The Law...

[joey_durgin]

here on lake conroe you have to have a flag

[BillFooter]

The local water patrol was doing my safety inspection a few years ago and I started dragging life jackets out of storage compartments. The officer told me that was not necessary. He said he had never found a $30000 boat that did not have enough life jackets. He said it was real common to check a small john boat that looked overloaded with the cast from 'Deliverance' and find few or NO life jackets!!!

I asked him if he thought that it should be mandatory to wear life jackets. He said the he hoped that requirement never passes. The water patrol have to wear them and he hated that on hot days.

[kb3]

I got stopped last year and the cop told me that the life jackets had to out of the locker ... sheez.

Still need to check your local laws though...State of Missouri changed their interpretation several years ago. Speaking from experience, now PFDs must be readily accessible...not stuffed in the bottom of a locker.

They started doing that here this year. Everyone in the boat has to have one out & within easy reach, & anyone under the age of 13 has to have one on (even 1 day under 13 as a friend of ours was told).

Wow....I think I would make everyone wear their vest instead of having 10+ vests lying all over the floor.

[MalibuNation]

I got stopped last year and the cop told me that the life jackets had to out of the locker ... sheez.

Still need to check your local laws though...State of Missouri changed their interpretation several years ago. Speaking from experience, now PFDs must be readily accessible...not stuffed in the bottom of a locker.

They started doing that here this year. Everyone in the boat has to have one out & within easy reach, & anyone under the age of 13 has to have one on (even 1 day under 13 as a friend of ours was told).

Wow....I think I would make everyone wear their vest instead of having 10+ vests lying all over the floor.

Make everyone wear those cheap orange ones from Walmart, that would be a sight to see in a $50-100K Bu.

[Bill_AirJunky]

Malibu just needs to make all the removable cushions USCG approved flotation devices and we could call it good.

Wow, you could be on to something there. Probably would only qualify for the throwable though. Unless there was a way to strap a seat pad around yourself!

I've been stopped a few times over the years. They usually get so involved in talking about the foils that they forget about doing anything else. This year I have yet to see any police on the water at all. I think their funding ran out.

[pennery]

I have never ever been stopped or yet have ever seen a water patrol on any of the lakes we go to... I carried all the neccessary gear for about 2 years.. After that I took it out one winter while winterizing and it never made it back into the boat.. 4 Years later still have not seen a water patrol... We carry a good amount of life jackets but not all are CGA and we usually only boat on lakes that are quite small..

[jetskipro550]

The Sheriffs are pretty cool that partrol our little strech of water. In the spring they will do a "dry" safety inspection in the parking lot that way if you fail they don't have to ticket you. Also, once you get the OK and get your saftey inspection sticker, they won't bother you all summer (unless you break the law and they see it). The only problem is that they may be a little too loose as there are times that EVERYONE sees someone breaking the law and the Sheriffs don't do anything.

Edited August 5, 2008 by jetskipro550

[Malibuzer]

We just got stopped this weekend. The Fish and Game officer was courteous and friendly. He checked for all the proper gear and only made a suggestion to have the fire extinguisher in a handier spot and also said that small children shoudl have a whistle attached to their life jacket. Not a bad idea I suppose. All in all he was easy to deal with and he did check EVERY boat on the lake from the aluminum fishing boats, PWC and the runabouts/wakeboard boats.

[Beau]

Early this spring at Carters Lake in GA....US Coast Guard did a courtesy inspection of my boat while we were at the ramp, boat still on hte trailer! It was optional and some boaters turned it down. I accepted the offer. inspection was very thorough and took a little long.

The officers knew their stuff and were very courteous.

When all was done....a perfect score I might add....they placed a bright red decall on my driver side windshield. I have not been stopped for an inspection since they put that decal on there> Yee Haa

[MalibuNation]

Early this spring at Carters Lake in GA....US Coast Guard did a courtesy inspection of my boat while we were at the ramp, boat still on hte trailer! It was optional and some boaters turned it down. I accepted the offer. inspection was very thorough and took a little long.

The officers knew their stuff and were very courteous.

