6/20/2008
Washington NC Welcomes Boaters
The City of Washington NC is expanding its waterfront facilities for transient boaters, and will add a mooring field and additional powered slips. Washington harbor is located at the head of the Pamlico River off Pamlico Sound, approximately 15 miles NW of the ICW. Dockside Diesel and gasoline are available at the Washington Yacht Club on Broad Creek off the Pamlico, about 10 miles NW of the ICW. For ICW info, check it out at Washington NC
6/17/2008
EPA puts forth its Clean Water plan
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency published the Clean Water Act proposal in the Federal Register. The proposal will impose new, complex requirements on recreational boaters to follow specific practices in operating their boats and managing their everyday, overboard water discharges.
Mandated by a court order in 2006 that focused exclusively on commercial vessel ballast water, the proposal includes draft permits that are a new regulation on American recreational boaters, demonstrating the need to pass the Clean Boating Act of 2008 as these new regulations will take effect Oct. 1, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association. To read more go to Soundings.
4/27/2008
Okeechobee Waterway to close for seven weeks
In a continuing effort to protect manatees, the Army Corps of Engineers will install a new high-tech acoustic system at the St. Lucie Lock and Dam. The effort, which will begin in July, will take up to seven weeks to complete. Plans are being discussed to have the contractor work 24/7 and possibly complete the work in 4 weeks. The new acoustic system will complement other manatee protection devices at the lock and dam.
The St. Lucie Lock and Dam will be drained and completely closed to boat traffic during the period, which is tentatively set for July 14th through September 10th, 2008.
4/27/2008
Lake Okeechobee crossing report
Many thanks to Sancctuary for this report.
M/v Sanctuary crossed Lake Okeechobee today, Wednesday, 4/16/2008. We departed Moore Haven at 07:00, made the St. Lucie Lock 15:00 opening, and are now secure on a ball at Stuart, FL.
The Army Corps of Engineers reports the Route 1 Lake Okeechobee navigation depth as 4.36". With that as reference, following is what we observed:
1. The channel from Moore Haven to Clewiston was at 6.5 ft about 2 miles east of Moore Haven.
2. The channel from Clewiston out into the lake was 5.2 ft in the vicinity of R8B/G9A.
3. The channel from Clewiston out into the lake was 5.2 ft in the vicinity of G1.
3. The area south of Rocky Reef from G1 to R14 was at least 6.5'.
5. The lake route was 8' to 11",
6. There is soft mud for 200 yards as you enter the Port Mayaca Lock. The mud is in the range of 4 ft. We draw 4', and we could feel the mud throw the boat a bit as we approached the lock. We had no trouble, and there was nothing "hard" in it. The lockmaster's advice was, "stay in mid channel or favor green entering for the best water. There is known shoaling on the red quarter. (Well, that's what he said!!!)
The lake was quite lumpy today. We had and easy transit to Clewiston, less than 1' seas out to G"1" (but on out port side and trying to blow us out of the channel), then increasing to 2' south of Rocky Reef and around the turn north, then 2' - 3' in mid-lake. Fortunately, we quartered into the 25 kt north winds and did not have an uncomfortable ride. Winds in the afternoon were higher, so probably seas were quite nasty in mid-lake. For doubters out there, NOAA got it right and all the others blew it today.
My best guess is 4' draft boats are probably OK this week. Thereafter, though, probably not.
There is a guy at Roland Martin's Marina in Clewiston that will guide boats across the lake. Don't know if he's insured. Call Roland Martin's for information. I did not use the service and don't know the person's phone number.
Make sure your chart plotter is set up to display the "magenta line." On my Raymarine system, it's a feature you can customize on the chart setup page. It's a huge help especially in huge seas, as the markers from G"1" across are far apart and very hard to pick out - particularly in white cap seas - among the miscellaneous posts in the Rocky Reef area.
