Jacques Says Jet Skis Are Not Firearms

We don’t like to be critical, but sometimes the information passed along on various sailing websites is ridiculous. For example, someone sent us a copy of some exchanges on one of Sailboatowners.com‘s bulletin boards, where a contributor expressed admiration for the attitude of French officials toward Jet Skis. According to this fellow: "When a yacht with a Jet Ski checks in with Customs [on a French Island] one of the forms is a declaration of firearms. If you have a firearm aboard, you need to declare it and keep it on the boat locked up. That same form has Jet Skis on it. Bring a Jet Ski to the French Islands in the Caribbean, and it’s registered as a firearm. You can’t take it off the boat. Always thought that was one of the best ideas of the French. Other than the toothbrush."

This is just so much rubbish. We know, because right now we’re on a French Island in the Caribbean, and we just went downstairs to the Port Captain’s office to ask our friend Jacques about it. "No," he said, "Jet Skis are not considered firearms, and no, you don’t have to register them." Furthermore, he said that Jet Skis can be brought to the island on boats and used all they want, as long as they follow the rules, which include no high speed use within 300 yards of shore and no use at all within marine preserves.