non repair related.
Anyway.. I live in Cape Coral Florida and this is large boating community here in the SW part of town. The city is built into many canals most of which are what they call direct gulf access, which means you can go right out to the gulf without restrictions. Needless to say almost everyone has a boat here and a boat lift and so on. Im pretty sure many nearby towns around here are the same. My observation and point is,,, I love to go out and cruise the canals looking at homes and boats, and I have never seen so many abandoned boats in my life In my canal, I am basically the only one that goes out on a regular basis. I see the same boats year after year sitting on lifts, just left to rot. Its amazing. Before I moved here permanently I would vacation here almost every year in the winter to visit my best friend who also lives on a canal. He does not have a power boat but enjoys his canoe and kayaks. The past two years I have lived here I drive down the streets and cruise the canals and its like a boat graveyard. There are a few like me who enjoy cruising and going out . I thought the problem was the price of fuel, but it really dosen't take that much fuel to cruise at idle speed through the canal system here. I do it all the time, at least 4 times a week.
Today I just got back and counted at least 55 boats in my area , that I would classify are abandoned, I mean if I were out looking to buy a boat I would start ringing doorbells , Im sure most of these people probably have not stepped foot on their docks in years. Its really strange, I know as you get older these things happen, but man o man, I have never seen so many boats just sitting and sitting doing nothing for years and years.
I have to mention , I am a conservative person who does not believe in telling households what to do, but with all the ridiculous laws out there its clear that these boats present a problem, and a liability. Here is an example
About two weeks ago I kept noticing an oil slick around my dock and boat, as I live at the end of my canal and get a southerly wind most everyday, so everything finds its way to the ends of the canals, coconuts, debris and in this cases oil. I watched this go on for a couple of days and then my buddy who lives across the street from me noticed it in his canal to.
So what we did was get into my boat and cruise around and started looking for the offending boat , or boater, not to make a big deal out of it, but rather mostly out of curiosity. Well wouldnt you know at the end of one of these canals was a boat the literally fell off its rotted lift and was sitting sideways in the water, dripping oil into the water. I mean these are pricey homes here and I would say an upscale community, didnt anyone see this????? Amazing and truely a sign of the times. Breaks my heart to see some of these magnificent vessels just left to rot away in the sun.'
I would hate to use the word Inspection,,,,but something should be done at the very least to check the safety of boats sitting on lifts or left in the water tied to docks. They present a problem to the community and to the waters around my town and others,
again, I really dont like legislation of yet another law,,, but come on people!!
I know I spend a lot of money making sure my boat is safe to me and others around me and this costs money. You cant have your cake and eat it to. Seems they have laws for cars, thats right , you cant just leave your car in your driveway here unless it is registered and used. In fact until recently you couldnt even park a pickup truck in here in the Cape in your own driveway, it had to be on the side of the house or in your garage, but rotting boats, unsafe lifts and docks,,,,, thats ok,
Excuse the typos
thoughts ,,??? comments??
