Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Dramatic rescue combines Coast Guard Auxiliary and uniformed Coast Guard personnel – and PWC
posted by John Donaldson
The rescue of a plane crash survivor in an out of the way corner of Alaska on September 22, 2007, is the basis of a dramatic story that includes personal watercraft. The full story is on the Coast Guard Auxiliary’s e-zine site http://www.teamcoastguard.org .
The part of the story that resonates with me is the fortunate coincidences that brought together a collection of unrelated people at the crucial moment to save a woman’s life. There were the recreational hikers (and paramedic) who found the site, the recreational boaters with a radio, the Coast Guard Auxiliary who happened to be nearby conducting a training exercise, and the uniformed Coast Guard in a helicopter doing a routine aerial inspection of aids to navigation.
As you read the story, imagine all these people who with no advance planning and no experience working together, were able to save a life. The tragic loss of the pilot’s life could easily have been compounded had not the collection of skilled and trained people been available at that place at that moment.
Yes the Kawasaki JET SKI® watercraft on loan to the Coast Guard Auxiliary played a role, but no more crucial than the skills, coolness, and training of the many individuals involved. The Dean’s hat is off to everyone involved and I am honored that those Alaskan Coast Guard Auxiliarists are part of the PWC nation.
Friday, November 09, 2007
History of the PWC Nation – Part I
posted by John Donaldson
Over this past weekend, the L.A. Times ran an article about the indoctrination of recent high school graduates into the U.S. Marine Corps. http://www.latimes.com One of the things I noted in the article is that these young men and women are instructed on Marine Corps history – the past achievements of the Corps in previous times of trouble.
Many of you who have had military service may also have experienced a similar process of orientation to the past successes of your service branch in the face of adversity.
But I’ll bet that since you joined the all-volunteer PWC nation, no one has spent time telling you of your PWC nation’s past accomplishments. The AWA does a good job of covering contemporary efforts but the history of the good work fades from memory quickly.
On the other hand, there are a number of entities such as NOAA and several so-called environmental groups who will tell you and the whole world about alleged problems with the PWC nation. I would like to level the field a bit with a review good things in the nation’s past.
Much of what has been accomplished with PWC has been in conjunction with the overall marine industry. A complete 24 page review of the industry’s aquatic stewardship can be found at http://www.nmma.org under the government tab. Following below are what strike me as key issues where the PWC nation has responded to issues is a positive and timely manner.
Rapid conversion from 2 stroke to 4 stroke engines is, in my mind, the number one advancement in the PWC nation. Less than ten years ago, there was not a single 4 stroke powered PWC available anywhere in the world. For 2008, ONLY around four 2 stroke PWC models are being sold which represent less than 5% of next year’s new boats. Arguably the most important step in this conversion process has been the members of the nation readily accepting the new technology.
To me, the second major milestone in PWC use has been the equally rapid adoption of mandatory boater education in many states. At last count, about 45 states and U.S. Territories had one sort of provision or another for mandatory boating safety education. http://www.nasbla.org The PWC nation was the very first group of boaters to get onboard with support for mandatory boating safety training. This initiative sent the unmistakable message to all the PWC naysayers that the PWC nation stood for safe and responsible boating and would go to class to prove it.
In future postings I will set forth more of the positive accomplishments in the PWC nation to help all members understand that we are responsible members and leaders in the boating community.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Golden Gate National Recreation Area churns ever onward unfettered by PWC usage.
posted by John Donaldson
The really insidious part of bans by federal resource agencies like the National Parks Service (NPS) is that they are essentially a death sentence for PWC access where ever they are enacted. A horrid example is Golden Gate National Recreation area http://www.nps.gov/goga . GOGA is essentially encompasses all the shore line of San Francisco and the headlands across Golden Gate from San Francisco.
While part of the National Park system, it is designated as a National Recreation Area – unless your form of recreation is a PWC. Precise details such as a good map of the area are a bit hard to find but GOGA has approximately 22 miles of shore line including one excellent launch ramp – and your PWC is expressly and specifically denied access. In fact if you visit the web site you will find that over half the photos of GOGA include view of the ocean where you can’t take your PWC.
Now the horrid example is that for all the alleged reasons PWC were prohibited ten years ago, there is no remedy, no parole, no commutation of the sentence. You are banned FOREVER. There is no modification to the design of the PWC or of the PWC engine that will allow renewed access.
