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A significant severe weather event is anticipated on Monday, March 16, 2026, bringing a threat of extreme winds and possible tornadic activity to the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic coastal waters.
Overview
Widespread severe storms are expected to develop as a powerful cold front sweeps through the region. While land-based impacts are a major concern, the risk for those on the water is particularly high during the afternoon hours.
Tornadoes & Damaging Winds: Strong tornadoes and destructive straight-line winds are most likely from South Carolina to Maryland.
Rapid Development: Storms may organize quickly into a squall line, tapping into powerful upper-level wind energy to produce strong surface gusts.
Mariners should be prepared for significant wind events across the following areas:
Chesapeake Bay & Delaware Bay: The highest risk for gusts exceeding 50 knots, with a 45–60% probability of these conditions.
Georgia to Virginia: A 30% risk for wind gusts over 50 knots.
Northern Florida: At least a 15% risk for 50+ knot gusts.
Southern NJ: At least a 15% risk for 50+ knot gusts.
Extreme Threat: There is at least a 10% risk for hurricane-force wind gusts in coastal waters from South Carolina to Virginia.
Bottom Line:
Monday is not a day to be caught unprepared on the water. The combination of intense wind shear and a potent cold front creates a high-risk environment for all maritime activities.
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Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are one of the most important ingredients for tropical cyclone development and intensification. With the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season still a few months away, the current pattern across the basin is already showing a fascinating mixed signal. …
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Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes that mariners with saltwater in their veins will subscribe. $7 per month or $56 for the year; you may cancel at any time.
The author is a Ph.D. Candidate in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. This story was first published on March 12, 2026 inThe Conversation and is reprinted here with permission.
By ANNA RAYMAKER
The war in Iran has dominated headlines with reports of airstrikes and escalating military activity. But beyond the immediate devastation, the conflict has also illuminated a quieter and rapidly growing danger: the vulnerability of ships, and the people who operate them, to disruption of their navigation systems.
Modern shipping depends heavily on GPS satellite navigation. When those signals are disrupted or manipulated, ships can suddenly appear to their navigators and to other ships to be somewhere they are not. In some cases, vessels have been shown jumping across maps, drifting miles inland or appearing to circle in impossible patterns. The risk is even higher in war zones, where ships could be misdirected into harm’s way.
As a cybersecurity researcher studying critical infrastructure and maritime systems, I investigate how digital threats affect ships and the people who operate them.
To understand the threat from GPS disruptions, it helps to first understand how GPS works. GPS systems determine location using signals from satellites orbiting Earth. A receiver calculates its position by measuring how long those signals take to arrive. Because those signals are extremely weak by the time they reach Earth, they are relatively easy to disrupt.
In GPS jamming, an attacker blocks the real satellite signals by overwhelming them with electromagnetic noise so receivers cannot detect them. When this happens, navigation systems lose their position. On a phone, it might look like the map freezing or jumping erratically.
GPS spoofing is more sophisticated. Instead of blocking signals, an attacker transmits fake satellite signals designed to mimic the real ones. The receiver accepts these signals and gives a false location. Imagine driving north while your navigation system suddenly insists you are traveling south. The receiver is not malfunctioning; it has simply been tricked.
Circular loops in the Black Sea show spoofed ship positions recorded in January 2025. The red points represent false GPS locations broadcast during spoofing events, making vessels appear to move in perfect circles on tracking maps even though they were actually hundreds of miles away. These disruptions are widely believed to be linked to electronic interference in the region during the war in Ukraine. Image created with data from Spire Global. Anne Raymaker
For mariners at sea, spoofing can have serious consequences. In the open ocean, there are few landmarks to verify a ship’s position if GPS behaves strangely. Nearshore, the margin for error disappears: Water depths change quickly and hazards are everywhere, especially in narrow routes like the Strait of Hormuz near Iran, where reports indicate that GPS spoofing has been happening since the outbreak of the war. Because ships are large and slow to maneuver, even small navigation errors can lead to groundings or collisions.
