Grand Haven, MI exhaust...
08-13-2007, 11:01 PM
#21
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Todd I am ready to fill it out. I know GH area lost around $500. from me this year because I did not goto the Festival due to all the problems. That was just one weekend.
08-13-2007, 11:14 PM
#22
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I will try to get something together soon. Its time we boaters ban together and try to get something accomplished.
These problems could soon start spreading to other small cities.
These problems could soon start spreading to other small cities.
08-14-2007, 07:59 AM
#23
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Grand Haven has a lot to offer..................................
But currently South Haven and St. Joeseph are the friendliest to boaters and have been for several years. Saugatuck would be third in line but still pretty good and Grand Haven comes in Dead last with the hassles .
So as you stated I would hate to see this spread to other ports.
Jon
But currently South Haven and St. Joeseph are the friendliest to boaters and have been for several years. Saugatuck would be third in line but still pretty good and Grand Haven comes in Dead last with the hassles .
So as you stated I would hate to see this spread to other ports.
Jon
08-14-2007, 09:15 AM
#24
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May already have spread to Holland. I talked to a friend yesterday with a 38" Cigarette and he got pulled over Saturday coming back into Holland. The cop told him the noise thing was their top priority.
Jim
Jim
08-14-2007, 03:07 PM
#26
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Sent to the Mayor of Grand Haven and all four City Council members today from yours truly:
Dear Mayor Bergman and Council Members,
From August 4th through 12th of 2007, my wife and I arranged to have our boat transported from Chesapeake Bay to Lake Michigan for 9 days of vacation, including extensive boat travel and a family reunion in the Grand Haven area. We were delighted with our reception and the facilities at South Haven, St. Joseph, New Buffalo, Saugatuck, Port Sheldon and Holland. As we entered Grand Haven for the final four days of our visit, we were impressed by the presentation of the city and all it appeared to offer. This experience came to an abrupt, intimidating and somewhat frightening end as we passed by the city launch ramp and were stopped by Deputy Dykhouse of the Ottawa County Sheriff's department.
Deputy Dykhouse was thoroughly professional and courteous in his demeanor throughout our experience, but the news that he had to deliver was nothing short of chilling and put a heavy damper on the remainder of our vacation. We were informed that the noise regulation for Grand Haven was 90 dB, measured directly at the transom of the boat, a noise regulation that we did not meet, and that is far stricter than any we had ever experienced or even heard of on any body of water in our 23 years of boating. We were informed that standard procedure would normally dictate that our boat be required to cease operation immediately and be removed from the area. As we had no trailer, this would have left us not only boatless, but without accommodations, as we sleep onboard. In the end, we were basically told to leave and not return unless the boat was modified to meet the 90 dB requirement. Imagine if this had taken place on a stormy winter's day! Our only other option was to somehow make the boat comply with the regulations, a project that we had no idea how to undertake.
Considering making this kind of modification to a boat when one is hundreds of miles from home is intimidating, expensive and laughably unrealistic. Our only choice was to book a marina as close as possible to the inlet and proceed in and out with just one engine running, hoping that there would be no ill consequences from not being able to maneuver normally in a highly-congested area, or to be pulled over and again fail the test. (The Deputy did not test us with only one engine running; he insisted that both engines be started, denying us the opportunity to attempt to meet the regulation.)
Grand Haven was denied hundreds of dollars of our boating money, as we made it a point to avoid the city to the extent possible. We were subjected to several days of stress and anxiety, and an otherwise pleasant vacation experience was permanently tarnished. Consider these thoughts from our point of view:
Nowhere on the waters of Grand Haven is there a reference to the unique 90 dB limit.
Nowhere online can I find any reference to the 90 dB limit.
To a boater, this is akin to driving your car into a strange town, only to find that your turn signals must be purple instead of amber.
Deputy Dykhouse did not seem to have any options to allow us a grace period or an alternative method of operation that would comply with the regulation.
While the implementation of noise regulations on the water is understandable and not unusual, the 90 dB limit is onerous at best and farcical in reality. It shows no basis in accepted practice elsewhere that I am aware of.
In several years, my wife and I plan to complete an extensive "Great Loop" journey of the Eastern seaboard, including the Great Lakes. Unless the situation changes in Grand Haven, your city will not be on our list of ports of call. Our money will be spent elsewhere, and we will devote considerable effort into encouraging others to do the same.
Good day.
Chuck Sprague
MV "Me, Too!"
