Yesterday a new state law took effect in Minnesota requiring carbon monoxide detectors on certain boats. The law, known as ” Sophia’s Law,” now requires marine-certified carbon monoxide detectors on all covered motorboats with an enclosed area for sleeping and a galley with a sink and toilet compartments. The detectors can be either hardwired or battery…
When I bought my 400 searay express 1992 boast it had a great unit on board to detect smoke and carbon but after about 15 years it went bad. Tried to replace it with another unit west marine had over 100.00 dollars and it went off every time we would start up the boat! Was supposed to self adjust for the conditions but it never did. Now we have nothing. Why can’t they make one that was as good as the factory one?
The MN legislature went ‘Ready, Fire, Aim!” on this one, with a confusing brochure which mixed gas and diesel powered boats together, then didn’t have these nifty stickers available until “kinda late”. We’re ready to launch now, have the detector, are now told that we don’t need stickers (diesel) but ought to have them anyway except that they haven’t been printed yet. Swell….
The MN DNR goes sticker happy (again)!!!
Also difficult to enforce since MN law enforcement can’t usually board a vessel.
Reasonable goal, poor implementation.
P.S. The last MN DNR sticker happy effort was for exotics, which the MN Legislature repealed.