Red Sea Grounding
One example came in May 2025. While transiting the Red Sea, the container ship MSC Antonia began showing positions far from its true location. To navigators onboard, this looked like they had jumped hundreds of miles south on the map and started moving in a new direction. This caused the crew to become disoriented, and the ship eventually ran aground. The grounding caused millions of dollars in damage and required a salvage operation that lasted over five weeks.
MSC Antonia route comparison showing the vessel’s true route and grounding point, left, versus the spoofed route, right. The red and black lines on the right show the spoofed locations where the ship appeared to suddenly jump to on GPS. These lines confused the navigators and caused them to run aground. Images created with data from VT Explorer. Anne Raymaker
Incidents like the MSC Antonia are not isolated. Vessel-tracking data has revealed clusters of ships suddenly appearing in impossible locations, sometimes far inland or moving in perfect circles. These anomalies are increasingly linked to GPS spoofing in regions experiencing geopolitical conflict.
But GPS interference is only one type of cyber threat facing ships. Industry reports have documented ransomware attacks on shipping companies, supply chain compromises and increasing concern about the security of onboard control systems, including engines, propulsion and navigation equipment. As ships become more connected through satellite internet systems and remote monitoring tools, the number of potential entry points for cyberattacks is growing.
Military vessels often address these risks through stricter network segregation and regular training exercises such as “mission control” drills, which simulate operating with compromised communications or navigation systems. Some cybersecurity experts argue that similar practices could help commercial shipping improve its resilience, although smaller crews and limited resources make adopting military-style procedures more difficult.
Mariners’ Experiences
Much of the public discussion around maritime cybersecurity focuses on technical vulnerabilities in ship systems. But an equally important piece of the puzzle is the people who must interpret and respond to these technologies when something goes wrong.
In recent research, my colleagues and I interviewed professional mariners about their experiences with cyber incidents and their preparedness to respond to them. The interviews included navigation officers, engineers and other crew members responsible for ship systems. What emerged was a consistent picture: Cyber threats are increasingly occurring at sea, but crews are not well prepared to deal with them.
Many mariners told us that their cybersecurity training focused almost entirely on email phishing and USB drives. That kind of training may make sense in an office, but it does little to prepare crews for cyber incidents on a ship, where navigation and control systems can be the primary targets. As a result, many mariners lack clear guidance on how cyberattacks might affect the equipment they rely on every day.
This becomes a problem when ship systems begin behaving strangely. Mariners described GPS showing incorrect positions or temporarily losing signal. It can be difficult to tell whether these incidents are equipment failures or signs of cyber interference.
Even when mariners suspect something may be wrong, many ships lack clear procedures for responding to cyber incidents. Participants frequently described situations where they would have to improvise if navigation or other digital systems behaved unexpectedly. Unlike equipment failures, which have established checklists and procedures, cyber incidents often fall into a gray area where responsibility and response plans are unclear.
Another challenge is the gradual disappearance of traditional navigation practices. For centuries, mariners relied on paper charts and celestial navigation to determine their position. Today, most commercial vessels rely almost entirely on electronic systems.
Many mariners noted that paper charts are not available onboard, and celestial navigation is rarely practiced. If GPS or electronic navigation systems fail, crews have limited ways to independently verify their position. One mariner bluntly described the risk to us: “If you don’t have charts, and you’re being spoofed, you’re a little screwed.”
Increasing Connectivity, Risk
At the same time, ships are becoming more connected. Modern vessels increasingly rely on satellite internet systems like Starlink and remote monitoring tools to manage operations and communicate with shore.
While these technologies improve efficiency, they also expand the vulnerability of ship systems. Connectivity that allows crews to send emails or access the internet can also provide pathways for cyber threats to reach onboard systems.
