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Proposed coastal speed limit

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by gcsi, Aug 12, 2022.

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  1. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    You can hear it on the radio blasting JSO water whinnies when they do that stuff in Jax.
    One of the big bummers for water activities in Jacksonville FL.
    Jacksonville Sheriff Office (JSO) water whinnies have not a clue that they are the larger threat to safety than the stupid redneck they are trying to chase.
  2. bayoubud

    bayoubud Senior Member

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    It would be interesting to see what has been budgeted for this big gov program? Will require a fleet of boats, personnel, and hi-tech buoys.
    Like Captholli said lot of square miles to cover. Just moving the buoys will be big job. Plus, marine warnings for buoy locations.
    Last edited: Aug 20, 2022
  3. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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  4. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Somebody here, or maybe in another forum where this is being discussed, mentioned that they had been hailed by USCG or other law enforcement and asked to slow down. Apparently having been picked up by AIS.

    you can be sure the bureaucrats at NOAA will find a way to get this enforced at the very least by USCG. NOAA also a whole squadron of planes they can use. And will use.
  5. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    AIS. I know someone that runs a 70' that got $32k in fines on a delivery through existing right whale zones. They tracked him with AIS and the owner got the fines in the mail.
  6. captholli

    captholli Senior Member

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    That would be a depressing letter to receive. And the fine for turning your AIS off? Has to be cheaper than $32,000? All sorts of good excuses of why my AIS is on the fritz! Sure looks like this is going to be hit or miss enforcement or just plain selective enforcement.
  7. gr8trn

    gr8trn Senior Member

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    I don’t think our government officials give a rip what we think. They just shut down the world to save lives from a viral outbreak. That shut down has caused untold downstream starvation deaths around the world. They may not know that but if they do, they don’t give a rip. Their agenda trumps all.
    As my wife is fond of saying, save the whales kill the babies…
    bayoubud likes this.
  8. Slimshady

    Slimshady Senior Member

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    No large sportfish leaves their ais on while fishing. Fishing spots are highly classified secrets. The nuclear launch codes are more promiscuous:)
    bayoubud and Capt Ralph like this.
  9. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Before AIS, I never gave up my dive spots. Been longing to return to these places after near 20 years away.
    Good thing TDs can still be converted to LLs.
  10. Hatterized

    Hatterized Member

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    Boating is a recreational sport, recreation is a form of enjoyment, with these ongoing additional rules/regs being imposed i am beginning to feel boating/yachting is like transiting a mine-filled shoaled harbor with many submerged hazards that if we veer of course we will pay dearly in fines/permits/registrations/insurance/etc........:(:eek:

    Anyone else feels i do.....?
    bayoubud and motoryachtlover like this.
  11. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    It is getting there for sure.
  12. rtrafford

    rtrafford Senior Member

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    Sent me through the wayback machine. Recalling a previous boat back before we had You Tube had an Omega aboard. I never did understand or learn how to you use it. Instead we used the Loran A and Loran C systems. But now that we do have You Tube, Omega seems so easy....

  13. Kapn

    Kapn Member

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    I used to run a 43 Eastbay (Grand Banks) north and south for the owner every season. Nice boat, 20+ kts. I got tied up one year and my friend ran it down. Struck a whale, threw him forward into the console, he limped in with one prop destroyed and the other severely bent. I'm assuming that's the boat someone mentions when they say 43 Grand Banks. I've lost touch with him over the years but he was a pretty tough guy, just a good old boy from rural South Carolina. He worked oil rig supply boats and spent time traveling abroad to some pretty sketchy areas. He was very disturbed by the whale strike. Said it was one of the most awful days of his life and as he was troubleshooting his situation, checking the boat and trying to figure out what he was going to do it just sat on the surface bleeding until the sea was all red around it. Not sure where we draw the line or how much we as a society should invest in protecting wildlife but if there's a way to lower the probability it's probably worth a shot.
  14. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Sadly, my 12Gauge is the largest bore I have to shoot with. From a moving boat probably no good sighting also.
    Now, Been looking for a mini gun for a while..
  15. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Next thoughts;
    If whales have sonar and presence of direction, What's up. They have to hear danger coming.
    Are these sick or slow whales getting hit?
  16. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    With any animal. Some die early deaths due to various reasons. Perhaps they're committing suicide because they're sick. BUT, the overall number of vessel strikes is ridiculously low. This is going to put all of the GA-NE charter fishing boats out of business, as well as all of the whale watching boats, among other industries. The pilot boats are also having a huge issue with it, and complaining they won't be able to maintain steerage at 10 knots in these ships coming in channels.
  17. ChiTown

