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Name:	AnchorbayDon -	Reply
Subject:	Boating Law Update
Date:	3/10/2006 9:34:26 PM

According to the Alabama Marine Industries Assn, the Bill is being lobbied by the Geddes group in Montgomery who respresents Alabama Power and also another lobbyist hired by a realty company in Wedowee. It was started both in the House and Senate and both are out of committee. (The Senate bill by a committee vote of 10-0!)

The senate could vote as early as next week and with the Spring Break recess, it could take another 2 weeks for both houses to act on it - if we don't mount some stiff opposition.

I wonder how the legislature will deal with the boats and wetslips that would be outlawed by their action, the marina people that will be put out of work, or the cruiser families that will no longer be able to afford to enjoy the lake??????

Name:	Sac -	Reply
Subject:	Boating Law Update
Date:	3/10/2006 10:04:17 PM

Spoke with Ted Little today as well as Betty Carol Graham. Mr.Little stated that I was the first person to contact him or his office who had opposed the idea and all call had been positive and he encouraged any and all interested parties to contact him to voice their opinion. My response was that not enought people knew about the bill but they would in short order. So call him. Mrs. Graham was looking into the option of altering the bill to allow for boats 37 to 40 foot and will be having meeting with concerned parties on Monday before the legislature resumes on Tuesday the 14th. She also encouraged everyone to call or contact her if you were opposed. She is unclear what objective Mr. Dial is trying to accomplish. We have contacted the NBC stations in Montgomery & B'ham to report. WCOV from Mon't has picked up on the story and was sending reporters out tonight to collect interviews. We contacted a number of marina today for feedback & to get the word out on the bill such as Nelems in Jasper, AL and owner Robert Nelems stated that two national Powerboat groups were getting involved. So if we keep up the pressure the legislate & the special interes groups won't be able to steamroll this through. Call Call Call your Rep & Senator, they won't to hear from you, even at home so lets see..

Name:	Osms -	Reply
Subject:	Boating Law Update
Date:	3/10/2006 10:26:55 PM

We've seen the National Park Service ban PWCs from their waters and shores primarily because the PWC riders/owners did not respond to warnings from the NPS about their driving/speed habits. The same thing can happen to loud/fast boats--no vehicle without brakes should be allowed to endanger others unecessarily. Would you rather have a speed limit or a HP restriction.

Believe it or not< but the laws of this country are suposed to benefit the majority< silent or not <

Name:	Sac -	Reply
Subject:	Boating Law Update
Date:	3/10/2006 10:44:13 PM

So in your mind a "low decible fast boat" @ 75 to 80 mph wouldn't endanger anyone vs a "loud fast boat" at the same speed due to the noise level. Sounds to me as if you have the prolem with"decible level" more so than fast, correct. That being the case my boat exceeding said 30' 6" and low decible level would be ok at 75 to 80 mph for you, correct. We have decible levels for exhaust on the lakes, so where is your issue now with my type of vessel? Let's bring it to a vote to see what the majority wants as you say, not what special interest groups can ram through the legislature while your back is turned, lets vote to see who can be the majority, your or ours, fair is fair, load or quiet, fast or slow.

Name:	Sac -	Reply
Subject:	Boating Law Update
Date:	3/10/2006 10:54:39 PM

Let's correct one thing you stated earlier. NPS bans on PWC involved emission not speed or behavior. Once again it seems you have a problem with the golen rule to treat others as you would have them treat you. Yours golden rule must read....... Have everyone treat me with respect & what I like is best for everyone and if yours fits my view point ok if not your in the minorty............the majority of one in your mind?

Name:	Osms -	Reply
Subject:	Boating Law Update
Date:	3/10/2006 11:48:16 PM

Man, don't know where your posts are coming from. I addressed the excess speed not the sound--sound hasn't killed anyone, As for the NPS the emissions issue is not what banned PWCs, if emissions were the issue then two cycle outboard motors would have been banned long ago. PWCs were banned because enough people disapproved of them in the parks that the NPS took action.

