Folks, it's a lake. It's a body of water that happens to be completely contained in one state. It's not like I'm buying a pass to tear up beaches with my truck on the Cape.
I don't expect to be "rescued" by anybody that I pay taxes to. I have TowboatUS, a VHF (even on the small sailboats I use), and flares. Boaters take care of each other.
If I am in a kayak (but believe me, I can't kayak for my life), my prop isn't chopping up and spreading milfoil; my wake isn't eroding Weirs Beach or the public docks; I don't pollute the water with my exhaust or dump 40 gallons of gasoline into the lake when I sink (oh wait, kayaks don't sink). So should I really be forced to pay to "restore" and "preserve" it?
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One could argue that the powerboater may even be more prepared due to the amount of safety gear required to be on board.
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How do you figure? Us non-powerboaters (although I do powerboat, too
) are usually far more prepared than the average Capt. Bonehead. We're the ones you usually see in a bright-colored drysuit (with positive buoyancy---if the water is under 60 degrees F. We could survive for days in a drysuit) and PFD. If a powerboat sinks, they have to don their PFD's, and if the water is cold, almost certainly won't have anything to keep them alive for long.
I've got everything imaginable in my small runabout (heck, even a shotgun from the days spent in the ocean!), but if it were to sink in cold water, I could be in some trouble...