Our thanks to Tim McNair, a full-time cruiser, for sharing his thoughts on HB 201.

Regarding anchoring restrictions in the State of Georgia

First, I would like to apologize for the length of this post. However, if you are at all interested in Anchorage restrictions in Georgia or anywhere else I encourage you to read this post in its entirety.

My wife and first mate, Tawnya and I are full-time liveaboards currently doing America’s Great Loop.

We were residents of Brunswick, Georgia for 21 years. I am a retired FBI agent serving my final 11 years in Brunswick, GA.

We attended the public hearing at the Georgia DNR on 6-17-19 concerning the recent passage of Georgia House Bill 201, anchoring restrictions in Georgia.

The Boating, cruising, live aboard Community was well-represented. Kim Russo, AGLCA director made an outstanding presentation as did many other national figures from the Boating world.

It was apparent early on in the hearing that the concerns of the attendees was that this law appeared to be hastily written and passed with little to no studies or data to support its necessity and that sufficient laws were already in place, but not enforced in Georgia especially with regard to discharge of sewage. The ambiguity and near-impossible enforcement were pointed out.

In my investigative mind it appeared that a NIMBY (Not In My Backyayd) scenario may have led to the creation of this law.

Near the end of the hearing a lady, Amanda Williams, spoke in support of the law. She acknowledged that the group present were not the problem, but it was the 10% non law-abiding citizens who were the problem and that she was concerned about the cleanliness of the water in Georgia and was hopeful this law would help rectify that problem.

I applaud Representative Hogan, the sponsor of the bill from Georgia District 179 for having the intestinal fortitude to speak before a somewhat hostile audience. However, when pressure as to why this law was created and as to the frequency of live aboard vessels that were problems, he cited one specific case of a former Navy vessel moored near downtown Brunswick being used as a live-aboard.

By the way, Amanda Williams did not inform the group that she is a former Superior Court judge on the Brunswick Circuit in Georgia and currently an attorney in Brunswick.

It may be coincidental but remains somewhat suspicious that the problem live-aboard mention by representative Hogan at the hearing is moored on the river behind Attorney and former Judge Williams office. Could this be the NIMBY that led to the creation of this law?

Absolutely no proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt here, but sufficient cause to to get answers to a lot of questions before public funds are used to implement this unnecessary, burdensome and ambiguous law that is an embarrassment to the Great State of Georgia and potentially sets dangerous precedent for our anchoring rights in other locations.

In the above photo [being sought] the brick building to the right is attorney Williams office and the vessel in question is behind and to the left of her office.

Tim McNair
M/V IT IS WELL