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Name:	SPEARFISHER -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/16/2008 12:45:28 PM

In all of your infinite wisdom please explain to me how this "boat ban" (as it is written) will make Lake Martin a better place?? I will be on pins and needles awaiting your answer.

P.S. My boat is not affected by any boat ban.

Name:	copperline -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/16/2008 2:36:30 PM

It's not a boat ban. It's a ban pertaining to large fast boats designed to operate in open off-shore waters, not an inland lake. These boats are designed to race at high speeds thru rough chop, and that's nothing like the water conditions of Lake Martin. Add to this the fact that the lake is becoming more populated with people and what you have is an increasing risk of fatalities if there aren't power and speed limits in place. Nobody is going to ban fishing boats, ski boats or "canoes with more than one paddle". Get real! We have highway speed limits, why shouldn't we have similar precautions to protect us on the water?

I am sorry for the guys who own & enjoy these rigs, I'm sure they are fun to drive and can be a good business... but let's don't pretend this is an issue of Constitutional proportions. It doesn't have that much gravity, and isn't part of some conspiracy to enslave us all in a one-world-government!

If there were no limits on types of vessels on the water at Lake Martin, can someone tell me what will stop a creative developer from launching an old coal barge & tugboat? Imagine floating condo's motoring up and down the lake!

We have to draw the line somewhere.

Name:	SPEARFISHER -	Reply
Subject:	Hey Genius
Date:	4/16/2008 4:21:54 PM

You rant and rave but you don't answer the very simple question of what good the so called "boat ban" is going to do for Lake Martin??????

Read before you look like an idiot!!

Name:	Aussie77 -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/16/2008 5:21:16 PM

Are you serious? Floating tug boat condos?
OK...the question still stands...how does the new law make the lake better?

Name:	Freshwater Bay Girl -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/16/2008 7:34:41 PM

I see sports cars putting on the highway. Who ever said that if you have a fast car or a fast boat you are GOING TO BREAK THE RULES OF THE ROAD? There are laws already in place for recklessness and speeding etc. on the water. Who had the bright idea to violate constitutional rights and start with a stereotyping? This is a form of stereotyping based on some of the descriptions given.

Name:	Freshwater Bay Girl -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/16/2008 7:34:41 PM

Name:	4thelake -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/16/2008 9:55:18 PM

My boat is legal.. But all I want to ask is how will you feel when your boat is next. 2stroke outboards are very polluting and yet there are thousands on the lake now..How will you feel when you are singled out and made to take your boat off the lake after you paid good money. Dont think about the boat....think about the issue and put yourself in someone else's shoes. If you cant do that then you have no room to comment on the issue.

Name:	Tallyman -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/16/2008 10:12:56 PM

I don't see every Corvette, or the like, speeding and making a lot of noise. However, every cigarette boat I see is going fast, making too much noise, and creating a wake. Banning them makes the lake more peaceful, calmer, and safer.

I am not real worried about it though. Gas at $10 a gallon, coming soon at a pump near you, will tranqualize everyone.

Name:	copperline -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/16/2008 10:38:35 PM

The ban makes the lake a safer place to be, also it's in keeping with reasonable limitations on what kind of equipment you can bring to use in an inland lake. Spearfisher, you didn't understand my post. Stop calling names and calm down. Yes, my car will exceed the posted speed limits, but the laws limit what I can do in order to protect everyone on the road. That'sa fair exchange for community safety and harmony. This Lake is shrinking... more homes, more boats, more people.... and the boats are capable of going faster. A whole lot faster. Dangerously fast. Yep. And I can forsee a day when 2 cycle engines are phased out... probably not by the law, but by consumer demand. But that's not going to happen anytime soon, so let's quit talking about it like it's imminent. My point about the barge-based condos wasn't all in jest though, it was an exaggeration to make a point: everyone would agree that there ARE certain vessels that shouldn't be allowed on inland lakes, right?

Name:	Bob -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/16/2008 11:03:40 PM

Nice to see the "Silent Majority" on the boards today. There is no way you can explain this to these idiots. When they start to annoy you just smile and know that they do not matter and will not get their way...sell em or move em boys...

Name:	Summer Lover -	Reply
Subject:	Safety First
Date:	4/17/2008 7:47:07 AM

Thanks for the explanation guys, I understand now – this bill, is not a ban – and is about safety. I know that human life if precious to all of us, so I would suggest the following:

It would appear that a majority of the deaths and injuries on inland lakes involve PWC.
In order to help make our lakes a safer place it would only make sense to lobby for a ban on these dangerous devices that kill and injure so many of our friends and neighbors.

Some boats on the lake are going far too fast. We do not even have the safety of median walls or airbags (other than using some people I know); to prevent high speed collisions or help save us if one occurs. It would be prudent to ban any watercraft capable of exceeding 25 MPH – our legislators can certainly drop those speeds in the future if they feel the need.

