Joe and Mary's Sink

[bmwcaves]

Just a "heads up" for anyone that plans a dive at Lost 40 or Joe and Marys Sink
I have not been there in years but a friend of mine, who has dived there also, stopped by there on Sunday on his way back from Homassasa, just to check out the sink, but no plans to dive.

As soon as he pulled in off the road, a sheriff came out of the bushes on a ATV and asked what he was doing. he explained to him about the dive site and he was just checking out as he has not been there in a few years.
Barney Fife then proceeded to tell him he was trespassing, to which my buddy replied that there were no signs informing him of that...to which Barney replied "well, they knock the signs down" and then proceeded to write my buddy a $50 ticket for trespassing.

My friend explained to the officer he was not aware of the tresspssing but that he was aware of many people, includining himself, that dive this sink as well as Lost Forty located further back in the woods. Then "Barney" informed him that the sink in front of them ( Joe and Mary's) was the only dive site there and that he would have to get a permit from the county to dive it.
Facinating !

My friend also said there were other vehicles there loading up dirt bikes, etc, and others, but did not see any of them getting a ticket.
Who knows. ( Maybe they read about it on the CDF and decided to go bust some divers )

Just thought I'd warn anyone heading down that way.

Brian

[Jordan]

Sniff Sniff

Hmmm

[Walter Pickel]

For those that are REALLY interested in diving these sites, I am listing the land owner for both parcels below:

Loren E Hamm Trust
1843 1/2 55th Street South
Gulfport, FL 33707-4162

This information is public knowledge but please be respectful if you make contact with this land owner.

[Signal 20]

they might just be getting tired of people riding dirt bikes and 4 wheelers out there, when I dove the lost 40 there were 3 atvs hauling ass around the sand roads back there.

[Walter Pickel]

they might just be getting tired of people riding dirt bikes and 4 wheelers out there, when I dove the lost 40 there were 3 atvs hauling ass around the sand roads back there.

I would agree with you. I have some great pictures of some "locals" dumping a couple of girls out of the back of their Ford Ranger while they were sliding around between Joe's and Mary's...

[Limestone Cowboy]

They have busted people in the past for riding ATVs there. The county is also protective of the power line right of way as they have a wellfield along it to the north of Lost Forty.

There are NO "No Trespassing" signs anywhere around there, and haven't been for ages. (I'm a Brooksville native) I'd fight that ticket all day long. HCSO has some real idiots working for them. I had one in a boat drive right over divers with a flag in the Weeki Wachee while towing another boat to the dock. And was totally unconcerned when called on it.

Drew

[DeWayne]

I may be wrong on this, but I thought FL had adopted the same laws that many states have gone to regarding trespass, namely that a piece of property does not need to be fenced nor marked, just owned. Fought a lot of hunters over property rights in AL where I had put up the no trespassing signs for the friend that owned the land, and each time I heard the judge tell them that unless they had a deed or permit they were trespassing irregardless of how many signs or fences were there. It may be a good idea to contact the owners and obtain written permission before venturing onto non-public tracts of land. AL requires the written permit any time you carry a weapon; verbal permission alone is no longer good enough there due to the vast number of folks who have attempted to take advantage of the system. It seems like I heard years back that FL had adopted a similar approach, but like I said, I could be wrong.

[john]

i dont know but I work retail and the police wont write tickets or otherwise unless the owner or manager is present and states they do not want them on the premises. after the notification from the individual infront of the officer a warning is issued. then when the offender returns its considered trespassing.

Ive worked pasco, hernando, hillsborough all seem the same the only difference in counties is hernando keeps the records. in pasco and hillsborough the officer wont do anything for the land owner or manager unless he provides that yellow copy of the warning.

but then I guess since these locations involve big business, rules can be broken.

In my experience (dont take it as fact) I doubt that ticket will hold up in court.