As GPS spoofing becomes more common in regions experiencing geopolitical conflict, the challenges mariners described in our research are becoming harder to ignore. The oceans may seem vast and empty, but the digital signals that guide modern ships travel through crowded and contested space.
When those signals are manipulated, the consequences do not stay confined to military systems. They reach the commercial vessels that carry most of the world’s goods and the crews responsible for navigating them safely.
LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Every so often he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.
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Solo sailor Louis Jordan says strength and faith helped him survive, eating raw fish and drinking rain water. His vessel had capsized 500 miles off the North Carolina coast. He said he was asleep when it happened.
Many readers pushed back against a recent story about the potential consequences of singlehanded operation. Their pro-solo-sailing arguments appeared on various Facebook boating groups and in the comments section of the story itself.
One argument went like this: Solo-sailors are the master mariners of the sea, compared to the incompetent lot that like to take other people with them.
In debate circles, this is called a false dichotomy. That’s a logical fallacy that presents two extreme options as the only possibilities when in fact other possibilities exist.
One other possibility is that singlehanders are actually not any more competent than the rest of us, taken as a group. Maybe the record-setters and round-the-world sailors are a cut above, but these represent a small subset of the solo category.
Let’s examine the reasons people make voyages alone.
Some are engaged in what one retired Coast Guard rescue swimmer called a “romantic quest for Emersonian self-reliance.” These folks may be the archtype that critics of the story used to bolster their position—they see wizzened, old-salt ocean warriors.
I call this the I-know-a-guy argument, but anectdotes, even when piled up, do not constitute data.
Can we be honest here? Many singlehanders also sail solo for entirely different reasons, which can fall into three categories: They are jerks and have no friends. They suck at sailing, and it shows. Or their boats don’t impress potential mates as being particularly seaworthy.
The Coast Guard doesn’t break out the number of times they have had to rescue solo-sailors, but a Google search will show there have been a fair number in recent years. These are just a few examples:
November 2020: Vendée Globe Race participant is rescued by a fellow after his vessel founders in heavy seas.
June 2021: A tanker rescued an 81-year-old German sailor whose 36-foot vessel, was disabled 400 miles southeast of Long Island.
August 2023: A solo sailor was rescued from a deserted island in the Bahamas after being stranded for three days, thanks to a “HELP” sign.
November 2023: A solo sailor was rescued 270 miles off North Carolina after their 38-foot sailboat was found adrift.
February 2024: A solo sailor was rescued after 46 hours adrift in a semi-submerged vessel during the Global Solo Challenge.
August 2024: A 62-year-old Frenchman survives for 16 hours in an air bubble inside his overturned boat until he was rescued by the Coast Guard.
Amazingly, the critics kept making the point that solo-sailors harm no-one, since they only have themselves to kill. They fail to consider that helicopter rescues are an expensive burden on the system and can put the rescuers themselves at risk.
Mario Vittone is a retired Coast Guard rescue swimmer and marine accident investigator. Vittone was asked if he thought single-handed types are any more capable that the rest of the voyaging herd.
“I would submit that the opposite is true. The solos lose one point for judgment in their romantic quest for their Emersonian self-reliance,” Vittone said, calculating potential human cost. “I think it lowers the risk of medical emergency (less people aboard) and raises the negative outcome of mishaps owing to the lack of hands. It may be a wash, really, overall.”
One such mishap was illustrated by the photo which accompanied Bob Arrington’s March 6 story. British sailor Jeanne Socrates was in the cockpit of her Najad 361, lying on its side, as waves broke around her on a Mexican beach.
Socrates holds the record as the oldest female to have circumnavigated the world nonstop single-handed and unassisted. One of the story’s critics responded in the comments section with a long list of her voyaging accomplishments. It was intended as a rebuke.
To me, losing your boat is not trivial, and her case illustrates the risks of singlehanding no matter how skilled the skipper.
