Boot Key Harbor
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ABANDONED & "STORED" VESSELS IN BOOT KEY HARBOR
Gregory Absten
Discussion & Recommendations
updated 7/29/03

This is what we are all trying to avoid - abandoned and neglected vessels that sink or blow onto other's property or boats during storms.

There have been many calls for very strict registration and tracking of all vessels that enter and moor or anchor in Boot Key Harbor. I don't encourage or support this approach whatsoever and will vocally oppose any such efforts. The reason for this emphasis though has been the large number of vessels that are essentially left unattended in the Harbor that proceed to sink through neglect or the stress of storms - normal storms or hurricanes. Of course this then becomes a major problem for the Harbor in that they are major eyesores, ruin valuable anchorage space, are navigational hazards, and pose environmental hazards if fuel or oil is onboard. This is absolutely a problem that should be addressed, but it should not be accomplished by heavy handed tracking and registration of every boat that enters the harbor. (onboard sanitation is a different issue that is addressed on other pages of this website, but should still not require mandatory registration).

I would propose a friendlier approach to monitoring of boats in the harbor by the harbormaster and assistants. This would actually go hand-in-hand with the ambassador nature of the harbormasters job. It's called "management by walking around" - or in this case by cruising around. The harbormaster, or his assistant, should routinely cruise (not patrol) the harbor once every 1-2 days. The primary purpose of this would be to act as a maritime "welcome wagon", and distribute information to new boats on harbor regulations and on facilities and services in the Marathon area (they can use printouts of Marathon information on this website if so desired - or we can put information packets together for free distribution, with the support of area advertisers). As they cruise up and down the harbor they can make note of the boats that are anchored or moored. Importantly they can note any boats that do not display proper state registrations or federal documentation. I believe it is unnecessary and undesirable to document the valid registrations of every boat in the harbor. Screening should simply be done for unregistered boats so we can get them out of the harbor BEFORE they sink. This type of presence by the harbormaster would require a small boat for official use. Though it should be very visibly marked as the Boot Key Harbor Harbormaster's boat, we should refrain at all costs from giving this vessel the appearance of a law enforcement boat, including avoidance of blue lights or sirens on the boat. This is very important to retain an image of dignity and respect for the City of Marathon , and not that of the maritime KGB. If law enforcement becomes necessary, then such services are available through the marine patrol, coast guard or sheriff's office.

The city (and previously county) really view the harbormaster as a business manager and grant writer. There is no problem with this but it should not be confused with the duties of a real harbormaster. If the current harbormaster does not have the time or inclination to daily cruise the harbor as a goodwill ambassador for the city, then this should be delegated to other city marina workers. An even better way would be to enlist the help of boaters registered with the marina to perform these harbor monitoring / education / welcoming functions. The city could trade off a free day slip or mooring rental for each day a person volunteered for this function. I used to cruise the harbor every day and two hours is more than enough time.

Problems with these boats in the harbor stem from one or more of several circumstances as follows:

STORED BOATS: The harbor is a cheap (as in free) place to keep a boat. I don't have too much of a problem with this provided that the boat is properly registered (so we can contact the owner) and monitored by the owner. Problems stem when they're just left unattended without looking after, the batteries die, bilges fill up with rain water, anchors drag, or it starts taking on seawater through inattention to maintenance and hull integrity. Now we have another sunken boat in the harbor. The problem with many of the current sunken boats is that there are no valid registrations on these boats and owners cannot be tracked to enforce removal of these derelicts. By having the harbormaster screen boats routinely for valid registrations we could eliminate this part of the problem. The boat might still sink but there is recourse on the owner to have it removed. There does come a question at some point, when boats are left unattended indefinitely, about the seaworthiness of the vessel and having it removed as a precaution. This type of interdiction should involve the coast guard or other law enforcement. Owners should be contacted first for a voluntary inspection, but boarded and inspected by law enforcement anyway if the owner does not respond or cannot be contacted. "Ugliness" of a boat should never be grounds for either removal or boarding by law enforcement. Interdiction should occur only when there is a real and valid reason, based upon the reasonable judgment of the harbormaster or law enforcement, that the vessel is in jeopardy of sinking or dragging anchor. This "wait and see" policy for boats stored this way in the harbor could be monitored over time to see if any further management were necessary. Though any mandantory registrations should be avoided, if the stored boats eventually became more of a problem, a "next level" policy could be to have any boats that are to be left unattended for more than 30 days in the harbor, to be registered with the harbormaster, and no fees would be involved for these anchored boats. During the routine "cruising" of the harbor by the harbormaster, they would begin to notice boats that seemed to be always unattended and were there for more than 30 days. Some of these boats have been in the harbor for several years with no apparent attention or attendance by their owners.

