RBOC Urges USCG to Reconsider Decommissioning of Lighted and Bell Buoys at Harbor Entrances

RBOC objects to the proposed mass decommissioning of traditional navigation aids, as unlikely to make the waterways safer, and as creating greater risks likely to outweigh whatever benefits are expected from the closures.

In RBOC’s comment letter submitted today to the United States Coast Guard, President Jamie Clark “respectfully noted with deep concern the Coast Guard’s apparent plans to decommission a majority of the light and/or sound markers guiding craft into California harbors.

“As published in the Coast Guard’s 6/24 LOCAL NOTICE TO MARINERS, it appears that USCG has concluded that electronic and virtual markers and guidance (V-AIS) are sufficient, and sound or whistle buoys or lighted buoys are no longer needed to guide recreational and other mariners into port in low visibility or bad weather conditions.

“RBOC urgently requests that the Guard reconsider this planned mass removal of tangible aids to navigation. Literally every boater, sail racing group, and day sailor we’ve had the chance to consult so far, since your bulletin last month, thinks it’s a bad idea, if not actively dangerous.

“Acknowledging that your buoy removal plans are subject to a series of comment deadlines, it still seemed clearest to respond to the entire program of degrading navigation guidance. Kindly accept this as a comment against all of the LLNR requests for comment.”

For a copy of the RBOC comment letter with more information and the list of known affected navigational buoys: click here

BoatUS - Data from Newly Released USCG National Boating Safety Survey to Help Shape Local and National Boating Safety Policies

An update from RBOC’s national advocacy partner BoatUS

SPRINGFIELD, Va., Dec. 14, 2020 – An all-encompassing report on recreational boating activity in the U.S. is giving the U.S. Coast Guard, policymakers and the boating community the ability to shape smart boating safety policy into the future. Issued last week by the Coast Guard, The National Recreational Boating Safety Survey (NRBSS) looks at boating participation demographics, trends, boat use, at-risk boating populations, boating safety and more. The survey data, captured in 2018, includes all types of on-water activity from canoes, kayaks, rafts and rowboats to sailboats, skulls, airboats, motorized boats and personal watercraft.

“While a number of factors have made recreational boating safer over the years, such as stronger laws, regulations, boating safety education, better enforcement, and improved manufacturing standards, it all relies on having the best data possible,” said BoatUS Manager of Government Affairs David Kennedy. “This information is going to help guide and develop policies that matter to boaters.”

Some notable findings:

• Ownership: It is estimated that approximately 25.2 million boats were owned by 14.5 million households in 2018. Evidence suggests that joint/shared ownership is an increasingly popular way to secure access to boats. While the vast majority (94.5% or 23.83 million) of boats in the country were owned exclusively by someone residing in the household, nearly 1.4 million boats were in some manner of joint/shared ownership.

• Registered/nonregistered boats: There were 11.82 million boats registered in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2018. Almost 13.4 million boats were owned in 2018 in the United States that were not required to be registered by the state where they were kept and operated. Open powerboats continue to be owned by more households than any other types of boat, while approximately 4.24 million households owned one or more kayaks and about 2.14 million households were owners of canoes.
  
  The survey summary notes: “The proportion of all boats that are unregistered is creating a number of financial and management issues and difficulties for boating safety and law enforcement agencies as well as agencies that provide and manage boat access and infrastructure facilities. Foremost, owners of unregistered boats do not pay registration fees, and because most are human-powered boats, they do not purchase fuel for these boats and therefore do not pay fuel taxes, which support the development and maintenance of boating access and infrastructure as well as boating safety education and enforcement.” A number of states are currently considering expanding registration requirements to include various types and sizes of human-powered craft.

• Boat use: Boats that were operated in 2018 were taken out on the water a total of 471.8 million days. Across all owned boats, the average number of days a vessel is used is 19 days — 29 days for motorized boats and 12 days for human-powered boats. Outings, meaning different occasions that boats were operated out on the water, lasted an average of 3.8 hours. On average, boats that went out on the water in 2018 had 2.3 persons aboard.

• Operator use: A total of 10.2 billion person hours of boating took place in 2018, with person hours aboard motorized boats representing 84.1% (8.6 billion) of the total. Over 1.3 billion hours were spent boating on human-powered boats. Five states − Florida, Michigan, Texas, South Carolina, and New York − represented about 31% of all person boat hours that year. The state of Florida represented about 10.7% (1.089 billion hours) of all person hours nationwide, followed by Michigan (603.7 million) and Texas (522.3 million).

