Thursday, February 25, 2010

Signs Of The Times



Dan Mulhvihill (sp) has always marched to a different drummer. Not wedded to regulations or authority. Dan, while willing to give his friends the shirt off of his back, doesn't settle for losing. With the economy in the tank and no sign of relief, Dan, who works as a cement finisher, like the rest of the construction industry, is hurting for work.

After being shown the door at several marinas for inability to pay fees, he finally sailed the boat over to Eagle Landing at Farragut State Park. Evicted from there, he set out to examine the regulations on anchoring out from shore. He found that if the boat carries current registration, is not blocking a channel or waterway, and has an operable anchor light it is legal as long as it's not just stored on the water, but has periodic habitation. We learned this from Matt Street, Sgt, Kootenai County Water Patrol.

This 26 foot blue sailboat sits calmly out from shore at the head of Scenic Bay, tethered to a buoy which is anchored to the bottom. Dan finally figured out how to win even when the system didn't work for him. If you should happen to run across Dan at one of the diminishing watering holes here in Bayview, you can be sure he is staying at his very own marine hotel, rent free.

Here's an updated close up of the boat backlighted by the setting sun. 2/27/10

3 comments:

Lil ol' me... said...

Great post, Mr. Herb. Maybe I should get a boat and park it in the bay! That Dan guy is resourceful, and more power to him

Anonymous said...

Cool, I will "store" wink wink, my boat out there too!

Filosofi said...

My Dad is one of the most determined people I know. When he sets himself out to do something he gets it done! Great job on figuring out another solution Dad. I'm sure you're gonna be a trendsetter on this one. Great article!