Northwest Fishing Reports

I was trying to figure out what the timeline is for getting the mandatory boaters education card. I'm having trouble narrowing down the deadline. I'm 28 and I think I'm suppose to have one this year but I'm not sure. Any help would be great. Thanks- Ray

You should have one this year. I just got mine this year too though, I forgot about having to get it last year. I think if they're going to enforce this law, they should definitely bring it up a lot more often because the only time I ever really heard about it is was when it first got started.

By "boaters education card" I assume you mean the new boat tax, where you're charged $40 to drive a boat, that's thinly masked as a "test of knowledge". My cat aced the online test last week, and he's never even been in a boat, at least not that i know of.

Yeah you're due up this year. I suggest finding the oldest person you know and always take them fishing with you and let them drive the boat. You should be good for another few years with this method.

Thanks for the info jball and Nik. I found one shitty chart showing I was up in 2010 but no actual date so I guess I'm good through the year. Yeah you're right they don't advertise it well enough but I'm sure they're quick to give you a ticket if you don't have it. Gotta love our state government.

Nik wrote:By "boaters education card" I assume you mean the new boat tax, where you're charged $40 to drive a boat, that's thinly masked as a "test of knowledge". My cat aced the online test last week, and he's never even been in a boat, at least not that i know of.

Yeah you're due up this year. I suggest finding the oldest person you know and always take them fishing with you and let them drive the boat. You should be good for another few years with this method.

It is a boat tax, but it's only like $10.


And to OP, you do need the card.

http://parks.wa.gov/boating/boatered/?subject=faq


*edit* It's been a while and I guess it is $40, lol.

I'm 26 and starting this year i had to get it,but it applies for 15hp or more. I finally got it after 3 tries, they threw in some trick questions at the end of the test to try and make me take it again but i figured them out!!At least the card is good for life,you don't have to renew it like the drivers license.Costed $34!!![thumbsup]

Nik wrote:By "boaters education card" I assume you mean the new boat tax, where you're charged $40 to drive a boat, that's thinly masked as a "test of knowledge". My cat aced the online test last week, and he's never even been in a boat, at least not that i know of.

Yeah you're due up this year. I suggest finding the oldest person you know and always take them fishing with you and let them drive the boat. You should be good for another few years with this method.

I fully support WA requiring the Boater Safety Card. In fact, I wish they would make you retake the test every 5 years or so.

You say I’m crazy? Here’s my theory: There’s two groups of people.

One group, the boater safety card is not intended for. It’s the people on this forum. We are fisherman and use our boats as a tool to fish. The boats we use are just a tool, nothing more, nothing less. They get us out on the water to enjoy the thrill of fishing.

The second group is where the boater safety card is needed and intended for. It’s for the weekend adventurers who usually have more money, alcohol, and horsepower than brains. Think about your experiences: the jetskiers that buzz an anchored boat on an open lake…the “boater” who shows up at the dock drunk and hops behind the wheel of a boat…the rich, rookie boat owner who has a 200+ hp boat, yet he has no idea of how to control it. I guarantee anyone reading this has seen all of these scenarios multiple times.

The boater safety card is intended for the later group. As an overall rule, the people on this forum do still fall into the category of boaters so we still need to abide by the law.

At a small cost to me, I hope the boater safety card does slow people down and get the idiots off the water. It’d be nice to see the boater safety card more strictly enforced. For my safety and piece of mind, I’d be happy to show an enforcement person that I’m legal to drive my boat in order to keep someone who doesn’t have that card off the water.

So who is enforcing the law on this anyways? Coast Guard, WDFW? My friend that's in the reserves of Coast Guard and goes every month over to Seattle for training and all that didn't even know that there was a boater's education card when I told him about it before. So I'm wondering if they're even asking boaters if they have it. You're right about some people being stupid getting drunk and going out though, definitely have seen it at Whaling Days in Silverdale, some people with their jet boats going out on the boat really drunk.

Get government out of my life and wallet as much as possible. When does goverment ever solve a problem instead of make things worse?

jbball50 wrote:So who is enforcing the law on this anyways? Coast Guard, WDFW?

It's a state law, not federal, so no surprise your USCG Reserves friend had no knowledge unless he's a WA boat owner. To answer the question on enforcement, it's supposed to be enforced by the same folks that write tickets on the water for other state violations, respective county sheriff marine enforcement. Might even see some local municipality marine enforcement if they exist. While WDFW could possibly enforce the law, it's not a fish and wildlife issue.

I agree with clarkbre, but I've seen just as many "sportsman" in boats that meet his "weekend adventurer's" definition as boating enthusiasts who don't. The groups are not mutually exclusive, significant bad examples exist in both.

It was specifically pushed through by insurance companies because of the high numbers of under aged jetski drivers and accidents. I'm not sure the card really has anything to do with jetski's in perticular but it keeps the little jerks off the water. I don't know about you guys but I noticed a big drop in their numbers on the water when the cards became mandatory. I think they're a great idea, even if they only save one person a year from being run over by a jetski.

Bodofish wrote:It was specifically pushed through by insurance companies because of the high numbers of under aged jetski drivers and accidents.

That has some merit. I took my safety class/test online through a site from the Kawasaki website. It was a free class and they sent me a certificate and everything. So in all, my card only cost me $10.

Later that summer I went to insure my boat (Lund WC16 w/ a 15hp Suzuki). State Farm asked me if I had taken a boater safety course and I showed them the card. It ended up saving me 10% or 15% on my boat policy.

After everything, I've at least made my money back and then some by having the boater's safety card.

http://www.boatus.org/onlinecourse/


Course was free and they only charge you if you need it mailed to you.

Print a few copies for future use.


I did this and I think this qualifies...anyone else do this?

Big Smooth wrote:http://www.boatus.org/onlinecourse/


Course was free and they only charge you if you need it mailed to you.

Print a few copies for future use.


I did this and I think this qualifies...anyone else do this?

Says it's good for Washington so it should be fine, I should've done that one instead of boat-ed.com, they charged 30 dollars once you passed the test and 10 dollars to mail your boater's license.

Big Smooth wrote:http://www.boatus.org/onlinecourse/


Course was free and they only charge you if you need it mailed to you.

Print a few copies for future use.


I did this and I think this qualifies...anyone else do this?

I did it this way a few weeks ago, it took about 2 weeks to get the card from the state after I mailed the certificate and application with the $10.00 of course.

Ahhh.. thanks, almost forgot to give the state their money Wouldn't want to miss that opportunity

The free safety course is just that. A course. You still need the State card to be legal if you are of the age that requires it.

This is a rare occasion where it pays to be older.I dont need the card and needent pay the Govt any more then I have to.

So let’s change things up a bit and ask this question differently. Even if you weren't required by the state of WA (and pay the card fee), who has taken a boaters safety course?

If so why?

And if not, why not?

I did back in '71. And again in about 2000. Why? Because I wanted to.

Passed both times. Don't need no course again.

edit: '98.