The Coast Guard doesn’t beat around the bush when explaining their new restrictions

[David M]

Originally Posted by unbusted67

It's funny you should suggest that. One of the "solutions" the CG came up with to determine your new capacity was to weigh every passenger before they got on board. Can you imagine?

I would imagine that some people would rather stay ashore than stand on a scale.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by zeehag

no one in usa knows math....uscg is in and of usa, therefore they know not math

Nor proper English, like wot the Queen speaks .

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Nor proper English, like wot the Queen speaks .

But my daddy is bigger then your's!

[Pyrate]

Though I've been in running battles with the Coast Guard for years now over licenses, and them not counting my CG sea service at times (go figure), I will back them up on this. There were tragedies involving loss of life. Everyone says 'why did this happen' and 'how can we prevent it from happening again'? Well, this is the solution they came up with. If they don't do anything and it happens again, then people would blame the CG for not doing enough. They looked at the average weight of people and saw that it had gone up. however, they are allowing people to individually challenge the arbitrary rule and prove that their boat is stable enough to retain the full passenger load. Seems reasonable to me, just like forcing boats to spend money on safety gear and servicing that equipment.

Pyrate

[delmarrey]

Here's an example, too many people, not enough ballast. >> http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ent-57808.html

[perchance]

Originally Posted by David M

I would imagine that some people would rather stay ashore than stand on a scale.

In a previous incarnation the wife and I ran a boarding stable offering trail rides. We sometimes had to disallow obese people from riding for the horses' sake. I don't know who was more embarrassed, the client or me for telling them they couldn't go.

[Cheechako]

Yes, one of Seatle's bigger ferrys was de rated from 2000 passengers to 1780 I believe.... Not that they ever get that many!

[Target9000]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

I'd say 90% of the passengers onboard the little one day sport fisher I work on are >200lbs.

People are getting fat/huge/gross at an alarming rate. Stuff is nuts.

Don't knock 200lb people blindly. At 200lbs I look like I'm anorexic. At 220, I am healthy and inside my BMI.

Why can't they just change the regulation to weigh people and know exactly how close you are to a vessels capacity? I mean honestly, how much is a scale and a calculator now?

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by svpattyd

The Coast Guard seems to be making a decision based on reality. Yes the population is getting heavier. There r many reasons the population is gaining weight.

...and non of them good!

[S/V Antares]

Anyone who rode on the water taxi in Baltimore that flipped likely figured it was a accident waiting to happen. I believe the passenger weight exceeded the net on the boat. It was a pontoon boat and relativily narrow beam. It turned turtle when everyone moved to one side to avoid getting wet.

It reminds me of when the FAA stated that the back of the plane was safest. all the cartoons showed the passengers in the back and the front wheels off trhe ground.

I have always been amazed at how many passengers some inspected vessels were allowed.

[hummingway]

Mississippi was the state with the highest obesity rate in 2002 and is also the state with the most people living in poverty. The top three rankings for obesity were Mississippi, West Virginia and Alabama. Each has large numbers of people living in poverty.

The relationship between poverty and obesity is a modern one and seems to be because processed foods are cheap and filling without providing the nutrition need for health, instead they provide fat, sugar, sodium and carbohydrates.

There is some evidence that the rate of increase in obesity in the US is slowing, perhaps because it has reached levels such that information is getting out to people. Of course it isn't just poor people suffering from it but they do drive the numbers.

[Blue Stocking]

I get strange looks when I ask for the kids menu. 66yrs old 160 lbs 5' 7" same 32" waist I had at 16.

[S/V Antares]

Hummingway, All so unfortuatly true. However I am proof also that Prime steaks, butter laden sauces, potatoes, and bacon wrapped whatevers can do this also.

It is also a statistic that a lot more of the great unwashed are now involved in Boating than ever before. We tend to skew things up.

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by perchance

In a previous incarnation the wife and I ran a boarding stable offering trail rides. We sometimes had to disallow obese people from riding for the horses' sake. I don't know who was more embarrassed, the client or me for telling them they couldn't go.

Hired a wrangler to horse us over Kearsarge Pass in the High Sierra. Weight limit was 200 pounds. Asked what if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had come to ride. The wranger said the governor would have to walk.

[Pyrate]

The problem with the weight limit, is that it's just harder to plan and count. Imagine a boat chartered for a corporate event or wedding and you can't tell them how many people you can hold until everyone is on the dock!