Fun with the Game Warden.......

[zipper]

I have thought about changing ours that the PO had put on the boat when he bought it from Virginia in 05. They do not contrast enough in my opinion and fade away on one end. We have been looked at by State Police but never pulled over. I will wait until Spring to order new reg. #'s graphic.

 

[the MfM]

You should be able to pick some like this at any hardware store. Simple, classic no nonsense style that Is widely accepted as meeting the regs.

 

[scokill]

Man I am just not having much luck......ready for 2020 to be over with! So yesterday it cooled down here in Central Arkansas and was in the 70's with a little bit of a breeze. I took one of my friends and his wife out on my boat at a nearby lake, Lake Maumelle to check out the boat and do some sight-seeing. This is a nice lake as it's municipal water supply for the Central Arkansas metro so there are a lot of restrictions such as no swimming, no waters sports, not PWC. You are left with basically people cruising around relaxing, people fishing, and a lot of sailboats. So unless there's a lot of wind, you typically get pretty smooth waters. We were out for about an hour or so and I was just cruising around showing them the shoreline and places you can see from the highway. I got down to the far end of the lake where the river feeds into the lake under a small highway bridge (Arkansas Highway 10), and was cruising parallel to the bridge to turn around and head back in the other direction, moving along at about 10 - 15 mph. My buddy has kayaks so I was telling him no boats with motors are allowed on the other side of that highway bridge because it shallows off and is a great place we need to take the Kayaks out to sometime. About that time I see a green Johnboat with a motor coming out from under the bridge, and as I'm thinking "well that guy is breaking the rules", I see blue light start flashing.............

I stop my boat and shut off the engine expecting a basic safety check stop to happen, and me and my buddy work to keep the game wardens metal boat from hitting mine. I immediately hand the guy my boat registration and insurance before he asks for it, and have my PFDs and throwable in the middle of the boat floor where visible. He asks for my drvier's license too, so I hand him that also. He proceeds to tell me the "the reason I stopped you today is that I cannot read your hull number at all and you are going to have to take those numbers off and replace them with something else because they are reflective I can't read them". I have 3" Chrome domed lettering that is block style on a white hull that should definitely meet the defined contrast requirements. He came out from under the bridge when I was cruising parallel to it, so there is no way he could have seen me prior to that (levee there the highway runs across and he was on the other side of it).......but he said he tried to see my hull number with binoculars and could not read it at all. If he was using binoculars when coming out from under the bridge when we were only maybe 20 yards apart he needs to have his eyes checked.....

I passed all of my safety inspection and he just wrote me an "official warning" for my hull number. The most stressful part of the entire ordeal was trying to keep my boat off of his metal boat, and off of the bank.

I guess he was just bored, and I'm sure these guys have to record so many safety checks to meet some quota and I'm totally fine with that. It's their job to be sure people have insurance, registration, PFDs etc. The frustrating thing for me is that I paid like $70 for these nice-looking domed chrome letters/numbers that this one game warden is now telling me I have to change because "he" couldn't read them (which I don't believe is the case). Has anybody else had an encounter like this? This sounds to me like one of those "at the officer's discretion" scenarios that can be easily abused if one chooses.

I don't believe my numbers are illegal, and that they do meet the requirements as defined by the state of Arkansas. I'm trying to figure out who to contact with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission as I want somebody to confirm whether or not these number are indeed considered "illegal" before I pull them off (flush $70) and then have to buy new numbers (not even sure what else would look good on my boat).

Here's what my registration number looks like on my boat as well as the language defining requirements for hull registration # display by the state of Arkansas. I don't see in the language where I don't meet the defined requirements. Nowhere does it say that the lettering/numbering cannot be reflective. My other biggest dilemma now too is that if I go back to this lake again this same guy is likely going to harass me about this and write me a ticket (not sure if it would hold up in court, but would be a big hassle). I have respect for all law enforcement, including the game wardens, but things like this are one of the things that give them a bad name.......In my opinion I wasn't doing anything wrong and was perfectly fine with the safety check. I felt like the guy was disappointed that I had all my PFDs, throwable, insurance, & registration..........just unnecessary stress on what should have been a relaxing day. Sorry for the long post but need to vent and get some other opinions on this as well!

View attachment 133948

View attachment 133950

Don’t see any issue with being stopped nor the warning. I wish there were 10x more game wardens and patrols.

 

[YamaHog]

Go get some black Plasti-Dip. It'll be flat-ish (matte finish when it's dry). It'll stick without much prep needed, if any. It'll also be SUPER easy to remove any overspray, to the point that I wouldn't even tape it off. It will tend to break nicely where it needs to come off, but if you're experiencing problems with this, take an X-acto knife or utility knife to cut it to help it come off where you want it. You'll actually be better off OVERspraying it with the same thickness all around the letters, it'll give you a nicer look, and be easier to remove if you've got some extra to hold onto when peeling the excess.