Lanes of traffic flow will need to be clearly defined by buoys, and of course we will have to make some areas of the lake limited access, and install traffic control systems at areas like the Blue Creek/Tallapoosa River convergence, I mean interchange.

Please help me with this, people are dying, and it is our duty to make the lake as safe as possible for everyone.

Name:	Fester -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/17/2008 8:04:07 AM

"too much noise".....in YOUR opinion.....You don't have the right to chose what "too much noise" is.....the courts and the public do....not you....if there was a public vote then the majority would have made the decision....not a couple of crooked judges or good ole boy network palm greasers such as yourself....crook....

How exactly does this ban make the lake safer?.....Links to the research maybe?.....or is there just a link to certian peoples bank accounts straight to the judges pockets?

Name:	Council Roc Doc -	Reply
Subject:	Safety First
Date:	4/17/2008 8:18:45 AM

Even though the injury rates from PWC have increased by a factor of four (roughly), the numbers of PWC on the water have increased by roughly a factor of 3.5. These injuries occur to predominantly the individuals operating the PWC. You operate a PWC at your own risk knowing most likely that an injury, if it were to occur, will most likely involve you or a passenger. Very little passenger morbidity or mortality from motor boats.

If only a single life was spared over, say, a ten year period, this law would still have value to me. It is not about numbers, shore line erosion, money, wakes, noise, speed, for me but about proactively reacting to an increasingly populated lake for the safety and well being of it's users.

Name:	LifeTime Laker -	Reply
Subject:	Safety First
Date:	4/17/2008 8:29:02 AM

I realize your post is tounge in cheek, but it made me think, which is always dangerous. Why NOT pursue a ban on PWC's? As CRD says below the data is certainly there to back up a public safety argument and once you start messing with that many folks' toys you will sway public opinion on what it really means to ban certain toys as opposed to enforcing regulations and encouraging personal responsibillity.

Name:	ALSCN -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/17/2008 9:31:57 AM

So every cigarette boat is seen going fast as some like to say... Okay, so you just accounted for a small percent of the boat ban... yippee to you. What about the cruisers? Oh yeah, I forgot those are the ones that belong in the ocean. Funny thing is, I was down at the Gulf last weekend, walked the pier and true there was one boat there that is the same size as our families. Guess what... IT WAS THE SMALLEST BOAT THERE !!! Why? Maybe because our boat was built in Tennessee, to be used on lakes and rivers... NOT the gulf. It can't handle the rough chop in the gulf, it isn't "quick" enough to cut through waves... but because some of you don't like it I shouldn't have a right to have it on the lake. My boat isn't loud, it doesn't pollute like a 2-cycle, and it doesn't go all that fast... but if it wasn't for a grandfather clause It would be illegal and that would make you happy. Now, I think you are all being a little selfish.

See I can be happy for the time being, but I know that my boat will not last forever, and when it has seen its last day then the grandfather clause is gone. I don't get another one. Here is a scenario... Last year a friend had his boat totalled while it was at the pier, due to wind damage... guess what, according to the law, he has lost his grandfather for that boat because it is a loss.... so how fair is that? Something that is totally out of my controll can take my boat away and I can't get another one like it to replace it with... well unless of course I buy another grandfathered boat.

Name:	green,ed -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/17/2008 10:46:02 AM

Do you know anyone with a sports car who doesnt break the rules?

Name:	SPEARFISHER -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/17/2008 11:06:43 AM

I assume by saying this ban makes the lake a safer place, you mean it removes the boats over 26' 11" capable of speeds in excess of 60 mph.
So what if, for example, one or all of these owners buy a 25 or 26 ft. and install a 525 cu. in. engine capable of 95 mph that is legal under the current ban. OR they can buy a pwc capable of 90+ mph and put their 16 year old daughter with her brand new boating liscense on it and turn her loose. OR buy a nice new bass boat capable of 80+ mph and run around chasing poor little fish all day.
Now just how in the hell is that a safer lake??????????

This was your quote....
The ban makes the lake a safer place to be, also it's in keeping with reasonable limitations on what kind of equipment you can bring to use in an inland lake.

Sounds like to me you might need to read the bill again before trying in vain to look intelligent. The laws to protect against unsafe operation were already in place!!!!
And if you come back with the noise problem, the laws are already in place for that also they just weren't being enforced.

Name:	UncleSam -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/17/2008 11:38:48 AM

"our boat was built in Tennessee, to be used on lakes and rivers... NOT the gulf. It can't handle the rough chop in the gulf, it isn't "quick" enough to cut through waves..."

That sounds a lot like what I've heard a lot of people say about driving their 18-footers, or smaller, on Lake Martin. (And it wasn't that long ago that an 18-foot boat on this Lake was on the large side.)

So if driving your "big" boat in the gulf is an unpleasant experience, think of how some people feel about driving on Lake Martin. Do they not have a right to a pleasant boating experience, too?

Once again, a little consideration of what the other guy is going through would do wonders. And that goes for people on BOTH sides of this issue.

