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Required Placards & Safety Equipment
This page was last updated on 14 September 2001
One of the requirements for all boats over 26'
in length is the display of specifically-worded placards prohibiting the
discharge of oil and plastic products. Typically, these placards are
cheap, made of plastic--or even stick-on paper--and cheesy-looking. Why
would anyone want to louse up the otherwise beautiful interior of their boat, on
which they otherwise spare no expense, with one of these things? I also
question whether anyone who is ignorant enough and even remotely inclined to
dump oil or throw trash and plastic overboard actually reconsidered because they
saw the placard on board. In other words, has the mere presence of the
placard on board boats prevented this sort of pollution?
Stage set: A beautiful anchorage in the
tropics. A boat swings quietly at anchor in the crystal clear lagoon
waters. Palm trees sway in the background, while native children romp and
play on the black sand beach. A shady-looking character is seen on
board, heading below. Opening the engine room, he says,
Fortunately, there is a classy
alternative. The Elliot Bay
Steam Launch Company makes very nice bronze placards, which might actually
dress up the interior of the boat. Of course I had to have these.
These are the ones that you might have seen in the West Marine catalog; by
ordering them direct from the manufacturer, you do save a few bucks.
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