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.”
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 points 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 FloridaAnchoragerights@gmail.com.
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
Another long time boater in the anchorage wrote the following to the Mayor and city council of Palm Beach.
I redacted his name for privacy reasons but the rest is on point and goes to the heart of why we need help fighting this kind of legislation.
Dear Mayor,
Below is my notes when I spoke at the meeting on Sept 9 2025. I put it here for reference.
The important part is present time 7:30 AM Sept 29 2025. noted below if you want to skip over my notes.
My name is [name redacted], my wife and I moved here from Pittsburgh in 2005 to be near our parents and be their caregivers.
We currently own a condo in Palm Beach Shores.
In 2007 we bought a 42 ft Fountaine Pajot catamaran sailboat. We kept it in Miami until 2010. We then brought it to Palm Beach and joined Palm Beach Sailing Club.
I am a yacht broker and my wife is a wellness coach. We also do charters and boat tours. We have worked with the Palm Beach hotels, including The Breakers, and Four Seasons. We also work with Visit Palm Beach.
When we brought the boat here in 2010 we found no affordable dockage or moorings so we bought a mooring for our safety and others.
Currently, there is a one year wait at Riviera Marina at $2,000 a month for a one year lease and there is also a one year wait at Palm Harbor with an annual lease at $64,000.
My insurance plan is based being on a mooring., which they prefer. My boat value is about $250,000 with 1 mil in lability insurance.
Our boat has been on this mooring for 15 years through every named storm since with no damage and no damage to other property. The moorings that we use cost between $2,500 to $4,000 to install.
If the towns current plan continues to remove these good moorings, the only boats left will be the derelicts. The boats that were on good moorings will now be on anchor and will be more exposed to the storms. Please know that if there is a hurricane coming here, the marinas have a mandatory evacuation of all vessels.
There have been laws on the books for years including 823.11 which addresses derelict boats. It includes definitions for derelict boats and boats at danger of being a hazard. These laws have never been enforced. There are many boats out there now which are aground, sinking, and abandoned because of this neglect of duty.. Please do not penalize us, who are doing our due diligence to protect properties because of actions that were not taken by the local authorities.
I believe the best course of action is for the town of Palm Beach and Riviera Beach to either give us a clear path to getting permits or begin a proper mooring field like other Florida towns. It will provide local boaters and property owners security and will help the hundreds of seasonal boaters who are coming every winter.
7:30 am Sept 29 2025. I am sitting on my boat as I have for over 24 hrs at anchor while hurricane Imelda passes east of us. I am grateful it has missed us. Still, I have not slept in this time and I will probably not sleep at all today as I continue to take care of my boat in case my anchor drags or other boats may possibly hit me.
Please find the 2 photos of how I spent my time staring at my phone apps all last night. One photo is my GPS. The red arrow is where I am right now. The yellow lines is where I have been over the last 24 hrs. I am in about 15 ft of water. I have about 100 ft of chain going to my anchor.
I am about 200 ft away from a private dock and about 300 ft from the wall at Center For the Arts. If things go poorly I will either hit the pilings and sink or I will hit the wall. My $250,00 boat will probably be stuck there for months until it is retrieved and most likely be stripped of any valuable equipment.
Why am I here? I am here because I lost my mooring that I had for almost 15 years. If I had my mooring, I would be at home in Palm Beach Shores with my wife knowing my boat is safe. I have been on my boat for 2 weeks staying on my boat until I find a safe solution.
The city’s blind, callous approach to the local boaters is unfathomable. Those of us who live and work here have no place to go. There is no clear path to get a permit for our moorings. Many of us have tried and none of us has succeeded yet.
Hurricane season is not over, and I am not thrilled with having to go through this again. Please consider that come November hundreds of cruising boats will be passing through getting provisions, last minute repairs and waiting for weather to go south or to the Bahamas. Since I have been a part of this crowd, I have always spoke about how much I love this area. I don’t think I can do that anymore.
As said before, many of us out here are deeply effected by the towns actions or lack there of. We are getting more vocal because our lives will never be the same. We are responsible boaters and citizens, we obey the laws, and we care about the environment. We care also about boating rights for ourselves and visitors. Please note the drone picture of Peanut island. Do you think they use the bathrooms? Why are you focused on us?
It's depressing that there's a new story about government encroachment every day, to the point of micromanagement of our lives in every aspect you can imagine. It's even more depressing that so many people still think that they live in the land of the free and home of the brave, when only the slightest glance at reality reveals the exact opposite.