Mass. Kayakers - Legislatiion Alert!

Yep the Gov’t knows best
The gov’t should enact the same requirements to get in a vehicle driven by a Kennedy as to paddle a kayak.

Massachusetts Legislature

– Last Updated: Jan-12-05 3:52 PM EST –

I happened to catch a story on the local news this morning that a rep (don't remember his name) is proposing legislation to increase voter turnout. He is proposing that anybody who votes be given a $25 tax credit.



Hmmm. I wonder what kind of voter he is trying to attract.

Back to my rep
at least I wans the right to use a type V pfd if I so choose.



The girls were, at best, sadly heedless and disrespectful to the ocean.



I have written a total rant about their parents and might well publish it on B&B but it’s truly evil.



Let’t just say they should have spent more time educating people on risk assesssment and mitigation, and less time thinking about legislation. Starting with family.

of course -
they’ll have to create an entire new office to handle such a credit, and the subject reps brothers, sisters, deceased uncles, etc, will all be on the dole, er, payroll, costing each MA resident approx an extra $150.00/yr - -



and this is part of the reason that MA was the ONLY state in the union to lose population last year -



it’s a beautiful state, but i do believe that NC is definitely on the agenda -

Not surprising at all

– Last Updated: Jan-13-05 11:04 AM EST –

Living just north of The People's Republic of Massachusetts, I've watched the shenagagins for 35 years. Unfortunately, New Hampshire is on the verge of becoming the "Tibet" of Massachusetts, as their political plague spreads across the border. I find it mind boggling to see people move up here to escape the MA system, then immediately start trying to re-create it here. Whatinthehell is up with that?! They say that the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result." I guess this proves that's correct. At the rate things are going, the last bastion of freedom in the Northeast will fall completely within the next decade or two.

You have to understand…

– Last Updated: Jan-13-05 11:13 AM EST –

...that the effectiveness of a new law is not the point. The point is to do SOMETHING to make the parents feel like their daughters didn't die from stupidity, rather they were VICTIMS of a lack of proper laws regarding kayaking. It's also to give Gomes something to point to on her resume. It's typical, hypocritical, unenforceable and ultimately worthless legislation.

Unfortunately…

– Last Updated: Jan-13-05 11:24 AM EST –

...they're moving up here and screwing up NH. In '04, we were a "blue state" for only the second time in the 35 years I've lived here, both in the last decade. Same goes for the new democratic Governor. It's not a good sign.

As for the voter tax credit, it'll never fly, as it's probably not constitutional. I'm just cynical enough to believe that the Rep. proposing it knows it and is just doing it as a publicity stunt.

cynical
you know, brian, i was never a cynical person - until i moved here 2 1/2 years ago - - the pervasive corruption can really get to you - - i’m hearing stories about the “big dig” that want to make me run - - the state elected a governor who campaigned on taking the state from the brink of bankrupcy, instituted $105mil in savings initatives, and they’ve all been re-instated by the legislature, ALL of whom were re-elected this past nov - barnstable on cape cod had property tax increases as high as 250% this year - etc, etc, —



just build a wall on your southern border !!

I’ve got nothing against New Hampshire
but I feel an urge to point out that alot of folks who make their home in NH make their living in Mass. (sort of the best of both world take advantage of the higher wages in Mass but don’t get stuck with the higher cost of living there). And let’s not forget the folks who make there living in NH off folks visiting from Mass.

i’ve seen the phenom
bry was talking about. Even in VT, when I lived there, a transplant moved in next to a farm everybody in the county knows is a local, informal, firing range. Even the police use it for practice. Nope, this lady starts lawsuits etc to end that. Last I knew the people of VT where winning, but the NJ lady may have won in the end.



Yup, move to “paradise” then import what you left behind and wonder why its now like the place you left…

It’s everywhere
"“Yup, move to “paradise” then import what you left behind and wonder why its now like the place you left…”""



You ought to see the rural county where I grew up. All the city folks moved out there for a taste of the country life. Now it is curbed and guttered with the attendant traffic, noise, and light. Apparently the country view is all that suited them. The rest needs to be just like the city from which they came. They shut down pre-existing live-stock operations because of the smell. They end hunting. etc…



Down here in Florida they just buy up all the shoreline and cut off public access to the lakes so that the lakes become essentially private. A bunch of beach front folks want us common folk off the beaches too.

Who are you kidding?
People who live up here and work in MA get royally screwed! We pay the same income tax that you do and get nothing for it. MA benefits twice, since they tax the profits of the companies that we help to make profitable. We end up paying part of our hard-earned wages to support the corruption, waste and freeloading that doesn’t exist up here. Trust me, I work up here whenever I can!

Amen brother Iceman
My sentiments also.

just don’t tell those Mass officials to shove it …

OOps I better not go there again!

Cheers,

JackL

Absolutely correct
This is what “the cult of victimization” is all about — not being held responsible for your own actions.

Access
I believe that you can have access to any beach in Ma as long as you are within the mean high water mark. It goes without saying that some landowners put up illegal fences to keep people off what they consider their own private beach.

I have no problem with a law requiring someone to ware a PFD while kayaking. I guess it similar to the helment law for motorcycles. Helments save lives but a lot of riders don’t want the government telling them to do so. By the way I do not own a motorcycle. Just my .02

FishHawk

This potential new law is goofy
I live on the beach on Cape Cod. I paddle a surfski, a waveski, and sometimes an actual surfboard. Would traditional surfers who use paddles to get out to the break be required to wear PFD’s? How about rowing crew athletes? Or the oldtimer who rows his dinghy out to his fishing boat’s mooring? Heck, perhaps they should just extend the law to include even those individuals enjoying an outdoor shower.



I’m truly sorry about the loss of those two college girls, but wouldn’t another option be to simply forbid the use of kayaks by any member of the female species?

mean high water ??
i do believe MA is one of the only places to use mean low water as the determination of land ownership - thus, you can be arrested for stepping ashore at any time, any place

mean high tide line
I fish the Cape all the time and use the mean high tide line and have not had any problems. I fish the Chatham area which has a lot of private property and no one has given me any trouble for being in the mean high tide line.

FishHawk

Mass and Maine
Both enacted laws saying LOW tide mark.



Connecticut authorities selectively enforce low tide, even though the law is high tide mark. Depends on how much $$$$$ is in the neighborhood. I used to carry a copy of the law in my boat in case of conflict with police.



I’ve found that if you ask permission (When it’s possible to do so), most times landing is OK just about anywhere.



Wayne

Not exactly true Celia
Hi Celia,

There are several examples of underwater lands being owned by the adjacent upland landowner in NY. Most of Long Island is like this dating back to grants from the King of England. That is how some of the commercial shellfisheries exist, including (I believe) the Blue Point Oyster Company in Great South Bay. Also, some of the underwater lands in the Hudson River are likely owned by adjacent upland owners. This is an extremely contentious issue however because of much of the adjacent uplands were created by dredging the river or filled in after the railroad was built.