HARBOR MANAGEMENT ISSUES - WATER QUALITY, HEADS & PUMPOUTS,
REGULATED ANCHORAGES, MOORINGS, HARBORMASTER, ETC

Implementation of the Proposed No-Discharge Zone For the State Waters of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
March 25, 2002  Draft Plan

May 25th 2002 Keynoter Reports : No-Discharge rule going into effect June 19, 2002. -- All State Waters of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary are a No Discharge Zone. This is absolutely unnecessary. It was presented to the community as a law that prohibits the discharge of human waste into near shore waters. That sounds like a valiant cause, but it's false.  Existing laws ALREADY prevent this. The reason the No-Discharge zone was implemented was MONEY. Federal funds became available for enforcement of the No-Discharge provisions, while local money must be used to enforce the existing laws. This is done at the price of increased layers of regulation - most of which local authorities say they will "not" enforce - only the boaters discharge aspect. Multiple layers of increasing and unnecessary regulation is never a good thing.

I personally opposed implementation of this plan because clean water was not the honest reason this was pushed through. The plan itself acknowledges that existing laws are already sufficient to enforce boaters pumping out sewage in near shore waters. This is NOT about clean water. This IS about money. When the EPA was allowed to implement the no-discharge zone keys wide, then federal money became available for local operations. This also provides a footing for the EPA and the federal government to exercise direct authority in the Keys in some situations where they would otherwise have been prevented. I am supportive of utilizing federal subsidies where available and appropriate. However, this rule saddles ALL the local community with additional layers of laws and many more restrictions on what can be done in Keys waters than is identified in this draft plan. Read it and see for yourself. Then let your opinions be known. It's rather a moot point now because it IS implemented, but a knowledgeable public is always a good thing to prevent this type of  shallow "sounds good" lawmaking from occurring in the future. It was done to facilitate other political agendas - not to clean up the water. It is also counter productive and will result in WORSE water quality from legal boaters. Some boats contain onboard sanitation devices that purify the discharge to a degree MUCH better than municipal treatment plants. Now it's illegal for them to use them, instead pumping their raw sewage into treatment plants at someplace like Key West, where it is treated to only a fraction of the degree the boat would have, then discharging it out a pipe a few hundred yards from the beach. Not too great for clean water, but federal money does now come into local use.

You can look below for more information on water quality issues including articles about EPA no discharge zones, holding tanks, and the harbor committees original recommendations. This is in .PDF format so you must have adobe acrobat reader to view it.

Water Quality - Sewage Pumpouts - Boat Heads - and EPA "No Discharge Zones"
This provides an extensive explanation of current laws regulating discharge of sewage from boats (EPA no discharge zones are unnecessary and redundant), EPA statistics on boaters contribution to Keys water pollution (1.5%), a brochure on the Clean Water Act, and several articles discussing boat heads and sewage. We recommend that any vessel displaying a current "Vessel Safety Check" sticker from the USCG Auxiliary or the US Power Squadrons be exempted from any safety or head compliance inspections from law enforcement officers here in the Keys. This page includes an article by Chuck Kanter, member of the original Boot Key Harbor committee, on the counterproductive state of holding tanks and pumpouts.

October 2002 Report from the City Marina on Total Pump-Out Statistics
During a six month period in 2002, 672 pumpouts were provided to 162 vessels with an average of 29 gallons per pumpout. 94% of  liveaboard vessels have been pumped.
 

MARATHON CITY MARINA & MOORINGS (MARATHON)

GO TO the CITY OF MARATHON for current mooring and dockage rates for City Marina -
It's under "Departments" / "Marina"
However - they have not published their rules & regulations there  - they are listed above on this page.

City & Marina Officials - if you have updates to these please send them to CapnGreg@BootKeyHarbor.com

Boot Key Harbor Rules May 22, 2002:  City Council adopted the regulations for the harbor, but did so without incorporating the changes in the plan that they had agreed to and promised would be included. Mayor John Bartus and Councilman Randy Mearns objected (thank you both) to passing the regulations without the agreed upon changes, but were outvoted. Maximum size boat on a mooring is 40 feet. Mooring fees are $150 monthly including dinghy dockage for stays of 6 months or longer, and $200 monthly for shorter stays, plus additional dinghy dockage of $3 daily, $15 weekly or $50 monthly. In addition, for monthly leases, you are required to pay a security deposit equal to the monthly fee. There is some dissent on the council about this because including dinghy dockage will now compete with private business in the harbor such as dockside which also provides dinghy dockage / showers etc.. The prolific rules are posted above on this page.

You can print out all these rules and regulations - Most are in Adobe Acrobat Reader Format, so click on the icon at the left to get a free copy if you don't already have it on your computer. They'll open in their own page so once you print it (use the Adobe toolbar to print, not your browser command) close the window to come back here.
 

