[ApS]

Originally Posted by jrc

"...The registration sticker for kayaks idea has been discussed here before..."

It was certainly discussed here in 2008.

This was one of my two responses, two years ago:

To tax kayaks at this time is a mean-spirited goal: cobbled with with weak justifications and poorly-conceived poll questions, we'll be seeing this brought up for a third time later.

The other response:

1) Some of the most expen$ive boating rescues may already be billed to insurance companies, but too-seldom are billings paid by the one person needing rescue.

2) Why penalize against the many who cannot afford more gasoline or "more boat", and try to enjoy this scenic lake gently. It's showing even more "sour grapes" to demand that I sell a taxed house to pay another tax on an insignificant boat that in many other states doesn't require any additional taxes for registration.

3) Maine—already losing population—is hardly the state to start copying their regulations and registrations. New Jersey requires the red flag.

4) Youngsters who have read the book First You Must Row a Little Boat by Richard Bode, would be discouraged from boating by having to register their exempt rowboat. First You Must Row a Little Boat was written to show why countless aspects of operating lesser boats avoids the future confusions that larger cruisers feel at the dock—and beyond. (At just $9, it could be a stocking-stuffer for the aspiring young boater).

5) Why penalize the many paddlers who peaceably boat on NH's quieter lakes, ponds and streams to benefit some perceived increase of rescues on "the lake"?

The last NH kayaker needing "rescue" was run over by a powerboat!

6) There are many more non-powered craft in garages, lofts, barns, backyards or stored on automobile racks.

7) A rack of six rowing sculls near me would have to pay $66 for the privilege of rowing between 6AM and 8AM only on the days that were calm enough!

8) My own eclectic flotilla would be $55—money that would be better spent at area restaurants and other Lakes Region businesses.

9) Vermont, which has many more raging rivers and streams than NH (and many-more rescues), doesn't require registration for paddlers.

10) DART helicopters evacuate many injured Vermont paddlers by air to Dartmouth/Hitchcock Hospital in New Hampshire.

Are Vermont individuals assessed for their rescues by New Hampshire?

11) What happens to the frequently-cited Coast Guard statistics when the number of "registered boats" in NH doubles or triples?

12) There are many more unpowered boats than powered boats in New Hampshire. They're just not on all NH lakes, not on all NH lakes all at once, and not every day. Rental companies would be penalized also—would reduce their inventory and would raise their fees to compensate.

13) NH didn't require "no-engine" sailboats to be registered until about 1985: were Legislators "thinking clean" back then? I don't think so: they simply wanted more money from the public. ["Tax that other guy—behind the tree"].

14) With a new requirement adding 200,000+ new registrations, there's at least one category of CG statistics that would become swollen by imponderables: "Falls From Boat".

15) Those tourists returning to "the lake"—or those distant from "the lake"—shouldn't be hampered with more fees.

16) Canoes with a trolling motor require registration!

I think that's wrong as well—if for no other reason than the filthy environment that every petroleum-fueled craft leaves behind it.

17) A government can tax to discourage, or not-tax to encourage: Lake Winnipesaukee shores and waters can benefit by environmentally-clean boats.

As I wrote years ago on these pages: double registration fees for the most excessive boats—later—double them again.

18) A 45 MPH solar/hybrid/wind turbine powered 50' boat should not be taxed, although anyone who can afford one today shouldn't be bothered by the present tax. (Especially when the energy required for it is inexhaustible).

19) My canoe/kayak registrations would have an answering machine at the listed number—in a distant state—and I doubt NH would snail-mail me about a found kayak anyway.

20) With 45-minute NHMP response times considered "reasonable", any "rescue" should be taken out of the issue.

21) Some "Sunfish" and their clones are made in short models that are exempt from NH registration. I don't think small-boat manufacturers should be hampered in any additional manner. Big boat manufacturers have noted a downward trend in boaters: their response? "Try Boating" campaigns.

22) We don't use the same 150-foot-passage "at any given time". And we CERTAINLY don't use it at the same rate!

(Adding these below for 2010):

23) Near me is a new rowboat: it has two hulls!!! Double the fees—double the red flags!

24) Biological contaminants are consumed by bacteria and vegetation.

This lake's most concentrated areas of biological contamination are found around rafters. (Most often powerboaters).

25) Petroleum contaminants are mostly released to the atmosphere, largely without regard for US emission standards.

Kayaks emit none.

26) I don't think registration (or red flags) should be extended to "paddleboards" either.

This is the "paddleboard" you want to tax:


Paddleboard numbers seem to be increasing here. They're surprisingly fast into strong winds!

27) I pick up feathers from the lake and stranded ladybugs. Why can't you see kayaks?