Rant Ahead!!!
Aug. 10th, 2004 03:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lionkingcmslFirstly I apoloize in advance to any receration boater that reads this. Especially those that know and obey the marine laws.
Now for the rant!!!
I feel that it is high time that the U.S., or the individual states, enact some sort of comprehnesive boat operator licensing procedure, just like they do for motor vehicles.
This is because of the way I see recerational boats operated, on the Cape May Canal, day in and day out.
No wake zones for bridges? Wassa that? It's not marked as such.
I can't go through the unfendered side of a bridge? Why not? You took the wires down! You gonna give me a ticket?
What do you mean I can't fish near your bridge? I have my motor running!
etc.
Yes, these are actual comments I have heard after telling people of their infractions of marine law.
The answers are:
All bridges are no wake zones, whether marked as such or not.
The unfenedered side of a bridge is not the channel. You are risking your boat and your life by going through that area. It does not matter if we took the wires down, it still does not make it a "navigable channel".
Depending where you are fishing, I may not see you when I go to close the bridge. Also other boats may not be able to see you, or manuever around you in the tight confines of the bridge channel.
And if I should delay a boat because the train has not crossed the bridge yet I get yelled at, even though I can, by law, delay opening the draw by 10 minutes, unless a train has passed my home signal.
Hell, I got in trouble because a boat captain thought I closed the span too early for the train and he only waited about 5 minutes after he arrived until the bridge opened. He's uneer the impression, I believe, that I should close the bridge after the train gets to my home signal.
Wrong! I have to get the railroad set up before he approches the signal. The NJ State Police - Marine Division have been at Canal when I've closed the bridge and saw nothing wrong. I'm sure if I had done anything wrong I'd been told about it. I have also had a USCG boat wait until the train cleared nd they pulled up just as i was closing. They did not demand I open the span, and they understood that I had to wait until the train cleared my interlocks before I could reopen the span. Again, if I was doing anything contrary to marine law I'm sure they would've said someting about it.
So, I do believe that all mariners should be given a thorough testing of marine law, and not given a license to operate until they pass with at least an 80% passing score. This is because boats are quicker, more responsive, and are not, for the most part, regulated on how fast they can go. Also if you commit an infraction and recive a ticket, then you are assesed oints aainst your license and after a certain threshold you lose your privledge, just like driving.
Now for the rant!!!
I feel that it is high time that the U.S., or the individual states, enact some sort of comprehnesive boat operator licensing procedure, just like they do for motor vehicles.
This is because of the way I see recerational boats operated, on the Cape May Canal, day in and day out.
No wake zones for bridges? Wassa that? It's not marked as such.
I can't go through the unfendered side of a bridge? Why not? You took the wires down! You gonna give me a ticket?
What do you mean I can't fish near your bridge? I have my motor running!
etc.
Yes, these are actual comments I have heard after telling people of their infractions of marine law.
The answers are:
All bridges are no wake zones, whether marked as such or not.
The unfenedered side of a bridge is not the channel. You are risking your boat and your life by going through that area. It does not matter if we took the wires down, it still does not make it a "navigable channel".
Depending where you are fishing, I may not see you when I go to close the bridge. Also other boats may not be able to see you, or manuever around you in the tight confines of the bridge channel.
And if I should delay a boat because the train has not crossed the bridge yet I get yelled at, even though I can, by law, delay opening the draw by 10 minutes, unless a train has passed my home signal.
Hell, I got in trouble because a boat captain thought I closed the span too early for the train and he only waited about 5 minutes after he arrived until the bridge opened. He's uneer the impression, I believe, that I should close the bridge after the train gets to my home signal.
Wrong! I have to get the railroad set up before he approches the signal. The NJ State Police - Marine Division have been at Canal when I've closed the bridge and saw nothing wrong. I'm sure if I had done anything wrong I'd been told about it. I have also had a USCG boat wait until the train cleared nd they pulled up just as i was closing. They did not demand I open the span, and they understood that I had to wait until the train cleared my interlocks before I could reopen the span. Again, if I was doing anything contrary to marine law I'm sure they would've said someting about it.
So, I do believe that all mariners should be given a thorough testing of marine law, and not given a license to operate until they pass with at least an 80% passing score. This is because boats are quicker, more responsive, and are not, for the most part, regulated on how fast they can go. Also if you commit an infraction and recive a ticket, then you are assesed oints aainst your license and after a certain threshold you lose your privledge, just like driving.
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-10 09:18 pm (UTC)Gal'ish
no subject
Date: 2004-08-10 10:08 pm (UTC)-=TK
When I was living in Glen's Falls NY...
Date: 2004-08-11 09:48 am (UTC)City of Lake George Ordinance 326.11a: Outboard or inboard motor horsepower is NOT to equal or exceed your intelligence quotient (IQ).
For some reason, we never put it up, though I bet it would have been bloody popular with the locals.