I had the pleasure of staying at BLM for almost a year. The people there were great both the employees and customers. The town is so neat and the area beautiful. Would do it again anytime. The law came about because some people abused the system. No one wants to see a boat that is a derelict with junk hanging off of it. Can understand why it was passed. That being said enjoyed my time in Georgia very much. Well not the pulp mill on certain days. :-) Always wondered why people who have the most time just don't keep their boats or a house for that matter neat and clean? It just takes a little effort. Joe In a message dated 11/23/2012 9:18:29 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
We have stayed for longer than the limit time at Brunswick Landing Marina, and count BLM - the marina (not their boat yard) - to be one of the favorite places we have stayed at. But the law saying you cannot be a live aboard may be unique. No state is perfect! On Fri, Nov 23, 2012 at 2:00 PM, Jim Lynch <[email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) > wrote: Sorry but I have to defend my little state of Georgia. I live here. It's not utopia, but it's not bad. What Ben said is correct, the law was passed to remove a bunch of trashy shanty-towns on the state waterways. It's also true the extended the limit to 90 days. What's not generally known is that Georgia, being a "good old boy" run state takes laws as ways to control undesirables, not as fact. If you aren't bothering anyone or making a pest of yourself, the law here will leave you alone. It's just a different system of justice from it's northern counterparts. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of live-aboards in Georgia waters and have been forever. The politicians on the coast recognize they spend money, vote and are less of a problem than urban crackheads so don't bother them. When some do-gooder (usually a northern transplant) complains, they post warning signs around the marinas outlining the law. Eventually the signs fade away and I guess the do-gooders go away or get convinced of the error of their ways. I've been hanging around the marinas and live-aboards in Brunswick for over 10 years and never have heard of anyone in authority hassling them. There really is a different mentality to law enforcement in the state of Georgia. For instance, how many states would allow a car to be driven daily with expired (5+ years ago) NJ plates? There was one in the parking lot at work every day for years. Back 50 years ago or so, Georgia was the king of speed traps. One Governor was so pissed about the bad publicity that he got the legislature to pass the most reasonable laws I've ever seen. To quote: * Georgia has a speed trap law that applies to all police agencies except State Patrol. Some of the regulations regarding Speed Measuring Device (SMD) use include: (1) cannot issue tickets for less than 10 mph over posted speed limit, (2) cannot use SMD on downhill road with more than a 7% downgrade, (3) cannot use SMD closer than 500 feet inside a changed speed limit zone (4) police vehicle using SMD must be seen by all approaching vehicles at least 500 feet or more, and (5) any municipality using SMD must have warning signs on major road at city or county limits stating so. Note that the State Patrol has the authority to issue tickets at any excessive speed but follows the >10 mph guidelines unless there are extenuating circumstances. Also the above restrictions don't apply to some special zones, such as hospital, school and construction. Prior to the law a Governor (don't know if it's the same one) had billboards erected around towns with know speed traps warning motorists. One Sherrif kept burning them down as fast as they went up until the Gov. placed guards on them. Georgia isn't quite the police state some of you seem to think it is. It just works differently from what you might be used to. Except for FL I've never lived in any other southern state but I wouldn't be surprised the same attitudes exist in other southern states. Oh and by the way, please continue to avoid the ICW through GA. I'd hate to have all that beautiful water cluttered up with boats. It's so pleasant to wander up through the marsh and find a deep creek absolutely devoid of any sign of civilization and teeming with wildlife. And remember there are some 4' deep areas of the ICW which need to be avoided at all costs, but do forget we have 9' spring tides here that make planning your route through shallow water necessary. :-) Marsh view _http://windangel.org/images/P9290805.JPG_ (http://windangel.org/images/P9290805.JPG) Jim. On 11/22/2012 07:48 PM, Ben Okopnik wrote: On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 09:55:43AM -0500, Norm wrote: When I first arrived in north Florida the locals told me the St Johns river flows north because Georgia sucks. I thought it had something to do with college football until I found it was more personal than that. Just in the interests of maintaining current information (NOT defending the place - there's no love lost between me and Georgia; in fact, I wouldn't extinguish a state-threatening fire there even if my bladder was full), GA appears to have a) passed this law to specifically chase away the live-aboard "house barges" (i.e., floating shanty-towns) proliferating in the lakes around Atlanta and the Altamaha River, and b) has recently passed a bill through the state senate extending the period to 90 days. _http://coastalgadnr.org/msp/ap/Liveab_ (http://coastalgadnr.org/msp/ap/Liveab) But yeah, Georgia could suck-start a Harley. Or suck a baseball through a mile of garden hose. Scientifically proven fact; I'm pretty sure I saw an article in JAMA or something... Ben _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) To adjust your membership settings over the web _http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard_ (http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard) To subscribe send an email to [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) The archives are at _http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/_ (http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/) To search the archives _http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]_ (http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]) The Mailman Users Guide can be found here _http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html_ (http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html) -- Ed Kelly sailing vessel ANGEL LOUISE - Catalac 12m Skype to AttyEdKelly or Skype-in phone: 202-657-6357 [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
_______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
