Flagler Beach Florida - Possible new rules on beach access. :: Catamaran Sailboats at TheBeachcats.com

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Flagler Beach Florida - Possible new rules on beach access.

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DamonLinkous

Rank: Administrator

Registered: Jul 19, 2001

Last visit: Apr 01, 2024

Posts: 3428
Posted: Jun 13, 2017 - 09:48 AM

bradinjaxMy sister in law works for turtle patrol for St Johns County. The next county north of Flagler County and gets up at 4AM every day during nesting season to mark new turtle nests. These are reasonable people and are not anti catamaran.

But....

These very well organized organizations have PR professionals and are very well connected politically. They will ruthlessly use their power and influence with city and county governments to accomplish their (admirable) goals.

My advice is to partner with them. If you try to go the "city hall" route for a half dozen beach cats you will massively lose in the court of public opinion.You will lose to the thousands of turtle lovers in Flagler County that politicians only see as voters. You will lose access to the beach irregardless of the science, best practices, and good intentions.

The first and last rule for any politician is get re-elected and frankly they don't care about beach cat owners votes unless there are a lot of you or your very wealthy and willing to contribute to their next campaign.

Bottom line: everyone loves sea turtles and few care about beach cat access.

One more thought: I am digging the idea of an annual beach parking permit sticker for beach cats for Flagler County. You can pitch it to your turtle patrol as a fee dedicated to the turtle fund...

That's what I'm saying too. Thanks for putting it better Brad.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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evenkeel

Rank: Lubber

Registered: Jun 12, 2017

Last visit: Jun 13, 2017

Posts: 6
Posted: Jun 13, 2017 - 09:50 AM

I appreciate all the responses and they have helped given me the direction I will take when I meet with the City Manager. I do intend to work with the Turtle organization and reach out to them and City Hall. I hope that they are willing to compromise. Unfortunately. Turtles trump catamarans and I will need to present a win-win proposal for this to gain any support. I like the idea of having a permit fee that would go to the Turtle Patrol and also include language restricting placement of catamaran's within X feet of a turtle nest, limit the number of permits issued yearly, etc.. I don't think this will go easily however, but I will try otherwise sailing is over. The draft ordinance they have prepared is written strictly to prohibit sailboats on the beach.

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John Noble
Hobie Wave
Flagler Beach, Florida
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martyr

Rank: Mate

Registered: Jul 01, 2016

Last visit: Aug 30, 2023

Posts: 631
Posted: Jun 13, 2017 - 10:19 AM

No beachcats allowed on the beach is serious stuff, it's what these boats are all about. I hope some sort of compromise can be reached. Sailing is a green sport, it is eco friendly and surely people would see this as a good thing, hopefully anyway.

Thanks to MN3 for the direction. I don't think I will leave my boat on the beach overnight. I should be in really great shape after setting it up and taking it down each day for a week. Lol. Great exercise right? Lol.

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Marty
1984 Hobie 16 Redline Yellow Nationals, "Yellow Fever"
Opelika, Al / Lake Martin
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MN3

Rank: Master Chief

Registered: Jun 20, 2006

Last visit: Apr 06, 2024

Posts: 7088
Posted: Jun 13, 2017 - 11:29 AM

QuoteThanks to MN3 for the direction. I don't think I will leave my boat on the beach overnight. I should be in really great shape after setting it up and taking it down each day for a week. Lol. Great exercise right? Lol.

Yup! you will sleep better after doing all that : and especially better knowing your cat is in a safe spot where it wont be messed with.

I forgot to mention the NEED to use tree augers and secure your cat to the beach at night. Here in FL we get wild pop up storms day or night, and it only takes about 30mph wind to get under your tramp and take your cat for a sail through the air (no sails needed) - actually it's much more like a tumble.

This is 1am last month - my buddy didn't put augers in the ground
he did tie it to the trailer - that is the only reason the boat was still there

Edited by MN3 on Jun 13, 2017 - 11:29 AM.
evenkeel

Rank: Lubber

Registered: Jun 12, 2017

Last visit: Jun 13, 2017

Posts: 6
Posted: Jun 13, 2017 - 11:44 AM

QuoteI forgot to mention the NEED to use tree augers and secure your cat to the beach at night. Here in FL we get wild pop up storms day or night, and it only takes about 30mph wind to get under your tramp and take your cat for a sail through the air (no sails needed) - actually it's much more like a tumble.

I bought a helical auger about 3 feet long that you turn and it embeds into the beach and then use a chain and lock through it and secure the Hobie. with the chain through the anchor eyehole you cant turn the helical anchor to remove and steal the boat worked well for me.

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John Noble
Hobie Wave
Flagler Beach, Florida
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MN3

Rank: Master Chief

Registered: Jun 20, 2006

Last visit: Apr 06, 2024

Posts: 7088
Posted: Jun 13, 2017 - 11:57 AM

QuoteI bought a helical auger about 3 feet long that you turn and it embeds into the beach and then use a chain and lock through it and secure the Hobie. with the chain through the anchor eyehole you cant turn the helical anchor to remove and steal the boat worked well for me.

Yup - there are many kinds of augers - but only ones with the right slope will work in the sand (at least the type we have around here)

I use one on each side of my cat - tie a line across my tramp and secure it. sometime i even tie my trap handles to the augers to reduce the sway of the mast (that may work augers out of the sand)
Then i tie the bows down to my trailer

My trailer has a pair of chocks under one tire and i have a custom "foot" on my trailer that i can lower in drive into the sand to act as another "stop" to prevent my cat/trailer from moving

Last summer my cat was on it's wheels, tied to the trailer (but not chocked nor anchored) - I was at home waiting for some light rain to pass before going to the beach - I got the call saying "come now - your cat is in the middle of the road" - when i got there a strong breeze had pushed my boat still tied to the trailer (and another cat/trailer) up the beach, and my spin pole was now less than 1 inch from impaling the side of a van (that happened to have a hand painted murial on it). that would have been VERY expensive to repair. The only thing that stopped it was some very nice kayakers who stopped it and chocked the tires with big rocks that were around.

Oh 1 note about chain:
I am not concerned with theft too much (much more likely someone will vandalize it than steal it) - probably pretty tough to steel a catamaran with the mast up - your not gonna go to far without hitting a power line
and since my cat is big, heavy and complex - no one is gonna get it off the beach in under an hour - not optimal for thieves

Edited by MN3 on Jun 13, 2017 - 12:00 PM.