College of nautical knowledge?

[Stephen Micah]

Common Sense, Government Regulations and Safety

An earlier post had the best comment when he said that the only thing one needs to go boating is a good credit rating. My wife and I watched from our 25 foot sail boat as a power boat, pulling a person on a tube, made a quick turn and flung the tube to within 3 feet of the side of our boat. We watched from a launch ramp as a family in a power boat placed two children in a towed tube at the launch ramp and sped away as fast as they could weaving around other boats waiting their turn to launch and retrieve. They loaded their children onto the tube within 5 feet of a sign board 4' by 8' with 8" letters telling people that towing tubes was not allowed in the area.Our lake enforcement is primarily making sure your boat is property registered (big fees in that). We watched as a DNR officer towed a boat to the dock for not having proper registration and drive by a pontoon boat loaded with 12 people , the front of the boat deck in the water and not a single lift jacket or cushion in sight.A child was taken to the hospital from our lake when he fell in and was run over by the boat motor. This 9 year old child was standing on the front of a pontoon boat, outside of the deck ass it was motoring.I participated in the public hearing on new regulations for boating in our state and found that the regulations as written were entirely opposite from the legislator intent. The sponsering legislator had to spell out for the agency exactly what was intended. (By the way, I read the legislation and could easily understand what was intended).I am against more regulations. My business deals with governmental regulations on all levels. From my experience, if you want something messed up, have government regulate it. BUT, people are being injured and killed because of their stupity and/or arrogance. Perhaps if one was required to produce a certificate of insurance when issued a launch permit or as a condition for boat registration, it might get the dangerous people off the water.There is no one solution. You can not legislate common sense. As told to me however, laws and regulations would not be needed if not for a minority of the public. (Another confirmation of the 20-80 rule).

 

[newly anonymous]

color blindness

4 percent of the male population is unable to distinguish red from green. Our government has decided, in its infinite wisdom, to mark boats and planes and shipping channels with red and green lights. Then, because of the choas caused by this assinine decision, the government decided that colorblind persons cannot be allowed to fly airplanes or earn a coast guard captain's license. Is this the same government people want to put in charge of boating licenses? During my years as a scuba instructor I was not permitted to take my students aboard my personal dive boat and shuttle them to a dive site a hundred yards from the beach because of my color blindness. If I wanted to teach them how to make boat entries, I had to anchor my boat out past the surf zone, swim in to the beach, have my class make a surf entry and then swim to the boat, board it, make the entry, and then swim back through the surf at the end of their dive. Then, after class, I'd have to swim back out through the surf to retrieve my boat. This is the government solution to the fact that I can't distinguish green from red. It didn't matter a lick to them that I had logged over three thousand dives and had logged more than five hundred days at the helm of various boats up to a hundred tons. And people want more of this sort of government intrusion into our boating lives?

 

[Scott]

License AND Insurance!

We learned to sail on a small inland lake. The lake was populated by an excess of pontoon boats, mostly of the rental variety. After watching them do some of the stupidest things I could imagine, I asked an aquaintence who had told us that she had rented one about it. She replied that the only instructions given when they told the renter that they had never operated a boat before, was to where the keys were to be returned, and how to shift into forward and reverse. I had taken every course I could find, read all the literature from the Coast Guard, etc., but my safety and the safety of anybody I took out on my boat were at the mercy of people who's only committment to their safety on the water was their credit card. You are right, though. You cannot mandate stupidity out of existance. However, you can at least impress upon people that there ARE rules, and there ARE consequences for their actions. A boating license, showing that a person has completed an accredited safe boating course should be manditory before a person can rent or register a boat. Proof of insurance should also be required. The idea of a 5 ton piece of machinery (or 400 HP) with no brakes under the control of somebody who doesn't have at least a baseline of exposure to its proper operation, no way to pay for the damage they are going to do when they DO screw up, and the inability to even make a coherent call for help on the radio they MIGHT have (another pet peeve, "HEY, BUBBA!!! YA GOT YER EARS ON?!") scares hell out of me.

 

[Mike]

We already have it in Connecticut

In order to operate a boat of any size in Connecticut, you need to complete a boating safety/regulations course and pass a written test. You get a then get a "certificate"(please don't call it a license!) empowering you to operate a boat in state waters. Does it make a difference? We still have nimrods who do the most asinine, unsafe, rude and stupid things on the water. However, there are a lot of novices out there who have yet to form bad habits; I think it does make a difference for those who choose to care. I took the course (not owning a boat when the law was passed, I never "grandfathered" myself a certificate without the test as experience boaters could do) with my father, a non-boater who had just boat a small powerboat. I think a lot of the people in the class were like him: they cared about safety and courtesy, but really had no idea about what to expect on the water. My father probably never would have taken a course or read a rules book before going out if it was not required. Like most people, I think he would have gone out expecting to learn as he went, blissfully unaware of the potential impacts. The course stressed courtesy and common sense, as well as teaching the very basics of seamanship. I know he had a greater appreciation of the issues he could face on the water after the course, and he is a more knowledgable boater because of it.I don't think anyone really believes that boating licensing will slow down a determined yahoo bent on selfishness, but I think it can and does impact those beginners who might otherwise not know or understand about their responsibilities. Education is the key, and I have no problem with my state insisting that novice boaters become educated.