As for your lashing out at anyone who has an opinion that may not agree with yours, your opinion carries no more weight than mine, nor any other citizen. Unfortunately, your desire to run loud/fast boats seems to have run into a possible majority of people who don't agree with your desire. They're not stupid, old idiots, special interest groups, or any of the other things you say or write----they may just be the majority.

Name:	Sac -	Reply
Subject:	Boating Law Update
Date:	3/11/2006 12:08:00 AM

When make up your mind is it sound, speed or both let us know, the debate can gon on. No one is lashing out, just expressing an opinion that happens to be different. I said all along live and let live and don't force your desires on me to stop what I enjoy because it suits your agenda and not mine, just ask for you to be respectful of our choices, and we wait, and wait and wait.

Name:	longtimer -	Reply
Subject:	No offense, Don
Date:	3/11/2006 12:53:05 AM

I've been on this lake for many decades, and though businesses come and go, I don't recall an inordinate number of marina owners going out of business; those that did probably went under because they were bad businessmen, not because of a lack of business.

True, should this bill pass, there might be some things that change, but not all of them would hurt marina owners. You might actually see more boats that you do now; I know quite a few people who own boats of a more appropriate size that rarely get out on the lake; if the passage of this bill leads to less oceanic waves, you'll see those boaters actually boating again... and buying gas (among other things) from marinas, eating at more on-the-water restaurants, and so on.

Name:	AnchorbayDon -	Reply
Subject:	No offense, Don
Date:	3/11/2006 8:04:04 AM

I'm on the lake virtually every day of the year and I firmly believe that far more waves are created by the many, many wakeboard boats than by the relatively few cruisers on the lake. Those boats are specifically designed to create bigger and bigger wakes, but the proposed law is silent on them.

Name:	markjhawk -	Reply
Subject:	No offense, Don
Date:	3/11/2006 11:07:56 AM

The cruisers are not a problem on Lake Martin...I saw very very few 30'6"+ boats actually out on the Lake last summer...but quite a few parked in the slips at your place and if the bill is amended to allow those boats it probably is more reasonable...with less impact on Marina business.

On the other hand...the 500HP+ boats doing thunder runs...seen quite a few of those...though not in your Marina. Again, for the guys owning them or riding with them...I am sure it is a lot of fun.

For those with Lake property or out pulling their kids around on tubes, attempting to find some calm water to ski in...the big, fast boats are out there and not always appreciated...

It will be interesting how it all works out. If there is a powerful lobby behind this, an amendment on length is more likely than killing it out right.

Name:	longtimer -	Reply
Subject:	No offense, Don
Date:	3/11/2006 12:41:06 PM

Don, I've been on the lake virtually every day for the last 50 years. The roughest, most crowded July Fourth weekend up to the 1990's was FAR calmer than the average, non-holiday Saturday now. It's not just the number of boats, it's the type of boat. Yes, wakeboard boats are bad (have you considered NOT selling them anymore, since you agree that they are a problem?) But the bigger boats, the Gulf cruiser boats, are worse; they have a wider beam and a deeper draft, and therefore displace much more water than the wakeboard boats, thus creating larger wakes. (And the fact that most of the operators cruise well below planing speed just makes it that much worse. In fact, I could probably abide by them if the very way they are driven didn't so emphasize the fact that they are NOT meant for a body of water like Lake Martin.)

On another subject: have you considered changing the name of your marina? Because you don't want anyone to get you mixed up with these guys: www.anchorbaymarina.com. (It's an interesting website, and quite a story; though I disagree with you on the "big boats" issue, I do thank the lucky stars that you run a marina that I'm happy to give my business to!)

URL: The OTHER Anchor Bay

Name:	AnchorbayDon -	Reply
Subject:	No offense, Don
Date:	3/11/2006 1:47:29 PM

We discontinued the sale of wakeboard boats. On any given weekend in the summer, only about 20% of the cabin cruisers berthed at our harbor even leave their slips. Our fuel sales to those boats is terrible - they don't do a whole lot of cruising because of the cost of fuel. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but, for the most part, the operators of cruisers are much more responsible than the bass fisherman and PWC operators that I've seen.

