As one poster said, "You can't fix stupidity". And it looks a lot more like the pols are doing "something" when they pass new laws instead of enforcing the ones already on the books. You have to treat every boater you encounter as if they don't know squat. Your safety is your responsibilty.
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Ontario 32 - Aria
Free, is the heart, that lives not, in fear.
Full, is the spirit, that thinks not, of falling.
True, is the soul, that hesitates not, to give.
Alive, is the one, that believes, in love. JCP
All states require a license to drive a car, hasn't stopped the most moronic double-digit IQ's from driving, has it? Perhaps if the license requirements were something more akin to the way the Germans do it, we might make a dent, but even in Germany, stupid finds a way. The penalties should be higher, but then you get stories about the innocent fellow being skewered while the off-duty cop gets off free and clear (referencing another thread where the off-duty cop in the powerboat plowed into the sailboat). Truth be told, there are times when I wish for the days of frontier justice.
There was an intense discussion on this a couple of months back. you will find all kinds of different opinions. as john stated why not enforce existing laws? why because it cant be done! Link to thread
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I've been sailing since before I remember, and my parents always taught me to refer to powerboats as "stink pots", but two things that happened to me on a recent cruise in the San Juans/Gulf islands that made me wonder...
1) On a clear day, motoring at 6 kts, I was nearly hit by a power boat who had been overtaking me for the past 20 minutes. He swerved at the last minute, blowing his horn and shouting sometihing about "sailboats always think they have to right-of-way!". I called back to him that he was overtaking me and didn't have the right of way. No response back.
The weird thing about this was that the powerboat wasn't a cabin cruiser, or something equally "unseamanlike", but a very nice 28-foot trawler, going about 8 knots.
2) Two days later, in Sidney, B.C. I was tying up my well-worn Catalina 30 in the marina, when the couple in the next slip, also in a nice 28-foot or so trawler, started coiling their dock lines "since they had a sailboat next to them, and had to be more seaman-like"
So, it makes me wonder, do the power-boaters think we're snobs? I've been bounced many times by thoughtless power-boaters, in all sorts of vessel types. I've also been hit by careless sailboaters, and recall a rather arrogant/inexperienced skipper who used to bring his 45' Swan into the harbor entrance at Marina Del Rey under full sail, crossing all lanes of traffic at 10 knotsl, while blowing his freon horn at all boats, sail or otherwise, that were in his way.
I guess that personally, I'm going to be more careful about generalizing about vessel types and the perceived skill/attitude of those at the helm. I'll also make a better effort to politely interact with our brothers and sisters who have chosen powerboats over sail.
If boating required an endorsement on the licence, that would eliminate the rental operations that will rent a PWC to anybody with no clue as to the rules of the road. A good thing in my opinion. It would also lessen the loaned out boats to unlicenced and uneducated boaters. A good thing.
The law should have plenty of teeth too. A few well publicized jail terms will scare off many jackasses. Not all but a fair amount.
As I enetered the Chesapeake last Spring we encountered a PWC w/2 aboard dead in the water on an outgoing tide about 4 miles off-shore. Next stop England! Unfortunately the Marine Patrol saw them too, and towed them back to Virginia Beach.
Yes, and when the licence is issued, they will charge for it every year, and soon you will have to sit a competence exam, and they will charge for that too.
Then you will have to have an eyesight test... "hey, we can't have poorly-sighted people on the water, can we?"... and it you fail the eyesight test, you will lose your ticket.
Then you will have to be insured, and the boat registered so they can check that you are insured, and thet you are indeed the captain. Who was at the helm? Was it the captain? How old is he? Where's your birth cirtificate? Hey you're too old.... you are more than 65 years of age.... read it here in section 5, sub-section 2 paragraph 31.
Then you will have to have an annual boat inspection, and a wee disc will have to be displayed for that too.
And to enforce these measures, the water law will have a statutory right to board your vessel to check, and to blow into that wee tube to check if you have been drinking and you will have your boat siezed until you can raise the $5000 for the fine for not having the disc, or the right eyeglasses, or three beers instead of two. And all of this when you were becalmed and barely managing 1 kt with jet-skiers buzzing round like torpedoes at 40 kt... "they are too young, they don't need a licence".
There will be very few boat accidents then... because there will be very few boats on the water.
Enforce the existing law, but spare me this Orwellian nonesense.
Don't even talk about it there guys... I mean that respectfully.... because some political bozo is going to think about making you do this stuff for your own good, and it'll all be financed by the fines when you don't.
Freedom to a sailor is like wind to a sail. Enforcement of existing regulations would make so much more sense.
My pet peeve is the guy in a big fast boat that flies by and throws a 3 foot wake when someone below is trying to make some coffee or prepare a snack. I really appreciate the fellow that slows on approach...But again it would be some really nice 'revenue enhancement' to tag the speeders with BIG fines! But that would be in a perfect world where 'stupid could be fixed' .
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I would suggest go have a beer at sunset with the powerboaters at your marina. Try to understand there problems and how you can make their time on the water easier and how they can make things easier for the sailboater.
Its not going to change everybodies attitude but just the act of drinking a beer together can change some misconceptions.
My local CG Auxillary boat, fire rescue boat and DNR boats are all operated by powerboaters.
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