markskipaddle

The Northern Forest Canoe Trail and Charles River Canoe & Kayak are hosting the Reel Paddling Film Festival in Waltham at 7pm on Thursday April 27th. Previews can be found here: https://youtu.be/alBfEF3PmFc Tickets are available here: https://www.reelpaddlingfilmfestival.com/tour-schedule-vanity/132-hosted-by-northern-forest-canoe-trail-charles-river-canoe-kayak.html We hope to see you here. Mark J 617-965-5110

After 40 years of operation, the paddling shop at Charles River Canoe & Kayak's Newton: Auburndale boathouse will be closing at the end of the season. We are currently offering great prices on new and used kayaks, canoes, standup paddle boards and a full range of paddles, lifejackets, sprayskirts, trailers, wetsuits, drysuits, hydroskin, car racks, drybags, repair parts, and other accessories. Current inventory and pricing can be found at: http://www.paddleboston.com/main.php As always we offer free on water demos. Shipping and deliveries can be arranged. Give us a call at 617-965-5110 or email contact@paddleboston.com for more information. Charles River Canoe & Kayak will continue to offer boat rentals rentals, instruction, team building programs, corporate & group outings, and guiding programs.

We have the Sea Dog Hatches on order for next season. If anyone wants them this fall we would be happy to bring some in this fall. You can call and ask for Mark or Bryce. Charles River Canoe & Kayak 617-965-5110

You are right. They did make the change to accept type 5 PFDs. mark

Here is a copy of the bill that passed today and is now waiting for the Governor to sign to become law. AN ACT RELATIVE TO KAYAK SAFETY. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: SECTION 1. Section 1 of Chapter 90B of the General laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting the following definitions: - “Canoeâ€, a narrow, light boat with its sides meeting in a point at each end and is moved by one or more paddles “Kayakâ€, a lightweight boat that is covered, except for a single or double opening in the center thereof, and is propelled by a paddle. SECTION 2. Said Chapter 90B is hereby further amended by inserting after section 13A the following section:- SECTION13b. Anyone who holds himself out as a kayak instructor for hire shall obtain and maintain: (i) First aid training approved by the department of public health; (ii) Cardiopulmonary resuscitation training approved by the department of public health; and (iii) Kayak instructor certification from the American Canoe Association, American Red Cross certification in small craft safety and basic water rescue, or equivalent water training. The instructor shall train students on the safety procedures appropriate to the level of paddling difficulty. Wet exit training, which is defined as the practice of escaping from a kayak while capsized in a controlled water setting, shall be required of all beginners and novice level operators who use an attached “spray skirt†during any part of the kayak instructional session. A liability release that limits an instructor’s responsibility to comply with this section shall be void. SECTION 3. Chapter 90B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 official edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 5B the following new section:- Section 5C. Every person aboard a canoe or kayak, as defined in this chapter, shall wear at all times a coast guard approved personal floatation device of type I, II, III or V in good and serviceable condition.

It is coming to the end of the legislative session and the Massachusetts House and Senate are negotiating a new version of the Kayak (and Canoe) bill. It is tough to tell what is going on but the last I heard the bill would mandate both canoe & kayak paddlers to wear lifejackets year round with no exemption for racing & training. The bill also excludes the use of type V pfds which includes inflatables and pullover lifejackets. The Senate is also pushing for a requirement that anyone who teaches kayaking to teach all paddlers to do a wet exit at the beginning of any kayak class even if they are not using a sprayskirt or a recreational kayak with a large cockpit opening. This will end up being disincentive for people to get instruction. Here is a link to a story in the Patriot Ledger. The reporter is confused on a number of topics bit is correct that things are moving. http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x2071994...ct-summer-camps Here is link to the House version http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/186/ht02/ht02281.htm This is a link to the Senate version http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/186/st00/st00974.htm If you don't like what you see now is the time to send an e-mail to you State Rep and State Senator and explain the problems with the bill. After you send the e-mail follow it up with a call. Calls an e-mail really do make a difference. Most State Reps and Senators do not know about this bill or have forgotten the details since the last time you called them. Mark J

Freya Hoffmeister, who paddled solo around Australia, will be in the area on July 1 and is looking for a place to host her talk. She is asking for about $15 per person which does not leave much to pay for a room. Does anyone have a suggestion for a place to hold the event. Mark J

