I'm not another guy....

"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

Clearwater has moved to the Caribbean?????
"NH~_/)~" wrote in message
news:FUMWc.1346$OP2.1001@trnddc01...
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

Nah....Canadian vessels ALWAYS fly honkin bit maple leafs off their
stern.....

"Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
...
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
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 01:09:57 GMT, "Maxprop"
wrote this crap:

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


What's your take?


You just met my relatives. It's a good thing you didn't offer them a
drink.





Pathetic Earthlings! No one can save you now!

"Capt. Mooron" wrote in message

"Maxprop" wrote in message


| "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?

For travel on Lake Michigan? Yes. The bar sits about 25 yards off the
beach. Only an idiot would venture in that far with a sailboat, and
powerboats cross it daily.


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???

We'd have hoisted our Jolly Roger and fired the signal cannon back atcha.
But true pirates don't fly the JR. They sneak up on you pretending to be
idiots asking directions, or whatever.

Max

"katysails" wrote in message

ohoh...you been mixing those weird drinks again, haven't you?

Odd, but no one on A dock has done any of those this year. Pretty sedate
year, if you ask me. Disappointing, actually.

Max

"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

"kvn87" wrote in message

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 guess one had to be there to understand exactly why it felt wrong.
Normally when someone is approaching, either by sail or power, they wave
and/or smile. These guys did neither. They also conferred among themselves
while looking our way--a suspicious behavior to be sure. Then they stalked
us from astern for about 5 minutes--equally suspicious. During the entire
episode, all were standing in the boat, none sitting, which is odd because
the rear seats were just that--not bolsters. It just felt wrong from the
get-go. We've been approached while on Lake Michigan before, on a rare few
occasions. And in each case nothing seemed amiss. This time nothing seemed
right. In a discussion following the incident, my wife's impressions
mirrored my own to the letter. It just wasn't right.

Max

"Capt. Mooron" wrote in message

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

Nah. They appeared sober.

Max

Was there no other boats in sight?

SV

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

"kvn87" wrote in message

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 guess one had to be there to understand exactly why it felt wrong.
Normally when someone is approaching, either by sail or power, they
wave
and/or smile. These guys did neither. They also conferred among
themselves
while looking our way--a suspicious behavior to be sure. Then they
stalked
us from astern for about 5 minutes--equally suspicious. During the
entire
episode, all were standing in the boat, none sitting, which is odd
because
the rear seats were just that--not bolsters. It just felt wrong
from the
get-go. We've been approached while on Lake Michigan before, on a
rare few
occasions. And in each case nothing seemed amiss. This time
nothing seemed
right. In a discussion following the incident, my wife's
impressions
mirrored my own to the letter. It just wasn't right.

Max