Hard to fathom: Derelict boats cost Florida taxpayers millions \u2014 and boaters say removal takes too long<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cRight now, if we were to come in and try to take this barge out, our assist boat wouldn\u2019t be able to assist us because that is in the way,\u201d Hastings said.<\/p>\n
The situation is as frustrating as it sounds. Hastings compared it to pulling out of your driveway every morning \u2014 only to find a car parked at the end of it, every single day.<\/p>\n
Time Is Money on the River<\/p>\n
Cross State Towing holds a submerged land lease with the state of Florida, giving the company consistent, legal access to its section of the river to operate. When a vessel blocks that access, the company can\u2019t just move it.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy office is gonna have to call the state and try to get somebody on the phone that can get out there and contact the owner and get it moved,\u201d Hastings said. \u201cThat can take days. I\u2019ve seen it take weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
City of Jacksonville Dock Master Jim Suber said the frustration is understandable \u2014 and the stakes are real.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can\u2019t obstruct a dock operation from being able to get to and from their dock,\u201d Suber said. \u201cThey don\u2019t make money if they\u2019re not operating.\u201d<\/p>\n
New State Law Aims to Fix the Problem<\/p>\n
A new state law that went into effect July 1 could make situations like this easier to resolve. Under the law, boat owners who anchor their vessel for 14 days within a 30-day window are required to obtain a long-term anchoring permit \u2014 and reapply for it every year.<\/p>\n
Suber said the permit requirement gives authorities a new tool to track vessels and enforce standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow you\u2019re tracking them, and they have to be maintained,\u201d Suber said. \u201cIn order to have that permit, there are certain things that have to come into place. It has to be navigable.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Captain Hastings and the crew at Cross State Towing, the hope is that the new law means fewer boats in the way \u2014 and smoother operations on the St. Johns River.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A stray sailboat is causing big headaches for one of Jacksonville\u2019s longest-running marine businesses \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-381284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}