Ahoy All,
My objection to the Georgia situation is the shotgun approach that lets anyone
with a modicum of power arbitrarily decide who can stay on the water and who
must disappear.
At one time I was in email communication with the woman who claimed
responsibility for the Georgia anti-livaboard law. She told me she had
waterfront property and was tired of looking at a “bunch of hippies on a
houseboat” so she asked her friends in the Georgia legislature to do something
about it. They did.
I do agree that people should be reasonably tidy and avoid becoming an eyesore
to their neighbors – but there are problems.
A person’s definition of “neat and tidy” varies greatly and is difficult to
define objectively – much like the great debate over the definition of
“obscenity” in the past. A well-lived life seems to include a degree of mess.
Just check out any construction site. Famously Thomas Edison once stated “In
order to invent one must first have a great pile of junk.” And there is an old
English proverb, “A tidy garden is the sign of a boring gardener.”
Are the folks on the land subject to the same neatness rules? Anyone who has
ever taken a train trip up the East Coast has had an up-close view of America’s
backyards and knows the answer to that question. Boat people are singled out
because we are highly visible and because we are few in number with little
political clout thus presenting a “soft target”.
A derelict vessel is an abandoned vessel by definition in my Webster’s. Dead
bodies of all kinds in developed areas need to be dealt with, I think we all
agree. The “derelict vessel” argument is a moot point because there are already
in place ways to deal with abandoned houses and motor vehicles and these same
instruments are applied to boats - as was done recently where I am anchored
when a Pearson Triton sank and the owner, a low-income retired Vet, did nothing
about it for six months.
Not mentioned (until now) in this thread but always in the background is the
Potty Problem. Suffice to say, the EPA has stated overwhelmingly that
agricultural runoff, both from farms and from people’s lawns, is by far the
largest pollution source in the country today. In the Chesapeake Bay the
stated most predominate problem is civilization itself, with particulate
run-off from disturbed soil reducing sunlight to underwater meadows – the base
of the food pyramid – causing a severe and widespread reduction in the entire
ecosystem. In some places, such as the St Johns River here in northeast
Florida, leakage from the septic systems of waterfront homes is a significant
problem, so much so that the government is considering grants to homeowners to
upgrade their black water systems (no mention of giving the same benefits to
boaters).
Livaboards are presumed to be fouling their environment. Certainly this may
be true to a degree. But to keep things in perspective, those on the land are
doing so also, and to a far greater degree because there are so many more of
them. Some livaboards, such as those of us with composting toilets, do not
foul the waters at all. And let us remember that biological waste is a normal
and required part of the natural environment, welcomed by some of its
inhabitants, and that a salt marsh is said to have the highest concentration of
biomass on the planet.
Anyone who has been on the water after a rainstorm cannot help but notice the
widespread oil slicks washed from the streets and highways all around them. One
article on the subject (in Discover magazine) stated that it was estimated that
65 million gallons of oil is washed into the waters of the country every year.
Extrapolate this to the runoff that is not visible and you can get a sense of
the problem. According to what I have read it is not the odd livaboard
putting poop into the river that has any significant effect on the marine
environment - there are just too few of them compared to the billions on the
land - it is humanity in general.
The shotgun is aimed by the tyranny of the majority, in this case, as is usual,
those who pay the most taxes get to tell the gunner where to aim (notice it is
not aimed at the pulp mill). There has got to be a better way.
Norm
S/V Bandersnatch
Lying Julington Creek FL
30 23.8N 081 25.7W
From: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, November 23, 2012 10:05 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] Why Georgia Sucks
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
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