Is provincialism raising its head? I'm not really trying to defend the use of sleds on any particular river, but I'm interested in standards, especially double standards.

Navigation by powerboat is not illegal on any river in the state that I know of, presumably due to the general laws pertaining to navigation. Now opinion, altho less than consensus, seems to be that jet sleds belong on larger waterways. The Wynoochee and Satsop are not large rivers by local standards, whether it's measured by wetted width or cfs of flow, or whatever else. The Hoh River by any measure is larger than the Wynoochee and Satsop. So unless we are employing some kind of double standard, how can it be OK to use a jetboat on these rivers and not on the Hoh?

I understand that there may be a local custom - which is probably subject to change. But local custom about what kind of boat is acceptable on a particular river probably doesn't have any legal standing under the laws of navigation.

BTW, I exercise common sense and keep my jet off small streams that I could navigate, but I don't want to hit a drift boat or pontoon boat coming down a narrow, one lane riffle while I'm heading up.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.