The Senate version of the Kayak Safety Bill is now in the committee on third reading in the House of Representatives which means that it could be very close to passing in both the House and Senate and going to the Governor to be signed. Now is the time for you to call and e-mail your Representative and tell them to contact the Chair of the Committee On Third Reading and ask him to not release the bill from committee. Here is a link to the Senate bill. http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/186...pdf/ST00974.pdf Here is a link to contact information for Rep Pedone: http://www.mass.gov/legis/member/vap1.htm It would also be good if you called and sent an e-mail directly to Rep Pedone's office. The ACA has also written a letter opposing the bill. Here is a link the the ACA Letter. http://www.paddlinginstructor.com/stuff/Ka...ts.Kafka_p2.pdf Here is a link to what I have written on the bill. http://www.paddleboston.com/resources/kayakbill.php Please give me a call or e-mail if you have questions or comments. Mark Jacobson 781-891-6575

I forgot to mention that the Senate version of the bill still does not recognize the use of Type V PFDs which include all inflatable, pull over, and rescue vests. While I can't imagine that this would be enforced it still is an issue that should be raised when you call or e-mail your State Rep or Senator to show how poorly drafted the Senate bill is.

I posted information on the two different bills being considered at the Statehouse right now at: http://www.nspn.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=6484 The ACA & BCU have been of no help on this issue although I don't think it is because they are in the certification business. The qualifications required in both bills are so minimal I don't think anyone could come up with an "instructor for hire" that has not or does not meet these standards. The ACA told me that they could not oppose a bill that mandates lifejacket use or wet exit no matter how poorly written it is. There is the saying that "No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the Legislature is in session†Well the Massachusetts House and Senate are always in session. Every time these bills start to move it when the House and Senate are meeting in "Informal Session." Bills that are supposedly "non-controversial" can be passed without a roll call vote. A single Representative or Senator can block a bill during an informal session but they must be present and continually blocking a bill can make it hard for a Rep. or Senator to get their own bills passed. It is very hard to keep track of when things come up in informal session. With all the letters, e-mails, and phone calls that paddlers have made we have not been able to defeat any of the bills. We have only been able to stop them from passing. These bills will keep getting re-introduced every two years. One day (or night) the Senate version bill will probably sneak through and at that point we would have to get the Governor to veto the bill. Has any one tried to call the Governor's office recently? If some one has a good idea how to defeat these bills I would be very interested to hear the strategy but right now I think the best choice is to support the House Bill which may put the issue to rest.

I just got back from paddling in Maine so I am a bit late with this update. There are two different bills that were both reported favorably out of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security this fall. The House bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Khan & Rep Strauss. http://www.mass.gov/legis/ bills/house/186/ht02/ht02281. htm The Senate Bill is sponsored by Sen. O'Leary. http://www.mass.gov/legis/ bills/senate/186/st00/st00974. htm The Senate bill was passed and was sent to the House and the House bill was passed and sent to the Senate. Both bills were engrossed meaning they passed but there was no roll call and most Reps and Senators don't even know that these bills passed. The House version does not address the wearing of lifejackets but has some requirements for kayak instructors and requires instructors for hire to teach the wet exit before novices use a sprayskirt. It doesn't make any sense for the legislature to decide how kayaking should be taught but as it is written I can't argue that any of the provisions are unreasonable. It makes no sense that sailing, rowing, or canoeing instructors don't have to meet the same standards that kayak instructors do but I can't argue that having kayaking instructors know CPR, or have some very very minimal level of training is unreasonable. Basically if the House bill passed nothing would change in Massachusetts except some outfitters who currently allow students to paddle plastic boats with nylon sprayskirts before students have practice a wet exit would have to change their procedures. Our current procedures at CRCK do not allow any of our students to use a sprayskirt unless the have practiced a wet exit and removed the sprayskirt while under water. It took a couple of years but Rep. Straus listened to the issues that kayakers have raised with prevoius kayak safety bills and was willing to make changes to the bill. Senator O'Leary's office has refused to return my calls and as far as I know has not been willing to discuss the bill with any other kayakers. The Senate bill is a mess. It requires kayakers to wear lifejackets but not people in canoes, rowboats or any other type of boat. To me this sends a dangerous message that kayaks are more dangerous than canoes when in fact more kayakers wear lifejackets and the boats are generally more stable. Here is a link to a PDF I put together highlighting some of these problems. http://www.paddleboston.com/resources/pfd.pdf The second problem with the Senate bill is that it requires all kayak instruction to begin a class with the wet exit even if no one was using a sprayskirt! If a group of Girl Scouts came to our dock to rent boats we could send them right out. If they wanted an instructor the first thing we would have to do is have them flip over. If we gave them kayaks and canoe paddles they would not have to flip over or if they went out in canoes they would not have to flip over. To me this will end up being a strong disincentive for people to get instruction. I cannot find a single report of a kayaker being entrapped in a kayak without using a sprayskirt but so far Sen. O'Leary refuses to discuss this issue. Here is a link to what I wrote a couple of years ago on the issue. It needs to be updated with the bill numbers but the basic info still applies. http://www.paddleboston.com/resources/kayakbill.php I would prefer that neither one of these bills pass but the bills are not going to go away unless many many more people are willing to contact their State Representatives and State Senators every two years when these bill get reintroduced. Right now the most important thing is to call your State Representative and ask them to oppose passage of the Senate version When you do contact your Sate Reps. and Senators it is important that you reference which bill you are talking about. Personally I am not opposing the House version but I have been working to make sure that the Senate version does not pass. I would be interested to hear what others think about this strategy. Please contact me if you would like more information Mark Jacobson 617-965-5110 Manager Charles River Recreation Weston Ski Track-Charles River Canoe & Kayak-Kendall Square Community Ice Skating Phone 617-965-5110 Fax (617) 965-7696 www.PaddleBoston.com // www.SkiBoston.com // KendallSquare.org

