New Bahamas Sportfishing
Regulations Coming Soon

As we flirted with the news in the last issue, the new government of the Bahamas is soon going to announce amendments to “Regulation 48 of the Fisheries Regulation,” better known as the Sportfishing Rules. This change is expected to be in the direction of relaxing demersal catch limits on non-Bahamian flagged boats.

According to Carlton Sands at the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, changes will be announced to the press during the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show in October. Currently, three-month fishing permits are included with the payment of the 12-month cruising permit fee ($300 for boats over 35-feet).

A Vital Call to Action

As of July 30, 27 members of the U.S. House of representatives had signed on to co-sponsor HR 2550 “The Recreational Boating Act of 2007,” which would continue the 34-year exemption from accidental discharge by recreational boat operators. (You missing co-signers from Georgia, South Carolina and Mississippi know who you are.) We first wrote about this in July’s View From the Pilothouse. If this relief act isn’t passed, every last boat owner will need a permit to run their engines again, as discharge of engine cooling water–along with A/C cooling water, gray water, bilge water and even storm runoff–will be prohibited. Passage of this relief act will NOT open the floodgates for sewage discharge because the legal foul-up does not supercede federal or state discharge or pollution laws. The clock is ticking folks...without passage of the corrective legislation (HR 2550) by September 30, 2008, you, me and everyone who owns anything bigger than a canoe will be up a creek.

New Route for Florida’s
Winterfest Boat Parade

You might have an even bigger reason to view the “World’s Most Watched Boat Parade” this year on December 15. Skippers are going to be dealing with a new twist, or literally a half dozen of them, as the Seminole Hardrock Winterfest Boat Parade adapts to a new parade route. The new route will see the fleet staging up the New River between the 7th Avenue Bridge and the split of the river into North and South Forks. It’s estimated that moving the route to incorporate downtown Fort Lauderdale before emptying into the ICW for a jaunt north to Lake Santa Barbara could add up to an additional quarter million spectators to the parade between the balconies of the new riverfront highrises and Riverwalk. A fireworks barge will accompany the parade fleet, stopping for displays near the Riverside Hotel, at each of the bridges enroute, and at the public reviewing stands at Birch State Park. For details, visit winterfestparade.com.

Jeanneau Celebrates
Fifty Years At Annapolis Show

Because the name Jeanneau is inextricably linked in the minds of the U.S. marine market with sailing yachts, Jeanneau America will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary of production boatbuilding during the Annapolis Sailboat Show on October 5. In point of fact, all the Jeanneaus from 1956 to 1970 were powerboats and 12 new powerboats models have recently been introduced. In 1995, the company was acquired by Beneteau. Together with the brands Wauquiez and Lagoon, the Beneteau Group is the world’s largest producer of sailing yachts. Happy Birthday!