Suggestion from the US Coast Guard

Put your name and telephone number someplace on your yak.

Last week a kayak was found floating off Plymouth beach, with a paddle and PFD in it, and the coast guard searched for hours before stopping.

They assumed the boat drifted out from the beach, but were not sure.

They said in the last month they had to make three different searches that were similar.

They said if people would put their name a phone number in their boats, it ould save them a lot of wasted manhours.

I just finished using a sharpie and putting mine under my front compartment cover, and the same with my wife’s



Jack L

It’s the law
in Colorado.

of course
there’s no need in places that have licensing/sticker requirements. :slight_smile:

added benefit for ID
is in case some low life steals it. Makes for faster and more positive ID. I also have name and number in a few less conspicuous places.

The CG has Paddle Smart stickers too
They pass them out for free, same thing put your name/number on it and put it somewhere visible. I also write my number someplace out of sight.



The CG program is better than and hopefully will prevent local registration which becomes another cash cow for the local gov’t and must be renewed.



We had the CG Auxillary come to a club meeting to do a safety talk and distribute stickers and pass out stickers. We learned some interesting things.



SYOTW

Randy

Thanks
We have a bunch of other boats at home, and if I can catch up to a CG boat or office, I’ll ask them for some.



Jack L

Check with NRS if they still have them
They sent me a bunch of the orange stickers - so i could hand them out to fellow boaters.

shipping stickers/packing list envelopes
why not just use a sharpie on something that can get wet and stick it into a packing list pouch? seal it up and it should hold for awhile. used one for years on my jetski.

Come on down to Georgia, and you
can paddle for free. No parasitic licensing, no pointless record keeping.



I’d accept an annual paddler permit, but never permits for each boat. How would fishermen like licensing for every rod? I know the NRA doesn’t like licensing for every gun.



Minnesota is a bad deal. I don’t put my boats on their waters anymore.

It’s law for a very different reason
It’s yet another check against trafficking of stolen items.



The person who told me years ago that we were supposed to mark our names and phone numbers inside had been questioned by a ranger at a state park. It’s pretty weird considering that this guy’s kayaks are all long sea kayaks (and all but one of them glass or Kevlar). Stealable, yes, but not much demand for them in this area.



What the rangers should be watching out for are stolen WW kayaks, and paddles. Probably SUP boards, too.



As for marking them to identify missing owners after capsizing…better focus instead on fishermen’s boats.

good idea Jack
2 more ideas Have a white plastic bag on your lap. If a power boat is coming fast at you, slide the bag over your paddle and wave it high like a flag. I have been close to removing the pfd and diving down 10 or 20 feet to let the power boat hit my boat but not me.



Races should have phone # of race organizer on boat # sticker so people who drop out can call to avoid a lengthy search.