The issue of derelict vessels in Florida’s anchorages has been brewing for years with much discussion as to how to remedy the situation. New bills now before the Florida congress attempt to offer a solution that will remove the offending vessels without imposing on the rights of legitimate cruisers. It will not be an easy task, since the enforcement of any new regulations will been given to local marine law enforcement which, in the past, has not been on the best of terms with the cruising community, especially transients. The excellent article linked below from KeysNews.com by Timothy O’Hara discusses the bills in detail.

http://keysnews.com/node/54451

Laws and regulations already exist that cover this issue thoroughly, but nobody wants to assume the responsibility or pay for the operation to remove the boat. The FWC has developed a detailed and logical set of regulations and procedures for dealing with true derelict vessels. It is not lack of laws, but passing the buck that has caused the real problems. In the Keys the headline grabbing costs have mostly been generated by a few large commercial vessels, like the tugboat that sank recently. Most truly derelict vessels are not insured and in many cases the owners have no assets to seize. I suppose you can now throw them in jail, further costing the taxpayers large sums for years to come.
John Kettlewell

Lets hope that local law enforcement doesn’t consider any and all anchorages on the ICW to be `adjacent to heavily travelled channels’. I believe that , as worded, this leaves too much open to interpretation.
Cambren Davis