ABANDONED BOATS: These are frequently derelicts from the very start. Many, if not most, are not registered to begin with so that they would be "red flagged" by the harbormaster anyway during their routine "ambassador" cruises. Even if registered, the harbormaster would note over time that they appeared to be essentially unattended, and an effort would be made to contact the owner in the manner stated above. These are the boats most likely to sink. Their owners simply abandon them in the harbor because it's cheap (free), then they get no attention whatsoever and eventually sink - if nothing else just due to rainwater collection and nonworking bilge pumps. I know that there have been stolen boats left in the harbor this way after they have been stripped of anything worthwhile.

DERELICT BUT OCCUPIED BOATS: This would typically be one of the floating something-or-another's (maybe a boat, maybe a barge, maybe a leftover anything) that occupy the harbor as cheap liveaboard housing. Though the same admonition should apply that "Ugliness" should never be grounds for removal or harassment, it's also true that all liveaboard boats in the harbor should be properly registered as some type of watercraft with the state or federally documented. Once this question of valid registration is achieved, all other questions about the "vessel" meeting navigational and safety requirements should be of no concern to the harbormaster. That is not their job. The Coast Guard or Marine Patrol determines whether or not a vessel conforms to navigational and safety requirements, not the City of Marathon through the harbormaster. In this regard navigational lights are needed only when a vessel is underway at night. There is no navigational requirement for an operational engine aboard, and this should never be a consideration in any harbor regulations - after all, engines break frequently and many vessels are left powerless for various periods of time. There are many true sailors that use no engines at all - it is SAIL after all - and even the SW Florida Regional Harbor Board recognizes that sailboats without engines are acceptable. An anchor light is required. The problem with real derelict boats is that they are potentially unseaworthy and prone to sink in the harbor, and the problem for the City and the harbormaster is to make a judgment about what constitutes "derelict" - again, ugliness not being one of the criteria. This involves much more of a gray area for the judgment of any official that is involved in this, but simply the process of scrutinizing boats for seaworthiness (initially at a cruising "arms length") will motivate more people to attend to the seaworthiness of their vessels. In selecting unseaworthy vessels for further inspections via boarding's by law enforcement, I would be very careful to be ultra-conservative in this policy by giving most boats the benefit of the doubt. This is an imperfect system but it is preferred to having the City impose oppressive actions and restrictions on mostly law abiding and respectable citizens in the boating community. One thing this would do is to eliminate floating barges and shacks that cannot qualify for any type state registration as a watercraft. I personally have no problem with these if they float and are attended, but I understand that their existence probably cannot be defended with the community at large. If the boats do end up sinking then they have already been screened for their registration, so that there is recourse against an identified owner to have it removed.

The owners of boats that are found to be unseaworthy or otherwise pose a real risk of sinking, should be given an opportunity to correct the hazards in a short time period. Owners that do not respond to these citations (by law enforcement, not harbormaster) to correct a seaworthiness problem, or for those whose owners are unable to be contacted, should have the boat towed from the harbor before it sinks. Any towing or storage costs should be passed on to the owner of the boat. This towing will be cheaper to the community in the long run, rather than incurring clean up costs after they sink. Issuing orders to tow someone's personal property should be reserved for last ditch efforts and not issued lightly.

Once a boat has been impounded by the city - due to no valid registration or trackable owner, or is in unseaworthy condition that the owner did not correct - then it could be auctioned off to generate revenue, or if worthless either hauled to the dump at City cost (covered by owner if they can be located) or towed out to sea and sunk if no fuel were on board. (The coast guard could use these boats for practice fires, gunnery and intentional sinkings).

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