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| “No fun allowed” sign (not really, but may as well be) at Del Ray Beach Florida. |
“The sunshine state” is Florida’s moniker. Yet, when surrounded by an overwhelming plethora of “NO” signs… the rebel in me makes me instinctively want to respond “stick it where the sun don’t shine.”
Possessing no dog, no kids, no car, no desire to place my dinghy where there’s no accommodating tie-offs, and feeling a bit too lazy to vault a fence, reluctantly, I comply by inertia.
Delray Beach? Well, we just didn’t stick around long enough nor were we properly equipped to illegally enjoy any of the manner of prohibited fun.
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| Boot Key Harbor marina sign. |
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| Boot Key Harbor marina sign. |
Yes, we’re heard common sense is uncommon. But sheesh…. Couldn’t we behave in a civilized manner without all these signs telling us what all we can’t do?
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| Boot Key Harbor marina sign. |
Do you believe they’re truly necessary?
What signs would you like to see?
How about…
Eat, drink and be merry! Enjoy this little slice of paradise. We trust you do your part to keep it that way.
This is why we itch to move out across the big blue, where the birds and the bees far outnumber the people, the water is clear, and the signs are conspicuously absent.
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| Sign ending Sombrero Beach walk in Marathon. |
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| Marathon marina sign at dinghy dock. |
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| Boot Key harbor sign near bike racks. |
Florida is notoriously litigious and boat-hostile. I launched my trimaran in Stuart and was rigging on the beach; it took approximately 12 minutes for the local police to show up and ask how long I was planning to be there. Somehow all the local communities have managed to circumvent federal/coast guard jurisdiction and place extreme restrictions on how long boats can stay in one place. You start to feel like Sly Stallone in "First Blood" (except with less violence, maybe). My advice: just go straight to the Bahamas and don't waste any time or money in Florida.
Barnacle Bill, we found it much mellower in Jacksonville than Marathon. Still, there's a number of reasons we still consider Washington our home state, even though we spent some time in FL and both my (non-boating) folks live there.
Watch for a future post on "The Fine $tate of Florida"