Security Zone Ahead!! What do I do?
With Federal Security Zones, such as the one this weekend at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach (/162949), becoming more frequent for south Florida boaters, many beginning Waterway cruisers may have questions, even qualms, about how to approach and navigate a Federal Security Zone. Many might be asking what role these zones will play as they navigate through Palm Beach and what should a skipper expect when approaching on-site security personnel?
If you have experienced Security Zone passage, please share your observations and advice for those for whom such passage may seem down right frightening, especially in the crowded and already intimidating waters of south Florida. Let us hear from you!
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Security Zones
Comments from Cruisers (4)
The security zone around Mar-A-Lago should not be an issue to anyone transiting the area. The only prohibited area is zone 1 which is east of the ICW channel. The channel itself as well as the waters west of it are zone 2 and the offshore area is zone 3.
The Coast Guard is very clear on how to navigate the zones:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/rf/image_large/Pub/p8/PalmBeachPost
• Zone 1: No vessels or person will be permitted to enter this zone consisting of the waters of the Lake Worth Lagoon from the southern tip of the Everglades Island in the north to approximately 1,000 yards from the south of the Southern Boulevard Bridge on the south and eastern shore line west of Fisherman Island.
• Zone 2: All vessels transiting the second zone shall maintain a steady speed and shall not slow or stop from waters of the Lake Worth Lagoon including the Intracoastal Waterway from the southern tip of the Everglades Island in the north to approximately 1000 yards from the south of the bridge on the south and from the western shore line to the western edge of the Fisherman Island in the east. Vessels needing to wait for the Southern Boulevard Bridge to open in zone 2 are permitted to wait in this zone only for the draw bridge to raise for safe passage.
• Zone 3: All vessels transiting the third zone shall maintain a steady speed and shall not slow or stop from waters of the Atlantic Ocean from the Banyan Road in the north to Ocean View Road in the south and from shore to approximately 1000 yards east of the shoreline.
Feb 7, 2017 We anchored in Lake Worth down the channel to the east pass red “6” with no problem from USCG. Good holding and lots of mud when pulled anchor.
And what would that have to do with the security zone?
On the pictures of the zones, it looks like they extend almost to the Lake worth inlet just below Peanut Island. I was conserned we couldn’t anchor very far below the inlet channel.