Junk Boats

RickB said:

Is that the Crane plant?

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Herbert H. Wagner Generating Station. Part of Constellation Energy. Just to the right, out of the photo, is the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Is there a local councilman you can call or local ordinance committee meeting you can attend? Are we getting to a point where the effort might be too great just to get a couple of boats dealt with? I mean, the kids will grow out of the interest soon enough when the next Twilight movie comes out or the next iPad released.

We've tried to work a few other issues through our County Council and County Executive, Planning & Zoning, Health Dept., State AG, County Police, etc. We get great lip service and absolutely no action whatsoever. Our tax dollars at work, once again.

Hence, my complete and utter disgust with nearly every level of our elected Gov't.

I had to mount a coup and took over the Board in this community in order to get stuff straightened out and moving in the right direction. I don't know that I have the energy or inclination to make a run for political office. But, I don't know how else to get stuff done. Like my daddy always told me, "If you want something done right, do it yourself." It's actually worse than that - if you want something done at all you have to do it yourself.

As a native Baltimoron, I'm intimately familiar with the surroundings you've described. Wagner's Point Station is not exactly a tourist attraction, nor is Sparrows Point. I sure hope your boat doesn't suffer from the chemical flora of Curtis Bay, coal dust from Wagner's or the famous ore silt of the Point. Heck, I thought the Point was a ghost town. Did somebody buy the place? Anyway, I sure empathize with your plight to keep that neighborhood from regress.

Oh yeah, it's a nasty area, no question. North Anne Arundel has always been the poor, red-headed stepchild of the County. I would not be living here if I was trying to raise a family, but I'm past that stage of my life.

We have a chance to turn this community and peninsula into a little gem on the Chesapeake in this desolate area. We're slowly getting there, but it is an uphill battle

The Point has more lives that a cat. Russians, Chinese, Indians ... I don't know who owns the place now.

I'm pretty sure I've walked past your boat when you were tied up in the Inner Harbor. I should stop and introduce myself next time.

Will you be checking out the Blue Angels/War of 1812 show? I understand they will be flying over the Middle Branch of the Patapsco. West of Ft. McHenry, where the cruise ships dock? Do you have any suggestions for good places to anchor and watch the show?

BL,

How about adding a regulation in your homeowners assoc rules that all boats must be seaworthy, or be subject to impound and disposal, charges billed to the owner? The same could apply to shoreline usage and cleanup. If no compliance, bill the offenders for the cleanup charges.

Larry H said:

BL,

How about adding a regulation in your homeowners assoc rules that all boats must be seaworthy, or be subject to impound and disposal, charges billed to the owner? The same could apply to shoreline usage and cleanup. If no compliance, bill the offenders for the cleanup charges.

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Who determines seaworthy? I'll bet a close look and quoting some voluntary standards that some on here think are gospel... I'll bet I could flunk a lot of forum member boats...

psneeld said:

Who determines seaworthy? I'll bet a close look and quoting some voluntary standards that some on here think are gospel... I'll bet I could flunk a lot of forum member boats...

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You talkin' to me?

Larry H said:

BL,

How about adding a regulation in your homeowners assoc rules that all boats must be seaworthy,

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Back in the 70s or thereabouts in Hawaii the Ala Wai Yacht Basin, the official name for what then was the only public marina on the Honolulu side of Oahu and the biggest one on the island, was having a real problem with liveaboard boats that were total junkers. Floating slums, as it were. To deal with the growing problem the city passed an ordinance that stated that all liveaboard boats in the marina had to be "seaworthy" and capable of moving under their own power.

The ordinance did not define "seaworthy." Instead, it mandated a test that would define it. The test was enforced by the Honolulu Police Department, was monitored by the USCG, and was very simple. Once a year, every liveaboard boat in the marina had to leave the marina under its own power and cruise back and forth in the ocean off Waikiki for an hour, and then return to the marina. Any boat that failed this test had x-amount of time to make any repairs necessary. Like 30 days or something. If it failed the test again, the boat was impounded and destroyed.

At the time they implemented this ordinance I'm guessing there were 30 or 40 liveaboard boats in the marina. The first time they ran the test, over half the boats failed--- most of them could not even leave their slips--- and ultimately were destroyed. Over the next few years the liveaboard junkers disappeared entirely.

BaltimoreLurker said:

You talkin' to me?

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As Dirty Harry said..."Ya feeling lucky punk?"....

Naw...just pokin' fun... but a test like Marin discussed is close but not exactly fair either.... if my engine toasted itself....it might take longer than 30 days...even 90 days to get it out, clean/paint bilge and a new one in....all while busy with work and other "personal crisis"...just say'in..

The ordinance I described was administered with a pretty fair does of logic. It was pretty obvious from the outset which boats had no prayer of ever passing, and they were the ones the city wanted out of the marina.

As I recall a few boats had to be towed in partway through the test due to engine failure, overheating, whatever. But it was obvious which of these boats would be "seaworthy" if the problem was fixed and which ones would not be. So my guess is that the city cut the owners some slack if their boat was in decent shape but just had an engine issue that needed repair.

The whole exercise had only one objective--- to get the hulks and derelicts (boats and people) out of the marina. And since there was no other place for the boats to go, there was only one outcome: the boats were destroyed. As I recall it only took a few years to achieve this. For all I know the ordinance was rescinded once the junkers were gone.

It was kind of a local attraction for the first year or two it was in effect--- a lot of people would go down the day of the test just to watch the fun, the TV stations would cover it, and so on. And it was very effective. When I was a little kid after moving to Hawaii we'd go down to the yacht basin and look at the boats and there were some truly amazing "houseboats." Some were actually quite nice but most of them were barely afloat and were just rubbish. Many of them didn't even have engines so they failed right off the bat. By the time I left in 1979 there were no "houseboats" in the marina at all that I recall. There were still liveaboards but they lived on "real" boats.

Of course nothing is ever totally fair. I recall one houseboat in particular that was very nice. It had been built on a small barge and so never had an engine. It was cute, neat, clean, well kept up with flower pots on the deck and so on. We never got to know the couple who lived on it but they always said hi when we walked by. Unfortunately the ordinance made no allowance for "nice" houseboats--- it was all about proving their seaworthiness. With no engine that nice little houseboat didn't stand a chance and it was hauled off and broken up along with all the junkers.

San Diego had a similar problem, and solved it the same way. Once a year all boats anchored or moored in a particular basin had to leave the harbor, make a turn around the sea bouy and return. The truck camper on a float with an outboard didn't make it!

Lurker: I'm a Baltimoron all right, but I'm living in Miami (Key Biscayne) now. It doesn't look like I'll be back until we retire to Sarasota (Longboat Key) and begin cruising in 2014. I miss the profoundness of character that B'more has to offer.