Quote:
Originally Posted by LakeSnake
Isn't that what the safety cert was aimed at doing?
I hate to say this (it won't happen in today’s economy either) but I think any one who took the test on the internet should have to re-certify. I know when the internet option was available there where many cases of people taking the test for others as well the obvious easy task of keeping 2 windows open - one with the test and the other with the training material. Basically rendering the process a farce for anyone looking to take advantage (and we know who they are).
The proctored test should have been the rule from day one.
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While any test that forces the "skipper" to become more cognizant of the rules is a good thing, the bigger problem I see is that most people seem to "bone up" for the exam the day before and then flush the knowledge out the day after. That or ignore what they've learned when they're out on the water. To be fair I think most of the boaters out there do OK, it's just that the minority of Capt B's is large enough to be a problem. Even more to the point it isn't the outright violation of the few written rules of the water that make things ugly, it's the lack of consideration and common courtesy that seemingly predominate today that make things ugly. To illustrate with just 1 example ... if you don't want to come off plane to avoid a 150' conflict then you have to leave enough room for the other guy to travel. All too often what I see (and jrc remarked on above) is a wall of boats all coming down the bay leaving no one going up the bay any room to continue travel short of coming within 150' of shore or crossing over to the "left" side of the bay. Were people to "stay right" then there would be no conflict nor angst. Alas, short of being in a defined channel, there's no written rule to require them to do so. It's just commonsense with a little consideration tossed in. Both appear to be in short supply these days, on the water or elsewhere.