The National Boating Federation is now faced with several important issues directly affecting the Great Lakes boater, few of which can be resolved with "one correct answer." In furtherance of our proper representation on these issues, I would like to request any and all members' input on the following issues.

Please check the boxes for the statements that you agree with and then click on the submit button.  Your comments will be sent to Tom via email.

A. Mandatory Boater Education:

1. ______ I feel that boater education should be considered mandatory for all boat operators.
2. ______ I feel that mandatory boater education should be required for all boaters born after a certain date.
3. ______ I feel that mandatory boater education should be required for all operators of a watercraft in excess
of 10 horsepower.
4. ______ I feel that mandatory boater education should be required for all powered watercraft, whatever the horsepower.
5. ______ I feel that mandatory boater education should be required for anyone operating a mechanically powered or a human-powered watercraft such as a kayak, canoe, or pedaled paddle boat.
6. ______ I feel that mandatory boater education should be required of all operators of personal watercraft, whether owned, borrowed, or rented.
7. ______ I feel that mandatory boater education should be required of all personal watercraft.

B. Mandatory Life Jacket Usage:

1. ______ I feel that all boaters, on whatever type or style of vessel and of whatever age, should be required to wear a United States Coast Guard (USCG) approved life jacket at all times while underway.
2. ______ I feel that all boaters under the age of 13 should be required to wear a USCG approved life jacket at all times while underway.
3. _____ I feel that all boaters of whatever age in a craft less than 16 feet in length should be required to wear a USCG approved life jacket at all times while underway.
4. ______ I feel that all boater less than 13 years of age in a craft less than 16 feet in length should be required to wear a USCG approved life jacket at all times while underway.

C. Regulation of Gray Water Discharge Prohibition:

The discharge of gray water (for instance, waste water from boat sinks or showers, but not from marine sanitation devises) has been proposed and has already been enacted by some waterfront communities. This topic has become a "hot one" of late, and many boaters feel that the enactment of laws prohibiting the discharge of grey water from their vessel will severely curtail their ability to cruise and enjoy the Great Lakes, and that the discharge of the minute amounts of gray water in comparison to the vast amounts of millions of gallons of raw sewage routinely discharged by local sewer plants when rains occur would create an unfair burden upon the boater.

1. ______ I feel that gray water should be regulated on the Great Lakes.
2. ______ I feel that gray water discharge from pleasure boats is a far less significant issue than the large discharges from municipal sewage treatment plants into the Great Lakes ecosystem.
3. ______ I feel that gray water discharge should be regulated in certain, very ecologically delicate ecosystems (for instance, a small body of water at the end of a lengthy channel).
4. ______ I feel that the new ecologically sound marine head systems which treat and discharge human sewage so as to be ecologically sound and free of all harmful organisms whatsoever (such as E-coli bacteria) should be permitted to be used in the Great Lakes.

Thank you very much for your opinion on these important issues.  I hope to ask your opinions on other important boating issues in future news letters, and will vote in accordance with those opinions.

THOMAS M. DOGAN
Lake Michigan Yachting Association
Vice Commodore and
NBF Representative