Boot Key Harbor after Irma 

Howard Mora what a stupid comment.

@@johnlongdong2231 Bit late to the party here but not stupid at all - that’s exactly what we do in Australia as well. The mangroves are the safest place to be well tied in.

Then you're a fucking idiot.

What a bitter person - can't be happy...

You need a real wake up call. Not everyone wants to conform to what you believe is a proper life. Living on the ocean doesn't make you a bum. Plus that footage was of a Marina and a mooring field, not an Anchorage so the majority of those people don't live on them. Also if someone wants to kick off and go for a long sail to where ever, they paid plenty of taxes to get there. So take your elitist mentality and shove it. You truly are the dredge of society.

i was born in the keys lived in the keys for 29 years and alot of those boats are towed into place and never move i guess you dont remember the pimple that was house boat row in key west the only way the city was able to remove them was when hurricane george blew threw and trashed them all some of thoose house boats were sitting there for decades hell there was even one that was 2 story and the boat sank and was sitting on bottom so the person or persons just lived on the second floor a mooring or anchorage if fine but it has to have a time limit some of those boats have been in boot key harbor for 19yrs with out moving AND NO THEY NEVER COME IN TO DUMP THERE WASTE and they dont pay property taxes where ever they come ashore is strewn with trash even if there is a trash can these so called people in boot key harbor are free loading bums that are the dregs of society

I know there are plenty of boat bums on boats that are falling apart, I've seen them. that doesn't mean that other boats weren't destroyed, or that some real sailors didn't lose their life long investment. insurance won't pay out on a named storm. so to say simply that those bums got what they deserved really hacks me off. many good folks paying their way in that mooring field lost alot more that a down trodden boats that barely have a stick up.

the proper way to handle your issue is to require boats to pass an annual or semi annual state safety inspection to receive registration. those in violation of registration could receive fines to the vessel, not the owner eventually enabling the city in which the fines are levied to assume ownership of the vessel and then either auction or crush it, also they would receive a visit by peace officer to levy the fines which could result in a search that could then result in seizure if a felony is occurring. the funds raised by the inspection fee could pay for the disposal of the derelict vessels and clean up the harbor. but then you will have another issue. bums are bums and they don't just go away........ the key to attacking it legally is to allow the city rights to the vessel and also enforce that the vessel must be up to safety standards to operate in public water ways. that will ensure that the vessel is either maintained properly by a sailor, or that the cost of maintaining or refitting the vessel is too much for its inhabitant and they have no option but to abandon. as for property taxes..... they considered such a move in California to clean up the issue in san francisco, however the taxes levied would likely not be enough to detour such a behavior. be realistic how much can the soil beneath the water at which a boat is anchored be worth? it has no utilities, no roads, and as you mention no trash service. I think registration is about 100 to 150 a year now. ensuring a vessel in public waterways to have a working engine, or rigging will pile on the cost, not to mention 100 to 150 for an inspection. it's very akin to having a motor vehicle that hasn't passed inspection. In my city they can cite and tow a vehicle sitting in your driveway that is out of inspection. although it is up to the code enforcement officers discretion it keeps people from putting an old "classic" tub of rust in the driveway with the dreams of "restoring" it to the dismay of their neighbors. they would be towed, impounded, then sold at auction, or destroyed. unfortunately unlike cars which have some value of metal to pay for the tow, fiberglass boats don't, the removal of the metal unless it is lead keel won't even pay for the disposal of the plastic. so there the problem lies at the feet of the tax payer. My guess is I'm not the only one to go through this type of argument and the old addage "cheaper to keeper" likely applies.