Sure, the IRS still collects your taxes, and congress still appropriates tax funds for upkeep of national parks, just don’t expect them ever to allow you back into this and other parks where you have been banned.
To complete the incredulousness of this individual story is that within 10 miles of GOGA are three of the major oil refineries in California and tankers are constantly cruising in and out of the GOGA waters. There are also major interstate highways that bisect this Park and there are well over 100 miles of San Francisco City streets and county roads within the Recreation Area over which drives every sort of car, truck, bus and motorscooter. But you cannot operate a PWC along a single inch of those 22 miles of coast line.
AWA is currently fighting for access in Biscayne Bay National Park – which incidentally contains a nuclear power plant but no PWC. When we get PWC back in Biscayne, you can rest assured that I will be pushing for action on Golden Gate.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
The California Legislature just raised the price of boat ownership for California boaters.
posted by John Donaldson
The legislature recently passed a law the Guvenator signed on Oct 14, 2007, that could take approximately $5 million out of the pockets of California members of the PWC Nation over the next eight years. And it might take as much as $70 million from other recreational boaters. I am basing these figures on my own calculations since I couldn’t find any data from the legislature.
OK so for me, every 2 years I cough up an extra $10 that will improve boating safety and boating facilities in Cal., and heck, maybe put a couple more cops on the water to help maintain order. NOT! This new law is an absolutely crystal clear example of a legislature using and abusing their powers to tax people to pay for pet projects while calling it a “fee”.
Here is the real problem with this new law; the money is not doing a single thing to improve boating despite targeting boaters specifically to pay $75 million. Here is the list of worthy projects where the money will be spent according to the bill. http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset2text.htm
1) Alternative fuel and vehicle technology research, development, demonstration, and deployment.
2) Research to evaluate the air quality impacts of alternative fuels
3) Implement the act in a manner to ensure the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures and income levels.
4) Provide funding consistent with other state goals and requirements.
5) Commence voluntary retirement of passenger vehicles and light-duty and medium trucks that are high polluters.
6) Evaluation of the full fuel-cycle of fuels including production, extraction, transport and storage.
7) Vehicle technology means any vehicle, boat, off-road equipment, or locomotive or components like engines, propulsion system, transmission or construction materials.
All this to be administered by a commission and a state board which will have an obligatory advisory board.
The details of the new law fill 12 pages with fairly small type. Who knew it would take 12 pages to describe how boat owners’ money will be spread throughout a bold new bureaucracy?
It is my opinion that despite the quantity of money involved, $75 million from boaters alone, and this money will disappear like rain drops in the desert. I can already hear the clamor of Legislators’ favorite consultants launching into a frenzy to get a cut of the funds. Plus, of course, the salaries for Commission and state board members and their staff, some of whom will doubtlessly be former legislators and former legislative staff.
Your AWA sent their appeal for rationality to the California Assembly but with little or no avail. I realize that like me, you probably accept that the extra $10 over two years is nothing. But this so called fee extracted from boaters is being used to fund projects for which the legislature could not find other funding. So they look at boaters and decide that these folks won’t be organized enough if they get stuck with another fee, no matter how unrelated to their sport its use might be
I have long since learned that one should not stand between a legislator and the public’s money, it is how a person could get crushed. A widely read political columnist has a way of describing the essence of this new law in more direct terms: “Being elected to Congress [or a state legislature] is regarded as being sent on a looting raid for one’s friends.” George Will
There is at least one important way to fight this sort of assault on recreational boating. That is to help the AWA grow and individually be ready to help the AWA respond to these patently unfair and egregious acts by the very people we have elected to represent our interests.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
PWC Nation descends on Arizona
posted by John Donaldson
The mere mention of Lake Havasu resonates with a level of mystique for many members of the PWC Nation. When someone says “Havasu,” perhaps you are one of those who imagine the roar of 20 PWC race engines blasting off the starting line, or can just about get a whiff of race gas. Or you can hear the conversations in French or with heavy British or Australian accents, or marvel at the team attire of the various privateer race teams from Thailand or Serbia or Japan. Indeed, the spectacle of the IJSBA World Finals.
In all my years in the PWC nation, I find the annual Fall World Finals (WF) in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., to be unique and just plain fun. There is virtually nowhere else you can go where everyone you encounter will have a smile on their face when you explain why you are in town. The thousands of visitors who descend on this small city are generally welcomed wholeheartedly by the locals and by the local businesses. It is a great feeling to be there and to feel like everyone accepts you and your particular form of recreation.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Ballast water, Boxer and Baloney
posted by John Donaldson
Let’s kick off my first ever blogging experience with a writing device, an alliteration. You probably didn’t expect to be reading on the AWA web site and get writing composition lessons.
