Kayak Safety Flags

[Kracken]

Power Boating has a lower impact on the lake than swimming.


I am sorry I can’t help myself today…..

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Kracken

Power Boating has a lower impact on the lake than swimming.


I am sorry I can’t help myself today…..

Don't laugh as you don't know how correct you are! Lake Massabesic which supplies Manchester and some surrounding communities with drinking water allow power boats but absolutely no swimming! You can't even be in the water with waders! Why...because people spread a lot more bacteria than a power boat!

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

Don't laugh as you don't know how correct you are! Lake Massabesic which supplies Manchester and some surrounding communities with drinking water allow power boats but absolutely no swimming! You can't even be in the water with waders! Why...because people spread a lot more bacteria than a power boat!

This is true of Lake Auburn up in the Lewiston / Auburn area of Maine as well....

[Kracken]

Basically, an internal combustion engine is cleaner than the human body.

It is easier to extract chemical agents from the water than it is to remove biological agents.

Does that mean a powerboat does less damage than a kayak? I am not sure; I guess it depends on how wet the paddler gets in the kayak. Potentially, an “all day” trip in a kayak would be very damaging (compared to power boating). I am talking 8 hours of kayaking….no breaks…just paddling all day…

So the argument of kayaks being less of an impact on the lake might have a few “leaks” in it.

[NoBozo]

There is a little thingy (or two) that is available for sale in Pilot Shops for use in small aircraft that do not have Toilet Facilities.... Essentially anything short of a corporate jet will not have those facilities.

The thingy ...A WEE WEE Pot....(Available in both Male and Female versions) is much like the little thingy you are provided when in Hospital when you can not ..or do not feel like getting out of bed.

I've NEVER seen one of these for boats.

I totally apologize for this Trivia. NB


EDIT: For those who have an insatiable curiosity:

http://sportys.com/PilotShop/category/930 Check ALL FOUR Products.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by jrc

"...The registration sticker for kayaks idea has been discussed here before..."

It was certainly discussed here in 2008.

This was one of my two responses, two years ago:

To tax kayaks at this time is a mean-spirited goal: cobbled with with weak justifications and poorly-conceived poll questions, we'll be seeing this brought up for a third time later.

The other response:

1) Some of the most expen$ive boating rescues may already be billed to insurance companies, but too-seldom are billings paid by the one person needing rescue.

2) Why penalize against the many who cannot afford more gasoline or "more boat", and try to enjoy this scenic lake gently. It's showing even more "sour grapes" to demand that I sell a taxed house to pay another tax on an insignificant boat that in many other states doesn't require any additional taxes for registration.

3) Maine—already losing population—is hardly the state to start copying their regulations and registrations. New Jersey requires the red flag.

4) Youngsters who have read the book First You Must Row a Little Boat by Richard Bode, would be discouraged from boating by having to register their exempt rowboat. First You Must Row a Little Boat was written to show why countless aspects of operating lesser boats avoids the future confusions that larger cruisers feel at the dock—and beyond. (At just $9, it could be a stocking-stuffer for the aspiring young boater).

5) Why penalize the many paddlers who peaceably boat on NH's quieter lakes, ponds and streams to benefit some perceived increase of rescues on "the lake"?

The last NH kayaker needing "rescue" was run over by a powerboat!

6) There are many more non-powered craft in garages, lofts, barns, backyards or stored on automobile racks.

7) A rack of six rowing sculls near me would have to pay $66 for the privilege of rowing between 6AM and 8AM only on the days that were calm enough!

8) My own eclectic flotilla would be $55—money that would be better spent at area restaurants and other Lakes Region businesses.

9) Vermont, which has many more raging rivers and streams than NH (and many-more rescues), doesn't require registration for paddlers.

10) DART helicopters evacuate many injured Vermont paddlers by air to Dartmouth/Hitchcock Hospital in New Hampshire.

Are Vermont individuals assessed for their rescues by New Hampshire?

11) What happens to the frequently-cited Coast Guard statistics when the number of "registered boats" in NH doubles or triples?

12) There are many more unpowered boats than powered boats in New Hampshire. They're just not on all NH lakes, not on all NH lakes all at once, and not every day. Rental companies would be penalized also—would reduce their inventory and would raise their fees to compensate.

13) NH didn't require "no-engine" sailboats to be registered until about 1985: were Legislators "thinking clean" back then? I don't think so: they simply wanted more money from the public. ["Tax that other guy—behind the tree"].

14) With a new requirement adding 200,000+ new registrations, there's at least one category of CG statistics that would become swollen by imponderables: "Falls From Boat".

15) Those tourists returning to "the lake"—or those distant from "the lake"—shouldn't be hampered with more fees.

16) Canoes with a trolling motor require registration!

I think that's wrong as well—if for no other reason than the filthy environment that every petroleum-fueled craft leaves behind it.

17) A government can tax to discourage, or not-tax to encourage: Lake Winnipesaukee shores and waters can benefit by environmentally-clean boats.

As I wrote years ago on these pages: double registration fees for the most excessive boats—later—double them again.

18) A 45 MPH solar/hybrid/wind turbine powered 50' boat should not be taxed, although anyone who can afford one today shouldn't be bothered by the present tax. (Especially when the energy required for it is inexhaustible).

19) My canoe/kayak registrations would have an answering machine at the listed number—in a distant state—and I doubt NH would snail-mail me about a found kayak anyway.

