Fighting the Good Fight - Meet CRNNA

A friend called me up in mid March to tell me about the hassles that he and others anchored out in Gulfport FL were experiencing. Seems that the City of Gulfport was enforcing a 72 hour anchoring ordinance and threatening to ticket them and impound their boats if they did not move outside of Gulfport's jurisdiction.
In other words, same same ol' as usual in Florida. Problem is, such ordinances are illegal under Florida statute 327.60. No municipality can enact or enforce any anchoring ordinance on a non liveaboard vessel. So the City of Gulfport was acting illegally. They even handed out a ticket to one boater.
I made some phone calls and asked some questions, did some research, spoke to the City Manager, City Attorney and Chief of Police, and got the usual runaround. They told me that in their opinion, they were acting legally. I told them, and got Boat US to tell them, and even got the FWC to tell their marine officer, that they were wrong.
Over a month went by and nothing changed. The only way to deal with this was to sue the City. Thus, the Cruisers Rights Network of North America was born - www.CRNNA.com - a non profit organization.
The CRNNA's purpose is to defend the rights of boaters, and to educate boaters, the general public and the authorities about the realities of the boating and cruising life. To demonstrate that we aren't all crack addled, mindless bums one step up from living under a bridge.
We held an online fund raiser that was a huge success, hired a lawyer and are now working the legal process. We've moved to have the ticket dropped, and included the filing of a motion to declare the City's ordinance unconstitutional with notice to the State Attorney General. We have the support of the FWC in this also, and they have been most helpful.
Future plans are to take this victory - because that will be the outcome - and start on educating every coastal city in Florida that they cannot violate the laws to get rid of what they see as a problem. Following that endeavour, we plan to start looking at our boating community, and find solutions to the derelict problem, and the problems created by people living on boats who simply should not be there. We will also be involved in the discussions about future legislation in Florida.
In other words, a lot to do. (We could use your help if you wish to get involved, see the details below).
But what about the other organizations? Well - the SSCA is a spent force, they've got enough internal issues surrounding just surviving as an organization that they can't deal with outside issues. Boat US and the MTOA and AGLCA are involved, as they have been in the past, but it's important to remember that they don't get down in the muck and fight, as we are doing in Gulfport. The CRNNA on the other hand is designed to function both in an advisory capacity as regards legislation, and as an 'enforcement arm' for boaters' rights should that be required.
If you'd like more information - and there's lots more I haven't told you - go to www.CRNNA.com, and also to our Facebook page.  And please, sign up on our Facebook page. The more people we represent, the more impact we will have with the people we deal with, and the better we can look out for your rights on the water. If you're interested in becoming active in our work, email me at Cruisers Rights.

For anyone planning on going south from the Great Lakes this year, some great news. According to the New York State Canal Corporation, locks will begin opening on July 4. The current schedule, according to the gentleman I spoke with, is subject to change, but it will be possible to transit through the locks to the Hudson River during the summer. In other words, all of you Great Lakes boaters will not have to give up your tropical cruising dreams! The updated schedule can be seen here, at Canal Corp.

I've not promoted this year's Sail to the Sun ICW Rally as heavily this spring due to the coronavirus issues, including the now resolved potential for problems getting through the Erie Canal. Now that that is no longer an issue, it's time to start planning your trip south this winter. If you'd like a Rally brochure, go to Sail to the Sun Information, fill out the form and I'll get a brochure to you right away.
This year's voyage will begin on October 20 out of Hampton VA, and end in mid December in Miami Florida. All of the past year's fun events will be included - the Pirate's Rum Distillery tour, the visit to the Beaufort Maritime Museum to learn about Blackbeard, the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Dinner, the dinghy raftups, shrimp boil, pig roast at Dowry Creek - plus all of the group dinners, docktail parties and fun times.
All of your route planning is done for you, taking away the stress of worrying about currents, shoaling and provisioning. Also your dockage is pre-arranged for the Rally - something you can't do on your own as marinas typically don't want to reserve during the snowbird season.
It's the most fun on the ICW, so if you're heading south, don't miss out! Just ask any past Rallier what they think of the Rally and you'll be signing up before they're done talking!
If you don't know a past Rallier, here's a video that gives you a sense of what the Rally is about.