Sharp increases in the elevation of the bottom, rocky outcrops, underwater cables, scuba divers, drift nets for commercial fishing, whales, seals, dolphins, small craft and weather conditions. A list of things that have to do with water for $50 please, Alex. No, these are many of the things that boaters must keep in mind while navigating coastal waters. Boaters navigating coastal waters in the Oceans are required by law to have registered GPS location, radio frequencies and boat registrations, all registered with the Coast Guard, and the harbour master if boating out of a registered harbour.

Deep sea fishing operators all must have these safety features, as well as any craft that carries more than just the boat operator, meaning those that have passengers of any sort, paying or not. Sometimes the law really does save us from ourselves.

In the Great Lakes of North America, any boats with motors more powerful than 9.9 horsepower must be registered with the Coast Guard, the Provincial/State Police, and keep a land-based record of who is on the boat, estimated times of departure and arrival, as well as the meaning of the journey (pleasure, fishing, fishing charter, etc.). All of these rules and stipulations are for the safety of all of the people on board the boat, in case of any unforeseen incident causing distress that requires assistance.

I was working on a lobster boat, a 42 foot fibreglass boat with a 600 horsepower engine. For three summers (from May 21 to Sept. 15) I either fished for lobster, worked on the boat and her equipment, worked as a first mate while doing deep sea fishing charters. I was also the harbour safety inspector, working for the Canadian Coast Guard on a part-time basis, out of North Rustico Harbour, Prince Edward Island. It was my duty to make sure that every boat that came into, or left out of my harbour had all necessary safety equipment on board, and displayed their registration as required.

If the boat failed, and the boat operator did not listen to my instructions to heave to and return to port, a Coast Guard radio operator would call the boat and tell them to return to port. If they still did not co-operate, a Coast Guard Cutter would be dispatched to intercept the boat. It was mind boggling the number of people who just could not bother making sure that every person on their boats had a personal floatation device.

Many times, boaters fail to keep in mind that the Ocean is a very powerful force of

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