NYCkayaker 5 boro and the USCG

[mike]

It is also totally against the environmental aspects   kayaking/canoeing and
for the coast  guard to make such a requirement. The coast guard are  power
boat mentality and are akin to the SUV loving cops that the bicyclist deal
with on the road. The water is relatively warm, so hyperthermia due to along
immersion should not be a problem.  If paddler don't have locating beacons
on their pfd's a signaling sausage would also be a low tech but reliable
device to spot a swimmer.   If the coast guard or coast guard aux wanted to
provide a electric powered boat as  sag wagon, that would be one thing, but
they , the cg are ignorant of kayak operations, and all their power boat
requirement would create unnecessary wakes and stink. The kayak/canoeist
can effectively rescue fellow paddlers  safer and without damage than a prop
turning vessel with a  swim platform  smashing crashing in the waves.    The
new  coast guard commander  cancelled the  Cape Ann Blackburn challenge 2
years ago due to the his  ignorance  of the ability of trained paddle and
rowing boat people  to safely navigate in the fog  around Cape Anne in
Gloucester mass. This was the first time the race was cancelled and it was
the cg call .  Quite a few of the paddlers did the circumvention anyway,
without incident.

I think the coast guard overall has been dumbed down like anything else.
They are better trained at intercepting drug smuggling than boating 

 

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