Temple, PA
Dear Mayor Bergman and Council Members,
From August 4th through 12th of 2007, my wife and I arranged to have our boat transported from Chesapeake Bay to Lake Michigan for 9 days of vacation, including extensive boat travel and a family reunion in the Grand Haven area. We were delighted with our reception and the facilities at South Haven, St. Joseph, New Buffalo, Saugatuck, Port Sheldon and Holland. As we entered Grand Haven for the final four days of our visit, we were impressed by the presentation of the city and all it appeared to offer. This experience came to an abrupt, intimidating and somewhat frightening end as we passed by the city launch ramp and were stopped by Deputy Dykhouse of the Ottawa County Sheriff's department.
Deputy Dykhouse was thoroughly professional and courteous in his demeanor throughout our experience, but the news that he had to deliver was nothing short of chilling and put a heavy damper on the remainder of our vacation. We were informed that the noise regulation for Grand Haven was 90 dB, measured directly at the transom of the boat, a noise regulation that we did not meet, and that is far stricter than any we had ever experienced or even heard of on any body of water in our 23 years of boating. We were informed that standard procedure would normally dictate that our boat be required to cease operation immediately and be removed from the area. As we had no trailer, this would have left us not only boatless, but without accommodations, as we sleep onboard. In the end, we were basically told to leave and not return unless the boat was modified to meet the 90 dB requirement. Imagine if this had taken place on a stormy winter's day! Our only other option was to somehow make the boat comply with the regulations, a project that we had no idea how to undertake.
Considering making this kind of modification to a boat when one is hundreds of miles from home is intimidating, expensive and laughably unrealistic. Our only choice was to book a marina as close as possible to the inlet and proceed in and out with just one engine running, hoping that there would be no ill consequences from not being able to maneuver normally in a highly-congested area, or to be pulled over and again fail the test. (The Deputy did not test us with only one engine running; he insisted that both engines be started, denying us the opportunity to attempt to meet the regulation.)
Grand Haven was denied hundreds of dollars of our boating money, as we made it a point to avoid the city to the extent possible. We were subjected to several days of stress and anxiety, and an otherwise pleasant vacation experience was permanently tarnished. Consider these thoughts from our point of view:
Nowhere on the waters of Grand Haven is there a reference to the unique 90 dB limit.
Nowhere online can I find any reference to the 90 dB limit.
To a boater, this is akin to driving your car into a strange town, only to find that your turn signals must be purple instead of amber.
Deputy Dykhouse did not seem to have any options to allow us a grace period or an alternative method of operation that would comply with the regulation.
While the implementation of noise regulations on the water is understandable and not unusual, the 90 dB limit is onerous at best and farcical in reality. It shows no basis in accepted practice elsewhere that I am aware of.
In several years, my wife and I plan to complete an extensive "Great Loop" journey of the Eastern seaboard, including the Great Lakes. Unless the situation changes in Grand Haven, your city will not be on our list of ports of call. Our money will be spent elsewhere, and we will devote considerable effort into encouraging others to do the same.
Good day.
Chuck Sprague
MV "Me, Too!"
Temple, PA
__________________
Retired! Boating full-time now.
Retired! Boating full-time now.
08-16-2007, 12:25 PM
#28
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Just remember that if you start something with these guys, you better have a really good lawyer and case or all your going to do is piss them off more. I am not sticking up for them in no means, I wish they'd lay off but after talking with them every Tuesday when I pull there boats for cleaning and service I know they are under alot of pressure from the city because of the new condo owners. If you saw the news when they talked about it June, they interviewed one of the new owners and he said "it's like living next to the highway and he's standing in the median". These are the people causing most of the problems with their phone calls when a go fast goes screaming by the pier. I thinks that's bull**** and if you move to Grand Haven thinking your not going to hear any boats, get your head out of your ass and move somewhere else. I had one of them complaining to me about the musical fountain every night and how they just want it to be Friday and Saturday night. It rediculous and hopefully next year they will relax and gas prices will be down and Grand Haven will be back to normal!!
08-16-2007, 12:59 PM
#29
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I would be really interested to know if the businesses in Grand Haven have seen a negative economic impact yet. If they have not, they certainly will. They probably lost at least $1,000-$1,500 of C Spray's cash, multiply that times a few hundred or a few thousand boats a year. You gotta write a helluva lot of noise tickets to make up for the millions lost in tourism dollars. Sad thing is, once boaters find someplace else they like to go, they will not be back, period. This whole thing is so stupid, it almost makes me think Granholm is behind it.
08-16-2007, 02:29 PM
#30
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LOL,.................How can you move to the lake and think it's all peace and quite like your the only person with the whole lake to your entire self.
These people dreamed of moving to the lake and it wasn't well thought out. There's side effects to everything in life.
Just like the city folks moving out to the beautiful country and wonder why farms stink, and dirt bikes and quads are loud.
Argh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jon
These people dreamed of moving to the lake and it wasn't well thought out. There's side effects to everything in life.
Just like the city folks moving out to the beautiful country and wonder why farms stink, and dirt bikes and quads are loud.
Argh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jon
