By Mike Readling
Anita Casey watches in dismay every weekend at the activities in her Delray Beach backyard. Many times dismay turns to outright concern. Casey sees boats — all sizes of boats — motoring up and down the Intracoastal Waterway. They pass each other. They overtake one another. They have little regard for the wakes they leave behind.
Then there are the Jet Skiers who climb those wakes and zip in and out among the boats like mosquitoes around a beach walker’s ears at dusk. Some of those Jet Skis are pulling tubes with riders doing their best to hang on, lest they be skipped across the water like a rock.
Through it all, Casey watches and waits for the moment when someone gets hurt and brings attention to what many people who live along the Intracoastal are already calling for: more regulation and enforcement.
On May 6, Casey and anyone else who wants to make a statement about the state of boating on the Intracoastal will have the opportunity to have their voices heard.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will hold a public workshop in Boca Raton regarding possible amendments to the Boating Safety Rule in Palm Beach County. The meeting will be a starting point in addressing the concerns of residents and boaters as the FWC, which is the only regulatory agency for the Intracoastal, looks to update laws regarding idle speed zones, 25 mph zones and no-wake zones. Tara Alford, management analyst with the Boating and Waterway Section of the FWC, will discuss the commission’s criteria for changes to the regulations.
“The guidelines we have to follow are very stringent,” said Alford, noting the last amendments were made in 1999. “There’s not a lot of wiggle room. The Florida Statutes give us the authority to make changes for the safety of the public, taking into consideration things like vessel speed limits and traffic as well as what we believe are necessary visibility conditions, navigational hazards and, at least in the case of the Intracoastal, canals coming in from the east and the west.”
Tom Byrne lives on the Intracoastal in Briny Breezes and said those canals and, more specifically, the docks along those canals, are the reason he wants the commission to hear his concerns.
“Several of the canals have boats moored in them or docked close to the Intracoastal and they really take a beating,” he said. “Prime Catch just built a beautiful dock that no one can use because if a big 38-footer goes by … well, it’s bad.”
Byrne said he will miss the meeting, but has a suggestion he thinks the FWC should listen to. “I think they should have a 10 mph speed limit from Boynton Beach to the George Bush Boulevard Bridge. I think that would be reasonable.”
Alford said these workshops gives residents such as Byrnes the ability to speak their mind and the FWC a chance to explain exactly what parameters they apply when considering changes.
“There are a lot of things that people do when they’re boating that they don’t realize are wrong,” Alford said. “A lot of times they’re not aware of what they’re doing. This gives them the ability to ask questions. Can you operate a personal watercraft in the Intracoastal Waterway? Yes, but you have to do it within the 25 mph posted limit if you’re in that area.”
What the commission can’t take into account, though, is noise from boats and Jet Skis, damage to docks, boats or sea walls, or even manatee activity. “As much as we like to protect manatees, that is not for our department to determine,” she said.
Enforcement, however, is a topic that regularly comes up during the workshops. According to Alford, any law enforcement agency has the ability to patrol the Intracoastal. But many of the cities and towns up and down the waterway don’t have the resources to do that. The FWC does have officers on patrol, and there may be three officers working on any given day, but one may be at an accident in Jupiter, one might be helping with a vessel in Palm Beach Gardens and another may be working Peanut Island. That leaves a lot of Palm Beach County unpatrolled.
Anita Casey said the lack of police presence on her section of the waterway is going to come at a high price one of these days.
“In the middle of that race between the [George Bush Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue] bridges, you have parents taking their kids tubing through the channel with the speeding boats. Of course their kids fall, so now you have a child floating in the channel with speeding boats all around. I’m waiting for one of their heads to get chopped off like a manatee.” Her aim is to stop that before it can happen.
If you go:
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission public boating workshop
When: May 6, 6 to 8:30 p.m. Where: Boca Raton City Administration Building, Main Auditorium
What: Open discussion about possible changes to the Boating Safety Rule in Palm Beach County
Who: Public is invited More information: (561) 416-3374, to access the Palm Beach Vessel Traffic Study: http://myfwc.com/RECREATION/boat_waterways_index.htm
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