"Jeff" wrote in message
...
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.



My wife's kayak was hit a glancing blow by a sail boat without anybody
looking where it was going. Guy is in the back doing somethinng, but not
piloting the boat. He was not near my wife, he hit the kayak and kept
going! I could see other boats in the light fog, but the shell was white,
low in the water, and he is wearing white and is crossing the channel. Put
up an orange flag, or something to make yourself visable. I could see the
other boats a lot further away than a low, white shell. I see where others
annoy you as you figure you have the "right of way"over all other type
craft.