Titusville to Jupiter • Boat Disposal Guide
Unwanted Boat on the Treasure Coast: Title, VTIP, and What “Disposal” Actually Means
People on this coast use “boat disposal” for three different problems. A titled skiff on stands is one. A boat still floating with a written at-risk warning is another. A wrecked or sunken vessel officers have treated as derelict is a third. FWC programs, and private haulers, do not treat those as the same job.
- Titled Vessels
- VTIP Explained
- Not an FWC Contractor
- Clear Quotes
The state’s Vessel Turn-In Program (VTIP) will remove and destroy an eligible at-risk vessel at no cost to the owner, and only then. A yard boat, a boat with a lien, or a boat that is already derelict is not a free FWC pickup. Derelict-vessel removal is a law-enforcement and local-government process, not a same-afternoon private job.
Coastal Estate Cleanouts handles boat and vessel disposal for titled boats families can legally junk, often as part of an estate cleanout. We are not an FWC contractor: (772) 210-3579 · care@coastalestatecleanouts.com.
Three paths. Start with the right one.
(A) Titled vessel the owner can junk, trailer, stands, yard, or a slip you control, and no active derelict case. Private disposal.
(B) VTIP, still floating on waters of this state, with at least one written at-risk warning or citation under 327.4107, F.S. If FWC accepts the application and funding is available, the state pays.
(C) Derelict vessel, wrecked, junked, or substantially dismantled on state waters, or on a port or someone else’s property without consent. Law-enforcement and local-government removal, not a private afternoon job.
A vessel can slide from (B) toward (C). FWC says a vessel is declared a public nuisance, and may be removed as if it were derelict, when the owner has been cited three times within 24 months for at-risk conditions, without acquittal or dismissal.
What FWC means by at-risk and derelict
Live definitions are on FWC’s Derelict and At-Risk Vessels page.
Officers may find a vessel at risk of becoming derelict if it is taking on water without an effective way to dewater; enclosed spaces cannot be sealed or stay open to the weather; it has broken loose, or is in danger of breaking loose, from its anchor; it is listing from water intrusion; it lacks an effective means of propulsion for safe navigation within 48 hours after a law-enforcement notice, and the owner cannot show that repair parts have been ordered; or it is tied to an unlawful or unpermitted structure or mooring.
A derelict vessel is wrecked, junked, or substantially dismantled upon any waters of this state; at a Florida port without consent of the agency with jurisdiction; or docked, grounded, or beached on someone else’s property without consent. “Wrecked” includes sunken or sinking, aground without mechanical help to get off, or left after a casualty such as an accident, extreme weather, or a fire. “Junked” means substantially stripped, components substantially degraded or destroyed, or discarded by the owner or operator. “Substantially dismantled” means at least two of three systems, steering, propulsion, or exterior hull integrity, are missing, compromised, incomplete, inoperable, or broken.
Leaving a derelict vessel on Florida waters can bring criminal liability. FWC is also clear about what is not legal disposal: sinking a boat without the required permits, letting it drift, grounding it at a ramp, burning it in open water, or handing it off without transferring title. Intentionally dumping a vessel on Florida waters is a third-degree felony.
Path A: You have the title. You can junk the boat.
This is the usual Treasure Coast estate problem: a powerboat, sailboat, or pontoon that has not moved in years. If you are the titled owner, or the executor settling a probate estate who can produce the title, you can arrange private removal. That is the work on our boat disposal page: trailered, yard-stored, and marina vessels, and the trailer if it is going too. Haul-out is coordinated when the boat is still in the water and you have the legal right to move it. Quotes turn on size, condition, and access. We do not publish crane minimums or invented haul-out fees.
Title work is part of disposal. Florida vessel titles are Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) documents. FWC tells buyers and sellers that a Florida-titled vessel takes more than a bill of sale: the certificate of title, with a proper assignment, has to change hands, and both sides have 30 days to notify DHSMV.
When the boat is being destroyed rather than sold, FWC describes how the owner converts that DHSMV title to junked status: mark JUNKED in pen or marker across the face of the original title, then sign and date directly above the word. Do not write on the title until you know which path you are on. For VTIP, FWC has a specific sequence and will not accept a copy. For a private junk, treat the original as cancelled, not transferable. If the title is lost or there is a lien on the DHSMV record, fix that first. A boat with a lien is not a clean junk, and it is not eligible for VTIP.
A boat in a yard in Fort Pierce, on stands in Stuart, or behind a house in Jupiter is Path A. Dry-stored boats do not qualify for free state removal.
Path B: VTIP, only for at-risk vessels that already have paper
VTIP is a prevention program, not a general junk-boat benefit. Live rules are on the VTIP page and in the VTIP Guidelines (PDF, July 2022).
