LETTERS supermarket and she'd be ready to cruise anywhere. By the way, I have to agree with the Wanderer about the appeal of small and nimble sailboats. I have been racing on Stewart 34s, a New Zealand one-design racer-cruiser for the past 12 years, and when 'Shadow sells, I plan to buy one. But as the Wanderer also knows, there's nothing like a big boat when you're living on board and sailing across a lot of open water. George Backhus & Merima Dzaferi Moonshadow, Deerfoot 2-62 Lying in Jacksonville, Florida Ex-Sausalito / Auckland, New Zealand ⇑⇓EQUAL COPPER RIGHTS FOR ALL Latitude has been reporting on recently passed legislation in my home state of Washington that bans copper-based bottom paints. As a fish-loving environmentalist, I'm all for it — but only if adequate alternatives can be developed. In my opinion, the law we passed is a politically mutated sham that will burden the small boat owner and do little or nothing to improve water quality. Why? Commercial vessels and yachts over 65 feet are exempted. I cannot fathom the reason for this exemption. It is tempting to think that those groups had better lobbyists in our state capital, but who knows? In any case, knowing that Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen's various megayachts and the Washington State Ferry System will be dumping more copper into Puget Sound every day than my little Islander 28 is likely to leach in her lifetime makes it very difficult for me to buy into the idea that I'm going to buck up and help save our waters. As I said, I'm all for helping to improve water quality, but the policies must be fair. As written, ours is not. Jeff Lange Annie Lee, Islander 28 Anacortes, WA Jeff — It does seem odd that the vessels being exempted from the law will be: 1) Government ferries. Shouldn't Washington's 'green government' be leading the 'green revolution' by example? 2) Boats over 65 feet, which proportionally use more bottom paint than smaller boats. If we ever take Profligate to Washington, we suppose we're going to have to consider adding a 2-ft broomstick to her bow to qualify for the exemption. And 3) the megayachts of billionaires, who more than anyone could afford the extra expense — albeit minor — that will be incurred by the mandated use of non-copper bottom paints. By the way, has the state of Washington gotten around to passing legislation that will prohibit the use of copper in brake pads? As most people know, copper from brake pads is the biggest source of copper-related water pollution. ⇑⇓"I'VE GOT AN ITCH RIIIIIGHT THERE" Just because the development plans for Treasure Island have been approved by the city of San Francisco doesn't necessarily mean the projected buildings will actually be built. Years ago, the Navy gave their old training center to the city of San Diego for what was to be low-income housing. It took years for the city to do anything, and when they decided to act, the low-income housing was cancelled because "developers couldn't make enough money." That meant the lottery for getting onto the list to buy the low-cost housing was cancelled as well. A new list of people was created to see who got first crack at no-longer-low-income housing and the list was heavy on city council members and family members Page 48 •
Latitude 38
• August, 2011
