Peggie Hall wrote:

>James Calore wrote:
>>
>> Peggy:
>> What exactly does the coast guard do upon boarding and inspecting your boat?
>> I mean, do they board any boat at random? Just to check the head? Do they
>> need *cause*? If your `Y' valve is in the wrong position, what's the
>> consequences?
>> TIA

>It may not always be the CG...it ca open sea beyond the 3-mile limit, it must
>either be wired in the right position or one side needs to go to a tank,
>they other to a Type I or II CG certified MSD...and they will definitely
>frown on any means of dumping the tank.

>While it doesn't accomplish much in waters where Types I and II are
>legal, in zero discharge waters where only Type III (holding tanks) are
>legal they may drop a dye tablet in the toilet and flush it...if there's
>a dye stain in the water around your boat, you're in trouble. The
>consequences vary...each state decides what the fines shall be for
>non-compliance. On Lake Lanier, no holding tank will cost you
>$750...caught in the act of discharging adds to the fine...displaying
>the sticker that says you're legal when you're not adds more...it can
>run up above $1500...and if you get testy with 'em, they can find other
>safety violations to charge you with, just to prove who's in charge! <g>

>To be sure of what you need to do to be ``legal,'' and what it could
>cost you not to be, check with your own local authorities.

>Peggie Hall/Peal Products
>Specializing in marine toilet systems since 1987

It was announced today in Washington that the federal government was commissioning a study to determine the feasibility of requiring diapers on whales by the year 2000 to control the dumping of mamalian fecal matter by whales.

The environmental group DOWN (Diapers on Whales Now) recently released figures claiming that whales were responsible for dumping more than 500 million long tons of fecal matter each year. DOWN spokesperson Millicent P. Coprolite in an interview on the Sally Jesse Raphael show said: ``We can not longer close our eyes and minds to this problem. Something must be done soon or the oceans of the world will no longer be fit for other life forms. Our estimates are that if the present whale pollution continues the oceans will contain 70% whale fecal matter by the year 2030. Some in our organization wanted to sterilize the whales to reduce the population but we ran into trouble with our sister environmental group, Save the Whales, which threatened to have our government funding cut off if we were serious about such a proposal.''

Some environmental groups, led by PETA, are saying that requiring whales to wear diapers would constitute cruelty to animals and are insisting that the government establish Whale Comfort Stations every 25 nautical miles crisscrosing the oceans and bays of the world. They are proposing that these comfort stations be funded with a new tax on the boating public and that a new government agency be created to properly maintain the proposed comfort stations.