live on your boat, in this case not more than 30 days annually.
You can be a Georgia resident, have paid Georgia sale taxes on the purchase of your boat, and have your boat properly registered in Georgia, and you cannot sleep on it more than 30 days (nights). This, of course, also applies to non-residents.
They might not throw you out of the state, but the way the law is written I believe they can make you move off your boat.
This does not get noticed as much by transients obviously. It is turning some Georgia boaters into former Georgia boaters, I understand that there are efforts to repeal/amend this law but I don't think there's been any success yet.

[joethecobbler]

In prevous years sailing the east coast w/family we encountered no water authority at all. Even to the point of attempting to hail the coast guard near Georgetown (visually waving) ,only to have them wave and continue on !
This year (2010) we have been boarded several times while going north. beginning in Florida w/ the FWC , hen the coast guard in Cape Fear, again in the Delaware we were approached and after seeing the boardig reciept from cape fear they left. Also had unplasant expience in N. Myrtle ashore returning from grocery store afoot.
No unpleasantries elsewhere, but I noticed an increased coast guard presence and no shortage of local water police .
S, I guess it's hit and miss.
All in all the only things they were interested in was the usual, life vests,flares,registration,etc. then see ya later. Mostly young "kids" presumably following the instructions from their "bosses" for the daily tasks.
Except for the N. Myrtle cops I didn't feel like I was being un-justly dealt w/.
Throw of the dice.




Live-the-dash life's too short

[gpenn]

Originally Posted by joethecobbler

In prevous years sailing the east coast w/family we encountered no water authority at all. Even to the point of attempting to hail the coast guard near Georgetown (visually waving) ,only to have them wave and continue on !
This year (2010) we have been boarded several times while going north. beginning in Florida w/ the FWC , hen the coast guard in Cape Fear, again in the Delaware we were approached and after seeing the boardig reciept from cape fear they left. Also had unplasant expience in N. Myrtle ashore returning from grocery store afoot.
No unpleasantries elsewhere, but I noticed an increased coast guard presence and no shortage of local water police .
S, I guess it's hit and miss.
All in all the only things they were interested in was the usual, life vests,flares,registration,etc. then see ya later. Mostly young "kids" presumably following the instructions from their "bosses" for the daily tasks.
Except for the N. Myrtle cops I didn't feel like I was being un-justly dealt w/.
Throw of the dice.




Live-the-dash life's too short

Don't feel bad the North Myrtle Beach Police act that way on land or water.

[seaweavermarine]

There is now a state law that goes after marina owners if they "know" of a person exceeding the 30 day limit in their marina.
We have a Vietnamese capt on a derelict boat here locally and he has been living aboard for 3 years. No one has mention his living aboard...just the threat of his boat sinking.

cw

[SVArgo]

If anyone has a link to the below mentioned law, I would love to see it. As it is explained below makes absolutely no sense whatsover, and hope that the poster is mistaken. You have a houseboat on Lake Lanier, or anywhere else in Georgia, and you can only stay on it about two days a month? The state is telling you that you can only weekend on your vessel one weekend a month? Sounds dubious to me, especially for a red state.

I could see the taxation issue, all these states that invested state public pension and other money in derivatives and all the other shakily engineered financial products are broke, and they're trying to recoup any way they can.

Sounds to me like Henry David Thoreau style Civil Disobedience is the appropriate response.

Originally Posted by FSMike

I think the major point is being missed here.
The Georgia law which is causing such consternation does not affect how long you can keep your boat in the state. It affects how many days you can live on your boat, in this case not more than 30 days annually.
You can be a Georgia resident, have paid Georgia sale taxes on the purchase of your boat, and have your boat properly registered in Georgia, and you cannot sleep on it more than 30 days (nights). This, of course, also applies to non-residents.
They might not throw you out of the state, but the way the law is written I believe they can make you move off your boat.
This does not get noticed as much by transients obviously. It is turning some Georgia boaters into former Georgia boaters, I understand that there are efforts to repeal/amend this law but I don't think there's been any success yet.

[tgrimmett]

We had a very nice visit to Savannah a few years back, stayed on the waterfront with moderate dock fees to the City and countless generosity from their staff and the tourism office. Our family agreed it was one of the friendliest spots along the ICW. There's much to see elsewhere on the ICW in Georgia too. Granted, we didn't stay over 30 days, but I wouldn't recommend skipping the state because of this issue. It is a touchy issue when you mention liveaboards to these municipalities. If you take up residence in a bay or in front of someone's scenic waterfront mansion, it is going to be easy for them to over-react and worry about a crime problem, sewage, etc. Hard to fight that as a minority sized group. I agree with the other reply about writing to the governor/tourism office. Eventually the pendulum will swing back to something more reasonable with these efforts. But, don't skip the state entirely!

[rmeador]

Is there a liveaboard lobbying group? I'd like to join. We have the NRA and the 2nd Amendment Foundation to fight back against the government when they try to take our gun rights, there should be something similar to fight back when they try to take liveaboard rights (or boating rights in general). I'd especially like such a group to fight for us to get some 4th Amendment protections back when we're on the water.

[christyleigh]

Originally Posted by rmeador

Is there a liveaboard lobbying group? there should be something similar to fight back when they try to take liveaboard rights (or boating rights in general).

Boat Us. They are not liveaboard specific and not all boaters agree with what they try to do, or if they try hard enough.... but they are large enough to have some pull and .... In General.... work for us.

[sailingdog]

Unfortunately, BoatUS has clearly dropped the ball in several areas... one is their soft-pedalling of the issues with the Tartan/C&C boats. As a boater's advocacy group, they're the best thing we've got, but they clearly need to be reminded of what they're supposed to be doing once in a while.