[Rhodes22-list] Connecticut Outlaws Sailing

[The Rhodes 22 Email List]

In preparing for my first season of sailing in a very long time (about 44 years), I happened to stumble across the fact that I am required by the state of Connecticut to take a boating safety course in order to legally put my boat in the water.  On a conceptual level, I have no problem with this.  Some of the details of the actual implementation though, I do find at least a little bit annoying.

Technically, there are two levels of certification.  There’s the basic ‘Safe Boating Certificate’, which is the minimum requirement, and then on top of that there’s the ‘Certificate of Personal Watercraft Operation’. So, in theory, you don’t need to worry about the latter certificate unless you intend to operate a PWC.  In practice though, the state only offers training courses that cover both certificates. On a positive note, the combined course and associated test is offered by the state in a variety of places and times either free or for a very modest cost.  On the other hand, if you want to skip the course and just take the test, it will cost you $75.

But, in sitting through the course, I find the most annoying part to be that the course material barely manages to admit that sailboats actually exist.  Of course it makes perfect sense that the course would focus almost exclusively on power boats and PWC, since that’s where most of the problem is, but who is going to teach me to watch out for the unintended gybe?  The instructor, who claims to have 40 years of experience on the water (and I actually believe him), admits without the slightest hint of embarrassment that he has no idea how sailboats work.  Though on a positive note, since from his perspective sailboats act in seemingly random and irrational ways, he advises all of the power boaters in the class (everyone but me it would seem) to give them a wide berth at all times.  

Helpfully, the course comes with a booklet which students can take home and study.  I’ve been going through it in preparation for taking the last section of class and the exam tomorrow.  It’s actually pretty well written, so it’s not that tough a slog.  But I came across a section that really gave me pause…

The title of this section is “Unlawful Operation of a Vessel”; so the things listed below here are things that are unlawful…

“Riding on the Bow, Deck, or Gunwale is allowing passengers to ride on the bow, gunwale, transom, seat backs, seats on raised decks, or any other place where there may be a chance of falling overboard.”

I won’t quote the whole thing, but there’s subsequent language that says that this doesn’t just mean you can’t hang your feet over the side, this applies even if your feet are inboard.

Now this is not the actual statue, this is an interpretation and simplification of the statue for the general public.  And I find the use of the term ‘passenger’ interesting.  The captain isn’t a passenger, is he?  How about the crew?

So obviously I intend to ignore this, as will every other sailor in Connecticut, until such time that the powers that be arrest us all for sitting on the gunwales or seat backs in order to properly balance our sailboats. I think the Captain’s Seats would be legal, so maybe those of us who don’t have them will have to upgrade.

Peter Nyberg
Coventry, CT
No Boat Yet