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OUR WATERWAYSLiveaboards Can Anchor Anywherein Martin County While SouthportAnchorage is Temporarily ClosedLast month, SOUTHWINDS reported that the city of Stuartwas closing its Southport Anchorage after seven years. Thecity has leased the property and the mooring field to a companythat plans to develop a marina on the site. Plans forthe mooring field, which has 86 moorings (80 were occupiedat the time of closing), are to reopen it in November orDecember after development of the property gets underway. Meanwhile, the boaters, including liveaboards, will beallowed to anchor anywhere in the county’s waters. Statelaw says that local government cannot regulate anchorageof non-liveaboards, but liveaboards can be regulated.Plans for the new complex are to build a 198-slip waterfrontmarina restaurant complex. There will also be 2000feet of side-tie dockage and a fuel dock. The current harbormasterbuilding will be expanded by 2300 square feet withadditional showers, restrooms and meeting area for boaters.Sixty-nine of the original 86 moorings are to be retainedwhen the mooring field reopens.(SOUTHWINDS has always called this anchorage theSouthport anchorage. The local newspaper in Stuart calledit the Southpoint Anchorage. I found legal county and citydocuments referring to it with both names — editor)City of Stuart, FL, Apologizes &Pays Sailor for Citation Givenfor AnchoringOn May 5, the city of Stuart, FL, agreed to pay $2000, alongwith a letter of apology, to sailor Vincent Sibilla in exchangefor his dropping a federal lawsuit against the city for a citationhe received for improperly anchoring his boat insidethe city limits. The city will also pay Sibilla’s $3,000 attorneyfees and agreed to change the city’s ordinance on non-liveaboardboats. The new ordinance will define the term “innavigation” to be in line with Florida state law. The oldordinance stated that non-liveaboard boaters are no longer“in navigation” if they are anchored for more than 10 days.Are Wag Bags Allowed to beLegally Used on Boats inU.S. Waters?By Steve MorrellSince we started selling Wag Bags last fall, I have had manypeople ask me if they are legal to use and will law enforcementaccept them. I have researched this and my final conclusionis: Yes. They should accept them—if they know thelaws. I discovered how little I really knew about Type IIIMSDs before this research. When I heard an FWC officer inFlorida did not accept them, I realized that he probably didnot really know the law either. In fact, I think few peoplereally do. Hopefully, this will help to educate those whodon’t know, including those who should know the most—law enforcement. You can research this yourself to verify.I will use what I found on federal and Florida law, butI believe the reader will see below that federal law preemptsstate law and that the situation is the same in all states.Although, I am, by no means, a lawyer nor an expert onthis law, it does not take a lawyer to research and understandthe rules, although I heavily refer below to a legallydrawn up and in-depth analysis of the situation by lawyers.Much of the below information was taken from thepaper, “Florida Marine Sewage Discharge Regulation” fromthe Center For Governmental Responsibility, University ofFlorida, Levin College of Law. Quotes I use below whichhave no reference to them are quotes from this paper. I willrefer to it below as the “University of Florida paper.” Thepaper can be accessed at www.law.ufl.edu/conservation/pdf/marine_sanitation.pdf.Other parts referred to below are from the Code ofFederal Regulations, CFR, which is the guide for humanwaste on boats that the Coast Guard uses.Federal Law & Florida Law on MSDsTo start with, federal law preempts states from regulatingMSDs, except in three instances. Those three instances haveto do with houseboats and no-discharge zones, which donot affect us in this discussion. Outside these instances, ifthere is a Florida law regulating discharge, it is only valid if32 June 2008 SOUTHWINDS www.southwindsmagazine.com