While it's a good idea to be aware of potential danger, it sounds to me
like they could have been lost. Dressed ominously? It's the style these
days, don't you ever go to the movies?

BTW I hate to disagree with Kevin but a flare gun is useless as a
weapon. It is designed so as not to set things on fire if discharged
accidentally. If you shot a man point-blank with a flare gun, he might
get a bruise and a scorch mark on his T-shirt. He also might yank the
thing away from you and jam it up your nose.

Maxprop wrote:
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.

I tend to take a philosophical approach to all types of vessels, too;
but go-fast boats ('penis substitutes') are my least favorite. They're
evry bit as dangerous as guns, too. It is only a matter of time before
our wonderful gov't takes steps to make sure they are regulated &
controlled.

Somewhat over a decade ago, I worked for a small company that received,
in a bankruptcy deal, a genuine 45' offshore racing power boat with 3
~500hp engines. My boss had the great idea that we could tune it into
top shape and win some big bucks... the damn thing would really go 100+
and it was very unpleasant to be aboard while it was doing it. We also
found out just how difficult it is to machine props...

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

DSK wrote:

I tend to take a philosophical approach to all types of vessels, too;
but go-fast boats ('penis substitutes') are my least favorite.

They rank right below jet-skis on the annoyance scale. We call 'em
Viagra boats, for obvious reasons. Whenever my wife sees one she holds
her thumb and forefinger about two inches apart to indicate her
assessment of the the manliness of the driver. Fortunately, I don't
think the Viagra-boaters quite understand the meaning.

They're
evry bit as dangerous as guns, too. It is only a matter of time before
our wonderful gov't takes steps to make sure they are regulated &
controlled.

Well, they *are* regulated and controlled, just like any other boat
(COLREGS, registration, PFDs, etc.) the problem is that they're not
regulated and controlled enough. You wanna go 100 mph with no muffler?
fine - just do it 5 miles away from shore (and from everybody else) I
regularly see these clowns on lakes less than a mile across.

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

It could have been a Canadian vessel..... ??

CM

"katysails" wrote in message
...
| 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 (unless you ran over from Wisconsin...but then you'd have
| charts...or at least a GPS)...and a 36 ft motorboat is shallow draft
enough
| to run way in even if they didn't know how to navigate....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....
|
| "Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
| ...
| You assume they had charts... ;-)
|
| "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).
| | "John Cairns" wrote in message
| | . ..
| | I think they were lost and didn't have the nerve to admit it. I
never
| | realized it until recently, but there are powerboaters out there
that
| hold
| | sailors in some high regard. Several weeks ago I was distributing
| | literature
| | for our sail club at a marina about 25 miles south of here, pretty
| small
| | place with maybe about 40 slips, but there were 28 sailboats there.
I
| was
| | walking to the sailboats and dropping the envelopes in the cockpits,
a
| | fisherman asked me what I was doing and I told him about the club,
he
| | asked
| | me about the weather out on the lake! I was on foot, no indication
| that
| I
| | had been out on the lake(Erie) or that I could possibly have any
more
| | information than he did on the subject. He asked me about the waves
| that
| | day, it was blowing maybe about 15kts. out of the west, he wanted to
| know
| | what I thought the waves might be like, he was on a smaller
runabout,
| | maybe
| | 16'. I told him that the waves shouldn't be very big on this end of
| the
| | lake, the western end, without explaining that this is something he
| should
| | have been able to figure out. I really wouldn't be surprised if they
| were
| | lost and thought that you, as a sailor, would be able to help them
| with
| | directions, but in the end were to embarrassed to admit it.
| |
| | John Cairns
| |
| |
| | 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
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|

"Maxprop" wrote in message
hlink.net...
|
| "Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
|
| You assume they had charts... ;-)
|
| You assume they'd need them. Which they wouldn't.

Huh? ... are the bottom contours so level as to negate chart requirements
there?

God Grief... what would happen to me If I had sailed up on you out there
....Flying a Jolly Roger and commenced firing water balloons???



CM

Just be thankful they were not down here in the Caribbean
Drug runners steal and loot boats all the time.

NH_/)_

--

irc.sailirc.net
Server http://sailirc.net
Dns 4.12.68.230
Ports 6660-6669


"kvn87" wrote in message
news:UNHWc.14576$nk.4525@okepread05...
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

"Maxprop" wrote in message link.net...

What's your take?

You did all the right things except you did not have a proper Pirate
rifle on board.

Most likley they were just impressed with your vessel our the fact a
lady was the only one in view. Just trying to pick up a babe until
they saw she was not alone.

Joe



Max

No...he does have a beautiful boat....

"Scott Vernon" wrote in message
...

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

They were obviously on hard drugs.
;)

If you aimed it at the reserve gas tank though......
"DSK" wrote in message
.. .
While it's a good idea to be aware of potential danger, it sounds to me
like they could have been lost. Dressed ominously? It's the style these
days, don't you ever go to the movies?

BTW I hate to disagree with Kevin but a flare gun is useless as a
weapon. It is designed so as not to set things on fire if discharged
accidentally. If you shot a man point-blank with a flare gun, he might
get a bruise and a scorch mark on his T-shirt. He also might yank the
thing away from you and jam it up your nose.

Maxprop wrote:
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.

I tend to take a philosophical approach to all types of vessels, too;
but go-fast boats ('penis substitutes') are my least favorite. They're
evry bit as dangerous as guns, too. It is only a matter of time before
our wonderful gov't takes steps to make sure they are regulated &
controlled.

Somewhat over a decade ago, I worked for a small company that received,
in a bankruptcy deal, a genuine 45' offshore racing power boat with 3
~500hp engines. My boss had the great idea that we could tune it into
top shape and win some big bucks... the damn thing would really go 100+
and it was very unpleasant to be aboard while it was doing it. We also
found out just how difficult it is to machine props...

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Except for a few isolated spots close in and in various straits, Lake
Michigan is DEEP....we are not talking Erie here....you can usually anchor
within 300 feet of the beach in 20 ft of water....the other thing is that
you can tell where the sand shoals are by the breakers over the top of
them....even on calm days, you can tell where the shallows start because of
the water color difference (cold and warm thermal layers causing color
changes)...
"Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
...

"Maxprop" wrote in message
hlink.net...
|
| "Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
|
| You assume they had charts... ;-)
|
| You assume they'd need them. Which they wouldn't.

Huh? ... are the bottom contours so level as to negate chart requirements
there?

God Grief... what would happen to me If I had sailed up on you out there
...Flying a Jolly Roger and commenced firing water balloons???



CM

ohoh...you been mixing those weird drinks again, haven't you?
"Maxprop" wrote in message
link.net...

"katysails" wrote in message

B dock out to get you?

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

Max