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

They were obviously on hard drugs.

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.

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

"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

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

"Walt" wrote in message

You wanna go 100 mph with no muffler?
fine - just do it 5 miles away from shore (and from everybody else)

At full throttle most of the go-fasts can be heard for well over 10nm on
Lake Michigan, unless the wind is howling. Lots of them are from Chicago,
driven by Ill-annoy-ans.

Max

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

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

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