Bill McKee wrote:
"Edgar" wrote in message
I would expect a number of any deaths reported from canoes and kayaks are
due to them being run down by fast power boats in the hands of idiots.




Actually it is the paddler that is most often the idiot. I almost ran over
a shell in a light fog in San Francisco Bay a couple years ago. Guy is in a
white shell, wearing a white shirt, and is in the middle of the channel
area. Luckily it was me, going maybe 20 mph and not the ferryboat doing 35
knots. You could hardly see the idiot at 30'. Is why my next yak is going
to be a bright color. And I wear a bright red PFD when paddling. Sort of
the same mentality as a lot of sailboaters. I am in a sailboat, I have the
right of way. My wife got hit by a sailboat in Mission Bay, SD. while in a
yak. Could not get completely out of the way. He is in the back, f'n
around with something and the tiller is locked and he is doing 10-12 and is
not looking at all where he is headed. I did not have the VHF with me at
the time or he would be explaining the hit-run to the police and lifeguards.
Could not get his numbers and the other witness didn't either. I have had
sailboats with the motor running turn directly in front of me with a 90
degree term. And other sailboaters say, maybe he was not under power and
only charging battery. BS. Motor running, is a power boat. Same as I
heard a sailboater claim he had the right of way over a large tanker
entering SF Bay. He will be both dead, and wrong.


I a bit confused. First you're talking about a kayak in the fog that
you almost hit because you were going 20 mph when you could hardly see
30 feet. Then you're complaining about the sailboat doing 10-12 (and
what kind of sailboat goes 10-12, other than mine?) and doesn't see your
wife's kayak. Sounds like anyone who comes near you or your wife is
clearly at fault!

And what's your point about misbehaving sailboats? Sure there are rude
and/or ignorant sailors, but certainly not in greater proportion than
power boater (or kayakers, for that matter). Frankly, the sailors and
the small boat fisherman annoy me at times, but what really scares me
are the sportfishers doing 30 knots in pea soup, because with radar and
gps they think they're invincible.