Cruising World - May 2016

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may 2016

cruisingworld.com

20

UNDERWAY

ing: Single and

Short-Handed

Techniques

by Duncan Wells ($25;

Bloomsbury Publishing;

2015)

This is one of the best

step-by-step handbooks

to come out in decades,

with clear illustrations,

diagrams and photo-

graphs. It’s targeted at

couples, individuals and

parents who need to

handle a boat safely and

ei ciently, without help

from guests or other crew.

Common sailing situ-

ations are given detailed

solutions: These include

sail setting and reefi ng,

picking up mooring

buoys, anchoring and

berthing, man overboard,

sailing in fog, and heavy

weather. The book also

of ers 21 QR codes that

will link you to online

video demonstrations.

— Rick Martell

Boat Kid

by Melanie Neale

($13; Beating Windward

Press; 2013)

eating disorder, and as

she gets older, she strug-

gles with her father and

herself to determine

who she is and what she

wants to do with her life.

Neale’s writing is both

descriptive and infor-

mative, painting vivid

images even in the minds

of people who know

little of boats. Being a

current boat kid myself,

I found it to be an inter-

esting read, but I think

it would be even more so

for someone who doesn’t

already live aboard.

Overall, I’d consider

my time reading Boat Kid

well spent. I would rec-

ommend this book to

anyone 10 and older who

would like a heartfelt

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ANCHOR BANS

COMING TO THE

SUNSHINE STATE

I

guess it’s true that every-

thing is owned by somebody.

Even the view.

Despite strident opposition

from sailing and boating groups,

it appears that Florida is going

forward with anchor bans in

prime staging areas for transiting

the Gulf Stream.

At press time, the Anchor-

ing Limitation Areas Bill, CS/

HB 1051, was on Governor Rick

Scott’s desk awaiting his signa-

ture. And based on the celerity

with which the bill passed the

House and Senate, and the lack of

meaningful debate, he will likely

sign it into law, to take ef ect July

1, 2016. The bill applies to an-

chorages in Miami’s Sunset Lake,

areas of Biscayne Bay, and the

Middle River in Fort Lauderdale.

The apparent inspiration for

the bill was the desire to accom-

modate water skiers who com-

plained that anchored boats took

up the limited space available for

their activity. But the law pro-

scribes anchoring only from sun-

set to sunrise — not when people

are likely to be water skiing.

So what’s going on here? The

bill solves no apparent problems

and will only actively discourage

transiting boaters from coming to

the state. It’s dii cult to see this as

anything but an incipient “scenery

grab” by condo owners who vote

locally, to the detriment of itiner-

ant boat owners, who can’t.

The bans will doubtless push

existing boats to other crowded

anchorages, making the options

fewer still for transient sailors,

who are overwhelmingly respon-

sible people who spend money

as they travel. Yes, there are

marinas, but they are often full

and very pricey. (Miami averages

$2.85 to $5 per foot.)

Florida has always promoted

itself as mariner-friendly, yet it is

enacting legislation that will make

many sailors feel most unwelcome.

And by doing so, it will open the

door for dozens of waterfront

communities to pressure their

state reps to create a ban for them.

To read the text of CS/HB

1051, visit fl senate.gov/Session/

Bill/2016/1051/BillText/er/PDF.

— Robert Beringer

I closed my eyes and

listened — the sound

of the engine, the boat

moving through the

water, the splashing

and the wind, all of it

combined to make me

sleepy and happy.

MELANIE NEALE,

BOAT KID

“

”

Scenes like this may not exist in Florida in the future if the Miami

and Fort Lauderdale anchoring bans set a precedent for other towns.

ROBERT BERINGER (LEFT); COURTESY OF THE PUBLISHERS