lizardman said:
Is it really that important that they are registered? Who gets the registration money and where is it going? Does the registration money go to improve waterways? to fix boat ramps (which by the way you don't need with a toon)? To pay for more 'law' enforcement on the waterways? Who does the money from "registration" benefit?
Also it is really not possible to place registration stickers on a toon as tubes and frames can be swapped out and yet after said swap you still have the same boat (say replacing a set of tubes due to excessive wear with the same size tubes). When I called the Marine board they told me to make a plaque out of wood or metal and hang it on the pontoon somewhere; and I asked them how they would be able to tell if I were to move the plaque from one boat to another (you see I have two of these pontoons myself). You see it isn't like putting the registration stickers on the hard hull of a personal water craft or hard shelled boat.
Unless the individual who is operating the pontoon is doing something that could harm others, or interfears with others the marine patrol really has no business interfearing with the operator of the pontoon.
To me this seems like another case of the hypothetical "Papers Please!", and why should we need 'papers' to perform an act that is legal anyway and doesn't hurt anyone.
The original poster isn't saying to us "hey look I'm breaking the law"; he is rather sharing with us some ingenuity on his part of customizing his pontoons.
I rather like the pontoon modifications.
Dave
I agree the original poster was just giving us all the fishing porn we crave. I was just curious to see a motor, and no numbers to go with it as required in Oregon. It's fine that it's registered in Nevada and they may not require numbers, we just didn't "clearly" see the Nevada reg sticker.
As for the marine board, and the officers that patrol our waters, our reg and license fees pay for them to do just that. We can't just say to hell with the floating officers as there are plenty of boaters out there that can use the knuckle busting due to being dangerous, poaching, drunk, stupid, etc.... that could get one or more of us hurt out there.
Oregon is "rule" happy to keep us safe. Not that I say I agree with most of them, but they are there in the books for us to follow. In fact, I don't agree with most of the Oregon rules, but I live here and don't want to give them any more money than I already do to play.
The worst part about it is that many of the rules can be innocently interpreted one way, and still get ya a fine without just cause. Mistakes can be made by us, but as long as they can make a quick buck off you for a simple infraction, you KNOW they will.
Again, my original concern being led to believe this was an Oregon pontoon boat with a motor and no visible numbers.
Gonefirefighting didn't have to show his level of professionalism like he did, he could have just as easily answered like an adult.
