"t hicks" wrote in message
...
Observation...
The jet skier hasn't sustained any injuries YET! (With any luck,
natural selection will kick in.)

Well, I don't want to sound boastful, but my father-in-law is a retired Air
Guard air crewman who gave me an old pen-style flaregun and I might not
hesitate to use it next time.

The day after the THIRD accident this month on the same river involving PWCs
jumping wakes into boats, tubers and skiers, I took my wife and another girl
out and sure enough some asshole in a bass boat was following us less than
fifty yards behind our skier at 35 mph. I was trying to keep it at a slower,
safe speed and this asshole was tailgating and approaching like he was on
the freeway and late for work.

My spotter waved the ski flag and I honked five times and all that and after
a couple of minutes the guy backed off. The rest of the day I had the
flaregun unloaded but ready. In the Multnomah Channel you can't always turn
and just let the guy pass. I'd tell the river patrol straight up that I'd
rather fire the proverbial shot across some drunk's bow to prevent an
accident rather than use it in distress after my wife or other passenger
ended up under some asshole's boat.

Not that the big river cruisers are any better. Some of those guys are as
clueless and dangerous as any sixteen-year-old on a PWC.

-c