Wally Moran Speaks Out on Florida HB1051
Wally has never been one to mince words when it comes to boaters’ rights and, if you can read past his expressions of indignation, there is much with which we boaters can agree.
Wally Moran posted in Sailing and Cruising: ICW.
Wally Moran
January 23 at 6:27pm
The BASTARDS are at it again, and we cruisers are in trouble, big trouble this time.
Tuesday, January 26, the anti anchoring bill HB1051 is going before committee in Tallahassee Fl. The terms of this bill are disastrous for cruisers. They will make anchoring ILLEGAL in five Florida locations – in Middle River in Broward County; Sunset Lake and the areas between Rivo Alto Island and Di Lido Island, San Marino Island and San Marco Island, San Marco Island and Biscayne Island all in Miami-Dade County; and Crab Island in Choctawhatchee Bay.
According to Steve Kauffmann, president of the Seven Seas Cruising Association, there will definitely be amendments to follow from other regions wanting to forbid anchoring.
IF this bill is allowed to pass, you can write off anchoring overnight in the entire state of Florida. That’s right, the entire state.
This time around, there is no BS from the committee about vessel safety or any such ‘rationale’ for putting this legislation forward like last year. This is nothing but a naked grab for your rights by a few wealthy people who want YOU out of THEIR view behind their house. They’ve bought and paid for their politicians and now they want action.
What can we do about this? We beat them last year, and I’m hoping we can do it again this year, but it’s going to take every one of you reading this to take action. Can you please spend five to ten minutes to help?
Even if you don’t live in Florida, you can help, because you can let the politicians know that you are a tourist – and though you don’t vote, you do get to choose where you are going to spend your money. That gets their attention big time.
Next, every one of us needs to SHARE this message on their timeline and get more attention from it, even from non-boaters. We MUST get all the action on this we can, and even non boaters can agree that letting the wealthy take away the rights of others is something they can fight back against, boater or not.
Fishermen? How long before the state of Florida says you cannot fish within 50 yards, 75 yards of a dock at a private residence? It’s coming, so we need your help too. Please help us by sending an email and phoning.
Do you go to a park next to a wealthy area? How long before the rich demand that areas of those parks be off limits so that they don’t have to put up with us paupers simply enjoying a day in the park with our kids where they can see us? Email and phone to stop them from taking our rights away and maybe they’ll not try to go after your rights next.
Don’t fool yourself, these people won’t stop. Why should they, they’re rich, and they don’t want to see us, not on boats, not on the sidewalks in front of their homes, not anywhere. It’s just too bad they won’t build privacy fences on their backyards like on the other three sides of their homes – oh, but then they’d lose their precious water view. Better that the rest of us lose our rights!
LIKE HELL IT IS! I’m angry, and I’m fighting back.
Below, there is a link to the Florida State Legislators. If you are a Floridian, then email the members of the subcommittee and then PHONE them on Monday. Here’s the link:
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/…/Comm…/committeesdetail.aspx…-
If you want to keep it simple, use the email letter suggested below by the SSCA if you’re a Floridian, and if you are not, use the following letter:
NON FLORIDA BOATERS’ LETTER
“I am a cruiser and a tourist in Florida and am writing to express my opposition to HB1051 Recreational Boating Zones. This bill will restrict overnight anchoring in five areas that have historically been used by Florida cruisers and visitors from out of state.
The bills interfere with our maritime rights to navigation which include anchoring. Anchoring restrictions impact many Florida recreational boaters who regularly cruise the waters and rivers of the state by limiting places to safely stop for the night, reprovision and get out of severe weather. Four of the proposed areas are in Southeast Florida where thousands of boaters transit yearly. Many marinas in Florida do not allow transient docking or in many cases are full and unable to accept additional boats.
I urge to you vote against this bill.”
NON BOATER/NON FLORIDIAN LETTER:
“I am not a boater but I have been a tourist in Florida and I am considering visiting again in the future. I support the boaters fighting against HB 1051 and I am writing to express my opposition to HB1051 Recreational Boating Zones. This bill will restrict overnight anchoring in five areas that have historically been used by Florida cruisers and visitors from out of state.
The bills interfere with our maritime rights to navigation which include anchoring. Anchoring restrictions impact many Florida recreational boaters who regularly cruise the waters and rivers of the state by limiting places to safely stop for the night, reprovision and get out of severe weather. Four of the proposed areas are in Southeast Florida where thousands of boaters transit yearly. Many marinas in Florida do not allow transient docking or in many cases are full and unable to accept additional boats.
