BRADENTON BEACH – This time last year, 68 boats – many derelict – were moored or anchored in Sarasota Bay off the coast of Bradenton Beach.
As of Sept. 3, that number is down to 15, largely due to an increase in patrolling by the Bradenton Beach Police Department.
Though it is legal for anyone to moor or anchor their boat in the shallow water of the bay, there are laws that the crafts must adhere to.
“To legally be here, a boat has to run under its own power and be seaworthy,” Acting Police Chief Lt. John Cosby said. “The registration also has to be up to date and it must be able to be steered and maneuvered.”
To assure compliance with these regulations, Officer Eric Hill and other members of the department regularly patrol the bay on their boat, checking for up-to-date registrations and obvious violations. This can include a craft that has taken on water because windows or hatches have been left open, excessive barnacle buildup on the hull or missing sails and motors.
Officers can ask boat operators to demonstrate the seaworthiness of their craft at any time. If the owner cannot demonstrate the boat is in working order, they are issued a warning citation and given a period of time to make the necessary repairs. If there is no one present and officers see the boat is in obvious disrepair, they will attach the warning or citation to the craft.
If necessary repairs are not made after a craft is warned or cited, the department runs the registration number and begins a derelict case on the boat. This process involves taking photos to prove the boat is not in working order, then sending a certified letter to the last known owner. According to Cosby, this doesn’t always get results because boats are often bought and sold without changing registration with the state.
“Let’s say I own that boat and I sold it to you, then I don’t tell the state that I sold the boat and you live on it. When a derelict report is filed on that boat, I’m responsible, not you,” said Cosby, explaining the complexities that can come into play when trying to get a derelict boat out of the bay.
According to Cosby, in some instances, boat owners will get in over their heads. Whether it was a dream of fixing up an older boat and the expense got out of hand, learning that living on a boat is more difficult than it may have seemed in the beginning or even having a boat sink, the dream often dies and the boat is left to deteriorate in the water. Officials understand this and have a way out for owners who are past the point of no return.
“If they can’t fix the boat, they can do what’s called a title sign-over. They give us the title to the boat and the city becomes the owner of the property,” said Cosby. While this may not be the desired outcome for the boat owner, it’s a way out. The owner doesn’t incur any fines and is not responsible for the cost of removing the vessel from the water.
The reasons for stepping up enforcement are mostly for safety, according to Hill, who pointed out numerous places along the Bradenton Beach Pier where there was new lumber from repairs made due to loose boats crashing into it during storms. Sunken boats and boats that have broken free of their moorings and run into shore are easy to spot on the bay. In addition to crashing into piers and shore, there is also a risk of collision with other craft in the water.
Cosby says while the new enforcement has shown amazing results and made the bay a much safer place, it took putting a plan into place and some education to make it happen.
“We got the city to adopt an ordinance; we had to go to court a few times, the judges really weren’t used to dealing with this so there was some courtroom education there to make sure fines were being levied against them. Eventually, word got out and some went over to Palmetto and some went south. They just realized they weren’t going to get away with it here,” Cosby added.
Cosby says his department is unique in the seriousness of their enforcement, saying only Sarasota is as strict, patrolling the area around Marina Jack.
The Bradenton Beach Police Department does not have a regular schedule of boat patrols. Unlike getting in a cruiser on land and taking to the streets, there are factors that can make it difficult to patrol the water. This can be especially problematic during the summer months when pop-up storms can be severe. Cosby also said the recent red tide has made it difficult to be on the water.
The effect of heavy summer rain is also easy to spot while on the water in the area where many of the boats in the bay are moored or anchored. “Listing” is a nautical term for a vessel that has taken on water and begins to lean to one side. There are multiple examples of this currently in the bay. If a boat is left listing and the water is not removed, it will eventually take on enough water to completely roll over and capsize. While most of the time a listing boat is not occupied and probably not a safety hazard to anyone onboard, it becomes a costly cleanup and removal project for the city, and may even prove to be an environmental problem as well.
