Derelict vessels seem to be everywhere and recently Marco area residents have noted three abandoned sailboats in this area.
Capt. Jack Moran of SeaTow approached the one near Keywadin shortly after its grounding. He offered to pull the boat free and explained his fee.
The owner refused and tried to free it himself, but failed. Now, the boat will go into the legal process for removal.
"We can get them out of there, but it takes time and costs money," Moran said.
One person quipped, "We're beginning to look like Key West around here."
Mitts Mravic, a local resident and a lieutenant with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), said he would "like to say that we've got a good handle on" the abandoned and derelict vessel problem in our area.
We don't have a problem like Key West, but in addition to three sailboats aground in the waters near Marco, and two more boats aground near Goodland, there are currently 28 derelict vessels (DVs) in Collier County waters.
"Right now we have two in the criminal process," Mravic commented.
Most of the 28 DVs are small boats that have been derelict quite a while - partly because it has been impossible to identify the owners and partly because the system to remove them has not functioned efficiently.
Changes
But that is all changing as a result of new personnel as well as increased cooperation and coordination among the state, county and local governmental and law enforcement agencies.
Pamela Keyes began at the county Coastal Zone Management Department less than a year ago.
"She's made it possible for us to go back and take care of stuff (DVs) that's been there for years," Mravic explained.
Also, about six months ago, representatives from the FWC, the Collier County Sheriff's Office, Naples Police Department and Marco Police Department met to develop a process through which they would be able to work together on DVs.
Today, they all use the same procedure, communicating and coordinating on all cases.
When an officer on patrol discovers a possible DV, or when a call comes in to any one of the agencies reporting a possible DV, that agency takes the lead and the others support. An officer places an 8 ½-by-11-inch orange sticker on the boat, notifying the owner that the boat must be moved. That officer also notes VIN and other vessel identifiers.
If the owner is identifiable, a letter is sent to the owner, allowing 30 days to remove the boat. If the owner does not show diligent action toward removing the boat, the owner may be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor. Following final disposition of that legal action, the boat will be removed by the county at the owner's cost.
Here the law shows its teeth. If the owner does not pay for the removal, the Department of Motor Vehicles will be notified and the vessel owner will be prohibited from registering any vehicle in Florida - either sea going or land going, boat or car - until the costs for DV removal are paid.
Marine salvage
The Collier County Coastal Zone Management Department (CZMD) contracts with a marine salvage service to remove the boat. It will be taken to a marina, the engine removed, made environmentally sound, and disposed of - or possibly dismantled.
Mravic explained that the process takes time and can be drawn out by the defendant in court, or made difficult and slow if the owner is not easily identified.
"Sometimes, the boat has no identifiers on it. We can't track anything down."
He added that "some people remove the registration and cut the ID number off. Then, we work real hard because we know that guy intentionally did it."
Keyes expressed the two-fold objective of the CZMD as well as many residents' concerns regarding derelict boats.
"Not only are they an eyesore, but they are also a huge environmental problem."
Derelict vessels seem to be everywhere and recently Marco area residents have noted three abandoned sailboats in this area.