You'll have enough in one can of Plasti-Dip to do your letters 5-6 times over, so if you want, you can set something up to practice OFF the boat, and if you don't like the look or if it's more difficult than you'd like, you're only out a few bucks for the attempt. If you want something a little glossier, or perhaps with a pearl-type sheen or whatever, they also make additional stuff for that. Your local hardware store might carry the additional finishes (one of the 3 big-box stores in my area does, the other two do not), but if not, these guys do: DipYourCar - World Famous Peelable Auto Paint

I was actually contemplating trying flat black plasti dip. The thing that was nice about the chrome numbers I have is than them came pre-spaced and everything. You just peeled the back plastic off, lined it up, and applied. Plasti dip is $20 or less for a spray can so could be a quick temporary fix for the rest of this season at least.

Maybe have your contrast and your chrome at the same time?

Wake Series Domed Boat Lettering Black Center / Chrome Outline

I thought about those, and 3D Lettering is actually where I got my existing numbers from. However, to be safe at this point I'm just going to avoid anything glossy, shiny, or remotely reflective. Will probably just go with a flat or satin black. Those do look really nice though!

You should be able to pick some like this at any hardware store. Simple, classic no nonsense style that Is widely accepted as meeting the regs.

View attachment 133977

Those are exactly what I DON"T want to put on my boat! Had those on my grandfather's 1976 Fabuglas bass boat.....and they were not necessarily straight either. lol

 

[YamaHog]

So it seems that opinions are pretty strong one way or the other (as expected)! Just be clear I was not trying to do anything nefarious here or bend by the rules and regulations. Based on the way the rules are written AND also seeing these on other boats, I thought I was within the requirements defined when I bought these and put them on my boat (note the rules I posted say they have to be a contrasting color). Some think chrome on white contrasts, while others here disagree......and this proves my point exactly in regards to them being a bit clearer in definition. It's kind of a subjective gray area, especially for new boaters who want to meet the required regulations, but also want their new boats to look nice.

 

[YamaHog]

I’ll give a law enforcement officer’s perspective on this. I’ll preface this by saying I’m a sergeant in a Chicago suburb, and thankfully we don’t have really have time for petty stuff like this. That being said, the Game Warden/Conservation Officer isn’t wrong in this situation. Chrome is basically like a mirror, and when the sun hits it the reflection can be blinding. Ever been behind a semi trailer with chrome plated doors on the back with the sun hitting them? Add in the reflection from the water, it could be damn near impossible to make out individual letters and numbers, and it has nothing to do with the quality of his eyesight. Just look at the reflection on the number 5 in your photo, and that’s without the sun directly hitting it. I would just replace them, black is obviously a much better contrast with the white. There are so many options out there I’m sure you can find something nice like what you have. Lastly, I did refer to this as petty, but the rules are the rules and they exist for a reason, and this officer was doing his job, despite it being inconvenient for you.

I appreciate your input and perspective on this. I can see the reflection on the water coming into play here. Yes, the black is a better contrast on white but doesn't look quite as nice aesthetics-wise. I'm going to go with some kind of flat of satin black (no gloss) so there shouldn't be any question to it being readable.

 

[Ronnie]

If it were me and I frequent the lake regularly or planned to, I would just do what the LEO told me/warned me about. Warnings are discretionary not mandatory. if you successfully appeal you will win this battle but what about the next one with the same LEO? I think the letters would look good if they matched the trim color of the boat. Someday you may need to be towed back to the ramp by the same LEO, stranger things have happened. Clearly, I’m in the “don’t start none, won’t be none” camp But only because I’ve opened a few cans of “whoop ass” with varying results already.

 

[rkluck]

My thoughts are although they look cool they don't contrast enough. Why take a chance to be stopped for something like this since that always opens up other opportunities to find something else. When it comes to things like this I always take the safe route to avoid any future problems I can.

 

[AZMark]

If it were me and I frequent the lake regularly or planned to, I would just do what the LEO told me/warned me about. Warnings are discretionary not mandatory. if you successfully appeal you will win this battle but what about the next one with the same LEO? I think the letters would look good if they matched the trim color of the boat. Someday you may need to be towed back to the ramp by the same LEO, stranger things have happened. Clearly, I’m in the “don’t start none, won’t be none” camp But only because I’ve opened a few cans of “whoop ass” with varying results already.

Totally agree. I’ve had a couple encounters with one dipshit ranger here, both on my boat and out of my dirt bike, and it’s not worth fighting with them unless there’s a fine involved. They get to chose if they hassle you or leave you alone so I’d rather they either like me or not know me at all, even if it’s an argument you may win.

 

[YamaHog]

Well I got an order in today with Boatletteringtoyou.com for some new numbers in Arial Black font only, non-reflective premium Marine vinyl. Should be in later this week. The font is Italic so they've have the same slanted look as my current numbers, in a block font , just won't be raised/domed. They should be easy to read and meet all the requirements.......flat black on white for the best contrast possible on a white hull.

 

[YamaHog]

And here's the new numbers applied.

 

[drewkaree]

Those look terrible, wouldn't something like a domed mirror type look a lot better?

 

[bigwaves]

And here's the new numbers applied.

View attachment 134854

The new letters and numbers definitely contrast. As I read through the the thread I was going to suggest using the BoatUS website to order new letters and numbers. They offer a very robust website (in my opinion) allowing the user to customize, font, color, borders, shading and size. You may have been able to match up your contrasting color just above the rub rail with a darker or black outline. But what you have gets the job done for sure. Enjoy what's left of your season!