This is a copy of the letter Jim Healy sent to Georgia legislators concerning the very restrictive anchoring regulations recently passed and enacted. See Call to Action.

Dear Georgia Legislators:

My wife and I have lived full time on our boat for 16 years. We winter in the US Southeast (Georgia, Florida) and summer in the Northeast (Chesapeake Bay, Long Island Sound, New York Canal System, New England). Twice annually we transit Georgia’s magnificent coastal estuarine waters. We thoroughly enjoy anchoring in the peace and quiet of remote Georgia coastal venues. We also stop at many Georgia marinas (Savannah, Thunderbolt, Isle-of-Hope, Skidaway Island, Richmond Hill, Darien, Brunswick) to wait out weather and take advantage of local restaurant and provisioning services. We work hard to comply with all US and Georgia navigation and maritime laws, and we comply with the provisions of the US Clean Waters Act of 1972. We do NOT discharge waste in any waters, at any time, anywhere.

I am writing to request that you support Georgia HB833 on behalf of all Georgians and all Americans. We believe HB833 corrects several serious flaws with its predecessor legislation, HB201, as adopted by the legislature in 2019. If HB201 is not corrected, we will simply not be able to enjoy the beauty of Georgia’s coastal waters as we have previously. Following are the flaws we find with HB201:

1. Georgia estuarine waters overlie Public Trust lands. HB201 has the effect of an “administrative taking” of Public Trust lands; in as much, it disregards and disrespects the Public Trust Doctrine that the Georgia legislature is responsible to protect in the interest of all Georgians and all Americans. This effectively denies the right of navigation and anchorage to all boaters who make every effort to comply with maritime law and regulation.
2. The regulations adopted by Georgia DNR establish a 1000 foot setback from public and private shore-side structures. That setback is grossly excessive and unnecessary. A 1000 foot setback effectively closes many weather-safe anchorages, many located in creeks that are only 500 feet wide from shore to shore. That excessive setback has the effect of transferring control and ownership rights of littoral, submerged, Public Trust lands to wealthy waterfront landowners who have no such rights in law over Public Trust lands. The way the Georgia DNR regulations are written, proliferation of shore-side structures would have the effect of taking proportionally more and more Public Trust lands out of public access and use.
3. There is no demonstrable EVIDENCE of actual violations of the US Clean Waters Act by cruising boats anchored in Georgia’s estuarine waters. Unproved accusation, speculation and innuendo to the contrary by those with personal-interest motives does not justify the taking of these Public Trust lands from public access and use. Publicly available evidence is that under-designed municipal water treatment facilities, poor agricultural practice and failed private septic systems create vastly more fecal coliform pollution than cruising boats could produce even if they all violated existing US law.
4. It is not reasonable to deny anchoring rights to many hundreds of users that are entirely in compliance with US and Georgia navigation and sanitation laws simply because there might be an occasional violator.
5. Enforcement of these excessive DNR regulations is a significant law enforcement staffing and budgetary burden which will lead to spotty, unequal and discriminatory enforcement .

In all of the above areas, legislative controls and agency regulations must target actual violators. I strongly urge that you support the proposed HB833.

Very respectfully,

James B. Healy

Peg and Jim Healy, living aboard Sanctuary
Monk 36 Hull #132