Socrates said her autopilot had failed, which she obviously did not notice in time. As anyone who has sailed along a surf-beach will testify: If you are straying toward shore, you will eventually begin hear the dull roar of breaking waves.
Danger, Will Robinson!
The sound can be harder to notice, however, if you are sleeping.
Sleeping—that thing we all have to do.
One commenter suggested, without evidence but correctly, that Loose Cannon was not a singlehander and therefore, son, you can never truly understand. He was only half-wrong. I had singlehanded just long enough to know that it was a bad idea, even though I am constitutionally built for it.
I can fall asleep sitting up and wake myself 20 minutes later to check displays, scan the horizon and…repeat. This may be the only way in which I am like Napoleon, whose catnapping allowed him to micro-manage an empire.
This is where the technology wing of the pro-solo-sailor party chirped in. With the ability to enable alarms on radar and AIS, their argument goes, sleeping in violation of Rule 5 of the International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea should not be thing. (Rule 5 is the one that says: “Every vessel must at all times keep a proper lookout by sight, hearing and all available means in order to judge if risk of collision exists.”)
The other side of the false dichotomy is that one skilled solo-sailor is at less risk than two, three, four—name a number—of the knucklehead population that owns boats. This fake argument completely ignores reality. People’s sailing skills lie along a spectrum that extends from knucklehead at the bottom all the way up to Warrior Sailing God.
The dichotomists also completely ignore that as folks move up the spectrum (as one hopes they do, over time), it doesn’t take too long before three moderately skilled people are more resilient in the face of catastrophe than one Warrior God.
This is 2026, and the American population is quite literate in terms of using technology.
Even if unskilled in other aspects of boat management, new people will probably find that mastery of the AIS, chart-plotter, radar, sounder and auto-pilot is not that difficult. So let’s not pretend this is sacred knowlege available only for the initiated.
And do you know when AIS and radar work best for collision avoidance?
When someone is awake and monitoring them, watching the displays and seeing potential danger even before an alarm is triggered.
It’s called watchstanding, and takes a minimum of two to tango.
The greatest single-handed sailor ever (in my humble opinion) is Joshua Slocum, author of the best book ever written about the subject, “Sailing Alone Around the World.” I grew up two towns over from where Slocum rebuilt his gaff-rigged sloop Spray.
Alas, I was never able to visit his grave. Because why? The greatest single-hander in history died single-handing. On November 14, 1909, he sailed Spray out of Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, and was never seen again. Lost at sea.
LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Every so often he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.
Harbour Town Yacht Basin, A CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, is ready for your reservation with newly renovated docks, upgraded electrical service and onSpot WiFi, also a CRUISERS NET SPONSOR. And, as always, numerous activities at the Sea Pines Resort are offered for your enjoyment, as you will see in the Event Schedule below. Hilton Head Island is absolutely marvelous any time of year.
Attention all concerned boaters! W.P. Franklin Lock will be closed from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on March 13, 2026 for electrical system upgrades. Please plan accordingly and thank you for your patience.
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Isolated to scattered severe thunderstorms are expected through tonight from the ArkLaTex and Lower Mississippi Valley northeastward through the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic. There is a 15-30% risk for strong wind gusts of 50 knots or higher along the Gulf Coast from easternmost Texas to the Florida Panhandle. There is also a lower 5% risk along the coast of NJ.
There is always plenty to do around Charlotte Harbor. While berthed at Fishermen’s Village Marina, A CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, you are certain to enjoy visiting Western Florida’s beautiful Charlotte Harbor/Peace River.
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WOULD IT HAVE HAPPENED WITH CREW? British sailor Jeanne Socrates holds the record as the oldest female to have circumnavigated the world nonstop single-handed, unassisted. Her fame came at a cost, however. She had almost completed another circumnavigation in June 2008 but lost Nereida, her Najad 361, on a Mexican beach due to autopilot failure.
