When John Fazzio sailed into St. Marys more than four years ago, his 103-foot, three-masted schooner, Steel Away, was the talk of town.
The boat drew scores of onlookers, as well as an invitation from city officials to remain anchored at the downtown waterfront district indefinitely.
Fazzio and his wife, Ann Stone, accepted the invitation and quickly became part of the downtown community, offering tours of the boat once a month to crowds ranging from 50 to as many as 280 people.
Fazzio says he began offering the tours after he overheard an excited child tell his parents he’d like to tour the pirate ship.
During the tours, held the first Saturday of the month, Fazzio explains the history of sailing boats, how he spent 12 years building the boat with the help of his employees at a business he owned in Murrells Inlet, S.C., and how he ended up in St. Marys when seeking a safe harbor from an approaching storm.
But now, Fazzio is wondering if his welcome has worn out.
Crab fishermen are claiming sailboats are taking space where they drop their traps.
They recently expressed their concerns to city officials about a proposed Maritime Heritage District designed to attract more activity to the city’s waterfront, including more boat traffic.
Fazzio says he has tried to ignore complaints about his boat by crabbers, but it’s gotten to a point he believes he will have to be more vocal about the issue. They have so many crab traps near the city’s waterfront, Fazzio says he can’t anchor his boat without risking catching one of the lines attached to the traps in his propeller. It cost him $800 to hire a diver to repair the prop the last time it happened.
“It’s come down to we’re going to have to fight with them,” he said.
Stone doesn’t understand why the crabbers haven’t approached them to discuss their concerns.
“If they have a personal beef with us, they should talk to us,” she said.
Spud Woodward, director of the Coastal Resources Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, says he is aware of the ongoing dispute, which he describes as a “turf war.”
“You have a use conflict, and it’s escalating,” he said. “This is an unfortunate byproduct.”
Some downtown merchants are also talking about boat traffic, which they want to encourage, said Jerry Brandon, owner of the Riverview Hotel and a member of the city’s Downtown Development Authority. Boaters are potential patrons, he said.
Brandon says he is concerned about signs the Department of Natural Resources put on docks last week that limit the time a boat can be tied to the dock to 30 minutes.
Brandon, who was mayor in 2001 when the docks were built, said the intent was for one of the docks to be used for boaters who wanted to visit the city’s waterfront district, shop and eat a meal.
“They’ve (DNR) come down here and arbitrarily decided to do this,” he said of the signs. “You can’t bring a dinghy in 30 minutes, tie it up and go get something to eat in that amount of time.”
Woodward says the decision to post the signs had nothing to do with complaints by crabbers. He says his department has had numerous complaints from boaters who say they can’t tie up to city docks because other vessels are exceeding the 30-minute limit.
Woodward says the time limit will not be enforced at the city’s floating dock, which allows vessels to tie up for six hours. The state will control the time on the stationary dock, however.
The city owns the two docks, but they were built by the DNR.
DNR officials will meet with city officials to address their concerns at 2 p.m. May 8 at the city’s docks, where Woodward says he will listen to concerns from everyone.
“If you want to change the use of the facilities, we need to discuss the pros and cons,” he said. “Things are getting muddled around there.”
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