Oh, and yes, I had to look up both the meaning AND spelling of alliteration. But enough about me.
Ballast water, Boxer and baloney. A good one, right? Well these 3 B’s are all about Washington, D.C., one of the easiest targets in the world to pick on. Yet if we look away from D.C. for just a minute, the folks there might change that baloney into a knife and do very bad things to folks outside of D.C.
Ballast water: You may have seen the ballast water stories elsewhere on this site or in RIDE or other boating publications. The short version is that it is very possible that every recreational boat owner in the country could be required to get a permit – in addition to state registration – to operate their boat. And you have to know that permits mean $$. From here on it gets a bit technical.
Boxer: One of the proposed ways to fix this ballast water issue is to pass a federal law that exempts recreational boaters from the requirement of obtaining a permit.
“Both [Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee, and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)] spoke out strongly against the notion of permits for boaters and announced they will work together to fix the issue this year with legislation passed in Congress to protect the recreational boating industry and boaters across the country.”
At least according to the National Marine Manufacturer’s Association in its Oct. 5 newsletter.
Baloney: Of course this all leads us to the final part of the alliteration. Almost everything one hears from Washington is really about baloney, something whose contents are a mystery. Boaters would absolutely love to take Senator Boxer at her word, but after all, it’s Washington, and it’s politics.
Elsewhere either on this site or in Ride PWC magazine you will have exhortations to contact your elected representatives in Washington to have them join this fight for a fix on the ballast water issue. Sounds like a good idea to me.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Exploring America’s Original Highways
posted by Wiley Russell Jr
To launch my blog, I thought I’d post an article I wrote for the September/October issue of Ride magazine about a recent PWC trip I took on the Alabama River.
You’ve upgraded your old 2-stroke for one of the new reliable 4-strokes, and you’ve used it almost every weekend since. By now, you’ve explored nearly every waterway around. We’ve got the answer—Book a trip with AWA Corporate Sponsor Discovery River Tours for quality long-distance guided PWC tours on some of America’s most scenic and historic rivers.
These all inclusive PWC adventure tours will increase your love for your watercraft and remind you why you bought it in the first place: The sheer joy of riding while exploring places where many boaters do not go.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Take Your Kids to Lunch
posted by Chris Manthos
The secret covers are being pulled off the ’08 models, and as we profiled in our Sept/Oct issue of Ride, PWC just keep getting better. Larger, safer, more efficient and exciting watercraft will soon be gracing the water. Each new model is an investment in the future of the PWC Nation. The manufacturers are more than doing their part with incredible new boats, but what are we as riders doing to further our enthusiasm for personal watercraft?
Few things are as important to the long term growth of our community than getting your kids involved with PWC. Most states require riders to be 16 or older to operate a personal watercraft. Okay, but that doesn’t mean they can’t ride with you now. To be honest, most of us prefer to ride alone on the boat. While understandable, it’s important to bring those future PWC riders with you.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Read This: It’s About You
posted by Chris Manthos
By our very nature, the PWC lifestyle is a “live and let live” attitude. We don’t ask for special treatment as do others. We simply ask to be treated with fairness and equality. It’s hard to find a personal watercraft owner who hasn’t experienced some form of negativity from others. Indeed, most of us are appalled by the astounding ignorance of facts displayed by no-access extremists during boating access debates. They are who they are, and nothing will change the mind of a true believer.
Recreational boating is increasingly being questioned like never before by so-called environmental groups and their allies in government regulatory agencies; not all, but surely far too many.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Snow, Hypocrisy, Big Fish And Polar Bears
posted by Chris Manthos
The clocks turned ahead. With the smell of warmth in the air, the weeds started growing in the front yard, and then Big Momma Nature laughed and hit most of the PWC Nation with unseasonably cold weather and endless snow.
If there was ever a time for the “pride of the electric company billing office” to start releasing some more of his hypocritical hot air, right about now would be perfect. Of course, he would need to take the fossil fuel guzzling private jet to get here, so he can push for “carbon taxes” on those of us who just want to enjoy the water when we’re not working our butts off. Someday, when I’m super rich like super-sized Al; I’ll have endless hours to ride.