 

[Brian]

Darwin's Answer

I've often thought that the government's attempt to legislate safety by such things as requiring PFD's, etc is misguided. Natural selection should provide the final solution for careless boaters. ;-)

 

[Molly]

Regulation not the answer

I believe more education when buying or registering a boat would help boaters. I think stronger suppervision at ramps on booze and boating would help also. My biggest fear is being boarded by the sherriff or coast guard. They always tear up my railings, tromp around in black shoes and basically teach me nothing! My only compromise would be upon purchase or transfer of ownership that the new owners pass a written test! That's it no black shoes on my boat!

 

[harold]

BUTT KICKING

a good old fashion butt kicking always works--the dumb ones get smart quick

 

[barry wiley]

Regulations of boaters

With much reservations I voted for lic. for skippers. I know we have more than enough regulations on our life now, however, there are too few skippers with no (or little) knowledge of what the heck they are doing. I know we all have witnessed this. At least we need a required course for ALL NEW boaters. I know we can't legislate common sense,and I have seen first hand what that leads to.That is why I NEVER loan my boat to ANYONE. I have heard very complete instructions being given to novicessuch as, "Here's the ignition,here's the gear shift for forward and reverse, here's the throttle, and you just drive it like a car." ??? I started to ask, "And where are the brakes?" Like I said I voted with reservation. I don't think we should go to extremes, however we should ALL be able to have "fun" and experience the pleasures of our boats and the water w/o being threatened by the inexperience and complete lack of consideration for others exibited by others out there.Capt Barry

 

[S. Buckton]

Vessel Operator's Licensing

Operator's licensing was introduced in Canada about 5 years ago. Although it requires a written exam to qualify, you still see idiots on the water, usually in power boats of less than 20'.

 

[Paul Michaelis]

stupidity on the water

Licensing is merely a revenue enhancing process. The truly bad boaters will still operate in the manner that bad automobile drivers operate. Licensing hasn't eliminated road stupidity, why should it clear up waterway problems. Unfortunately, half of the population has less than average intelligence and legislation can't change this fact. When money alone buys access to the waterways, intelligence is not a purchasing requirement.

 

[MArk]

Ptomaine

Do you know how many people died of ptomaine poisioning every year? Way more than die in boating accidents!If you want to save lives, why not regulate all food preperation. No one, not even in your own home, should be allowed to prepare food for human consumption without government certification and membership in a food preparation quild. No mother should be allowed to prepare even a snack for their own child unless licensed to do so. Are you willing to risk the lives of our children?Does this sound rediculous? See where we're headed?

 

[Tom Bowen]

Please, No More Regulations!!!

There are enough regulations as it is. All more regulations would do is make jobs for regulators. Once in place, they would be ignored or skirted by the irresponsible and supply additional burdens to the responsible boaters.

 

[Frank Sears]

Common sense...

I think required training would be a waste of time and money. If a person is interested in anything the knowledge is out there, available to us. Somethings we do have to learn by our own mistakes, other wise it doesn't sink into our brains. And most of all, common sense is the key to safety. Having the equipment and knowing how to use the equipment is one thing. Agreeing with your self that its time to use the safety equipment is another issue.

 

[Jim Gorman]

Education Saves Lives and Equipment

As an instructor with United States Power Squadrons, in the arts of Seamanship, Chart Use, and Coastal Navigation, it has been my privilege to address over 900 students of all ages in the past five years. Without exception, each of my former students has agreed that educational (and or licensing)should be required of all boaters - they (the students) are aware that the sea, as is the air, is not inherently dangerous but that it is terribly unforgiving of carelesness and ignorence.Education in matters pertaining to the sea does save lives and equipment !!

 

[Capt. Kimo, 96' Mac26X "FOREVER"]

Seamanship safety course for insurance discount

While I have been sailing and boating since 1960 , I felt I should take the US Coast Guard Auxillary course on Seamanship and Safety. I believe the Power Squadron gives a similar course. The USCG text for the course was excellent and you could see from the different writing stylse of the chapters that it was a committee effort. After completing the course, I submitted a copy of my certificate of completion to my boat insurer, hoping for a discount similar to my 55 Alive course certificate for discounted Auto insurance. The insurer had no provision for such a discount.Rather than licensing the operator of a boat, why not require such a seamanship course certificate for a discount of our boating insurance. The operator that cannot or does not take the course will pay more for boating insurance. Additional discount could also be given to those boater that pass the voluntary USCG Aux. on board inspection of safety equipment, similar to insurance discount for the safety features on your auto (e.g. air bags, ABS brakes, etc).To me this would show that efforts to be educated and equiped in safe boating practices pays in real dollars that the insurance company can recognizes.BTW I think PWC operators insurance should be higher as they must be for motocycle operators. Licensing only creates more revenue and does not solve the problem. The DMV is already overwhelmed with the number of licenses being issued and registration.

