New Anchoring Restrictions in Georgia

Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
This is getting some attention on other forums. The state of Georgia is enacting new legislation to restrict anchoring in the state.

While I wouldn't normally refer someone from SBO to another forum there is a long discussion on the topic at Cruisers Forum that would discusses this in some detail.

Here's a link to the actual legislation:
http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/187069.pdf

Skipping the Georgia coast on the way up or down the ICW is beginning to sound like a good idea.
 
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Sep 20, 2014
1,320
Rob Legg RL24 Chain O'Lakes
"Nothing in this Code section shall prohibit short-term anchoring for fishing or similar activities"

OK, so they way I see it, I have a 3/4 inch fishing line off the bow with a really big hook on the end.
 
Nov 26, 2008
1,966
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
"Nothing in this Code section shall prohibit short-term anchoring for fishing or similar activities"

OK, so they way I see it, I have a 3/4 inch fishing line off the bow with a really big hook on the end.
Good luck. You will need a Ga fishing license and fishing rods must be attended.
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
i agree with everything in this bill. it's about 50 years late from my prospective. the damage done by vessels swinging on an anchor chain is real. the bahamas of the 1950's was magical. it's a desert today. the florida keys is the same. once loran showed up every unskilled boater started showing up and anchoring everywhere. swinging on a chain. the destruction was absolute. the bahamas today are a desert, the gardens underwater are destroyed. for those that say "i only anchor in the sand" well, that sand was a garden only a few years ago. the only way to get the garden back is to leave it be.
the estuaries of georgia are are not like the shoreline of the PNW. yet you read opinions from people many thousands of miles away like they know something.
great law, about time, love it, Jon
 
Nov 26, 2008
1,966
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
i agree with everything in this bill. it's about 50 years late from my prospective. the damage done by vessels swinging on an anchor chain is real. the bahamas of the 1950's was magical. it's a desert today. the florida keys is the same. once loran showed up every unskilled boater started showing up and anchoring everywhere. swinging on a chain. the destruction was absolute. the bahamas today are a desert, the gardens underwater are destroyed. for those that say "i only anchor in the sand" well, that sand was a garden only a few years ago. the only way to get the garden back is to leave it be.
the estuaries of georgia are are not like the shoreline of the PNW. yet you read opinions from people many thousands of miles away like they know something.
great law, about time, love it, Jon
You've anchored in coastal Ga? I have, plenty of times and not once pulled up any grass. it is THICK mud, at least several feet deep. The bill actually has a pretty modest fee for yearly anchoring so it will not run off the bum boats. Restricting anchoring to only designated places, those places will get a LOT of pressure. Cruisers will be severely hampered when trying to time the restrictive tides. There are 4 or 5 places where sailboats need plenty of tide help to transit, you time your anchorings depending on where you are in relation to the tides.
 
Nov 26, 2008
1,966
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
Not to mention pump out log keeping.
I think that is for a whole year and how do you account for offshore legal pumping? Honest officer, I was offshore just yesterday and pumped out there. Uh huh, tell it to the judge a month from now when you are in the Bahamas.
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
If there are environmentally sensitive areas where anchoring, overnight or for fishing or sunbathing, then I have no problem with having restricted areas. @jon hansen provides a historical viewpoint for this. If the environmentally sensitive area is the waterfront view of some politically influential person, then that is a different story.

Since I live and sail in a no discharge zone dealing with a no discharge is not a big deal. And, I really don't want to be anchored near somebody who decides to empty their 30 gallon holding tank just up stream or up wind. :yikes: So how do you set a limit on discharging and how do you enforce it? One toilet flush is OK? Emptying a tank isn't? Much easier to just say no discharge and be done with it.

Probably most irksome is the fee. What do I get for my $5 except for permission? Do they come and pick up my trash? Mark the most desirable anchoring spots? Come chase off loud obnoxious partiers?
 
Feb 20, 2011
7,990
Island Packet 35 Tucson, AZ/San Carlos, MX
I think that is for a whole year and how do you account for offshore legal pumping? Honest officer, I was offshore just yesterday and pumped out there. Uh huh, tell it to the judge a month from now when you are in the Bahamas.
I said to not mention that! :biggrin:
 
Nov 26, 2008
1,966
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
It is illegal to discharge everywhere along the coast inside of 3 miles. It is the method of enforcement. In Fl, the FWC boards your boat and puts a dye in your head and flushes. If the dye shows up in the water, you're busted. Trying to use the log book is silly. What constitutes a proper entry? Will you have to get the pumpout person to sign your log? That won't happen in N Fl or S SC on your way thru the ICW.
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
thankyou for proving my point. the food chain starts in the "mud". the spawning grounds of many things are in the "mud" .
love the new law.
 
Nov 26, 2008
1,966
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
thankyou for proving my point. the food chain starts in the "mud". the spawning grounds of many things are in the "mud" .
love the new law.
Then you should not want ANY anchoring. The law allows for anchoring for fishermen who out number cruisers by easily 1000:1, probably much more. Dredging is done all along the ICW and side channels which digs up 100,000 times more mud than cruisers. Do you eat shrimp? The shrimpers along that coast cover the entire seabed with their drag nets.

Any life forming in the mud will not be harmed in any meaningful way by pulling up an anchor. Silliness.
 
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May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
you are totally correct that this law will not correct much if anything at all. you are correct that i am silly. i'm silly to think that anyone cares.
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
gettingthere, i have gone down the icw. my brother is a highly trained marine biologist that worked the coastal region of the south eastern seaboard. he finally gave up and became a doctor. so yeah, i know some things and have access to knowledge of that area. what say you?
 
May 17, 2004
5,030
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
thankyou for proving my point. the food chain starts in the "mud". the spawning grounds of many things are in the "mud" .
love the new law.
But nothing about the law cites protecting seafloor as an objective. Maybe that would be an accidental side effect but without it being the intent I'd be surprised if it worked out. Like gettinthere said, dangers to the seafloor from other types of anchoring and fishing are beyond the scope of what this law could contain.

It seems to me there are already laws that prohibit illegal discharge. Is chasing people out of the state really the most effective way of balancing protecting the environment with letting people enjoy the environment?
 
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Nov 26, 2008
1,966
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
I've seen MUCH more sea grass and growth in common anchorages in the Great Lakes. The very popular and famous Pool in Bae Fine has a lot of weeds. Since the zebra mussels have cleaned the water so much, seabed growth is booming. Bass, walleye, pike, sunfish, drum and more live in those grasses. I think anchoring should be banned in the Great Lakes which are much more fragile than coastal wetland waters.
 
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