Great Lakes pirates?????
 

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

Don't make more of it than what it probably was.... the dudes were out on
a romp and sightseeing... they liked your boat. 3 guys could easily have
taken you out in a heartbeat if that was their intent.

If similar had happened to me up here... they would have been invited aboard
for a drink and poured back into their jet sled hours later totally smashed
drunk.

Then again I'm CANADIAN! ;-)

CM





"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
|
|

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

B dock out to get you?

"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

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

"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

Things like that don't happen here, Mooron. Motorboaters usually stay well
away from sailboaters. There is some antipathy between the groups on Lake
Michigan. Down in Chicago, the latest thing is for a group of terrorist
motorboaters to disrupt the local races. They roar in and out of the
tacklines on the course causing enough wake to capsize scows...this has been
going on for awhile and they are very wary of when the "law" is around and
haven't been caught yet....The only time we've had a close encounter of the
uninvited kind was when a beat up old O'day sailed up to us on the opposite
tack and asked if we were part of the Mac race....I guess they thought
people only fly spinnakers if they're racing...

"Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
...
Don't make more of it than what it probably was.... the dudes were out
on
a romp and sightseeing... they liked your boat. 3 guys could easily have
taken you out in a heartbeat if that was their intent.

If similar had happened to me up here... they would have been invited
aboard
for a drink and poured back into their jet sled hours later totally
smashed
drunk.

Then again I'm CANADIAN! ;-)

CM





"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
|
|

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

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
|
|
|
|
|
|

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
|
|
|
|
|
|

Hey, you never know. About a month or so ago we had a powerboater run
aground outside our marina. He kept coming up with lame excuses, it was
obvious that he either didn't have charts or didn't bother looking at them,
and didn't have any idea what those red and green floaty things are for, as
he went aground outside the very well marked channel going into the marina.
Plus he didn't have enough brains to have towing insurance, they ended up
calling a TOW TRUCK!!!! (yeah, he was that close to shore, maybe about 20-30
feet) to try to get him unstuck. He got lucky and a wind shift gave him
enough water to get him off. Hey, he was obviously lost too, if you think
about it.
John Cairns
"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