The town is stepping up its campaign to rid local Lake Worth Lagoon waters of derelict and abandoned vessels.
Police Chief Nicholas Caristo told the Town Council Tuesday that officers have issued more than 70 citations for vessels that are attached to illegal moorings, unregistered or at-risk for sinking.
In a combined effort, the department’s marine unit and dive team have seized about 50 mooring buoys, Caristo said.
The town is targeting derelict and abandoned vessels with a new law that limits long-term anchoring to 30 days within any six-month period in the town’s jurisdictional waters.
Mooring refers to the attachment of a vessel to a fixed structure on the floor of the lagoon and is different from anchoring, which involves the use of a heavy object retrieved from the boat. Mooring is illegal without a state permit, which town officials say is difficult to obtain. There is only such permit for vessels in Palm Beach’s jurisdictional waters, the town has said.
According to police, Palm Beach waters are roughly defined as extending from the channel markers near the Lake Worth/Palm Beach Inlet southward to 3475 South Ocean Boulevard, and from the town shore out to the Intracoastal Waterway navigational channel.
Town officials say abandoned and derelict vessels are a navigational hazard and detrimental to the lagoon’s water bottoms and seagrass meadows, which provide habitat for fish, manatees and other marine life.
Police have identified 167 vessels anchored or moored within town waters that have been documented with photographs and GPS coordinates, Caristo said. Officers will keep an eye on the condition and location of the vessels through a database being developed in cooperation with the Information Technology department.
Mayor Danielle Moore and council members applauded the effort to remove the longstanding safety hazards from the lagoon.
“Up to now, it’s been like the Wild West out there,” Councilman Lew Crampton said. “I don’t know how people can go through there at night.”
Caristo said the 30-day anchoring period allowed under town law ends on January 20. The town will notify boat owners they must remove the boats at that time, or authorities will have them towed to a storage facility.
The owners will be required to pay for the tow and storage before they can retrieve their boats, Caristo said. If they don’t, the vessels will be auctioned.
“I believe we will get a lot of voluntary compliance because nobody wants their vessel towed,” Caristo said.
Police have identified about 20 boats for which there is no ownership claim or registration.
“They are essentially worthless,” Town Manager Kirk Blouin said. “At some point, they will be removed and taken to the dump.”
Removing abandoned vessels can be expensive – averaging $20,000 to $25,000, officials say. Palm Beach received a big boost in October 2025 when the Police and Fire Foundation announced its gift of up to $250,000 to assist with the cost of vessel removals.
Local governments have lacked enforcement authority to address the derelict and abandoned vessel problem until the passage last year of House Bill 481, which allows municipalities within larger counties, including Palm Beach County, to set and enforce stricter rules.
Town Council President Bobbie Lindsay encouraged Caristo to continue updating the council at its monthly meetings.
“I’m an experienced boater and I’ve been hoping for something like this for a long time, having grown up here watching these boats abuse our lagoon and the whole system,” she said.
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