Wayne.B wrote:
On 7 Apr 2006 06:18:35 -0700, wrote:
This:
We were out cruising last weekend and saw 4 PeeWCs. Two of them were
weaving in and out of a crowded channel jumping wakes. The other two
were pre teens circling a crowded anchorage while their parents
enjoyed a few beers on the back deck of their rented houseboat.
does not lead to or support this conclusion at all:
Responsible operation is a VERY rare commodity with PeeWCs.
(I know even you see that it's an unsupportable leap from two four
irresponsible operators to responsible operation being "very rare.")
4 out of 4 is 100%, and that is just from one day last week.
Yes but it's only a sampling of 4! So not very conclusive. If your
observations don't include lots of well-behaved responsible boaters on
pwc's, then there's some bias in your method or something skewed about
the population you're drawing your observations from,
because there are thousands of us out here! Honest.
This stuff goes on all the time unfortunately, not exceptional by any
means. PeeWCs operated by anyone under the age of 30 should be
restricted to privately owned swimming pools where they can go in
endless circles all they want, no license required.
Over age 30, no restrictions as long as they have their mother in law
on board and a blood alcohol level in minus numbers.
LOL, well I appreciate the humor in these comments. (Swimming pools,
endless circles!) And I kind of agree, I wouldn't say 30, but I'd
support no drivers under 16 without certified adults on board with
them, and I think that is the rule here in NYS.
At any rate, past 16, if an aspiring boater had the initiative and good
attitude to just take the basic training course (or just take the exam,
if he already has some experience and knowledge under his belt from his
childhood, which was not the case in my situation), then they just
wouldn't be able to help knowing a lot more about right and wrong
behavior, regulations and laws, right-of-way and signalling of intent
and nav-aids and docking and anchoring and navigating, safety
precautions and procedures;
and just absorbing the good influence of the nice guys who run the
Power Squadron course and the others in the class....anyone who did
that is gonna be a better boater for it, and probably trustworthy to
ride around outside the pool. If they haven't learned the basics and
demonstrated that level of accountability and responsibility, then no I
don't want them there either.
richforman