 I can't recommend staying at the City Marina or use their Moorings at this time. Where have you ever cruised in your boat that had you sign for and submit to 24 pages of rules and regulations, not including 15 pages of the underlying ordinance? This is overbearing regulation at its worst, and was probably contrived by well meaning but nautically ignorant attorneys. You can't stay on a mooring anyway if you're over 40'. You have plenty of other good  options including anchoring outside the mooring field, and at the following marinas in the harbor (there are also plenty outside the harbor):  * Burdines Waterfront (west) * Sombrero Resort-Lighthouse Marina (east) * *Harbourside Marina at Canon Marine , *Faro Blanco Oceanside (west) *Marathon Boatyard (central) *Marathon Marina (west but not recommended) * Pancho's (west). CLICK HERE for listings of marinas in and around Marathon. It is probably true that the City may eventually try to extend it's direct control to all anchoring within the harbor, as their ordinance listed above provides. I would encourage every local citizen to voice their opinions on this to City Councilmen, and for cruising boaters to contact the Marathon Chamber of Commerce and City Council and let them know your displeasure with over regulation of the harbor. Local City Council members - please have these overbearing agreements administratively reviewed and slimmed down to a one page simple agreement that is balanced and fair for both the visiting boaters and the city - not a cya  document drawn up by a landlocked attorney. When these issues of "fairness" and balanced management of the harbor are resolved I will become the city's biggest supporter.

February 2003: CITY OF MARATHON MARINA MASTER PLAN. Click to go to the marina page and view sketches of the proposed new facilities. -
Visit the CITY website for updates any subsequent updates.

"Regulated" anchorages
See the links above for a discussion of the legal issues and anchoring rights
There are no current (July 2003) restrictions on times allowed to anchor, and we recommend that NONE be implemented. Previous proposals have included a very restricted and temporary anchorage area, with a 72 hour limit on anchoring and requires ALL anchored vessels to be registered and regulated. We believe that this is both unnecessary and unreasonable. Many cruisers would consider a month as a minimal stopping time for a harbor such as ours. Many wait 2-3 months for the crossing to the Bahamas or the Caribbean. We think this is reasonable in boating terms. At minimum, a 30 day period should be permitted (preferably 90 days for fairness)  prior to registering with the harbor master. Anchored boats should never be required to immediately register or "check-in" in any way, though they should observe all maritime laws. We also don't believe that every boater should be forced to take and pay for a mooring buoy either.  The real problem has been people leaving their boats unattended for the long term in the harbor as cheap (free) storage. We should address this problem because these boats are usually the ones that go unattended and eventually sink and foul the harbor. This can be done on a reasonable basis though by the harbormaster routinely traversing the harbor (notice I did not say patrolling) and noting the long term boats. It becomes apparent which ones  have been here for months or years unattended, and these should be removed. It is undesirable to have each and every boat register when they enter the harbor if they don't take a mooring buoy. Current marine regulations are sufficient for regulation of boating within the harbor.
 

Mooring Buoy Fields

A limited Mooring Field is very useful for the Harbor. The Boot Key Harbor Ad Hoc Committee, appointed by the County Commissioners, recommended that NO MORE THAN 25 MOORING BUOYS be initially placed.  We suggest the placement of no more than 25 Mooring Buoys as recommended by the County's original committee, and which is currently (2002) installed. Further placement may be determined by demand and effects on water quality. We recommend that at least 50% of good anchorage areas in the harbor be retained, and that at no time should the mooring field size exceed that of adequate anchorage. The entire purpose of a mooring field in this context, as defined in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary plan, is simply to keep boats in one geographical area so that pumpout services (marina or honey barge) are more easily provided. Because the Harbor is already confined geographically the mooring fields have little impact on keeping the fleet together for easier sanitation purposes, unlike Key West where anchored boats may be strung out over miles in various small harbors and creeks. For Boot Key Harbor then the mooring field has minimal impact on water quality issues and becomes one of convenience for boaters and revenue generation for the city. We recommend that any such moorings are built to the highest standard possible to withstand hurricane forces. SEE THE ACTUAL MOORING LICENSE LISTED ABOVE. THE MOORINGS WERE NOT BUILT TO HURRICANE STANDARDS AS RECOMMENDED BY THE ORIGINAL HARBOR COMMITTEE.

Editorial Article In Marathon Sail & Power Squadron Newsletter
regarding stewardship of Boot Key Harbor (Sept 2001)
Unbridled Tourism?,  vs. Quality of Life for Residents

Greg's Vision of a BKH Harbormaster

Harbor Master - Ambassador for the City of Marathon

We would make the emphasis and purpose of the Harbor Master  that of ambassador and host for the City of Marathon. A Harbor Master (their representative) should visit every boat (moored or anchored, - registered or not) as a kind of harbor "Welcome Wagon" after they arrive. They would provide an information packet to each boat which informed them of available local services, and of regulations within the harbor (The Marathon Sail & Power Squadron has such a packet they would be happy to provide  to the City for reproduction- www.bootkeyharbor.com/power_squadron.htm).  The Harbor Master  would certainly be responsible for management and collection of fees from the mooring fields and other services, and oversee reasonable enforcement of harbor regulations. Inspections or enforcements would be performed for cause only, and would never be conducted as harbor sweeps. Under no situation should boaters be forced to consent to boardings and inspection at any time without cause.

If the harbor master's other business duties prevent them cruising the harbor each day for monitoring and welcoming boaters, then it might be a good idea to solicit volunteers from boaters in the city marina or moorings, and trade them a day of free slip rental for each day they perform this function. They could carry the packet of information on the harbor and Marathon with them to leave with new boats in the harbor, register new boats at the moorings and assist boaters in any way they can.

What goes around, comes around, and this is the face we should show our neighbors and visitors alike.