Is anyone planning to attend the hearing and provide comments on the bill? It will be important to get some experienced kayakers at the hearing. Mark J 617-965-5110

I talked with Sean and told him that if you can't find a Legend Nigel can use our Rental Shadow. Mark

Unfortunately the bill is not dead. When the MA Legislature is not in session they still meet once or twice a week in informal session. Bills are passed all the time at these informal sessions. This is how the bill passed in the Senate in August. Any legislator can prevent a bill from passing by being present at the informal session and stating his or her opposition to the bill. But this means the legislator, or one of his or her allies, has to be present at every single informal session to make sure that it does not pass. Right now Representative Kay Khan is holding up the passage of the bill in the House. The problem is that even if she prevents the bill from passing this year it will be refiled next session. What we need people to do is to contact their State Reps and ask them to oppose the bill. If more Reps oppose the bill it takes some pressure off Rep Khan and it will force the sponsors of the bill to negotiate changes to the bill so we don't see the same bill come back next year. Mark J >This the response I've received from one of my district >Senators. > >Hello Gene. > >Thanks for the email. I believe the bill is dead. We are out >of session >now. > >Scott Brown

Backers of the Kayak Safety Bill are making a renewed push to pass a version of the bill that passed in the Senate in August. If you don't like what you see below please contact your State Rep. I have found it to be pretty effective to send an e-mail first and then follow up with a phone call an hour later. The State Reps and their staff do read their mail and most often are very interested in the views of their constituents. Contact info for State Reps can be found at http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenuh.htm You may get a response thanking you for your input and a statement that they have referred your comments to the commitee currently studying the bill. Don't settle for this. Ask your Rep for their stand on the bill and ask them to speak to the sponsors of the bill directly. If this Bill is to be improved the sponsors need to know that other State Reps do not support the bill as it is currently written. A copy of the Bill is listed below and my comments are in brackets SENATE, No. 2709 Amendment (offered by Mr. Barrios et al) as a new text for the House Bill_relative to kayak safety (House, No. 4949). _ The Commonwealth of Massachusetts In the Year Two Thousand and Six. SECTION 1. Chapter 90B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 5B the following section:- Section 5C. Every person aboard a kayak, as defined in section 13B, shall wear at all times a Coast Guard approved personal floatation device of Type I, II or III, in good and serviceable condition. [[under this bill, if a canoer, a kayaker and a rower were boating together on the same body of water, at the same time of year, only the kayaker would be required to wear a PFD. This would put law enforcement personnel in a very awkward position. Kayaks are no more dangerous than canoes, rowboats, rowing shells, sailboats, personal watercraft and small powerboats. This Bill would also ban the use of Type V PFDs which are worn by many whitewater paddlers, kayak guides, and rescue personel. A law regulating the use of PFDs for boaters should be based on Massachusetts’s boating safety history as well as current rates of PFD use among boaters. Since 1998 there have been 74 recreational boating fatalities in Massachusetts. The breakdown by craft is as follows: 34 fatalities in motor boats, 20 in canoes, 9 in rowboats, 8 in kayaks, 2 on sailboats, and 1 on a pedal boat. If you look at inland versus coastal fatalities there were 5 kayak fatalities and 4 canoe fatalities that occurred in coastal waters and 3 kayak fatalities and 16 canoe fatalities that occurred on inland waters. These numbers come from Commander Al Johnson who is the recreational boating specialist for the First Coast Guard District. (see attached spreadsheet) The US Coast Guard also commissioned a study, which observed PFD wear rates of recreational boaters from 1998 to 2003. This study showed that between 81% to 86% of kayakers, 20% to 28% of canoeists, and 4% to 5% people on powerboats wore a PFD while boating. See: http://www.uscgboating.org/statistics/2003_PFDReport.PDF The type of boats with the greatest number of fatalities has the lowest rate of PFD use while this legislation focuses on a type of boat that has had fewer fatalities and a much rate of PFD use. Furthermore of the five coastal kayaking fatalities two occurred during October