So true!!
There is a serious shortage of dockspace and hi & dry marinas in the South Florida area. Recently a group representing marinas attended a meeting with county commissioners to protest the re-zoning of some marina properties for use as new construction condos. This is putting alot of pressure on the existing infrastructure and generally, doing a remarkable job of stagnating growth of the marine industry in South Florida
On any weekend, the traffic on the water in this area is less than half of what it was a few years ago. Most of this is due to the excessive idle speed zones. Maybe this is a good thing for manatees (because they have rights too), but there must be some compromise that we can all live with (manatees included).
In South Florida, from November through March, it is idle speed along the intracoastal from North Miami to Palm Beach on weekends, which is about a 60 mile stretch. There are 3 or 4 places, about one mile long, that you can come up on plane in this area. Due to this, many people avoid boating... or just don't purchase boats because of this restriction.
In some ways, it is good, as it reduces the amount of traffic (and nuts!) on the water. But it makes going anywhere on the intracoastal... a LONG trip!
Ofcourse... that's just my opinion and I could be wrong, but I'm probably not.