When all was done....a perfect score I might add....they placed a bright red decall on my driver side windshield. I have not been stopped for an inspection since they put that decal on there> Yee Haa

You could make a mint printing and selling those decals.

[lewistonskier]

I never have a provlem with it when they come up to me and just say that they want to check. What I hate is when they make up some BS reason that they are stopping you. One time when they stopped me, I was the spotter when my dad was skiing. When he let go, I put the flag up like normal. As we went back to get him the sherif comes up to us and says they were stopping us because it took 30 sec to put the flag up. I pretty darn sure that it was less than 30 sec because I could still see him. It was such crap, and set such a bad tone for the whole inspection.

[MalibuNation]

I never have a provlem with it when they come up to me and just say that they want to check. What I hate is when they make up some BS reason that they are stopping you. One time when they stopped me, I was the spotter when my dad was skiing. When he let go, I put the flag up like normal. As we went back to get him the sherif comes up to us and says they were stopping us because it took 30 sec to put the flag up. I pretty darn sure that it was less than 30 sec because I could still see him. It was such crap, and set such a bad tone for the whole inspection.

What a jerk ... not you lweistonskier ... half the time I've dealt with the cops they've been cool and the other half they've been a$$es.

[95echelon]

In Minnesota where my family has a place there are just about no laws as long as things don't look crazy unsafe. Lifejackets where you want, throw ables not usually necessary, no flags, blah blah. We sit in the gunnels, on the engine cover, etc. And the water patrol is super friendly. They badger Jet-Skiers constantly which is great, and on their safety days, they often sit and wait until you are done with your set before checking jackets. They won't come in if a rider/skier falls mid set, when they see the rope winding in they figure it's your turn. The guys on that lake also got used to us each holding a PFD above our head once they had checked us out a couple times and found us safe.

In Michigan the laws are crap and the sheriffs and boater utter vigilantes. I got stopped once while pulling! And there have been instances of jet skiers 20 feet behind me on a board that have gone unpoliced while barney was off ticketing a pontoon for life jackets, it's sick. In MN if i called a guys supervisor after that i may have even gotten an apology.

On that note, this constant lifejacket badgering is legal, but not a great thing to do. I was on my parents cruiser in Grand Haven, MI one day during the Coast Guard festival and got boarded by their cutter for tying up on "their seawall" while since the wall was not painted orange and i had friends ashore getting food, when they asked me to move i said no. They got ticked and boarded me, if you think a sheriffs inspection is bad try the Coast Guard. They went through the ENTIRE boat, engine compartment, USCG sticker, jackets, flares, horns, compass, marine radio, whistle, number of occupants, TWO throwables for a vessel that size. They tried to write us up for all sorts of BS, but did not seem at all bothered that a bunch of 17 year olds had a boat loaded to the gills with beer and har liquor. Go figure.

Long story short i called them on it and wrote a letter of complaint to the commander of that post (this is coast guard city USA), i ended up getting a signed, written apology for the actions of his crew that day.

You have to call these guys out and know exactly the laws. Being a 17 year old frequenting a cabin cruiser on the great lakes, i had the opportunity to draw a lot of crap, so i made sure i knew the letter of the law and it paid off.

Edited August 11, 2008 by 95echelon

[Faceplant409]

Early this spring at Carters Lake in GA....US Coast Guard did a courtesy inspection of my boat while we were at the ramp, boat still on hte trailer! It was optional and some boaters turned it down. I accepted the offer. inspection was very thorough and took a little long.

The officers knew their stuff and were very courteous.

When all was done....a perfect score I might add....they placed a bright red decall on my driver side windshield. I have not been stopped for an inspection since they put that decal on there> Yee Haa

You could make a mint printing and selling those decals.

...You could probably get in a HEAP 'o trouble too!

That is a great idea by the water cops though!

In Cali there is a thing called th 11-99 Foundation. Its a fund for the families of CA Highway patrol officers killed in the line of duty. They have made license plate frames and you get one with a "donation." Not quite a get out of jail free card, but it works similar to a Fire Fighter's union decal.

Patrick