Posted by Jonathan Labaree on May 30, 2003 at 21:11:15 from 207.5.234.19 user JLabaree.
In Reply to: Re: Boat Safety Certificate posted by Laurence Monkhouse on May 30, 2003 at 18:50:53:
I don't mean to give the wrong impression. We do indeed have a bevy of regulations that are designed to insure the safety of boats – or more accurately, the persons on them. They deal mostly with equipment that you have to carry, from the obvious life preservers ("personal flotation devices" in the modern parlance) to the more obscure ventilation systems if you have an inboard petrol engine. I have included a link at the bottom to our Coast Guard’s web page that shows the various requirements for vessels of various lengths. Some states have an additional layer of requirements, but most follow the federal laws.
What I was responding to more was the idea that you needed to get boats inspected, much like cars. These Coast Guard regulations are enforced by more or less random searches on the water. I have never been stopped in all my years of boating, but I do not tend to be in crowded areas where marine patrols (which can be state and local as well as federal) spend most of their time. I’m spending much more time out in Casco Bay off Portland, Maine these days so I fully expect to get stopped at some point. I just hope I understand the regulations.
Commercial vessels carrying paid passengers are subject to Coast Guard inspection, of course, but I am not sure how often that happens.
I can understand how in sensitive ecosystems, such as canals, rivers, and broads, the local authorities want to make sure that boats aren’t leaking pollutants or likely to sink and block crowded thorofares. As I said, I’m not aware of similar regulations in the States, but we don’t have such waters here in New England, really. Other parts of the country may well have similar laws and inspection requirements.