Re: WHO'S LIABLE IF I DO GET HIT?

On Aug 22, 4:08 pm, "Lee Bell" <pleeb...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> KingOfTheApes wrote
>
> > Well, there are islands on the water and the batteries are left behind
> > on the islands.
>
> I suppose it's happened, but it darned sure doesn't happen often.  Boats
big
> enough to carry batteries, don't work without them.  They have to have
them
> to start the motors.  It's really unlikely that anybody would go to all
the
> trouble to drive their boat out to an island with a spare battery on
board,
> change the battery while on the island and go to all the touble to take
the
> battery off the boat just so they can leave it someplace where it will
later
> have to be collected by another power boater.  It could happne, but I
don't
> know why.

Batteries may get damaged by sea water or just get depleted. I have
one on my canoe to power my trolling motor. I changed to AGM though
because they are water and leakproof.

>
> It's much more likely that any batteries you round were taken to the
island
> for use by somebody camping there.  They may or may not have gotten to
the
> island by power boat, but the batteries you see almost certainly weren't
> lift there because they are power boaters.

Many people that are into motorboating are poorly educated and
couldn't care less about the consequences of their actions. I think
MOTORBOATING IS LARGELY FOR COUCH POTATOES THAT WANT TO HAVE A DEGREE
OF ADVENTURE IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS. I, personally, would prefer that
they stay home watching baseball and drinking beer.

>
> > Well, maybe they heard of the coral reefs in the tropical waters of
> > the Caribbean dying because of all the pollution and motorboats that
> > anchor in the wrong places.
>
> In more than 45 years of diving, and boating in the Caribbean, no, I've
> never heard of it.  I have heard of them dying because of fertilizer,
> sewerage and other chemicals washed our from those on land who have less
> consideration than either you or I do.  I have heard of reefs destroyed
by
> sewage outfalls operated by Miami Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties.
 I
> have heard of reefs destroyed by "accidental" leaks of millions of
gallons
> of raw sewage from Miami Dade about twice a year.  I have heard of reefs
> destroyed by those that dispose of thousands of tires as "artificial
reefs"
> that nothing ever lives on.
>
> Here's a clue.  Gas floats.  Reefs don't.  Anchors don't do much damage
and
> their use is not limited to motor boats.  Sailboats and even kayaks
carry
> them too.
>
> Lee

My anchor weighs 1 1/2 lbs... Terrible threat to the reefs. ;)

How much you need for a motorboat?

But motorboat pollution contributes to "the soup" out there too. You
can even smell the gas, and I doubt it that it would be safe to swim
in the intracostal anymore.

Their main threat though is to life and property...

"Here are some startling statistics regarding boating accidents from
the United States Coast Guard:

In 2005, states and jurisdictions re****ted a total of 12,942,414
registered recreational boats compared with 12,781,476 in 2004.
The 4,969 boating accidents re****ted in 2005 resulted in 697
fatalities, 3,451 injuries, and $38,721,088 in property damage.
Florida had 973,859 registered motorboats and 603 boating accidents in
2005.
Approximately 70% of all fatal boating accident victims drowned.
The most re****ted type of accident was a collision with another
vessel.
Overall, carelessness/reckless operation, operator inattention,
excessive speed, and operator inexperience are the leading
contributing factors of all re****ted accidents.
The most common types of boats involved in re****ted accidents were
open motorboats (45%), personal watercraft (PWC) (26%), and cabin
motorboats (14%). Increases were observed in the number of re****ted
fatalities involving PWC, cabin motorboats, inflatables, sailboats,
and houseboats from 2004. A decrease was observed in the number of
fatalities involving canoes/kayaks and rowboats from the number of
fatalities re****ted in 2004."

http://www.rueziffra.com/practiceAreas.php?id=14