The author is a writer, trainer and marine consultant. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100 Ton Master’s License and STCW Certification. He submitted this essay after a recent Loose Cannontake-down of a YouTube channel.
By BOB ARRINGTON
The lockmaster was getting a little impatient with the motoryacht in front of us, as its sole occupant was trying to handle the bow and stern lines by himself. My wife, Dori, and I were tied behind him in our vessel, and we were also a little surprised to see a nearly 50-foot boat being single-handed. The rest of the day, we discussed whether we thought it was safe to handle a boat of this size by yourself.
I can speak from personal experience that regardless of how well you’ve prepared, or how capable you are, when you’re out on the water, you have to expect the unexpected. It could start with a mechanical issue—say, a blocked thru-hull causing an engine to overheat, or an engine belt breaking, or a critical hose clamp failing or a fuel filter clogging.
The list is long of things that may require your attention away from the helm. Handling any of these problems when alone on a boat becomes more difficult and potentially more dangerous.
Even if we set the unexpected aside for a moment, everyone has to eat, drink and relieve themselves. All are potential distractions from operating the boat. Just staying alert for hours at a time when single-handing presents enough of a challenge.
Single-handing a boat also raises a potential legal issue. The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea is an agreement among member countries for boating rules of the road. Anyone operating a boat in these countries is legally bound by the rules.
Rule 5 presents another problem for the single-handed boater: “Every vessel must at all times keep a proper lookout by sight, hearing and all available means in order to judge if risk of collision exists.” Under normal circumstances, even with two of us on the boat, it is challenging to maintain the “at all times” part of this rule, let alone when something on the boat takes your attention away from the helm.
The single-handed skippers I know seem to get away with their best attempts to manage these issues. But if there is an accident, the solo boater is exposed to significant liability. If the master of a vessel is found to have violated one or more of the COLREGS, he or she may be found liable for costs of rescue efforts, property damages, loss of income, salvage costs and environmental cleanup. In the event of a death, even criminal gross negligence charges are not out of the realm.
Single-handed boaters should also be aware that they are likely not covered by their insurance when they are cruising alone. Here’s what Scott Stusek said; he’s a cruising yacht specialist with Gowrie Insurance in Annapolis, Maryland:
A skipper operating a boat single-handed will have violated at least one provision of their policy. All insurance companies have an implied warranty that the vessel is seaworthy. In tested legal cases, ‘seaworthy’ is defined as the vessel being reasonably fit to perform the services and encounter the ordinary perils of the voyage contemplated. This is extended to mean the vessel is operated within applicable COLREG rules, by a suitable crew for the voyage intended.
Similarly, Stephen White from the Baltimore-based law offices of Wright, Constable & Skeen wrote:
The warranties of seaworthiness are implied into every hull insurance policy by longstanding principles of marine insurance law…Two of the times the warranties are implied are the moment the insured accepts the policy, and the second is the moment the insured pulls away from the dock.
In other words, if a boater gets underway single-handed, the insurance company may be within its right to say the owner violated the warranty of seamanship by operating the vessel contrary to international maritime regulations. That is a big risk to take. Your policy may not specifically preclude the practice of operating single-handed, but it doesn’t mean you would be covered in an accident.
Stusek related the story of a couple who owned a boat and had secured insurance with both names on the policy. One partner chose to move the boat alone, while the other partner traveled to the destination by land. An electrical fire broke out on the boat, and the partner operating single-handed couldn’t maintain the helm and fight the fire. The boat was a total loss.
Based on the owner’s negligence to maintain a seaworthy vessel, the insurance company refused coverage. In U.S. courts, the absolute warranty of seaworthiness extends to the appropriate number of crew for the voyage intended.
In another recent sad case, a single-handed skipper suffered a heart attack while operating his trawler in the Bahamas. His boat was found days later, grounded on a desolate stretch of shoreline with the engines still in gear. Many cruising trawlers have enough fuel for days of operation. What if this unfortunate boater had not been in a confined chain of islands, but rather in the open ocean? His boat motoring along for days with no one at the helm would have been a hazard to all other vessels around it.