at a time of year that current Massachusetts regulations already require PFDs be worn and the third fatality (Robert Beauvais) was not related to PFD use. I do not have the details on the other two fatalities. If we ere going to address boating safety in Massachusetts we should do it on a comprehensive basis and look at all boats under 26 feet.]] SECTION 2. Section 11 of said chapter 90B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following clause:-__(q) Prescribe safety equipment required to be aboard any kayak, as defined in section 13B, however no such rule or regulation may exempt kayakers from the requirement to wear a personal flotation device as required by section 5C . [[With regards to prescribing safety equipment, we remain concerned about requirements to carry a compass. Under this bill, it would appear that a whitewater kayaker, but not whitewater canoer, would be required to carry a compass. Carrying a compass is a prudent choice for people paddling on the ocean but entirely unnecessary for those paddling on rivers, ponds and lakes, or those who are inexperienced in how to use a compass. Although the amendment appears to remove the specific requirements for a compass, we remain concerned about this possibility coming up under regulation. What equipment is being considered? Requiring equipment with out the skills to use the equipment will not necessarily improve a person’s safety on the water. If the equipment is important to kayakers it is likely to be just as important to people in canoes, rowboats, and powerboats. Since 1998 there were 5 coastal fatalities in kayaks and 4 in canoes. I think more information is needed about what equipment is being considered and again it does not make sense to focus solely on kayaks. More information is needed on Section 2.]] SECTION 3. Said chapter 90B is hereby further amended by inserting after section 13A the following section:— Section 13B. (a) As used in this chapter, “kayak” means a lightweight boat that: (i) is covered, except for a single or double opening in the center thereof; and (ii) is propelled by a double bladed paddle. [[This is an incorrect definition of kayaks, as it does not include sit-on-top kayaks or surfskis, which are kayaks. As this bill is currently worded sit-on-top kayakers, and surfski paddlers would not be required to wear PFDs. It also would not apply to canoes and rowboats which as has been shown above have much lower rates of PFD use and contribute to more than three times the number of recreational boating fatalities in Massachusetts. Again there were have been 5 coastal kayak fatalities and 4 coastal canoe fatalities in Massachusetts since 1998.]] ( Anyone who holds himself out as a kayak instructor for hire shall obtain and maintain: (i) first aid training approved by the department of public health; (ii) cardiopulmonary resuscitation training approved by the department of public health; and (iii) kayak instructor certification from the American Canoe Association, American Red Cross certification in small craft safety and basic water rescue, or equivalent water training. [[Any kayak instructor should very clearly meet these standards but it is unclear why kayak instructors but not canoe instructors, sailing instructors, rowing coaches, should not also meet similar requirements. There is no evidence to show that unqualified people are teaching kayaking in Massachusetts so I again believe that water safety instruction should be looked at in a comprehensive way and not focused on only one type of craft.]] Any course of kayak instruction shall include, but not be limited to; (i) the safety procedures appropriate to the level of kayak paddling difficulty; and (ii) wet exit training, which training shall be conducted prior to a student operating a kayak unsupervised or in water deeper than 5 feet. Wet exit training shall consist of practice escaping from a kayak while submerged in a controlled water setting. Wet exit training shall not be required by this section if the kayak to be utilized by the student during the training is a sealed-hull, sit-on-top or open-decked kayak in which no part of the kayaker’s body is covered or enclosed within the cockpit, or center opening of the kayak. [[The section above relating to wet exit training is still problematic. People cannot become entrapped in kayaks unless they are using a sprayskirt. In the Beauvais case the paddler was given a tight neoprene sprayskirt that cannot be released unless it is removed correctly. It appears that he did not remember the correct method for releasing the sprayskirt and was not able to exit the kayak on his own. Had he not been wearing a sprayskirt the accident would not have occurred. The issue that should be addressed is the need to practice releasing a sprayskirt.]]