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Bertram31.com General Bulletin Board
Homeland security and marine requirements
Posted By: bruce
Date: Tuesday, 6 September 2005, at 2:32 p.m.
While this little extortion gimmick at first looks like it won't affect anyone here, it will and is affecting the marine trade up and down the Chesapeake, Delaware bay and river and other inland marine waterways.
The result will be higher costs to the smaller boater from lost revenue.
We all know most large private yachts, 100' and above are registered in a foreign port. Usually an island where the water is blue and the drinks are plenty.
It is required that all these foreign registered private yachts have a pilot now aboard when in these inland water ways to protect the US from using these yachts as "missiles" since they carry so much fuel.
Now remember, these are the same guys that wrote an emergency plan for NO incase of a disaster.
Costs have been in the 4k range for a pilot and if you refuse, you can be fined and are billed anyway.
The result is these large yachts are bypassing the Mid Atlantic area and staying off shore going up to Maine instead. This loss of revenue to the marinas and yards will only be passed on to the little guy like us.
It makes no sense as a 31 Bertram doing 30 knots loaded with C4, Semtex, TNT, nitrates and diesel fuel or a dirty bomb is much more of a "missile" than a lumbering 17 knot tub.
But I digress. Logic and common sense has nothing to do with government policy. What the heck was I thinking?
I don't know what can be done on this one other than remind your elected curb dwellers that along with inflated fuel costs, the economic impact to the boating industry in those areas will result in the same losses that the luxury tax did.
And we will remember that come election time.Screwing the rich does not make for good economic policy.
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