freddog
Jack-Booted Thug
 
Gilbert, AZ
Posts: 1,135
APPD 0.15
Post Rank: 39
Triton Enforcer
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Posted: Oct. 27 2006,1:02 am |
Post # 17 |
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Alrighty, since you've extended the invite...How many people have had their experience at the lake lessened by rude, reckless, unskilled, uneducated, inexperienced boat or personal watercraft operators? Have you ever gone to the lake with the intention of skiing, wakeboarding, fishing, or just cruising only to find the water too rough, traffic too dangerous, or just too crowded in an area due to these idiots spinning circles in the area or in a no wake zone, or going the wrong way causing the above mentioned rough water so you either stay away from the lake or just go beach somewhere to get away from it? Have you ever been annoyed by the idiot trying to launch or load his watercraft and blocking three lanes of the ramp for 20 minutes? Sorry if I sound elitest but if you can't afford a boat and have to rent one, then you should at least either get some instruction beforehand so you minimize those issues, or you should go with someone who is experienced to guide you in the right direction and take the time to learn from that person.
Second, this David Johnson is the Deputy (he shouldn't be allowed to use that word in his title, its an insult) Director of the California Department of Boating and Waterways, not the Board of Tourism. His primary emphasis should be on the safety of the people using those waterways. I would venture to guess he was placed in that position as a political favor, not by his merits. Someone in that position has a responsibility to present the facts backing a reasonable mandatory safety baseline that ALL boaters should abide by. He's obviously never seen the aftermath or consequenses of a boating accident and is merely a political puppet to the governer and state legislature, afraid to step on the wrong toes for fear he will have to go back to flipping burgers. Maybe I should take him on the next dive mission and let him get his hands dirty pulling in a body thats been sitting on the bottom of the lake for a few days. Or just show him the pictures I have of the Kansas woman (one of those beloved tourists) who was chopped up by the prop of a rental pontoon boat at Apache this year. It's one thing to have a hidden agenda to protect the tourist industry, it's another to be stupid enough to tell the media that your department is willing to sacrifice a few lives to make a few more dollars.
Third, why should boat OWNERS, who generally have more experience, have obviously committed much more time and money into this recreation of choice, and are operating a vessel that they are more familiar with and on a waterway that they are probably more familiar with, be held to a MORE stringent standard than someone who is probably operating a watercraft for the first time, and is completely unfamiliar with that particular watercraft and the way it operates, the way it has been maintained, the location or availability of its safety equipment, and probably the waterway where they intend to operate it? If anything, it should be quite the opposite, but in reality, we should all be held to the same high standard, given the risk of the activity.
Now the positive side...job security for me, more dive missions for me (the dives are fun, the mission and result are not), more overtime for me, and cleansing of the gene pool (however unfortunate for the innocent ones taken out by the genetically challenged).
Carbon Monoxide poisoning kills boaters. Â Take the time to learn about it and how to avoid it.
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12-25-2025 Three Word Post.....The Next Generation.... (Rep.#20,039) from: BigDog
 ....and not with Gieco.... 
 
 
