The allure of a seafaring life in the live-aboard community south of the Historic Bridge Street City Pier in Sarasota Bay is surely a mixed bag of troubles and pleasures.
A derelict vessel — a 1987 Cabin Motor Boat belonging to Robert Case of Bradenton — is the 14th vessel removed during Bradenton Beach Police Department Lt. John Cosby’s watch.
He’s headed the abandoned-vessel removal program since 2011.
Amid the anchorage of 40-plus boats, the Cabin Motor Boat sank not long before June 3, when BBPD first tagged the vessel, he said.
“People are turning to boats for housing. The majority of them are unemployed — that’s their shelter,” said Cosby.
BBPD tagged Case’s vessel June 19 for a second time. The notice required the boat’s removal by June 26.
“We’ve been in contact with Mr. Case. He’s been talking to code, the lieutenant and me,” said BBPD Chief Sam Speciale.
According to Speciale, Case wants to keep the vessel but doesn’t have equipment or funds to right it. The BBPD tries to work with people like Case — to a point.
“If that’s your primary residence, we try to understand, but it comes to a point when we have to get rid of the boat,” Speciale said.
State law empowers law enforcement to remove derelict vessels to prevent environmental and navigational hazards, such as pollution from leaking motor fluids or damages from debris hitting other vessels or docks during storms.
However, the law involves a complicated administrative process that can take more than two years. Lien holders must be contacted. The title to the vessel must be properly transferred.
In this case, BBPD posted the second notice on the vessel after learning of the boat’s lien holder, Mariner Finance Florida Inc.
Cosby is waiting to remove Case’s vessel until he talks to the finance company, which has several options, including legal action.
Cosby said the average cost of derelict-vessel removal runs $5,000.
The cost is funded by the West Coast Inland Navigation District — a taxing district tasked with the management/maintenance of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway — and paid through a Manatee County partnership with the city.
Removal costs may also be recouped from the owner or lien holder, he said.