Name:	fountain -	Reply
Subject:	No offense, Don
Date:	3/11/2006 3:01:42 PM

Second that statement.

Name:	LittleKowaliga -	Reply
Subject:	Boating Law Update
Date:	3/11/2006 5:54:54 PM

I expect that people's feelings on this bill depends entirely on whether they own, sell fuel to, or lease slip space to oversized, overpowered boats. I can appreciate that someone with a $100k Fountain with twin 500s sitting at their dock or at your marina won't like this bill. That doesn't make it a bad bill. Those boats are designed for open water, not an inland lake. If you don't think the wakes from those boats doesn't intrude on other peoples rights, I invite you to come by and stand on my seawall as the water splashes over it and watch my floating dock get thrown around after a Fountain roars up little Kowaliga Creek.

When a kid on a jet ski gets obliterated by one of these boats going 80 mph, we'll all wonder why a law like this hasn't already been passed.

As for cabin cruisers on a lake, as long as they stay in the big bays and don't dump their sewage they don't bother me, but there is no way to police that.

I for one would rather not be anymore like Lake Lanier than we already are.

Now all you Fountain and Formula owners can fire away.

Name:	AnchorbayDon -	Reply
Subject:	Boating Law Update
Date:	3/11/2006 6:40:10 PM

The proposed law is silent about any speed or wake restrictions. As long as aboat is under 30' and has 499 HP, it could go 120 MPH under this law and throw a 6' wake!. Twenty foot wakeboard boats can throw as big of a wake as any cruiser on the lake! (They are designed specifically to do just that - but there's no mention of any restriction on them.)

What this law does do is discriminate against middle class folks who cannot afford a $500,000 lakehouse and who have made a family investment in a cabin cruiser as an alternative.

Name:	AnchorbayDon -	Reply
Subject:	Boating Law Update
Date:	3/11/2006 6:46:03 PM

On the sewage issue, there is already a law, which is well enforced, regarding dumping of sewage into any lake in the State. Under the Marine Sanitation Act of 2002, any boat with a head must have their boat inspected by the Marine Police to ensure that it is incapable of dumping overboard. Marina operators are prohibited from allowing any boat with a head, but without a sanitation permit to stay in their marinas overnight. The Marine Police are enforcing this and I seriously doubt that there's much sewage dumping going on in Lake Martin. (I have to pay to have our pump out holding tank disposed of and I can tell you there's a whole lot of S--t being pumped out of boats and into the pump out station's tank.)

Name:	Osms -	Reply
Subject:	Boating Law Update
Date:	3/11/2006 7:59:14 PM

If the law is the same as on the coast, the overboard pump and thru-hull have to be secured by a lock---and the owner has the key. Maybe new boats purchased locally have no thru-hull, but I will bet the used boats brought to the lake are capable of pumping overboard. That's not my hangup.

If someone could teach big boaters up here that running just under plane is the worst for wake. Most drivers of big boats on Lake Martin probably think they are doing us all a favor by cruising off plane, but they are killing us. These boats should move at less than 1000 rpm or go ahead and get on plane--much less wake.

Loud/fast boaters have yourselves an uphill battle. Until you learn that most people really see your activity as showing your a_ _, you will have problems and ultimately you will be regulated.

Name:	WSMS -	Reply
Subject:	No offense, Don
Date:	3/12/2006 12:01:42 AM

You should update your website then, because it claims that you still sell wakeboard boats.

Name:	WSMS -	Reply
Subject:	Boating Law Update
Date:	3/12/2006 12:05:27 AM

Would you agree that the current system discriminates against those who can't afford to buy a boat that is big enough to substitute as a house? I have an 18-foot boat that never leaves the dock because it can't handle the waves. Are you suggesting that I invest in a boat that costs three, four, five or more times more than whayt I paid, just so I can enjoy the lake, too? Or do we "little-boaters" not deserve the same rights as the "big-boaters?"

As someone who has spent money at your marina, I eagerly await your response.

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