Lake County inspections seemed disorganized.

It appears the Aux blew a chance to assist with a mission that would combine Marine Environmental Protection with the VSC. Although both are supposed to be in Prevention, we know the Aux treats RBS as the uglgy, red-haired stepchild. Maybe that is why this opportunity was missed.

Extracts:

quote:

First let me say that I am not opposed to the boat inspections. If I have to do it to enjoy the lake I will follow the rules and do what is ask of me.

Saying that, if you are going to have the bait shop owner's doing the inspections (and not getting paid to do it) then at least give them the necessary supplies to do the job right and not run out.

quote:

The Chamber of Commerce, the Coast Guard Auxiliary, and the City and County boards should be out there on the ramps monitoring what is going on. The people who have passed this ordinance should be out there and should not rely on the people to do the right thing. Additionally, you should not be putting the burden of inspections on the owners of the bait shops who are trying to make a living.

This is the Lake County Inspection Program that apparently is disorganized.

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Following action on March 25, 2008, by the Lake County Board of Supervisors, the Lake County Mandatory Vessel Inspection Sticker Program is set to begin April 8 and requires all vessels to have inspection stickers prior to launching into any Lake County water body.

quote:

Effective immediately, this ordinance:
• Requires a mandatory inspection for any water vessel prior to launching in a Lake County water body, beginning April 8, 2008. This applies to all motorized and non-motorized vessels including boats, kayaks, canoes, jet skis, inflatable rafts, etc.

quote:

All vessels coming in from outside of Lake County will be required to go through an inspection process prior to receiving an inspection sticker.

Since you would have a captive audience anyway, it would appear that the Aux has a great opportunity to also do a VSC on the vessel at the same time.

And the county did ask for help:

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ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED
Local resort owners are being encouraged to attend training to become a Courtesy Boat Monitor and/or a Certified Inspector, in order to be able to provide this mandatory vessel inspection service to their guests.
Volunteers are a critical part of the program and will be needed in a variety of roles, including telephone screeners, Courtesy Boat Monitors, and Certified Boat Inspectors, and more.

I'm not sure its a great idea for the Auxiliary to be involved in a mandatory program like that. Besides I don't see where it says that Aux VSC stickers meet the requirements of this program. If they've developed their own separate program, the Aux shouldn't be the ones implementing it.

quote:

Originally posted by RiverAux:
I'm not sure its a great idea for the Auxiliary to be involved in a mandatory program like that. Besides I don't see where it says that Aux VSC stickers meet the requirements of this program. If they've developed their own separate program, the Aux shouldn't be the ones implementing it.

I was thinking the same thing. "you'll never get rich playing another man's game" and all that. If a different org is implementing a program under their authority and according to their rules, why would the aux need to be a part of it anyway?

And although FL loves to point out aux leadership incompetence, it could be that the aux smelled someone else's incompetence, and a complete CF that was being "planned" and politely declined.

The AUX did not "blow a chance". This issue was carefully considered by National Staff.

Wisely, they concluded that our VEs are trained and authorized to do vessel safety checks, not inspections. Inspections get into the LE arena.

It is up to each local authority to decide how they want to deal with the Quagga issue and how they are going to enforce it. Some jurisdictions have been very aggressive with this issue, some not.

Here is the bind the Aux VE is in.

If the local decal is needed to boat on local waters, then the Aux VE must fail any boat without it since a boat must meet all federal, state and local requirements to get a VSC decal.

Yet the Aux refuses to allow its VEs to participate in a free vessel inspection program. However, Aux CFVEs can participate in inspecting fishing, towing and other commercial vessels that also carry the same, if not greater, 'taint' of allegedly crossing over into law enforcement.

I'm sure when the Aux VE fails a boater for not having the local decal and then refuses to do the free inspection for the decal, the Aux will win many friends and admirers.

I was mainly thinking about it from a public relations point of view. I suspect that any program like this will be very unpopular and by seeming to support it, it might be a bad move for the Aux. If the locals want to do it, let them take the heat for it.

Never once when my mechanic inspects my car have I ever thought that he was LE. There is no clear logic to inspection = LE.

Using this logic, the AUX should not teach boating safety courses if a state were require them for using watercraft.

I would hope that Lake County would consider the requirements of a passing VSC as satisfying their "inspection" requirement. Lord knows they could even use the same form, there is a place for them to sign it already... sigh. bureaucracy at its best.

--M

...I can see it now, USCG Aux VSCs are no longer acceptable in Lake County as they fall short of the necessary requirements...

I think this won't last long. Once the tourists stop coming to their lakes because of this hassle, they'll knock it out and say that they've determined this is really a state-level issue.

Unfortunately, they're missing the point on this. VSCs don't really do much specifically to ensure boats are safe and the stats show that equipment issues are not a major factor in most boating accidents. The real value of the VSC is the educational opportunity you have while face to face with the boater. If all you're doing is running down a checklist, you're not really going to accomplish much.

Bingo! We have a winner!

I found one of the most useless paragraphs in the NACO's quarterly report. It is on page 23:

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The Quagga mussel invasion is a big problem for the Western lakes and rivers. Once the mussels get in; there is now no known way to get rid of them. They get from water to water by being transported on/in trailerable boats. So now the emphasis is on preventing the “hitch hikers” from invading the fresh water lakes and rivers.

What purpose does that paragraph serve? It proposes no plan, states no activity that the Aux is involved in and hides the fact that the Aux has decided to have nothing to do with the Inspections that are trying to do something to stem the problem. Or is it's inclusion to attempt to make it seem like the Aux is doing something?

Maybe they just want to hang around the Inspectors who are really doing something so they can get samples for the trunks (page 30):

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BC-MWA, secured a grant from ALCOA for aquatic nuisance species education. With the grant he intends to prepare sixteen trunks, (one per district) with preserved specimens and educational material. At this time the specimen collection is in progress and the education materials and trunks have been ordered. We anticipate the trunks will be available by the end of summer, 2008.

We have been asked to partner with some lakes. We checked with District (could have been our first mistake). Now we have been explicitly told "if you want to inspect, you are welcome to check your uniform at the door--but feel free to educate people."

Smoke and mirrors.

--M
(PS there have been reports of successful treatments where the little stinkers have been eradicated.)

So Lake County wants to be proactive in the war against quagga mussels and district leadership is opposed?
That's really arrogant.
Then again the total lack of serious media coverage about the problem is disheartening. Whether Britney's knocked-up is far more important to the people than whether the reservoirs are protected.
The federal lakes in the Sierras will most likely be closed to boaters because of the few who will lie rather than take a few minutes to get their boats checked.
If you have to leave the uniform home to complete the mission it makes you wonder why you need to wear it at all.

quote:

So Lake County wants to be proactive in the war against quagga mussels and district leadership is opposed?

Sorry for the confusion, our experience was with different lakes, not Lake County. I agree with the rest of your comments however.

--M