ComandanteBanana wrote:
"Lee Bell" wrote:

You do know that, by putting a trolling motor on your kayak, you're
classified as a power boat, right?

Oh, give me a break. At worst I'd be a hybrid. Small, slow, noiseless
and backed up by paddles.

Irrelevant, since "The Law is The Law".

At one point, my Canoe was registered as a 'powerboat'. And I recall
that it was a bit of a nuisance to get it fit with letters of the
required minimum height for its Registration#.


Many people that are into motorboating are poorly educated and
couldn't care less about the consequences of their actions. I think
MOTORBOATING IS LARGELY FOR COUCH POTATOES THAT WANT TO
HAVE A DEGREE OF ADVENTURE IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS.

Yet, in the same post, you identified yourself as a power boater.

But not a threat to anything.

Except as a threat to navigation, when in the wrong place.




My anchor weighs 1 1/2 lbs... Terrible threat to the reefs.

It's almost exactly the same threat as mine. An anchor that sets and stays
in place, does very little damage to anything and there's already a law
requiring people to anchor in adjacent sand areas rather than on coral.
Chain and line, on the other hand, can do quite a bit of damage, whether
attached to a kayak or different kind of power boat.

I'd look before I anchor to a reef, don't you?

Oh, to always have the luxury of being able to look through perfectly
clear water.


How much you need for a motorboat?

Which power boat? I have three and, as I've already mentioned, a kayak.
Anchors for each boat is designed for the boat I use it with. My smallest
power boat uses an anchor just like the one I use for the kayak.

OK, why don't you get rid of the big ones?

The proper sizing of an anchor is predicted on several factors, not
just the size of the craft.



But motorboat pollution contributes to "the soup" out there too. You
can even smell the gas, and I doubt it that it would be safe to swim
in the intracostal anymore.

What you can smell is not harming the reefs. As for what you doubt, I
suggest you learn a bit more before getting it wrong again. If you're
talking about human waste by those on boats, I'm afraid you'll have to
include kayakers in your list. It's legal for either of us to use the
ocean as a bathroom. It is not legal for me to discharge my head directly
overboard or to discharge my holding tank within coastal waters. The sewage
outfalls in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties, on the other hand, pump
millions of gallons of partially treated sewage and chemicals onto the reefs
every day.

Can the government ever be that bad? They claim they treat everything
at Virginia Key...

http://www.reef-rescue.org/research/keywestcitizenpage1.pdf
http://www.reef-rescue.org/MiamiHerald/
Oceanisnoplacefortreatedsewage.pdf

Here's their homepage; note the 'Donate' button:
http://www.reef-rescue.org/


Do you do kayaking by any chance, or you just represent the
motorboating association?

Apparently, you find it utterly incomprehensible for there to be
people who actually own both powered and unpowered watercraft,
particularly when their perspectives and conclusions are at odds with
yours.



-hh