A Dangerous And Unfair Boating Law
By Jason Pelletier on April 30, 2012, 1:59pm
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Many lakes and ponds in the state have motor restrictions preventing boats with larger horsepower motors from operating on their waters. This is done mainly as a means to govern the fair, reasonable, equitable, and safe use of waters of this state.
Last summer my father and I were going out fishing. While we were at the boat launch we were approach by a gentleman from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). He told us that we couldn’t use our motor out on the lake due to the lake’s motor limit regulation. We had known of this and told him that we were going to keep the motor tilted out of the water. We were told that the propeller had to be removed before we could get into the water to which he had no real reason given to us as to why other than it was the law. This was something we had never heard of and we had been going fishing for decades. Unfortunately we were forced to leave that lake and go to another.
After several inquiries to the DEEP to get a definitive answer, we finally received an email simply citing this Connecticut General Assembly Statute:
Sec. 15-136a. Compliance with certain engine size requirements. In complying with the requirements of any statute, regulation or ordinance restricting the horsepower or size of the engine on any vessel while being operated on an inland body of water, a person may (1) in the case of an outboard motor, remove the propeller from the boat's engine and incline the engine out of the water so that the absence of the propeller is clearly visible, or (2) in the case of an inboard motor, remove the propeller from the boat's engine and incline or trim the engine to an upright position. This section shall not be construed to allow vessels with the gasoline-powered engines on bodies of water where such engines are not allowed.
The statute states that you must remove the propeller of any boat motor that has a horsepower larger than the stated regulations for each lake or pond. So if you are on a lake that has a horsepower limit of 10 and you have a 15 HP motor then you must remove the propeller of that motor and incline the motor out of the water.
Safety is probably one of the main reasons for this statute. Having a larger boat operating at high speeds in a smaller lake could be potentially dangerous for swimmers, kayakers, and smaller boat operators. However, this is why there are marker buoys in lakes to regulate speeds in designated areas. Also, the DEEP has a phone number, 860-424-3333, to report violations of boating laws and regulations. Mostly every person that operates a boat must a personal watercraft operation certificate and take a course which outlines many regulations. Boat operation is no different from driving a car and we have a responsibility to follow the law or be dealt with swiftly.
To me having to remove the propeller poses a potentially dangerous scenario for a boat operator and their passengers. When minutes and seconds count especially during an emergency medical situation the ability to start up your boat’s motor and get an injured person to an ambulance or hospital quicker could be life saving. Imagine this situation if you will:
You go out for a day of fishing with grandfather. After a couple of hours you end up at the opposite end of the lake away from the boat launch. Your grandfather then drops to his knees complaining that his chest hurts and that he can’t breath. You suddenly realize that you need immediate help and call 911 but don’t know where you are on the lake and there aren’t any other boats or people around so you decide to make a mad dash for the boat launch. There’s no propeller on the motor so you have to drop in your trolling motor to get going. You finally get back to the launch but so much time has past the paramedics aren’t sure if your grandfather will make it. He’s declared dead at the scene.
Propellers should be allowed to stay on a motor. There are other situations out there like trying to avoid oncoming storms in which getting out of the water quickly is a priority. It would be fine if we just had to tilt the motor out of water while being on these regulated lakes but still be able to keep the prop on. Violators of safety and/or speed should be dealt with. The statute really needs to be revised to equally ensure the safety of those at the lake and those using boats. It only takes one death like in the scenario above to create a mess for the state.
So what do you think about this? I understand the need to keep everyone safe out there on the water but there are better ways to go about this. Leave your comments in the section below...
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