Private citizens and businesses may apply. The applicant must be the titled owner. The vessel must be free of liens and other ownership claims on DHSMV’s records. Every titled owner must sign and provide a government-issued photo ID. From FWC’s guidelines, the vessel must also have a current or expired registration number, a federal documentation number, or a hull identification number; be floating on waters of this state; have a citation or written warning for a 327.4107 violation; not be derelict or under an active derelict-vessel investigation; and not require special contaminant mitigation beyond what is ordinarily aboard a vessel. If any of those fail before removal, the vessel becomes ineligible. A verbal warning is not enough. A trailered boat in a driveway is not VTIP.
Funding is not a promise. FWC awards removals first come, first served, and accepts applications until funding is exhausted or the program ends.
How to apply, as FWC currently instructs. Download the VTIP application (form FWCDLE_192). Attach a copy of the title, copies of every at-risk citation or written warning for that vessel, each owner’s ID, and the photographs FWC lists (bow, stern, both sides, interior, the whole vessel from a distance, and the registration, documentation, and/or hull identification number). Attach the completed, signed, and notarized Waiver and Release (form FWCDLE_193) from every titled owner. Email the package to VTIP@MyFWC.com, or mail it to FWC Boating and Waterways, Attn: VTIP, 620 S. Meridian Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399. FWC confirms within five business days (850-488-5600).
Junking the title for VTIP is a later step. If the vessel is pre-eligible, FWC mails instructions and a self-addressed stamped envelope. Then the owner writes JUNKED across the face of the original title in large letters, signs and dates above that word, and mails the original in FWC’s envelope. A copy is not accepted. Only after staff receive that original is the removal awarded. Owners shall not move or alter the vessel after that notice. If FWC awards the job, the program funds 100% of removal, destruction, and disposal, for that awarded, eligible vessel only.
Coastal Estate Cleanouts does not submit VTIP applications, collect FWC funds, or act as the state’s contractor. If you already have a written at-risk warning and the boat is still floating, start with FWC.
Path C: Derelict vessels belong to government
Once a vessel is derelict, authorized agencies can relocate, remove, store, destroy, or dispose of it. Costs, including money owed to a third-party contractor, are recoverable against the owner. Unpaid removal costs can block the owner from registering that vessel or any other vessel or motor vehicle in Florida.
The Derelict Vessel Removal Grant Program reimburses state, county, and local governments. FWC states it is not available to private citizens or nongovernmental organizations.
If officers have already tagged the boat or opened a derelict investigation, a private crew showing up “this afternoon” can make the case worse. Do not move, strip, or sink it. Talk to the agency that issued the notice. We will not quote a derelict-in-the-water removal as if it were a yard boat.
What “disposal” actually means, and what it costs
Disposal is not a “free boat, you haul” post, a bill of sale to someone who never titles it, or a hull left at a ramp. For Path A, the titled owner authorizes the work, the hull is dismantled rather than dumped, and the DHSMV title is junked so the boat cannot be “sold” again. For Path B, it is FWC’s process: application, written decision, original junked title to Tallahassee, then state-funded removal of an awarded vessel. For Path C, it is the government’s removal process, with the owner still on the hook for cost and, often, criminal exposure.
Waterfront estate cleanouts along this coast often include a house and a boat. The boat is the same project only if it is a titled vessel the estate can junk. An inherited slip with a written at-risk citation is a VTIP conversation. A wreck already listed by law enforcement is not something we fold into a broom-clean date.
FWC does not publish a citizen fee for private boat junking. VTIP, when awarded, is at no cost to the eligible owner. Derelict removal costs are assessed by government against the owner. Coastal Estate Cleanouts’ own Florida estate-cleanout cost page lists boat / vessel disposal at $300–$1,500+. That is this site’s marketing range for typical private jobs we quote, small trailered boats at the low end, larger or harder-access vessels higher, not a DHSMV charge, not an FWC fee, and not a crane tariff.
If you hold a clear title to a boat you can move, that is private disposal. If you have a written at-risk warning and the boat is still floating, apply at MyFWC.com/VTIP or ask FWC at VTIP@MyFWC.com / 850-488-5600. If officers have called it derelict, stay in that process. We work Titusville to Jupiter, take Path A boats, and will not sell Path B or Path C as a private afternoon job.
(772) 210-3579 · care@coastalestatecleanouts.com
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Private disposal is Path A. VTIP and derelict cases go through FWC and local government.
Ready when you are.
We take Path A boats from Titusville to Jupiter, and we will not sell Path B or Path C as a private afternoon job.
📞 Call (772) 210-3579