Watercraft

A proposal to protect marine life by banning tow-in surfers who zoom onto mountainous swells at the famous break Maverick's has the international surfing community wondering if California has seen the last of its mega-wave riding. In a draft management plan released last month, managers at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which hugs 276 miles of coast from Marin to Cambria, proposed barring personal watercraft from Maverick's, a spot near Half Moon Bay whose winter 40- to 60-foot waves draw surfers from around the world.

With summer fast approaching, outdoor enthusiasts will soon launch thousands of boats and personal watercraft into rivers, lakes and the ocean, unleashing a huge pulse of smog-forming exhaust into California skies.

Tasmanian devils of the breakwater, or upstanding citizens of the surf? Either way, those zippy little speed demons with names like WaveRunner, Sea-Doo and Jet Ski are heading our way, as Memorial Day marks the start of the high season for personal watercraft use.

Powerboats and personal watercraft will be allowed to return to a Carlsbad lagoon now that authorities appear to have eradicated a fast-spreading algae that endangered aquatic life.

The sun was on the students' side. Blinding, blazing and brutal to the fair-skinned, the beams of sunlight helped propel the small boat 5 to 7 mph around Corona Lake in Riverside County.

National Park Service officials in charge of the Lake Mead Recreational Area announced Wednesday that personal watercraft will continue to be allowed at the 1.

A ban on personal watercraft at Lake Mead National Recreation Area has been postponed until April 10, the National Park Service said. The Park Service reached an agreement with Bluewater Network, a San Francisco-based environmental group, that will allow use of personal watercraft until April 10 while officials for the recreation area finalize a management plan for lakes Mead and Mohave.