 

[Bill]

licensing

Licensing will not stop all the idiots out on the water, but it may make one or two people who are not pre-disposed to get some training or educated and thus keep them from the list of fools on the water. We have licensing requirements for Cars and Planes and that does not keep those that wish to do so from ignoring the rules or making some really dumb choices. I think to do away with these licensing requirements would make our roads and skies even unsafer than they are today. Unfortunately the great variation in boats and how they handle and where they can go would make operator driving test almost meaningless therefore I do not recommend such a test. A written test or proof of passing a certified course is not a bad way of at least insuring people know the basics. It will not end all the problems with bad boaters but will at least make the beginner aware that training is required before handling a machine that could do yourself and others harm if mis-handled. There are several areas where I think a more formal boating environment would be helpful but the cost issue is just too great for taxpayers. For instance a Float-Plan system directly tied to to the Coast Guard search and rescue system would definetly be welcome by me.

 

[Jim]

What, are you crazy?

Yeah, that's just what we need, more licenses and fees. Doesn't anyone get it yet, a license is nothing more than another word for TAX.If your stupid enough to venture out into the sea without knowing what your doing, that's your own dammed fault, not mine!I do plenty of reading and studying and we are very careful on the boat. I love the boat because it gets me away from taxes and fees and licenses.........Forget it!

 

[R.W.Landau]

Regulate, A must for those without common sense.

Unfortunately a person with enough money to buy the boat they want to own, can buy the boat and go!In my area, there have been major changes. The State is enforcing the law. The officers don't even have to move. They go from one boat to the next giving citations to ignorant and blatant boater.The laws are already on the books. I was cited for a mistake that I made that would have set me back $200. I faught the citation and it was reduced to a $50 fine. I admitted guilt, said I knew better, and explained that the situation I was in was due to poor Navigation aids. I do not want regulation! But I don't think there is a choice here. There are rules to boating. If you do not know them, you should not be operating a boat. My father was a Power Squadron Commander, Instructor and a life long boater!We have a standing joke about how he forgets the spring line. Stressing not only the boat , the dock, and at times the boats nearby.My father is a true seaman. He also makes mistakes. So do I!I don't think there is anyone here who can say they have never made a mistake on their boat!Stress, attention, conditions........ They all play a part into the Knowledge of boating. I believe a Document should be signed by every boat Owner saying that they "KNOW THAT ARE LIABLE FOR THEIR BASIC OPERATION OF THEIR BOAT"I think if more people realized their responsibility, they would seek education first. We all know that education is not the end. Experience and practice of what we know takes time. I think patience and understanding is important in operating a boat.In other words....... If you are an experienced sailor/ boater, you should know that people make mistakes and you should be aware and prepared to make decisions to avoid collision or other dangers as a result of someone's mistake. This is one or the rules of the road.Yes, I have made mistakes. Did not see the stand-on vessel behind my jib........ It was nice that they changed course and when I yelled an apology, they said "no problem". I was glad because I know better ...... but I made a mistake..........They covered me.I have covered many other people and their mistakes. Some were mistakes , some were ignorance.I do think basic Knowledge should be known before setting out and if licensing can insure that,well, I think it is time. At least it might work for a while. As we know there will always be those who do not try to live within the law.r.w.landau

 

[george lakes iii]

Deregulation

The government controlling more aspects of our lives is not appealing, however some regulation can be good. I can't think of anything the government deregluated that was improved or didn't cost more. (California electricity) Giving out tickets/fines for the laws already in place may be the answer. Nobody ever lost money over estimating the stupidity of the public. Especially when alcohol is involved, as evidenced by the Darwin awards. Remember politicians are still the public. They can enact some draconian laws that would make boating just that much more expensive. Those left to decide on what laws to pass that affect boating should have boating experience/ understanding. I had one time a bunch of drunks going down the channel so fast that the boat rocked and the fenders popped out. 22 people in and on a 20ft SeaRay with barely enough free board to stay afloat. When I yelled to slow it down, I got the finger. A quick call to the harbor patrol got them stopped on their return. BTW no pfd's. Just goes to show the foolishness in some. Can you imagine if they had children and the boat sank from the overload?

 

[J J Larsen]

Everyone who drives a car has a license.

To get a driver's license one must be trained and then tested. Each yer over 50,000 people die in auto accidents.Training and testing do;es not cure stupidity...it only brings more money and control into government bureaus.Do we need that?