Re: Maxium Capacities
Your kids will only get bigger and you will soon find there is little room for compromises. The more people, the more stuff that also comes along..ie food, drinks, gear, etc. which tends to complicate matters. The max capacities are determined by the boats inherent engineering and many other formulas that are probably not understood by you, me and most other boat owners. One important matter to understand is that conditions for what the boat has been rated for may change in an instant as a 30 footer cruising by may cause just enough wake to capsize.<br /><br />Unless loading and unloading at the public launches where enforcement officers tend to position themselve's most, I've seen capacity restrictions often overlooked. I see boats on our lake every day that are grossly overloaded with passengers and if stopped the enforcement officers are mostly concerned there is a life jacket for each occupant. Issuing a citation for overloading usually means boarding your boat to examine it's capacity plate if it even has one and having everyone stand on a bathroom scale. From my observations, I get the idea most enforcement officers don't want to go there as it may be construed as harrasement.<br /><br />If only breaking the law is your concern, I think you will get by for a while until some anal attentive rookie goes over your entire boat with his checklist. However, your responsibility as an adult is to insure the safety of your children. The most important question you need to ask is to yourself...God forbid something should ever happen could you look in the mirror each morning and say "I did everything possible" when you knew indeed the boat was overloaded?