Peg and Jim Healy aboard Sanctuary,
currently at Stuart, FL
Waterway Guide
2/25/2008
Georgia Taxes
The GA Department of Revenue website states:
Residents and non-residents are required to file a return of the fair
market value of their boat in the county where the property is located
184 days a year or more (cumulative). Owners of boats that do not meet
the 184 days rule are required to file a return in the county of legal
residence of the owner. Boats and motors include all craft in and above
the water, the motors but not the trailers. Property taxes are due on
property that was owned on January 1 for the current tax year.
My question to the Georgia Tax Collector:
Would an out of state boater that left his boat in Georgia be required to pay Georgia property taxes on it?
Response from Tax Collector:
When a boat is stored in the State of Georgia in any county for 184 days or more the owners (resident or nonresident) are required to file a return of fair market value and pay ad valorem taxes on that boat period.
2/21/2008
Lake Okeechobee Closed Indefinitely
A navigation lock that lets boaters pass between Lake Okeechobee and the Kissimmee River has been shutdown and will be closed indefinitely.
Low water levels inside the lock chamber have caused the concrete sill at the entrance and the manatee protection device installed in the bottom of the lock chamber to become a navigation hazard. Additionally, the lakeward approach to the navigation lock has become to shallow for boaters to navigate safely. Read more...
Report from Home land Security - October 2007, Small Vessel Summit
This entire report can be viewed at Security Report . It is a 7 meg file! Here are excerpts from the Executive Summary.
Summary of Recommendations:
DHS should not impose overly restrictive regulatory constraints on small vessel operators or their boats in the areas of licensing, registration, or tracking.
A universal hotline telephone number needs to be developed and disseminated so that the boating community can report both suspicious activities and emergency situations.
At this time it is not recommended that AIS (automated identification devices such as transponders) technologies be required for vessels under 65 feet in length until the technology is perfected, cost significantly reduced, or until law enforcement has the ability to track and respond to all vessels being tracked in their area of responsibility.
Research into alternative technologies similar to but less expensive than AIS need to be conducted in order to evaluate the usefulness of such technologies in balancing cost with effectiveness in maintaining maritime domain awareness.
More must be done to streamline credentialing to ensure that various jurisdictions accept the same standards, including solutions such as adding a boat operator endorsement to state driver licenses.
A national boat registry should be created so that it can be indexed and searched by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies.
1/16/2008
Boaters can take advantage of tax deductions
When Congress adjourned for 2007, members left in place two federal income tax deductions of potential benefit to boat owners, according to the Boat Owners Association of the United States.
A boat is treated like a second home for federal tax purposes if it has a galley, a head and sleeping berth. Mortgage interest paid on the loan is deductible from federal income taxes. Taxpayers may use the mortgage interest deduction for one primary home and one second home and must itemize deductions on their returns.
The other tax benefit is a deduction for state sales taxes. However, this may no longer be available after the 2007 tax year if Congress does not act to extend it. This deduction may be appropriate for boaters who paid substantial sales tax on the purchase of a new or used vessel last year. Boaters must choose either the state sales tax deduction or state income tax deduction on their federal tax return, but not both.
For those who fall under the Alternative Minimum Tax, most deductions are unavailable as taxes are calculated differently.(Soundings)
12/23/2007
Congress passes and President signs bill providing funds for ICW.
With the passage of the Omnibus Spending Bill much needed maintenance on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway will be possible. See state allocation chart here.
12/14/07
Florida Cruising - Florida requires that vessels be registered in Florida after 30 days in state. However, the state provides reciprocity of out of state vessel registrations. This allows you to operate your vessel in state waters for up to 90 days. There is however, a little used statue, 328.58, that provides cruising in Florida waters beyond the 90 day limit without Florida registration, the Sojourner Registration.
For cruisers entering Florida from the north via the ICW, Nassau County is your first Florida county at Fernandina Beach. The Nassau County Tax Office is prepared to issue you the registration. The tax office is a short 5 minute taxi ride to the county offices in Yulee from the City marina. Ask for Mary Ann. You should read the simple instructions and complete and take the completed form with you.
12/4/07
What is the proper response when there has been a serious injury aboard your boat. Obviously seeking medical treatment is at the top of the list. Read what maritime attorneys advise to do afterwards. Read more...
