Very interesting article about the issue of access to public lands for ATV's & other recreational users out West in the New York Times today.
Fascinating parallels between the situations described there & the ones we end up with regarding access for various types of recreational craft on New York City's waterways.
This could be my last post for 2007 - TQ's coming down from CT tonight, we've got a date to paddle out the old tomorrow (with snow in the AM forecast, I don't know if that's a hot date or a cold one!), & then we'll paddle in the new with the rest of the Sebago crew at the Tuesday Frostbite Regatta.
I've made a big batch of my mom's famous pecans for the potluck. Looking forward to the day!
Anyone else greeting the New Year by getting out on the water?
That's all for now. Here's my best wishes to everyone for a very healthy & happy New Year!
See you in 2008!
Showing posts with label jetskis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jetskis. Show all posts
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Jet Ski Update
By sheer coincidence, one of my fellow Sebagoites just got a notice concerning a proposal by the National Park Service to weaken the (already totally unenforced) jet ski ban in Jamaica Bay. I don't have time to opinionate here, just wanted to post the link to the Sebago blog. Includes better information about what to do & most importantly, where written comments need to be sent by October 4th to be considered. I don't think you need to be an NYC resident to send in your 2 cents worth - this is a NATIONAL Park Service issue & I imagine it could set a precedent for weakening the ban elsewhere.
I still actually have it in me to feel kind of sorry for the jetskiers who had their recreational access taken away by the ban -- I see them out there & they're enjoying a nice day on the water same as I do, albeit in a smellier, noisier way -- but the Bay is so fragile & it seems like even an incremental measure like this should be supported. And there must be launches they can trailer to so they can still get out on the water.
And with all the reading I've been doing on the subject (in my nonexistent free time) I think I'd like to nominate Reef the Planet Protector for the Ironic Toy of the Year Award.
I still actually have it in me to feel kind of sorry for the jetskiers who had their recreational access taken away by the ban -- I see them out there & they're enjoying a nice day on the water same as I do, albeit in a smellier, noisier way -- but the Bay is so fragile & it seems like even an incremental measure like this should be supported. And there must be launches they can trailer to so they can still get out on the water.
And with all the reading I've been doing on the subject (in my nonexistent free time) I think I'd like to nominate Reef the Planet Protector for the Ironic Toy of the Year Award.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Letter to National Parks Service Gateway Recreation Area
Delivered using the contact form on the National Parks Service Gateway Recreation Area page. Note for non-locals - Jamaica Bay is a wildlife preserve and there is a ban on jetskis in the area.
Dear Sir or Madam:
I am a Jamaica Bay kayaker who is disturbed by developments in the Bay this summer. I and other paddling friends have noticed an upswing in the number of jetskis in the bay. Rumours from a source we tended to trust said that the ban was no longer in effect; however an individual who had not heard that reported a jetskier to the NYPD harbor patrol. He was told that the ban was still in effect, but was no longer enforced because no one complained. Apparently the officer encouraged my friend to do so - idea being that if people complained, the police would resume enforcing the ban. He was told that the complaints had to be made in person.
This is rather like the highway patrol asking motorists to call in complaints about speeders.
Assuming that the jetski ban is for environmental reasons, it should be enforced. Jamaica Bay is a wonderful resource & I'd like to see every feasible action taken to protect it - enforcing extant rules seems like a very simple way to do so.
However, I feel that it is extremely unfair to ask individual recreational boaters to collect the registration number of other recreational boaters, report them & get them taken off the water. My own access has been threatened enough (I used to paddle in the Hudson River Park, and kayaks on North River & the Upper Harbor have been a matter of contention in our own right) that I'm just not comfortable doing that.
Please don't ask me to do the job that the parks service and law enforcement should be doing.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
...
Cross-posted at theSebago Canoe Club blog
Dear Sir or Madam:
I am a Jamaica Bay kayaker who is disturbed by developments in the Bay this summer. I and other paddling friends have noticed an upswing in the number of jetskis in the bay. Rumours from a source we tended to trust said that the ban was no longer in effect; however an individual who had not heard that reported a jetskier to the NYPD harbor patrol. He was told that the ban was still in effect, but was no longer enforced because no one complained. Apparently the officer encouraged my friend to do so - idea being that if people complained, the police would resume enforcing the ban. He was told that the complaints had to be made in person.
This is rather like the highway patrol asking motorists to call in complaints about speeders.
Assuming that the jetski ban is for environmental reasons, it should be enforced. Jamaica Bay is a wonderful resource & I'd like to see every feasible action taken to protect it - enforcing extant rules seems like a very simple way to do so.
However, I feel that it is extremely unfair to ask individual recreational boaters to collect the registration number of other recreational boaters, report them & get them taken off the water. My own access has been threatened enough (I used to paddle in the Hudson River Park, and kayaks on North River & the Upper Harbor have been a matter of contention in our own right) that I'm just not comfortable doing that.
Please don't ask me to do the job that the parks service and law enforcement should be doing.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
...
Cross-posted at theSebago Canoe Club blog
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Boats Boaters Hate.
Sooooo...
I try not to get too negative on this blog, although there are days when I'm so frustrated with one thing or another that I'd just like to sign onto Blogger and scream, I try to keep it to a whimper whenever I can.