    ChiTown Member

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    You would think there is a way to use AIS in reverse and get notifications of whale pods within a certain area, and create local speed limits or at least and /or notifications,etc. Maybe force operators in the area to use a dynamic electronic system, otherwise must stick to speed limits? Point is; can't we use technology on this as the proposed solutions seems archaic and likely ineffective and likely economically destructive.
    bayoubud likes this.
  18. TeKeela

    TeKeela Member

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    After a long discussion with my boat and with my full support, my boat now self-identifies as 34ft.
    Soulstice, kevin8tor, Zud and 5 others like this.
  19. TeKeela

    TeKeela Member

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    I would like to point out, that while I support the new identification, I had to draw the line at removing the pulpit. that was just too much too soon.
    alvareza and ChiTown like this.
  20. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Biden administration boating proposal would be 'greatest regulatory overreach' of its kind, critics warn
    Proposed regulation aims to prevent boats from hitting endangered right whales
    By Douglas Kennedy | Fox News

    White House pushes speed restrictions on boats to protect endangered species
    Fox News correspondent Douglas Kennedy reports on the Biden White House's proposed boat speed restrictions that some say could cause unintended consequences.

    "This would be the greatest regulatory overreach in American maritime law" — that’s how Frank Hugelmeyer describes a proposal by the Biden administration to limit the speed of all motorboats over 35 feet from Florida to Massachusetts. "Not only are they creating a serious safety issue, they are creating a massive negative economic impact."

    Hugelmeyer is president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), and he is just one of a growing number of voices expressing outrage over the proposal put forward by the U.S. Commerce Department under the auspices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

    "It’s stupid," said Jeff Angers, the president of the Center for Sportfishing Policy. "It’s not what government is supposed to do."

    The far-reaching regulation would restrict speed to 10 knots or 11.5 miles per hour for all boats over 35 feet — for up to seven months out of the year and up to 100 miles out at sea for most of the East Coast.

    The purpose: to prevent the boats from hitting an endangered right whale.

    In an email to Fox News, an NOAA spokesman pointed out there are only 350 right whales left in the ocean.

    "This rule is designed to reduce the risk of mortalities from vessel strikes and afford the species a greater opportunity to recover," the statement read.

    [​IMG]
    A North Atlantic right whale feeds on the surface of Cape Cod Bay off the coast of Plymouth, Massachusetts, on March 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

    The statement admitted, however, there have only been five deadly whale strikes by boats between 35 to 65 feet in length over the last 15 years. (Boats over 65 feet are already subject to a speed restriction.)

    "It’s ridiculous," added Angers, who pointed out there’s less than a one in a million chance of a fishing boat hitting a whale, according to NOAA’s own numbers.

    "Based on actual interactions between recreational boats and right whales, the proposed restrictions are unjustifiable, ineffective and unnecessary," he says.

    IMPACT ON BOAT SAFETY

    It’s also dangerous, according to Chris Edmonston, the president of the Boat Owners Association of the United States, or Boat U.S.

    Edmonston said most boats can’t get on a "plane" if they are going under 10 knots. A plane is the speed at which the bow of the boat lowers in order to cut through oncoming waves.

