The article below is reprinted, with permission, from the "Georgetown Times." We thank the newspaper most sincerely, for allowing us to reproduce this copyrighted story.
Clearly, the consideration of a mooring field, possibly (or not), at the expense of the long popular Sampit River anchorage, is in the early stages of discussion. I think the real problem here, as it is in many coastal ports of call, is abandoned vessels. And, let's not kid ourselves, abandoned vessels ARE a REAL problem!
To get up on my soap box for a moment, there are other laws and means to deal with abandoned vessels, or those illegally dumping untreated waste, WITHOUT regulating anchorage. Let's hope the city government in Georgetown goes this route!

George Fogel anchors his boat in the Sampit River between the Harborwalk and Goat Island.
He pays all the taxes, and he's one of the few owners who burn the proper anchorage lights at night.
A plan to place 33 mooring buoys on the Sampit River could force Fogel out — to a commercial marina.
That's just one of the thorny problems with regulating boats and boaters in Georgetown.
Citizens filled City Council chambers Thursday night to discuss the future of the city's harbor and to learn about new laws that allow abandoned boats to be removed.
Only one citizen expressed any sentiment for keeping abandoned boats in Georgetown Harbor. They provide a part of Georgetown's character, he said, and give artists and photographers inspiration.
Most were in favor of seeing a city ordinance being more strictly enforced to clean up the harbor and force owners to pay for the removal of sinking or submerged craft.
City Council member Paige Sawyer, who organized the citizens meeting, opened by showing pictures of boats that had broken from their moorings and crashed and of dinghies tied at the city's docks for so long they were filled with water. One even had a dead fish in it.
S.C. Department of Natural Resources officers Robin Camlin and Ryan Williams explained a new state law that will address abandoned boats.
"Being from Georgetown," Camlin said, "I am concerned about the harbor. We will survey at daylight and dark to determine if a boat is being legally tended to. Owners of abandoned boats will be ticketed and they will have 45 days to remove their boats."
A larger issue for the people at Thursday's meeting was the possible ending of free anchorage — permanent or transit — in the Sampit.
A plan approved by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control will locate 33 mooring buoys between Meeting and King streets. Each will have a radius of 160 feet, squeezing out any room for others to anchor for free.
Restaurant owner Bucky Watkins said he was worried that boaters wouldn't come to Georgetown and shop and dine if the city began charging a fee to anchor.
Jed Tiller, co-owner of Hazzard Marina, said he gets calls "all the time" about buoys. The fee is far lower than a dockage fee at a marina.
"What we should do is encourage people to stop here without getting robbed," Watkins said.
The question was raised about who will profit from the 33 buoys. Sawyer said the city would contract with a harbormaster who would patrol and collect the fees.
Diane Fox said, "You are going to cut out a lot of people who want to run 'The Ditch'."
Glennie Tarbox, who owns Independent Seafood, suggested both permanent and transient anchorage.
Beaufort's mooring buoy plan would be a good model for Georgetown to follow, someone suggested. It has 53 buoys with 20 set aside as permanent anchorage.
Watkins asked, "If we clean up the harbor, why do we have to have moorings?"
Nobody answered.
The depth of the Sampit could pose another potential problem for some sailboats. At low tide, one citizen pointed out, a sailboat drawing 5 or 6 feet of water couldn't get to the buoys.
In the end, Sawyer said he wanted to see a task force appointed that would consider every angle from boat owners to property owners before the issue comes before City Council.