Name:	SPEARFISHER -	Reply
Subject:	Real Idiot
Date:	4/17/2008 12:00:32 PM

I think the real idiot may just be you BOB. You still have not been able to come up with a viable answer as to how this law make's Lake Martin a better place!!!!

Name:	head -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/17/2008 12:05:45 PM

Like Rodney King said lets just all get along Remember the golden rule those with the gold rule.

Name:	head -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/17/2008 12:05:45 PM

Like Rodney King said lets just all get along Remember the golden rule those with the gold rule.

Name:	Pier Pressure -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/17/2008 12:10:45 PM

Some people are complaining about wave action on Lake Martin. You could have ONLY pontoon boats and bass boats, and since the number is increaseing you will still have HUGE waves. It is a simple law of physics called wave dynamics. Ever heard of a "Standing Wave"? Look it up. True, my boat creates a wave larger than a bass boat, but it does not create a wave bigger than two bass boats. The only way cruisers or bigger boats would be accountable for the current wave action, would be if their numbers were at least %50 of ALL lake traffic in a given day, not tied up at the rock all day, and assuming that there is NO wind.

Go to the lake on a day in which the wind is 10+ knotts. Stand on the shore and observe the wave action (downwind side). I think we should ban mother nature for ruining our boating. Your small boats will be swamped on windy days, mine will not. Last time I was on the lake and a storm front approached there were three bass boats following in my wake because they couldn't operate in the open water. They followed me directly into the marina. Without that "assistance" they would have been left out in the storm in the elements and mother nature would have prevailed.

With all of the development the lake boat traffic will see a large increase, and the wave action will not at all go down, unless ALL motor boats are banned.

This is and always was about Money and greed. The persons who are so heavily for this law are probably using it as a marketing scheme to sell property "Large ugly houseboats are banned, loud and fast boats are banned, so your peace has been preserved".... Hello, it is still a PUBLIC lake.

The legislatures were touting this as a way to garner INCOME, as the money from the tickets goes directly back into the conservation department. They assume that the person with the 200k + boat will not mind paying the "ticket - tax" to operate their illigal boat. What is $130 per weekend to operate something that is costing $1000 per weekend already??

Argue the point all you want, it still comes down to money and/or greed. You can ban the boats, but they will not go away, and if the boats do, the people will not!

For the last two years someone has been vandalizing and sinking the mooring buoys at the rock. These items are usually around $200 to place. Once in the water they become "public use". Whoever this is obviously has a beef with the atmosphere are the rock. You can continue on your path of destruction, but you will not keep us away...

Name:	ALSCN -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/17/2008 1:34:02 PM

My dear uncle,

Let me explain in a little more detail. I have had multiple boats on Lake Martin, the first being a small pontoon. All the boats I have had before the current one have been legal boats, according to the definition set forth by the new law. I never, ever have complained about the wake in the lake... well except for the time I was pregnant and rode from kowlaiga to Wind Creek after the fire works, but that was mainly due to the large amount of boats, not just the size of those boats. Because I do understand that while a wake board boat may seem small it does throw a nice size wake... that is what it was designed to do.

However, I do see where the lake being choppy can even compare to the 6 ft. waves that I have seen on the gulf many of times.... I grew up there... I grew up on Large gulf boats... I do have some small bit of understanding of the gulf conditions and what happens to boats of different sizes.

But thank you for trying to counsel me on how you feel I treat others on the lake. Because I have been on both sides... but you wouldn't know that because you just assumed that you knew me.

Name:	UncleSam -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/17/2008 2:08:09 PM

I was actually using my reply to speak to everyone. However, if you choose to believe that it was all about you and only you, should I be surprised? :-)

Name:	ALSCN -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/17/2008 2:36:00 PM

Actually my dear uncle Sam, I guess you shouldn't be surprised. Because when you reply directly to my post, and quote what I say, then I think I would have some reason to believe that you are talking directly to "me". I guess my common sense there may have been a little distorted... or maybe not.

Name:	LifeTime Laker -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/17/2008 3:35:26 PM

Don't stress it Lisa. Uncle Sam is the crazy uncle that sits in the corner at reunions and everybody ignors even though he is constantly spouting off drivel.

Like your esteemed husband said below, I have seen days when I was the only boat visible on Kowliga Bay, yet the water was so rough it could break butt bones. (That actually happened to my nephews girl friend)

Name:	ALSCN -	Reply
Subject:	Almighty Bob
Date:	4/18/2008 9:41:06 AM

True... yes he does have a point. I remember the day we bought the boat. We took it for a test drive. It was a windy January day, and the lake was the roughest I had ever seen it. White caps on Lake Martin... but anyways, the funniest thing is the entire afternoon we were the only boat on the water.

But I am sure this post will be distorted like the rest and of course our boat must have been causing all 44,000 acres of choppy water... he he he. Because don't believe what the dynamics of waves are... wind doesn't call waves just big boats... LOL

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