Abandoned and derelict boats causing major environmental problem in South Florida waters

[@ninehundreddollarluxuryyac5958]

The state has done this to themselves. You are not allowed to salvage these boats shortly after they sink, so they become these worthless derelicts. That way the state gets an excuse to transfer tax money to their friends who own companies that remove them. Allow ordinary people to get title to sunken boats and your problem will disappear by itself.

[@babylonfallssoon]

Exactly

[@JohnJohn-cu7nk]

👍👏

[@rogerjohnson8707]

My friend who did this in Lee County had to solicit three bids. The companies who won the bids were frequently companies who would helped him out in emergencies.

[@WilliamPozo]

Based on the marine patrol units at Matheson and Black Point.. they are absolutely not over extended. Just go there mon- friday during the week. They have lots of time and resources. I think the existing resources could be doing allot more but no one is willing to say that.

[@johnzee691]

I completely understand the dangers of derelict boats, but having a swimmer who doesn't watch where she swims as a spokes person...... come on.

[@rogerjohnson8707]

I have a friend who was a Marine Officer for Lee County on the West side of the State. He was assigned the task of removing these vessels. The paperwork is crazy and the procedure is extremely time consuming. When the paper trail and notifications are completed, they might wait 6 months or a year for funding from the State.

[@patmcbride9853]

Offer a bounty for reporting previously unknown abandoned vessels, and for turning in the owner.

[@brianjones8673]

Make it okay for people to claim it for free and you would not have a problem 😉

[@brianjones8673]

@Logging Inc. ah I hadn't seen that mentioned when I looked into it but I was browsing quickly. Obviously I need to do more homework. Thanks for correcting me.

[@rddrg18]

Can’t people claim the boats as salvage? Under maritime law doesn’t abandoned boats qualify as salvage?

[@ninehundreddollarluxuryyac5958]

Florida is a title state. You cannot drive a boat without a registration and they will not register it without a title. They do not give titles for salvaged boats. This is so they can transfer tax money to their friends who remove the boats for six figure payments. It is almost impossible to get a license to remove the boats without political connections. This is because it would cost less than ten percent as much to remove them if free-market rules were allowed to function in the marine salvage industry. Welcome to Florida, where government profits from your misery.

[@scubatim_fl]

Florida has no salvage law and therefor YOU MUST have title to the boat or its grand theft.

[@johnpilesky2571]

The mermaid swimmer story don’t add up. I believe there is a lot of abandon boat. But what she was doing you know damn well she had a safety team following her.🙀

[@osvaldosanchez5265]

Pleasure boaters aren’t the issue here. Most of those derelict boats are owned by the hermits who live aboard them and can’t afford upkeep. So as soon as the boat springs a leak they abandon it. A lot of those boats floating around in the bay are barely seaworthy. Held together with duct tape and bubble gum.

[@mikevankleeck3610]

Um but what about the toxic stuff from pine point ??

[@justdoingitjim7095]

There was a commercial boat dumping ground just inside Dickenson Bayou off Dickenson Bay, near Galveston Bay. I could see derelict shrimp and oyster boats half sunk where they were run aground and abandoned. One day I say a shrimp boat pulling another shrimp boat that had been stripped of all it's rigging and I had a hunch they were going to dump it at the boat graveyard. I got my camcorder and recorded them towing the vessel to the graveyard and then pushing it onto the sandbar. I zoomed in and got good shots of the two guys on the shrimp boat and the TX number on their boat. They drove off and left the boat and I called the Coast Guard. They finally showed up at my place two days later and took the tape I had and said they'd look into it. As far as I know nothing was ever done about it. Thankfully several years later the county funded (with taxpayer's money) a clean up and removed all the derelict boats and erected a sign prohibiting boat dumping! I like to think that maybe my video had something to do with the final clean up of Dickenson Bayou. Now they just have to address the raw sewage being dumped in it by the upstream water treatment plant! It never ends!

[@chaz6578]

How fast do u have to swim to hit a sunk boat??

[@nurselisa40]

I'm in a landlocked state, so don't yell at me; but why can't the boats, etc, be coralled into a central location to make the water ways safer while waiting on the legalities?

[@mikefrayman5224]

My neighbor scuttled his boat and told the authorities that it washed up to his property in a storm. I showed him by Google maps that the boat was on his dock for over three years before he got a new one and disposed of his old one into the bay. It’s still there and the police did nothing to this

[@scubatim_fl]

Florida law JUST went into effect this year.

[@rmartin2763]

That law sucks for the guy who sells his boat to Fred, but then Fred never registers boat and it ends up in the bay 10 years later - the bill goes to the last registered owner?

[@scubatim_fl]

FL vessel titles have waiver of liability for the seller to put the new owners info in and they sign it, you mail that to the DMV and no issue then.

[@Herblay63]

This is a growing problem across the developed world... there is now an abundance of GRP leisure boats that are 40 to 50 plus years old just lying around on the foreshore and in the back lots of boat yards. The cost of refitting and bringing an old boat up to seafaring condition can be so involved and expensive that nearly all of them are heading for abandonment. Not sure what the answer is but some responsibility must surely remain with the previous owner in cases where they sell yachts to a beatnik for a token $1 thereby transferring their liability on paper but in practice its only going one way... to sink on a mooring and then to become the responsibility for local tax payers.