I interviewed owners who regularly single-hand their boats. Most report taking extraordinary steps to minimize their time away from the helm. They prepare meals ahead of time and do everything they can to operate safely—but when pressed, they also acknowledge they are taking added risks. They all claim they are being careful, but being careful in this situation works right up until it doesn’t.
Before single-handing your boat over any long distances, stop and think about the potential consequences. Lone boaters not only add risk for themselves, but also put all of the boats around them at increased risk. Find a friend or hire a mate to help you handle the boat. Not only will you be safer, but you may even find the cruising is even more enjoyable.
LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Every so often he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.
I captured this magic at Playa Punta Carola on Isla San Cristóbal; similar scenes played out everywhere, without fear or hesitation.No zoom required.
The wild animals I was raised amongst shied at my presence; white tailed deer, snowshoe rabbit, chickadee, assorted squirrels, raccoons, and avians were but a quick blur, providing glimpses of varied tails rather than the chance to observe, study or relate. My childhood home was in the woods on a dirt road and in decades of wandering the (very) lightly populated Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York I encountered only a single, rolly-polly, fast-moving black bear, barely recognizable in its race to safety; the birds we fed fled. The vast majority of that deciduous forest’s residents sank into the shadows with their natural camouflage, detected my presence long before I got there, and left me feeling like a solo traveler rather than an accepted participant in their environment. I carried only a camera, stepped what I thought was softly, and willed them to let me capture their character, to no avail; I disturbed the peace rather than brokered it.
The creatures of the Galápagos? They shied not at all.
Goldfinches procreate on the Malecón.
On the equatorial archipelago that Carlos Darwin (as he is known locally) made famous, sea lions are draped peacefully on every step, bench, dock and picnic table, calmly, awkwardly, moving toward their chosen spot until someone gives way. The only path to the lighthouse was blocked by snoozing pinnipeds. We climbed railings, rocks and ridges to maintain a respectful distance with the joy that is created by such a unique and calming presence as well as the paradox of it all.
It is as it should be, I think.Clearly, they were here first.
Los Lobos, the Sea Lions, were captivating; their calls echoed on the waterfront.
Tiny birds alight within easy reach, eyes clearly twinkling; ancient, ungainly tortoises utilize the narrow roads and long-imagined, prehistoric Marine Iguanas are everywhere, blending in perfectly with the lava rock where you were just about to step. On Tortuga Bay, Isla Santa Cruz, they were the beach traffic, dozens walked back and forth, forth and back, as we humans dodged, photographed and admired intricate, grasping claws, the erectness of their intimidating spines and the completeness of their patient silence.
Adaptable, indigenous Marine Iguanas were in the midst of nesting season, too.
I dusted tracks off the sarong laid down in a path that was not mine to block, and apologized profusely for overstepping my bounds. They were not bothered. I still was welcome, flitting along in the background of a National Park experiment that is brilliant in its simplicity and impressive in its success.
Tortuga Bay, Isla Santa Cruz
In that bay my skin wrinkled and whitened as I took in every detail of a 1.5 meter Pacific Green Sea Turtle grazing placidly in less than three feet of warm, hazy, outgoing tide. She turned her triangular tail, only to turn back, move closer, munch louder, not remotely disturbed by my hours of undying gratitude and gut-clenching fascination. Four others with similar girths and soulful presence that day had me in a haze of happiness. Young sharks darted by and assorted cleaner fish worked diligently on algaed, ancient shells and leathery skin; symbiosis beneath the surface.
One serious, informative young tour guide kept asking us in quick, strongly accented English, “Are you getting me here?” “Got you,” we told him, smiling, jealous that he lived in and taught about a world where everyone simply gets along. Red-throated lizards and even redder Sally Lightfoot Crabs pause rather than skitter; Blue-Footed Booby birds decorate the cliffs. Soaring Frigates constantly grace the sky, but you cannot keep looking up. You must look everywhere.
