An Opportunistic Attack on the Right to Live Free

​Freedom on the water has long been part of Florida’s heritage. Generations of Floridians lived aboard their boats, finding community and independence on the open waters. Anchoring has long been understood as a natural right, as fundamental as breathing free air or walking down a public road. Anchoring is when a boat uses an anchor to hold itself in place on the water. It’s the most basic, traditional way people secure their boats when they are not tied to a dock or in a marina. For many Floridians, especially those living aboard their boats, anchoring is a way to make a stable, affordable home on the water. But with one quiet policy change, that right is now under direct assault.

Governor Ron DeSantis signed off on a law that handed a small set of counties and local governments the power to regulate anchoring and mooring. On its face, local control sounds like a win for liberty, however, when officials ignore natural rights, it becomes just another way for the government to abuse the people. The Town of Palm Beach recently moved to cap anchoring to 30 days in a six-month period, applying this to the Lake Worth Lagoon, which lies between Palm Beach and West Palm Beach. In practice, this outlaws a way of life for the very people who relied on it most.

As libertarians, we know the truth. This is not about safety. This is not about the environment. This is social engineering. It’s unfortunately about the government largely pushing poor and working-class Floridians off the water so the shoreline can be sanitized for the wealthy. Families who saved for years to buy a modest boat and youth programs like the Palm Beach Sailing Club that teach kids the joy of sailing are being sacrificed by the Town of Palm Beach so that the politicians in charge can shape the community in their desired image. 

Marty Minari, who started a Change.org petition to reverse these restrictions said, “Waterfront landowners get to store their vessels year-round on permanent docks built out into public land, while everyone else is told they can’t anchor or moor for more than 30 days, and then have to move their vessel out of the county for six months. That’s bullshit. At the core of it, this is about wealthy snobs acting like they own the water.”

Minari also pointed out that Florida law is internally contradictory. HB 481 gives local governments the power to impose time limits on anchoring, while SB 164, the mooring field statute, sets no time limits at all. Federal navigation rights are supposed to be supreme, but the Town of Palm Beach is exploiting the conflict to lock out the public.

Minari has joined with other sailors to retain a lawyer, who stated that Palm Beach County and the Town of Palm Beach are on shaky legal ground. “HB 481 gave cities some power, but that bill is superseded by the Rivers and Harbors Act and multiple federal cases,” he said. “They were counting on the fact that they have more money than us, and they’re right. But that does not mean they are right on the law.”

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The Town of Palm Beach’s excuses really don’t hold up to scrutiny. Florida law already gives officials the power to deal with derelict vessels or pollution risks under §327.60 and §327.4107. The real environmental threats come from abandoned hulks leaking fuel, unchecked shoreline development, and storm debris, not from responsible boaters dropping anchor in a bay. Pretending otherwise is disingenuous, opportunistic, and even shortsighted. Florida has long been a destination for thousands of snowbirds who cruise their boats south in the winter. If The Town of Palm Beach succeeds in walling off its waters, that tradition will suffer, since many snowbirds opt to anchor, and the economic and cultural benefits to Palm Beach County may vanish with them.

JT Schultheis, Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of Palm Beach County said, “This is another case of government overreach. They take away your natural rights, your freedom of movement, and unless you are wealthy enough to purchase waterfront property, The Town of Palm Beach doesn’t want you sticking around. Access to the water is now reserved for the elites.”

As Schultheis astutely pointed out, the deepest issue is freedom itself. Under federal law and centuries of maritime tradition, navigable waters are public. They do not belong to a county commission or a town. They do not belong to the wealthy few with docks and yachts. They belong to everyone. To wall off the water from ordinary Floridians is to strip them of their God-given right to free movement.

If we do not call attention to this now, we’ll soon start to see the dominoes fall elsewhere in Florida. Local governments, emboldened by silence, will use these powers to price out and push out anyone who does not fit their polished vision of waterfront living. What begins in the Lake Worth Lagoon will not stay there.

Anchoring is not a loophole to be closed. It is not a problem to be managed. It is freedom in its purest form, the ability to live, move, and chart your own course without permission slips from politicians. I urge everyone in Palm Beach County who values freedom to act. Call and email Town of Palm Beach officials. Tell them the water is not theirs to fence off. The right to navigate and anchor is not negotiable, not revocable, and not for sale.
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If you are interested in helping support the legal fight, please reach out to Marty Minari directly at [email protected]. 

Additionally, you can also contact elected officials at the Town of Palm Beach directly.

Phone: (561) 838-5414
Email directory: https://townofpalmbeach.com/Directory.aspx?did=5 

Elected officials to reach out to:
Danielle H. Moore, Mayor
Bobbie Lindsay, Council President
Lew Crampton, Council President Pro Tem
Julie Araskog, Councilmember
Ted Cooney, Councilmember
Bridget Moran, Councilmember