"Maxprop" wrote ...
He then conferred with the other young men, and finally said,
"You have a beautiful boat."

They were obviously on hard drugs.

Was it one of those obnoxious things running open exhaust? If so, you
should have open fired as soon as they were in range. I hate those
idiots!

Scotty

"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...
Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the
north)
on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our
port.
I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.

It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly
6kts.
southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the
cockpit
seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines
throttling
down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat,
approaching
from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper
was a
shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his
three
passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark
clothing--sweaters,
dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
outing
on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama
Jeanne,
about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed,
came up
behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up
along
the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm
flare
gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot
of good
it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
something.
The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and
he
inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told
him 6
miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally
said,
"You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us
for a
while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled
along
for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.

The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes
one feel
vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they
thought a
single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided
to check
things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
thought
me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding
the flare
gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.

OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
suspicious.

What's your take?

Max

"katysails" wrote in message

John...you cannot get lost on Lake Michigan. For Pete's sake, the ports
are
marked on road maps. From what Max posted, I'm assuming he was coming
home
from Pen****er to his home port...all the channels are clearly marked and
easily seen. The only difficult channels to find are farther north at
Arcadia and Portage Lake, and even then, you always know Portage lake by
the
cloud that hangs over it (it's a weird anomaly).

We were roughly 8nm north of the breakwater, which was clearly visible on a
CAVU day. My guess is that they knew where they were as it was plainly
visible. And Katy's right. Navigation on the sunset coast of Michigan
requires neither an electronic navigation aid (GPS) nor a chart, except in
fog. It's easier than driving through Detroit.

Max

"Capt. Mooron" wrote in message

You assume they had charts... ;-)

You assume they'd need them. Which they wouldn't.

Max

"katysails" wrote in message

I think Max's
scenario about seeing a lone woman cruising is probably the correct
one...and I find that scary...I do think Max should inform the CG that
this
happened...just in case....

It's been reported to the CG. They appreciate such reports, according to
Group Grand Haven. Most such incidents go unreported, they said.

Max

katysails wrote:

No....the lake is 80 miles across at its' widest (if that) and is ringed
around with ports that are from 15 miles to 45 miles apart...everything is
well marked...you would have to be an absolute dunderhead to not know what
the next port is

Katy, you greatly overestimate the minimum intelligence necessary to
drive a stinkpot. He was probably looking for the sign that said
"Pen****er, Next Exit"

--
//-Walt
//
// http://cagle.slate.msn.com/working/040514/matson.gif

"katysails" wrote in message

B dock out to get you?

Nah. They're way too passive. Now A dock . . .

Max

"katysails" wrote in message

In reality, that's pretty scary. Was J. upset? You should have sicced
Nikki on them....

J. was as unnerved as I. Nik was in doggy camp for the week.

Max

"Scott Vernon" wrote in message

Was it one of those obnoxious things running open exhaust? If so, you
should have open fired as soon as they were in range. I hate those
idiots!

I do have a 10ga. signal cannon, but thought better of using it. :-)

In all honesty, I'm a boater, not just a sailor. I love all boats, power,
sail, self-powered, etc. I also happen to like go-fast boats, even though
I'd never own one for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that
they get boring very quickly and burn huge amounts of fuel. I've crewed (as
the throttle man) on a 42' Fountain in several races--grueling half hour of
pounding and noise, but fun.

Max

Kuods to you max for keeping a cool head and taking positive steps to not be
a victim. The encounter may have been innocent but your insticts said it
wasn't quite right. I agree with the other guy who said report it to the
coast guard "just incase" It's always better to be safe then sorry. Also
you'd be surprised what a flare pistol can do to flammable (and not so
flamible) odjects.

Good sailing to you
Kevin


"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...
Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the north)
on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our port.
I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.

It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly 6kts.
southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the cockpit
seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines throttling
down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat, approaching
from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper was a
shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his three
passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark clothing--sweaters,
dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
outing
on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama Jeanne,
about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed, came
up
behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up along
the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm flare
gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot of
good
it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
something.
The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and he
inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told him 6
miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally said,
"You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us for a
while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled along
for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.

The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes one
feel
vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they thought a
single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided to
check
things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
thought
me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding the
flare
gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.

OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
suspicious.

What's your take?

Max