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Boat/US Magazine, Nov, 2002

LettersToEditor@BoatUS.com

A Judgment Call

Reading your articles "Homeland Security Runs Aground" and "More Kids' Life Jacket Laws" gave me pause to think that maybe it's not so bad that the Coast Guard is getting shifted and their regulatory function will be hit hard. The kid's life jacket regulation is absurd! Have you ever seen a happy person wearing a life jacket on a 950 hot, hazy, humid day unless they were in the water? The answer is a resounding NO. If you want to make your life miserable, insist that your 12-year-old wear his life jacket, especially if you know that he can swim a 50-meter lap in 30 seconds.

Part of a parent's responsibility is to teach their kids common sense safety about everything. This includes when it is prudent to break out a PFD and when to put it on. It is a condition-based decision, a judgment call. I am adamantly against this regulation and really sick of people in authority making ridiculous rules in the name of safety.

Jeff Goldring

Annapolis, MD

Science Vs. Hype

Thank you for bringing attention to the plight of both the Florida manatee and the Florida boater. What many "environmentalists" fail to recognize is that being a boater in the state of Florida is almost synonymous with being an environmentalist. The manatee, bald eagle, osprey, alligator, and the entire environment are what I boat for, not in spite of. It appears to me that nearly all of those interviewed for your article are approaching the issue relying on science, compromise and reason.

However, the most well-funded and vocal group represented, the Save the Manatee Club, appears to present a twofold agenda--growth management and the elimination of the Florida oater. I would also like to point out that this is the only group represented whose existence depends on hype and a total disregard for any science that would not keep the manatee on the Endangered Species list. It is also important to point out that the majority of the membership in that organization reside outside of the state of Florida, where hysterical rhetoric draws money from the pockets of well-meaning people, a large majority of which are children. Perhaps their mission is less about saving the manatee and more about saving the Save the Manatee Club.

Howard R. Parsons, Jr.

Winter Springs, FL

Prop Guard Problems

The article by Elaine Dickinson, "Prop Guards Propelled to Supreme Court" raises some interesting issues. For example, the rationale provided in the report by the Coast Guard's National Boating Safety Advisory Council, e.g., no single propeller guard design is available for the many boats and motors in use, the guards could cause injury by blunt trauma, etc., sounds suspiciously like the results of a lobbying effort by the boat manufacturing industry. In reality, the lack of guards also protects the manufacturers from being liable for guard failure, for the cost of designing guards and several other potential problems.

Joel S. Steinberg

Huntingdon Valley, PA/Margate, NJ

Humor on the Hudson

I read the September issue of BoatU.S. Magazine and saw you changed the format. I like it. I loved the Cap'n Drew article! That was the first time that I've put the magazine down yet still thought about it all week. Keep up the good work!

John "Johnnie K" Klapkowski

Ossining, NY

A Conversation Piece

I just finished reading the most enjoyable two pages in my September issue of BoatU.S. Magazine and I want to say thank you to the editors for finding Cap'n Drew and publishing his humorous "world." I have been a member for many years and read several boating publications. Never before have I laughed so hard at the "real world" of boating.

This article was a wonderful addition to your already excellent magazine and is so packed full of gems, that I will refer to it over and over in conversations regarding boating with family and friends.

I hope that we will be seeing more from Cap'n Drew in future issues of BoatU.S. Magazine.

Richard Thabit

Montvale, NJ

Another School of Thought

I can't see the fish because the windmills are in the way! I grew up in the Northeast and now live in Florida. We travel for hours to fish communication towers in the Gulf. We spend millions each year on artificial reefs. Here is an opportunity to provide clean energy and improve the fishery. The only thing better would be to make it a 28-square-mile "no commercial fishing" zone.

John Massetti,

Palm Bay, FL

More on Windmills

Regarding my recent interview for 'Tilting at Windmills' in the September issue:

1. I did not say, as quoted, "I'm in favor of wind power; I think it's something we need to explore, particularly given our country's dependence on foreign oil." The point I made was that we cannot ignore renewable energy but we need to make sure it is approached responsibly. This country currently uses just 2% of its oil for electricity generation and just 14% of that comes from the Persian Gulf, so the argument that wind power will significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil is a weak one, at best. We would do better to increase car mileage, since 68% of foreign oil is used for transportation.