    [​IMG]
    An endangered North Atlantic right whale gets entangled in fishing rope with a newborn calf in waters near Cumberland Island, Georgia, on Dec. 2, 2021. (Georgia Department of Natural Resources/NOAA Permit #20556 via AP)

    "The boats are designed to ride on top of the waves," he said. "This is going to make them wallow in the waves — up and down, side to side, pitching," he explained. "It’s going to be hard to maintain control. You can take waves over the side."

    He said larger boats are especially at risk going through channels near shore.

    "They can’t maintain steerage [at 10 knots,]" he added. "If you’re going that speed you’re going to [run] aground."

    Safety is also a huge concern for pilot boat captain Trey Thompson.

    "The crew will be thrown around, tossed around, injured," he said at the stern of one of his pilot boats speeding at 35 knots out of the port at Savannah, Georgia. "If we run at slow speeds, any side swell is going to make these boats roll."

    His job is to help commercial vessels navigate from 20 miles out at sea to Savannah’s inland shipping channels.

    In the past year, Thompson purchased two new 64-feet pilot boats.

    "This boat we're standing on is purpose-built for this job" he explained. "[It was] just delivered eight months ago. I have a second one under construction now. "

    He said neither can operate safely at 10 knots: "[That’s] $13 million worth of pilot boats that will be unusable. "

    IMPACT ON PORTS

    Thompson also predicts the rule will cripple port traffic.

    "The port will be closed any day it’s rough [or] windy. [And] not just this port. All the ports on the East Coast," he said.

    He pointed out there has never been a confirmed whale strike in a federal channel. "This is the government just getting involved where they don't need to be," he said.

    And, Thompson isn’t the only one fearing economic catastrophe.

    IMPACT ON FISHING

    "This overreach is going to basically all but halt fishing off the East Coast of the United States," said Glenn Hughes, the president of the American Sportfishing Association. "It will just keep people from fishing."

    He points out there are 9 million anglers who fish the Eastern coastline.

    "Instead of getting to a [fishing] destination in an hour, you're talking about something that's going to take three to four hours both ways," he said.

    A day trip, he added, would become "impossible."

    [​IMG]
    Crew members aboard a boat sailing in coastal Maine waters. (Mailee Osten-Tan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images, File)

    "If it takes that long, they're just not going to go," he said. "If they don't go, then they don't buy product. They don't buy boats. They don't buy fuel. They don't buy anything that goes with that. And it hurts the economy."

    IMPACT ON AMERICAN BOAT BUILDERS

    It’s something that Pat Healey understands all too well.

    "It's going to devastate [our] industry," he said, standing next to a half-finished 55-foot motorboat in a boat factory on the Jersey shore.

    Healey has run Viking Yachts, a third-generation boat building company in New Gretna. Boat-building is one of the few industries that are still dominated by American companies with American factories.

    All but one of the boats Viking makes today are over 35 feet, and most fall between 35 and 65 feet. Healey says no one is going to want to buy a boat that size that they can only drive 11 mph for half the year.

    "It’s going to have a tremendous impact on our employment here at the Viking Yacht Company," he said, motioning around to his employees. "All these boat builders…1,600 boat builders. It's going to wipe them out."

    Hugelmeyer pointed out that the figures NOAA used to calculate the risk of whale strike incorrectly assumed that all boats over 35 feet have a draft of 30 feet: "This is a great example of the massive errors that are in this proposed rule."

    He said there are simply better ways to protect whales than what he calls this "horribly thought out and misinformed rule."

    Hugelmeyer suggested tagging, geolocation techniques and other forms of tracking so boaters and fishermen can avoid areas where the right whales are. He also said he wanted the NOAA to consult boaters and fishermen, and others, who are going to be affected by the rule. "They didn’t consult any of us," he added.

    "There is not a single boater who wants to see the right whale go extinct," he said. "We just want a collaborative discussion about the best way to [save them]."

    Douglas Kennedy currently serves as a correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in 1996 and is based in New York.

    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bi...eatest-regulatory-overreach-kind-critics-warn