20) With 45-minute NHMP response times considered "reasonable", any "rescue" should be taken out of the issue.

21) Some "Sunfish" and their clones are made in short models that are exempt from NH registration. I don't think small-boat manufacturers should be hampered in any additional manner. Big boat manufacturers have noted a downward trend in boaters: their response? "Try Boating" campaigns.

22) We don't use the same 150-foot-passage "at any given time". And we CERTAINLY don't use it at the same rate!

(Adding these below for 2010):

23) Near me is a new rowboat: it has two hulls!!! Double the fees—double the red flags!

24) Biological contaminants are consumed by bacteria and vegetation.

This lake's most concentrated areas of biological contamination are found around rafters. (Most often powerboaters).

25) Petroleum contaminants are mostly released to the atmosphere, largely without regard for US emission standards.

Kayaks emit none.

26) I don't think registration (or red flags) should be extended to "paddleboards" either.

This is the "paddleboard" you want to tax:


Paddleboard numbers seem to be increasing here. They're surprisingly fast into strong winds!

27) I pick up feathers from the lake and stranded ladybugs. Why can't you see kayaks?

[Winnipesaukee]

Folks, it's a lake. It's a body of water that happens to be completely contained in one state. It's not like I'm buying a pass to tear up beaches with my truck on the Cape.

I don't expect to be "rescued" by anybody that I pay taxes to. I have TowboatUS, a VHF (even on the small sailboats I use), and flares. Boaters take care of each other.

If I am in a kayak (but believe me, I can't kayak for my life), my prop isn't chopping up and spreading milfoil; my wake isn't eroding Weirs Beach or the public docks; I don't pollute the water with my exhaust or dump 40 gallons of gasoline into the lake when I sink (oh wait, kayaks don't sink). So should I really be forced to pay to "restore" and "preserve" it?

One could argue that the powerboater may even be more prepared due to the amount of safety gear required to be on board.

How do you figure? Us non-powerboaters (although I do powerboat, too ) are usually far more prepared than the average Capt. Bonehead. We're the ones you usually see in a bright-colored drysuit (with positive buoyancy---if the water is under 60 degrees F. We could survive for days in a drysuit) and PFD. If a powerboat sinks, they have to don their PFD's, and if the water is cold, almost certainly won't have anything to keep them alive for long.

I've got everything imaginable in my small runabout (heck, even a shotgun from the days spent in the ocean!), but if it were to sink in cold water, I could be in some trouble...

[VtSteve]

Originally Posted by Winnipesaukee

I've got everything imaginable in my small runabout (heck, even a shotgun from the days spent in the ocean!), but if it were to sink in cold water, I could be in some trouble...

No reason to turn stupid then in a powerboat, just wear your drysuit

[OCDACTIVE]

Originally Posted by Winnipesaukee

Folks, it's a lake. It's a body of water that happens to be completely contained in one state. It's not like I'm buying a pass to tear up beaches with my truck on the Cape.

I don't expect to be "rescued" by anybody that I pay taxes to. I have TowboatUS, a VHF (even on the small sailboats I use), and flares. Boaters take care of each other.

If I am in a kayak (but believe me, I can't kayak for my life), my prop isn't chopping up and spreading milfoil; my wake isn't eroding Weirs Beach or the public docks; I don't pollute the water with my exhaust or dump 40 gallons of gasoline into the lake when I sink (oh wait, kayaks don't sink). So should I really be forced to pay to "restore" and "preserve" it?



How do you figure? Us non-powerboaters (although I do powerboat, too ) are usually far more prepared than the average Capt. Bonehead. We're the ones you usually see in a bright-colored drysuit (with positive buoyancy---if the water is under 60 degrees F. We could survive for days in a drysuit) and PFD. If a powerboat sinks, they have to don their PFD's, and if the water is cold, almost certainly won't have anything to keep them alive for long.

I've got everything imaginable in my small runabout (heck, even a shotgun from the days spent in the ocean!), but if it were to sink in cold water, I could be in some trouble...

He Winni. It sounds like you are as prepared on a kayak as I am on my powerboat.. But as you probably realize as I do, not everyone is as attentive as we are. I have seen kayakers out without life jackets at all. I think there are extremes on both sides of the coin. The only major difference is that most powerboaters know there are a lot more requirements other then a whistle and lifejacket that go along with a powerboat. Because a boaters certificate or registration is not requried for nonpower boats or kayaks, many people just drop in and go.. I have seen this many times where people borrow a friend's and the friend doesn't go through the regulations and safety aspects.

[Ropetow]

Originally Posted by NoBozo

There is a little thingy (or two) that is available for sale in Pilot Shops for use in small aircraft that do not have Toilet Facilities.... Essentially anything short of a corporate jet will not have those facilities.

The thingy ...A WEE WEE Pot....(Available in both Male and Female versions) is much like the little thingy you are provided when in Hospital when you can not ..or do not feel like getting out of bed.

I've NEVER seen one of these for boats.

I totally apologize for this Trivia. NB


EDIT: For those who have an insatiable curiosity:

http://sportys.com/PilotShop/category/930 Check ALL FOUR Products.

Awwww....let's hope that none of our Nanny State government officials read your post, NB. Otherwise, we can all look forward to some new mandated 'equipment' for our boats.