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Tarpon Springs Boats Called A Hazard But Also Seen As Art

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By STEVEN GIRARDI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 15, 2008

TARPON SPRINGS - Joseph Renardo would like nothing more than to haul his two disabled shrimp boats out of the Anclote River, where they have been stuck for almost three years.

"All it takes is money," the former shrimp fisherman said Thursday. "But I don't have it. I wish to God I did."

Renardo, 54, isn't the only one who wants the boats gone.

On Monday, Renardo was booked into the Pinellas County Jail on two felony counts of illegal dumping of litter in excess of 500 pounds. He was released on $2,000 bail.

He was ordered to move the boats by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission a year ago. Meantime, he faces daily fines that that add up to about $40,500 so far for violating city anchorage laws.

The 73-foot shrimp boats - the Norther and the Sundowner - sit partially sunk in the river just west of the city's famed sponge docks, outside Rusty Bellies Waterfront Grill.

"Customers think they're pretty cool," restaurant owner Julie Russell said.

So cool that a photograph of one of the boats, with lightning crackling above it, was used in April as a poster for the annual Tarpon Springs Chamber of Commerce Fine Arts Festival.

"There's such a following of people who don't want them moved because we think they are artwork," chamber marketing director Robin Ferrara said.

"We understand that, and we want to work with Renardo," said Capt. Roger Young of the fish and wildlife commission. "All he had to do was show us some kind of progress, that some effort was being made."

The boats are a navigational hazard and a potential danger should a hurricane blow through, Young said.

The commission gave Renardo 30 days to remove the boats in October, extending that by 60 days at Renardo's request.

"But absolutely nothing has been done," Young said. "He hasn't contacted us to let us know."

Renardo said he needed more than time. "The problem is money. Just to pick them up and move them is $5,000. And then there's no place to put them."

To have them crushed and sent to a landfill would cost $150,000 to $200,000, he said. He would give them away, he said, but salvagers told him they have no value.

Renardo, a Tarpon Springs native like his parents, said he brought the boats home from Key West, where he had gone to work as a shrimper. In 2005, Hurricane Dennis damaged one of the boats, costing him thousands in repairs, then Hurricane Katrina hit both of them.

He tried to get hurricane grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said, but couldn't. He was referred to the Small Business Administration, but they couldn't help, either, he said.

After 28 years as a fisherman, he was out of business. Now, he's working for the Tarpon Springs parks department, cutting grass for $10 an hour.

"This is a worse nightmare than the hurricanes, to tell you the truth," he said.

Young said his office received complaints about the boats last year through the U.S. Coast Guard and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. He said Renardo was cited in January 2006 by the Coast Guard for pollutants leaking from the boats.

He said he understands moving the boats is expensive, and the fish and wildlife commission would like to work with Renardo.

"But it's not fair that he gets to dispose of his boats in the water and taxpayers have to foot the bill," Young said.

"The analogy I use is if my truck breaks down at Fourth Street and Gandy, there's no way the city, state and county are going to wait two years to let you remove it."

Reporter Steven Girardi may be reached at (727) 451-2333 or sgirardi@tampatrib.com.

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