But I thought it might be fun to have a little wallow today, and invite anybody who feels like sharing to wallow along in the comments.
Now what got me thinking of doing this was a funny little confluence - first off, finding myself smack in the middle that battle for world domination I'd mentioned yesterday, secondly, I left comment on Tugster today saying "go check out this video, but don't tell the guy I sent you, he hates kayakers!".
And I got to thinking - do all boaters have that one variety of boat they just think should go away?
Joe Rouse fears the threatened takeover of the world by Laser sailors. EliBoat thinks kay-whackers should all have their boats sunk by orcas, just like in the Powerade commercial. (2010 note - linked to Google cache...EliBoat is gone? :( ) Tillerman thinks catamarans are boring. At least the virtual variety. In the kayaking world alone, there's the Greenland vs. Euro thing, all KINDS of snobbery rained down upon recreational kayaks, sitatops, and inflatables, I used to know a guy who was good for at least a half-hour of the most entertaining ranting & raving if you even whispered the word "Prijon" within earshot...oh, the list goes on and on.
Me? Oh, I'm pretty openminded, don't even hate jetskis the way so many kayakers do - sure, I'd hate 'em on a peaceful mountain lake, and I hated the yay-hoos who used to use the Hudson & thought it was hysterical to come at a kayaker at full speed & spin out at the last possible minute - or, less terrifying but still annoying, come up to tours I was guiding & try to pick up every single female below the age of 50 - but I've also seen some awesome safety work done by jetskiers at the Quicksilver Eddie Aikau Big-Wave Surfing Contest, which my dad & I had the amazing good fortune to catch in person one year, and then you just can't scoff at the folks who put the "tow" in "tow-in surfing", even if it's the surfers who get the glory (this clip ROCKS! DO NOT MISS the WINDSURFER at the end! You have to keep a sharp eye out for the jetskis, but they are there & Laird Hamilton wouldn't be doing this without them).
So nope, I don't hate jetskis, just jerks on jetskis. But I'd be lying through my teeth if I said I was that open-minded on ALL boats - nope, my universal to-the-last-member-of-it's-class loathing is of course reserved for cigarette boats. I genuinely think the waterways of the world would be a better place if these gas-guzzling eardrum-shattering compensations-for-certain-shortcomings were all turned into one big artificial reef somewhere. See, I'm just as rabid as the rest of the world!
So my question for today is - if you could nominate one kind of boat to add to that artificial reef, what kind would it be, and why? You get to define the class, it can be anything from "the smoke-belching stinkpot in the berth next to mine" to "every plastic boat ever made" to...well, you get the idea, right?
I try not to get too negative on this blog, although there are days when I'm so frustrated with one thing or another that I'd just like to sign onto Blogger and scream, I try to keep it to a whimper whenever I can.
But I thought it might be fun to have a little wallow today, and invite anybody who feels like sharing to wallow along in the comments.
Now what got me thinking of doing this was a funny little confluence - first off, finding myself smack in the middle that battle for world domination I'd mentioned yesterday, secondly, I left comment on Tugster today saying "go check out this video, but don't tell the guy I sent you, he hates kayakers!".
And I got to thinking - do all boaters have that one variety of boat they just think should go away?
Joe Rouse fears the threatened takeover of the world by Laser sailors. EliBoat thinks kay-whackers should all have their boats sunk by orcas, just like in the Powerade commercial. (2010 note - linked to Google cache...EliBoat is gone? :( ) Tillerman thinks catamarans are boring. At least the virtual variety. In the kayaking world alone, there's the Greenland vs. Euro thing, all KINDS of snobbery rained down upon recreational kayaks, sitatops, and inflatables, I used to know a guy who was good for at least a half-hour of the most entertaining ranting & raving if you even whispered the word "Prijon" within earshot...oh, the list goes on and on.
Me? Oh, I'm pretty openminded, don't even hate jetskis the way so many kayakers do - sure, I'd hate 'em on a peaceful mountain lake, and I hated the yay-hoos who used to use the Hudson & thought it was hysterical to come at a kayaker at full speed & spin out at the last possible minute - or, less terrifying but still annoying, come up to tours I was guiding & try to pick up every single female below the age of 50 - but I've also seen some awesome safety work done by jetskiers at the Quicksilver Eddie Aikau Big-Wave Surfing Contest, which my dad & I had the amazing good fortune to catch in person one year, and then you just can't scoff at the folks who put the "tow" in "tow-in surfing", even if it's the surfers who get the glory (this clip ROCKS! DO NOT MISS the WINDSURFER at the end! You have to keep a sharp eye out for the jetskis, but they are there & Laird Hamilton wouldn't be doing this without them).
So nope, I don't hate jetskis, just jerks on jetskis. But I'd be lying through my teeth if I said I was that open-minded on ALL boats - nope, my universal to-the-last-member-of-it's-class loathing is of course reserved for cigarette boats. I genuinely think the waterways of the world would be a better place if these gas-guzzling eardrum-shattering compensations-for-certain-shortcomings were all turned into one big artificial reef somewhere. See, I'm just as rabid as the rest of the world!
So my question for today is - if you could nominate one kind of boat to add to that artificial reef, what kind would it be, and why? You get to define the class, it can be anything from "the smoke-belching stinkpot in the berth next to mine" to "every plastic boat ever made" to...well, you get the idea, right?
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