SUN JOURNAL • February 19, 2022
I taught my sons safe boating practices. To my knowledge, they never got lost in the fog, never hit a rock, and never had a problem operating the outboard. If a boating education law, LD 1663, now being debated had been the law, my boys would have been operating illegally. As their parent, I would have been subjected to a $500 fine. LD 1663, which the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife supports, will create a mandatory boating education requirement in Maine. Snowsledders operate under no similar regulatory restraints. All of the snowmobile safety courses are strictly voluntary. If the mandatory boating education law passes, the same youngster who must be state certified to operate an outboard motor would be legal to operate a high-powered snowsled without any required state certification. There is a freedom-erosion issue as well. In our modern frenzy to create a zero-risk society, we give away a little more of our personal freedom to state government. ~ V. Paul Reynolds