Page 13 - Captree Log test

First, let me wish everyone a Happy New Year and the hope that 2021 is healthy for all our members and their families. If we look back on 2020, we realize what a pressing year it was for everyone. With the news of the success of the new vaccine drug that will be available for all of us, it makes the outlook for 2021 encouraging. I hope that with the promises given to us about being vaccinated, our lives will change, and we can get back to something of a normal life.
However, despite having to cancel just about every Captree activity in 2020, on Friday, December 11, we had a Zoom Holiday cocktail party. Not many members joined us, but for those who did, we had a nice time while displaying our Zoom Christmas outfits. Check out the pictures submitted by those participating in the Zoom Holiday event that Bob Silz compiled for this edition of the LOG.
Be sure not to miss Captree’s Happy New Year Zoom party on Friday, January 8, at 7:00 PM. This is a good way to visit with your friends for an hour or so and talk about what Santa brought you for Christmas (or didn’t bring you). Our Secretary Mike Richter will provide the details for logging in to the event in an email prior to the party. I suggest you try logging in beforehand to be sure you can get connected. If you find out that you can’t, give Mike a call and I am sure he will walk you through the procedure.
For those who are interested in Weather or taking our American Boating Course (ABC) basic boating class, I refer you to SEO George Tracy’s report in this LOG. Classes will begin in January for both Weather and ABC. For our newer members who have never taken the ABC course, it is a necessary course to get the finer points to becoming a safer boater.
I recently received some interesting information on a survey conducted by the USCG on “Recreational Boating” in the United States. Below is a reprint of the survey findings which I thought would be of interest to our membership.
U.S. Coast Guard Survey Offers Heaps of Data on Recreational Boating
National Boating Safety Survey shapes local, national safety policy
SPRINGFIELD, Va., Dec. 14, 2020 – An all-encompassing report on recreational boating activity in the U.S. is giving theU.S. Coast Guard, policymakers and the boating community the ability to shape smart boating safety policy into the future. Issued last week by the Coast Guard, The National Recreational Boating Safety Survey (NRBSS) looks at boating participation demographics, trends, boat use, at-risk boating populations, boating safety and more. The survey data, captured in 2018, includes all types of on-water activity from canoes, kayaks, rafts and rowboats to sailboats, skulls, airboats, motorized boats and personal watercraft.
“While a number of factors have made recreational boating safer over the years, such as stronger laws, regulations, boating safety education, better enforcement, and improved manufacturing standards, it all relies on having the best data possible,” said BoatUS Manager of Government Affairs David Kennedy. “This information is going to help guide and develop policies that matter to boaters.”
Some notable findings:
• Ownership: It is estimated that approximately 25.2
million boats were owned by 14.5 million households in 2018. Evidence suggests that joint/shared ownership is an increasingly popular way to secure access to boats. While the vast majority (94.5% or 23.83 million) of boats in the country were owned exclusively by someone residing in the household, nearly 1.4 million boats were in some manner of joint/shared ownership.
• Registered/nonregistered boats: There were 11.82 million boats registered in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2018. Almost 13.4 million boats were owned in 2018 in the United States that were not required to be registered by the state where they were kept and operated. Open powerboats continue to be owned by more households than any other types of boat, while approximately 4.24 million households owned one or more kayaks and about 2.14 million households were owners of canoes.
The survey summary notes: “The proportion of all boats that are unregistered is creating a number of financial and management issues and difficulties for boating safety and law enforcement agencies as well as agencies that provide and manage boat access and infrastructure facilities. Foremost, owners of unregistered boats do not pay registration fees, and because most are human-powered boats, they do not purchase fuel for these boats and therefore do not pay fuel taxes, which support the development and maintenance of boating access and infrastructure as
"For Boaters, By Boaters" Page 12