I commend the article below to EVERY cruiser who has an interest in ever anchoring in Floridian waters. Captain Charmaine Smith Ladd, our regular Florida Keys correspondent, has done a wonderful job in laying to rest any sort of myth that anchoring rights in the Sunshine State are a done deal! On behalf of the entire cruising community, we thank Captain Charmaine for this important article. Please send comments on Charmaine's article to CruisingWriter@CruisersNet.net, or click the "Contribute Cruising News" link found near the top, center of this and most Net pages.

February 18th, 2009
Anchoring Rights in Jeopardy: Florida's Proposed Pilot Program
by Charmaine Smith Ladd

This is for those who still think Florida cruisers' anchoring rights are not in jeopardy; for those who think the Florida FWC's proposed statute changes recently submitted to the Florida Legislature are mainly aimed at cracking down on derelict vessels; and for those who think full-time cruisers are not being targeted… just maybe Florida's liveaboards.
Think again. 
This is also for those who may be none of the above and are just plain confused about the entire matter.
First, a little background:
Florida Statute 327.02 (17) defines a "liveaboard vessel" as: (a) Any vessel used solely as a residence; or (b) Any vessel represented as a place of business… or a legal residence.
Cruising vessels are therefore classified as non-live-aboard vessels. As such, we are protected from local anchoring ordinances:
 Passed into law on July 1, 2006:
 Section 6. § 327.60
Local regulations; limitations.—
 (2) …makes it clear that local ordinances cannot:
(f) Regulate the anchoring of non-live-aboard vessels outside of the marked boundaries of mooring fields….
By omission, it is currently on the books that "liveaboard" vessels are indeed subject to local anchoring ordinances when outside of mooring fields.
So what's the problem with the final proposed changes submitted to the Legislature?
The problem is the last two pages.  Seemingly added at the final hour prior to submission to the Legislature, it introduces an evil entity.  One that serves solely to take away the anchoring rights of non-liveaboard vessels outside of a mooring field without changing § 327.60, the very statute that protects non-live-aboard vessels' anchoring rights.
Had s. 327.60 been revised, all who were following each FWC draft and its revisions would have been aware of this threat. Instead, this surprising final draft revision was placed far away from where anyone would expect to find changes regarding anchoring rights. It is this writer's opinion that the placement of "The Pilot Program" was at the bitter end for obvious reasons.

THE PILOT PROGRAM
Proposed to the Florida Legislature is the making of a Commission (which includes both the FWC and EPA).  Five geographically diverse "Pilot Program" sites for the purposes of comparing anchoring to mooring with respect to impacts on the environment will be selected by the proposed Commission.
The chosen sites would be exempt from Florida law Section 327.60 (which prohibits local ordinances against anchoring for non-live-aboard vessels).
It reads:

Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 327.60, a county or municipality selected for participation in the pilot program may regulate by ordinance the anchoring outside of a mooring field by  vessels other than live-aboard vessels as defined in s. 327.02.
The exemption would allow Pilot Program sites the right to pass and enforce ordinances to severely limit or even ban anchoring of non-live-aboard vessels (that's we cruisers, folks!). 

Early January, Sarasota announced a 72-hr. anchoring limit in their waters.  Under Florida law, they cannot make or enforce such an ordinance. It has since been contested and dropped.  But it proves that Sarasota clearly jumped the gun and let the proverbial cat out of the bag.
How Sarasota knows it is to be one of the five sites to be chosen is beyond me.  Proposed legislation at this point has distinct parameters:
Any ordinance enacted pursuant to this pilot program shall take effect and become enforceable only after approval by the commission.
The proposed legislation, if passed, would become law October 1, 2009. The Commission would select the five sites no later than July 1, 2011 and turn in their findings by January 1, 2014.  The Pilot Program would then expire on July 1, 2014 (unless reenacted by the Legislature). It is much more likely that prior to its expiration, more Pilot Program sites would be in the works.
Sarasota, Marco Island, Miami Beach… ring a bell?
The thin disguise of a need for the EPA and FWC to form a commission to create and oversee a "Pilot Program" for environmental study with regard to mooring fields is now clearly seen for what is really is: A pet project by those who not only want to own Florida's coastline, but want to own all the waters along its coastline as well.  Maritime Law and the rights of a boat in navigation to anchor stops them. Thus the "Pilot Program" to get around Maritime Law and Florida s. 327.60.
Do not be misled.  Some say, "Well, if Florida doesn't want my boating dollars I'll go somewhere else."  If this ridiculous ruse is given the green light, our entire Nation's coastline waters are in jeopardy of becoming strictly pay-to-play.
Pilot Programs have a way of becoming National Policy. They are the easiest legislative changes to get passed because they are experimental, done within a time frame, and usually have some environmental or human impact study as its basis.  Even if the basis is bogus.
Let your voice against this travesty be heard by contacting any of the major organizations below. They, among many others, continue to fight and protect our rights to anchor freely under Maritime Law:  
The National Marine Manufacturing Association www.nmma.org; The Seven Seas Cruising Assoc. www.ssca.org; and Boat U.S. www.boatus.org.

Charmaine Smith Ladd, SSE Cruiser's Net Regional Reporter for the Florida Keys, bringing you "The Low Down from Down Low." www.SeptemberSea.com