• Regional boat use: Contrary to what has sometimes been assumed, boats in southern states are not, in general, operated more days, on average, than boats in northern states. In fact, motorized boats in the Midwest (56 days) and Northeast (55 days) census regions were operated more days, on average, than in the South (52 days) and West (52 days) census regions. About 647,000 boats in coastal and Great Lakes states were operated at least once more than 3 miles from shore in 2018.

• Safety: About one-third (33.7% or 220,000) of all boats and 32.8% of motorized boats that operated over 3 nautical miles from shore were equipped with EPIRBs while 83.2% of the motorized boats that were operated at least once were equipped with an emergency engine cutoff switch. Just 13.9% had VHF-DSC radios. About two-thirds (65.6%) of the persons that operated a boat in 2018 had not taken a boating safety course.

• Trailered boats: About 6 million boats that were operated in 2018 were either trailered or transported (i.e., on top of a car, in a truck) at least once for the purpose of launching them on the water, representing almost two-thirds (65.3%) of the boats that were operated during 2018. Boats were trailered/transported for the purpose of launching them 167.3 million times in 2018.

• Boater socioeconomics: In 2018, an estimated 84.54 million recreational boaters of different ages, races, and ethnicities in the United States participated in boating, or 26.5% of the U.S. population. Boat-owning households were predominately all-white households. All Black/African American households represented less than 1% of boat-owning households. The survey summary notes, “This may be a significant factor in limiting participation of more minority persons in boating given that the NRBSS Participation Survey found that not knowing anyone who owns a boat was a significant reason why more persons did not boat in 2018.” Other and mixed-race households constituted 16.3% of all boat-owning households.
  
  Survey findings showed that the greatest percentage of boating participants do not, as is sometimes assumed, have high household incomes. Almost a quarter (23.1%) of boat-owning households in 2018 had household incomes of less than $50,000, and 41.8% earned less than $75,000. Households with household incomes between $75,000 and $149,999 represents 37.5% of boat-owning households.

• Fatalities/accidents: The risk of boating fatalities is six per 100 million person hours for all types of boats nationwide and five per 100 million person hours for motorized boating. This low rate is attributable to practicing safer boating behaviors due to boater education, regulations and inspections as well as safer boats and safe-boating technologies. However, the risk for fatalities nationwide was twice as high on human-powered boats: 13 per 100 million person hours.

The survey was funded by two grants from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund. It was completed by the nonprofit research institute RTI International and the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University.

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RBOC President Ray Durazo and Half Moon Bay Yacht Club Urge Support of Coast Guard & BoatUS Efforts

As reported in Soundings Trade Only Today, RBOC President Ray Durazo speaks as a member of Half Moon Bay Yacht Club in support of BoatUS advocacy efforts on bipartisan legislation that would restore pay to more than 40,000 active duty Coast Guard service members during the government shutdown..

RBOC urges boaters to take action as requested by BoatUS:

“While the current debate over funding of the Department of Homeland Security is primarily about issues not directly related to the U.S. Coast Guard, BoatU.S. is concerned over the potential deterioration of its ability to fulfill its wide range of missions including search and rescue, boating safety regulation and support for aids-to-navigation.

“Ask your members of Congress to support S. 21 and H.R. 367 that will ensure that U.S. Coast Guard personnel will receive compensation notwithstanding the final passage of the DHS 2019 appropriation legislation. This will allow USCG members to focus on their missions and help ensure the safety of recreational boaters.”

To take action, go to the BoatUS website: click here

For the complete Soundings article: click here

BoatUS Says Budget Proposal Raises Concerns for American Boaters

US Coast Guard faces 14% budget cut

WASHINGTON, DC, March 21, 2017 – After its first look at the Trump administration’s new budget blueprint released March 16, Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) says that boat owners should be aware of potential budget impacts that could affect boating safety, access and the health of our waterways.

“The administration’s budget proposal clearly reflects a different set of priorities over previous years,” said BoatUS Manager of Government Affairs David Kennedy. “Proposed cuts to agencies such as the Departments of Commerce and Interior, Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency could lead to changes for many programs that matter to boating.”

Added Kennedy, “Considering boating’s $121.5 billion impact, we believe this would be short sighted and negatively affect the boating experience for our nation’s 12 million boat owners.”

Kennedy notes that under budget proposal’s shifting priorities, US Coast Guard funding could be slashed 14 percent to just $7.8 billion, while the service’s “parent,” the Department of Homeland Security, is increased. “As the budget process continues, boaters may need to communicate with their members of Congress regarding programs that fund clean-water efforts, clean marina programs, navigation improvements, regional waterway restoration such as the Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes and Puget Sound, and boating safety programs. We are keeping a close watch.”

BoatUS will continue to monitor the budget process, ensure that the recreational boater’s voice is heard and advise its more than half-million members of boating-related budget items.