[@beboboymann3823]

Refuse any future licenses/tags etc. on all vehicles/boats of the owners until the tab is paid for removal. Irresponsible people don’t understand anything until you go deep into their pickets.

[@Glidescube]

send them the clean up bill.

[@hoosierpete]

A lot of those boats lived on by the homeless who can't afford proper maintenance and it doesn't take long for the ocean to destroy a boat.

[@adventureswithgrandpa]

I passed thousands of abandoned boats along the ICW

[@markthomas3730]

I'm sure the registered Owners of these abandoned vessels have Drivers Licences...should be easy to find them and suspend thier DL's until the $$ they owe for removing their boat from the water is PAID IN FULL

[@janaburritt6939]

Interesting but they have to work to pay

[@kevina8172]

up in st pete we call them boat bums, most all do not have a Driver lic. I have known two that died of drugs, but they are like rats one leaves two come back. its to easy to be a bum on the water

[@marvindebot3264]

That's what they do here in Australia, unpaid fines result in a letter saying pay, work out a payment scheme or we suspend your license. That can cover fines issued for a whole range of things.

[@festungkurland9804]

lol blaming boat for a city's pollutants...ok

[@stephenburnage7687]

Boats are not like cars. They require a lot of care and attention. Not everyone is suited to the responsibilities of boat ownership.

[@KurdtC-nn3ov]

Dude it's not that complicated. Wax on wax off

[@d.g.rohrig4063]

Wondering how many were lost to hurricanes?

[@scottholloway9506]

you should charge old owners with removal, clean up and fine.

[@TheDillberto]

mermaid lives matter

[@brittanymcglothlin2830]

Just looked this up bc i was so shocked to see this on a boat tour in Anna Maria some of the boats even had dogs left on them😢

[@kayakchrispy]

Sold your boat … buyer never registered it … they dump it .. and last registered owner is responsible…

[@mitchkayla9195]

Keep bill of sale and photo of truck and driver that picked up boat. Protection is key

[@kevina8172]

problem i see with your statement is we are dealing with scum people they sell for a six pack and do not get registered

[@justdoingitjim7095]

If the buyer never registers it and the current registration expires, then you get a ticket when the CG or Game Warden sees you. Then they have your name and address connected to THAT boat!

[@justinriley3096]

Hell with the Owner if Abandoned it’s anyone game even if it to the Junk yard

[@dna888]

Yup, stop this trash, stop production and processing

[@juanalmos1959]

thats the Hialeah Santeros cubans that love doing that

[@greatergood3706]

It's a Hialeah thing, others don't understand what they do

[@lennyray42]

Clean out the oil n dump them where the rest of the artificial reef boats were sunk…

[@rooster1012]

Problem is most are made of fiberglass and other toxic materials that breakdown over time and are not suitable for that.

[@danh3534]

Starts before they are abandoned, every boat has to have numbers and registration sticker, marine patrol should be checking these, especially those vagabond boats anchored out with no motor. Limit anchoring periods as well. Laws need to address the bigger issue vagabonds...

[@rerite2]

Watching this gave me a sinking feeling. oh, well.

[@carloko08]

hahhahh 😄

[@SurfCityAmpRoom1]

They need to add a couple dollars to the boat registrations to pay for this.

[@peterchristie292]

Environmental problem? or pollution problem.

[@frankorobinson1540]

Um sure some have hull numbers trace to owners or who they sold it to fine them the amount of disposal

[@kevina8172]

true but they have nothing for the most part, i am aware of judgements but they have nothing other than a gov ck of some sort. most are judgement prof. i own water front in st pete called the low rent district. so i deal with it all the time

[@scubatim_fl]

Good luck, most buyers of these are bums with no money or assets. Jail time is just another home for them, they don't care.

[@glennhertel1165]

There should be a place to park these instead of hunting and retrieving them

[@KurdtC-nn3ov]

So taxing people who live in Florida who don't give a f about boating? Socialism

[@eduardotirado839]

If they find a 31 Bertram I’ll take it…

[@coldspring624]

Glass is trash...wood or metal

[@glennhertel1165]

In Double Talk

[@dan0711123]

The approaching economic super depression will multiply this problem

[@incomingicbm3676]

Of course boat responsibly, but when the state does it, it's a natural reef. Then the pollution, the state and corporations just pump everything into the water. Where do you think all that usage goes Plus don't say add a tax on to my registration for others mistakes. If you want to give money to clean up the water please do so as your choice. My wallet my choice....

[@MrScottr1958]

Who does your governor blame for this? BLM?

[@jimsmith7212]

Venezuelan boat people.

[@stevenwatsham5973]

If the Marinas and boat yards did not charge so much... Less would be abandoned!..

[@HighPowerOptionsTrades]

I wish it took as long to get a ticket or towed 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@Tomm9y]

All boats should be insured for recovery, that risk should continue until the boat is responsibly recycled or re-insured by a new. Additionally they should be removed by the authorities immediately to minimise the hazard and envrionmental risks. It just requires a balanced practical system, where people, public and private bodies are not motivated by greed.

[@Abandoned_Brane]

Looking for a 30-35' sailboat. Preferably a tartan or sabre. Anyone know of one?🤭

[@erichowell8741]

@ sinkiingbugger. I have a 37 ' seafar

[@davidbarnsley8486]

Better advice is just don’t buy a boat they are the biggest money pit Just hire one it’s so much cheaper option