I urge to you vote against this bill. If you pass this bill, I will vote against your state with my wallet and my money and will vacation elsewhere.
FLORIDA BOATER AND VOTERS USE THIS LETTER:
“I am a cruiser and Florida voter and am writing to express my opposition to HB1051 Recreational Boating Zones. This bill will restrict overnight anchoring in five areas that have historically been used by Florida cruisers and visitors from out of state.
The bills interfere with our maritime rights to navigation which include anchoring. Anchoring restrictions impact many Florida recreational boaters who regularly cruise the waters and rivers of the state by limiting places to safely stop for the night, reprovision and get out of severe weather. Four of the proposed areas are in Southeast Florida where thousands of boaters transit yearly. Many marinas in Florida do not allow transient docking or in many cases are full and unable to accept additional boats
I urge to you vote against this bill.”
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From the SSCA –
SSCA, the National Marine Manufacturers Association, and BoatUS, with support from the Marine Trawler Owner’s Association and the American Great Loop Cruisers Association are opposing these bills as written. HB1051 is scheduled to be heard in the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday January 26 at Noon. We need your help now.
Please call or email the members of the Subcommittee using the link above.
If you click on the member’s names you can get their Tallahassee office telephone numbers and email addresses. Please email them this weekend and call their offices on Monday.
We have approached legislators in Tallahassee with proposed amendments which have not yet been adopted.
We need your financial support to help with the cost of lobbying. Last year we defeated a similar bill by working against it in the legislature. Here’s what you can do:
1. Send the e mail to your representative now.
2. Contribute to SSCA legislative efforts: https://www.gofundme.com/Right2Anchor . This money pays ONLY for the expenses of our lobbying efforts.
3. Contribute to the Maritime Heritage Freedom Political Action Committee:https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr… . This money gives our lobbyists tools to recognize the support of legislators to the priorities of cruisers and other boaters.
4. If you do nothing else, join SSCA: http://ssca.org
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Everyone – share this post with three other boaters right now, and one other group. Don’t wait on this, do it right now. Let’s flood every boating link on Facebook with this post.
In the next five minutes, click on the link and get your emails out to the committee members.
Set up a reminder to call these committee members on Monday.
YES, this is a lot of crap to have to go through and yes, you have better things to do on a Saturday night, but the alternative is disastrous. Do it now….by the time I have my emails out, in about five minutes, I expect to see dozens of shares of this post. I’m counting on all of you, just as you are counting on all the rest of us.
Let’s do it people! Let’s show these wealthy and privileged bastards that we won’t take this lying down.
Comments from Cruisers (2)
I am a cruiser and Florida voter who owns Florida waterfront property but not in the areas addressed by HB1051. I am writing to express my opposition to establishing the precedent in HB1051 Recreational Boating Zones. This bill will restrict overnight anchoring in five areas that have historically been used by Florida cruisers and visitors from out of state.
The bills interfere with the public’s long held maritime rights to navigation which include anchoring. Anchoring restrictions impact many Florida recreational boaters who regularly cruise the waters and rivers of the state by limiting places to safely stop for the night, reprovision their boat on shore and temporarily get out of severe weather.
As a waterfront property owner, I understand that my personal property rights end at the high water line on the edge of my property that abuts the water. When purchasing my waterfront property I understood that I was buying unlimited access to the water for my family and denying that access to the public. I was even allowed to get a waiver to build a structure out over the water for the purpose of docking my boats and again denying the public access to my private dock and the water that is restricted from public use because of that structure. I did not purchase the right to deny the public use of the water in front of my home.
If the problem is abandoned boats, legislate abandoned boats. If the problem is the noise from partying anchored boats, legislate excessive noise. If the problem is lack of privacy when you can hardly get an emergency vehicle between the houses built practically on top of each other on shore, MOVE TO A MORE PRIVATE LOCATION. Get off the beach…only military bases and such can restrict beach access below the high water line. If you really need to have a clear view of the water to the horizon, establish a commercial oyster bed; once you buy the ocean floor. Yes, there are still places where you can own the land under the water… you just can’t restrict the right to navigate over that land (including anchoring) without a valid reason…and being too noisy or blocking your view ain’t it, no matter your net worth or which lawmakers you’ve bought with your donations.
I urge you to support your constituants and vote against this bill.
I don’t normally publish with that sort of language, but I’m that fed up with this situation. It seems to me that anger is the only rational response to what the state of Florida is attempting to do to OUR rights.
My apologies to anyone offended.