On 28 Jul 2005 13:23:38 -0700, "NYC XYZ" wrote:

Galen Hekhuis wrote:


Personally, I think that this statement is indicative of a false
expectation. You aren't "safe" anywhere, people have been struck and
killed by lightning while in a church, and if you aren't "safe" there,
where can you expect to be?

A police boat is not an act of God.

I didn't claim it was. I simply gave an illustration of people having a
false sense of safety.

It is almost universally stated that operators
of watercraft are required to maintain a sharp lookout to avoid situations
such as you experienced, and to avoid any problems with their own craft as
well. It is almost as universally acknowledged that many operators neglect
to do so.

And what no one has been able to advise yet is what more I could have
done!

Let me spell it out for you then. Your insistence on being given advice on
what more you "could have done" depends entirely on the supposition that
someone else may have noticed or behaved according to some set of rules. I
am pointing out that no matter what you do, people (in your case, a police
boat) don't always notice nor do they always play by the rules, regardless
of who they are.

I've paddled among stinkpots (power boats) a bunch, and assume
that they are all out to get me. While most are not, I have had far too
many experiences where they simply have not seen me, and seemed to be
trying their darnedest to hit me, along with a few that actually seemed to
play a game of "Sink the Kayak." One thing about stinkpots, you can
usually hear them coming and may have time to prepare.

Did you even read my post, or are you just getting something off your
chest here????

I read your post, I also read many of the responses to it. Again I say
that you seem to be expecting something that is impossible to achieve.

There is nothing
"safe" about crawling into a boat and there is certainly nothing "safe"
about being on the water, especially when there are larger boats about.

There's nothing safe about eating meat, there's nothing safe about
driving a car, there's nothing safe in living past 70...do you know
what "non sequitur" means?

Yes, and in a discussion about safety in a boat on the water I discussed
your perception of safety, not how you feel about eating meat, or driving a
car, or any of the things you mention. Do you know the meaning of "non
sequitur"?

There are many things you can do to minimize the danger, but you can
never, ever be "safe."

Uh, sorry, didn't realize this was alt.usage.english. Or should that
be sci.semantics?

Neither. Even a simpleton can see that a statement about never being safe
in the water is hardly a semantic or syntactical issue.

I go paddling because even with the risks involved,
I get benefits that to me far outweigh the relative safety of the shore.
Perhaps you should reconsider why you paddle. Having said all that, it is
indeed a bummer that you experienced what you did.

I give now Professor Twist,
A conscientious scientist.
Trustees exclaimed, "He never bungles!"
And sent him off to distant jungles.
Camped on a tropic riverside,
One day he missed his loving bride.
She had, the guide informed him later,
Been eaten by an alligator.
Professor Twist could not but smile.
"You mean," he said, "a crocodile."

Ogden Nash, "The Purist"

In that particular case, the difference between an alligator and a
crocodile is quite dramatic. I live where there are several many
alligators, and the southern part of the state (where I also go paddling)
is the only place in the entire world where alligators and crocodiles
cohabitate. Alligators are generally harmless and for the most part not
aggressive at all, while crocodiles are quite frequently rather aggressive.
The instances of alligator attacks are minuscule when compared to crocodile
attacks. It would indeed be strange for anyone to be attacked by an
unprovoked alligator (although it has happened). I can understand,
however, that many people think that this is a "distinction without a
difference," as many consider "alligator" to be somewhat synonymous with
"crocodile."

You folks actually want to advocate this sport, or do you like feeling
these exclusive airs?

I neither advocate this sport, nor do I actively try to discourage people
from taking it up. I've lived on sailboats, and have sailed from places in
Hawaii to the ICW on the east coast. Whenever you leave land for a boat on
the water there are things which can "get you" no matter what precautions
you take. I have found quite often that safety is frequently in the hands
of the sailor, not in being observed or noticed by others, and not in the
"Rules of the Road," no matter how much in the right you may be. If you
would rather argue (and that does seem to be the case, based on your
responses to this thread) than have risks pointed out to you, you'll have
to find someone else with whom to argue.

Galen Hekhuis NpD, JFR, GWA
We'll cross that bridge when it rears its ugly head