These timeless centurions were slaughtered for their meat to near extinction, including by Darwin’s expedition. A remarkable, if slow, comeback. 158 juveniles bred in captivity were released February 20th.
Procreating tortoises perform a time-tested, two-hour ritual.
I’ve explored only a small percentage of our amazing, complex world, but I’ve made concerted effort to see a considerable measure of the coveted creatures thus far identified above the surface of the sea and below it. Never have I been so peacefully proximate.I know this awe will be with me forever.
I was entranced by the reality of such fabled, varied life, all of it strolling, flying or swimming remarkably close to humans from all corners of the globe with remarkable, benign, curious acceptance. I’ve often commented on animals knowing, instinctively, who is a threat and who is not. Is that fact? I do not know. It is simply my observations, far and wide, which back up the theory, time and time again. ~J *** This one piece isn’t enough to show you what I experienced—-not even close! There will be more images & impressions in Part II —-Encounters beneath the surface—-next week. Hope you’re loving it!
You guessed it, more procreation is in the works….
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Palm Beach may appoint special magistrate in marine violation cases
Diego Diaz Lasa, Palm Beach Daily News
Palm Beach may soon see a new addition to its code-enforcement process — a magistrate judge with a focus on coastal and maritime law.
Fueled by the town’s recent efforts to manage the Lake Worth Lagoon, the Palm Beach Town Council on March 3 gave its initial approval to an ordinance that would create a new special magistrate position to oversee violations of the town’s laws regulating its beaches and waterways, as well as boating and other aquatic activities.
It’s an ordinance that may be codified by the month’s end, as Palm Beach Police Department Chief Nicholas Caristo requested the Town Council to hold a special meeting later this month.
Town of Palm Beach fleet manager Todd MacLauchlin loads a buoy onto the Palm Beach Police marine unit while Palm Beach Police Officer Quinn Mosko, facing, and other divers remove illegal moorings and bottom gear north of the Flagler Bridge in the Intracoastal Waterway on Aug. 26.
Council members agreed to meet at 9:30 a.m. on March 30 for a second reading of the ordinance, which could result in it becoming law.
That enforcement effort also has included enforcing a recently passed anchoring rule that prevents boaters from anchoring overnight for more than 30 days within a consecutive six-month period in waters where Palm Beach has jurisdiction. Officers have also issued citations for illegal mooring, lack of anchor lights or expired or nonexistent registration.
Under the potential new law, the Town Council would be able to appoint a special magistrate that would review those infractions and others that fall under chapter 74 of Palm Beach’s Code of Ordinances, titled “Parks and Recreation.”
The special magistrate would have the same quasi-judicial powers as the Code Enforcement Board, including the ability to subpoena alleged violators, take testimony under oath and issue fines as well as lawful orders to bring violators into compliance.
The appointee would be required to be an attorney licensed in Florida who has experience with coastal or maritime law.
The ordinance does not limit the number of special magistrates the town can appoint, nor does it place a term limit on those appointed to the position. However, it does note a special magistrate can be removed via a Town Council vote.
Town Attorney Joanne O’Connor said the ordinance shouldn’t face legal pushback, as Florida law allows municipalities to have both a code enforcement board and a magistrate judge with different purviews.
For example, Lighthouse Point in Broward County has a code enforcement board for violations related to residential buildings and a special magistrate for violations related to commercial buildings, O’Connor told the council.
Town Hall Staff recommend the special magistrate specifically for that section of the code, because the Code Enforcement Board may lack the familiarity with complex sphere of coastal and marine law, according to a memo attached to the ordinance.
W.P Franklin Lock will be closed tomorrow, Feb 3, 2026 all day for an Electrical System Upgrade. 
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