Mys Terry wrote:
On 10 Apr 2006 10:46:21 -0700, wrote:
You are NOT the typical PWC operator. People who cruise on
a PWC are a small subset of PWC users. A very small subset.
True, and I think the same is true of every segment of the
power-boating and boating
world. Most people with bigger boats that I see and know around here,
have just one or two
favorite little destinations, a beach or fishing spot, that they motor
to and hang out all day at. I really
haven't known anyone on bigger boats who does the same kind of
adventurous/ambitious touring
and multi-day distance riding as my friends and I do on our pwc's.
Nothing wrong with any of that of course.
Uh, Rich... Did you happen to notice the name of this particular
newsgroup? Pretty much everybody here is interested in cruising. You
are essentially the only cruiser here with a PWC, making you a very
tiny minority no matter how you try and spin it.
So? I'm not trying to spin anything.
But what I'm wondering is, did you know that ANY pwc riders do this
kind of stuff before I started telling you about it?
Yes, I did. It's atypical usuage for a PWC to put it mildly.
Well, I know and have seen, ridden with and and talked to hundreds of
others who do it, but still I'll agree, already did.
If not, then I've
already expanded your knowledge of what is possible and in fact what
happens more often than you obviously think. (There are riding groups
in every area with water, people organizing big group rides,
weekend-long family and recreational events, charity runs, clubs that
plan and promote long trips, I mean, believe me it's not like I"m the
only one doing it. I probably never would have thought of it myself
except that I got brought into it by all the established pwc'ers I met
and encountered when I bought my first one back eight years
ago.....pretty much all of them were doing things like this and that's
how I got into it.) Maybe the more you learn, the more you'll be
surprised.
I'm not at all surprised. Your group represents a tiny fraction of PWC
owners. YOu really need to get out more.
Doesn't sound to you like I get out a lot? I could hardly get out on
the water more. When I"m not on my pwc, I'm usually kayaking, do lots
of that too. (More speed-freek adrenaline-fueled fume-belching
hooliganism!)
but I think at this point the public has had 40 years to figure out
that Doctors, Lawyers and other sedate groups also enjoy rif=ding Harleys.
...and of course there are still lots of people out there who have
never figured it out and still believe in the ancient stereotypes.
Like I say, it's really YOU who can't erase the real-world knowledge
that when I am out cruising the Great South Bay, the Peconic River, the
Atlantic Ocean, the Long Island Sound, the Connecticut River, Block
Island Sound, Barnegat Bay, New York Harbor, of course the Hudson,
every weekend, I just do not encounter these prejudices, negative
attitudes, from fellow boaters and water recreationists I see and hang
out with on beaches, islands, restaurants, coves, docks, ramps,
marinas, boat shows,....that I do from some cranks on the (usually
perfectly friendly) rec.boats.cruising.
That's because you are behaving yourself in those places.
Barging in here and insisting that we all start thinking favorably
about PWC's when our real world experience is overwhelmingly negative,
is not what I would consider "behaving".
Think however you want, I was just trying to inform some people of
things they very obviously weren't at all aware of.
Nobody seems to have anything
against a pwc as long as we are obeying the rules, operating safely and
courteously...people like it.
They see They wave from other boats,
especially their children, who are always very happy to see the.
Sometimes their jaws kind of drop when we tell them where we've come
from, it just makes them respect us more, when they see us geared up
properly in our dry suits if necessary, or with our gps' mounted and
massive storage bins loaded up with every kind of line, anchor, vhf's,
change of clothes and shoes, picnic lunches, charts, whatever.
Especially Coast Guard and cops, always very friendly, many of them
that we've stopped and talked to have pwc's themselves and we'll talk
shop about that. When they see that we obviously know exactly what
we're doing, have our safety certificates, have all our flares and
documents and required safety equipment on board, they can tell we know
what we're doing and I don't think it matters to anyone one way or
another that we're on pwc's. If we screamed through a no-wake zone or
were drunk and rowdy on the water, they'd dislike us (to say the least)
whether we were on pwc's or bigger speed-boats; if we're not causing
any problems and boating safely, everybody likes everybody else just
fine, the fact that my boat happens to be a pwc is really a completely
neutral factor, I think, to any reasonably open-minded, friendly,
positive person without some kind of elitist stick up their ass.
richforman
You are your own worst enemy, Rich.
How do you figure? I don't have any problems.
I was trying to give you the
benefit of the doubt, but it seems all you are here for is to be
confrontational and to preach and brow-beat us about your "cause".
I think I came onto the thread to chime in with my opinions about
operator licensing. Somewhere in there I mentioned that I ride a pwc,
and attacks and insults followed from that, I just responded and
defended myself.
That's pretty annoying behavior. I guess being annoying IS an
unavoidable PWC'er trait
Well, whatever. 'Scuse me for living, I guess. I've expanded my
cruising plans for this weekend, what was first planned as two days is
now three. We're going to ride about noon on Thursday from Jones Beach
to South Jersey, eventually putting up our 'skis on a couple jetskis at
a dealership I called down there and staying overnight in beautiful
Long Beach Island; Friday is going to be for basically sky's the limit
exploring, hopefully we'll make it as far south as Delaware, which will
be farther south than I've ever ridden without first trailering
somewhere, anyway it'll be a combination of ocean riding and in the
intracoastal and back bays, we'll enjoy the sights of the Wildwood and
Ocean City boardwalks, A.C. skyline, maybe see another dolphin like we
did two weekends ago in Staten Island, anyway the weather forecast
looks incredible so far, very high 60's or 70's. ON Saturday we're
going to leave pretty much at dawn and make a bee-line home, I have to
be back in town early for a wedding gig I was hired to fill-in for on
keyboards on Saturday night. Pretty much three solid days of riding,
cruising and exploring, I'll have all the inlets and fuel stops
waypointed on my gps, I'm thinking I'll probably spend less than $200
on gas for the whole thing, not bad, I'm actually pretty strapped but
this won't be too much of an indulgence (wife and kids are actually
both elsewhere out of town for a couple days without me, so the
opportunity had to seized, days taken off from work immediately!)
Anyway I'm really psyched as you can imagine, maybe I"ll stop back in
and let you fellas know how it went.
richforman