wrote in message
oups.com...

I maintain the opinion that a lot of these guys are so busy fiddling
with their computers and electronics they pay no attention at all to
where they're going.

If their chartplotter interfaced with the autopilot is set to follow a
rhumb line from point A to point B, gawd help anybody unlucky enough to
be 15-yards to one side of the course or the other. Many of these
butt-heavy, under powered, prop tunneled monsters don't leave wakes,
they create small tsunamis.



I have heard the "looking at the electronics" theory before. It is true.
Heaven forbid these fools have to steer a little off course to avoid running
over some poor ******* in a kayak. It will only get worse as GPS systems
continue dropping in price.

In my latest situation mentioned at the start of this thread, I was anchored
in a body of water far off to the side of the main channel that is rarely
piloted due to the amount of visible rocks. However, the minute I set up, it
immediately became the popular route. All were recreational boaters with
vessels in the 30' and under class. Most without navigation equipment but
fully armed with ignorance. Unbelievable...

Someone wrote in the newsgroups wondering about people who have boats
that will run 60 mph, think it must be run 60 mph all the time.
regardless of by what or whom.


fools!

wrote
I maintain the opinion that a lot of these guys are so busy fiddling
with their computers and electronics they pay no attention at all to
where they're going.


That's part of the problem. I've even had a sailboat come within four
feet of ramming us, with a man in the cockpit staring angrily at us,
until he finally stood up and shouted (from about 6 feet away) "Can't
you see I'm on autopilot?"

However, I've also had a lot of boats that were being steered by humans
come very close to us when we're anchored. It may be a herd instinct,
the same as people speed up when you pass on the highway. In fact I've
had a professional captain delivering a 65-footer come within ten feet
of our anchored boat in an unmarked river 1/2 mile wide (unmarked
because it's 9' deep all the way across). When I called him on the radio
with a barely restrained 'What the F&&& are you doing?' he apologized
and said he hadn't meant to pass that close.


If their chartplotter interfaced with the autopilot is set to follow a
rhumb line from point A to point B, gawd help anybody unlucky enough to
be 15-yards to one side of the course or the other. Many of these
butt-heavy, under powered, prop tunneled monsters don't leave wakes,
they create small tsunamis.


And God forbid that they ever look back to see that they're pulling a
wake higher than their own transom.


Big Mike wrote:
I have heard the "looking at the electronics" theory before. It is true.
Heaven forbid these fools have to steer a little off course to avoid running
over some poor ******* in a kayak. It will only get worse as GPS systems
continue dropping in price.


It's happened. Off the coast of New Jersey a 60-footer ran over a
fishing boat and killed one of the men on board, while the owner of the
60-footer was said to not even be above decks (he claimed he was, but
was looking down "momentarily").


In my latest situation mentioned at the start of this thread, I was anchored
in a body of water far off to the side of the main channel that is rarely
piloted due to the amount of visible rocks. However, the minute I set up, it
immediately became the popular route. All were recreational boaters with
vessels in the 30' and under class. Most without navigation equipment but
fully armed with ignorance. Unbelievable...


I wish we had an anchorage surrounded by rocks. As it is, we can only
look for shallower water than most of the boneheads can run in.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

"DSK" wrote in message
. ..

It's happened. Off the coast of New Jersey a 60-footer ran over a fishing
boat and killed one of the men on board, while the owner of the 60-footer
was said to not even be above decks (he claimed he was, but was looking
down "momentarily").

Now THAT is ridiculous. I guess I'm paranoid, but I can't imagine EVER
leaving the helm of a moving boat unless another competent person (or my
insane son) took my place while I was away.

I hear this happens quite often on fishing vessels. That many Captains and
Mates, especially Mates on watch as the Cap catches some zzzz's, fall asleep
themselves while steaming ahead on Auto-pilot. I'm ashamed to say that I
have been drowsy many times behind the wheel of the car. Sometimes I pull
over and sometimes I putt ahead. Many times wondering how I made it to my
destination. I can only imagine how often this happens out in the deep sea
where traffic is next to nothing. No excuse though to take falling asleep
behind the helm for granted or acceptable..... There is always that 1
iceberg that seems to always find the right ship at the right time.



"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
"DSK" wrote in message
. ..

It's happened. Off the coast of New Jersey a 60-footer ran over a fishing
boat and killed one of the men on board, while the owner of the 60-footer
was said to not even be above decks (he claimed he was, but was looking
down "momentarily").

Now THAT is ridiculous. I guess I'm paranoid, but I can't imagine EVER
leaving the helm of a moving boat unless another competent person (or my
insane son) took my place while I was away.

Just like water heaters only melt down 3 hours after you've left on
vacation.... :-)

"Big Mike" punisher5string@ !REMOVE! yahoo.com wrote in message
...
I hear this happens quite often on fishing vessels. That many Captains and
Mates, especially Mates on watch as the Cap catches some zzzz's, fall
asleep themselves while steaming ahead on Auto-pilot. I'm ashamed to say
that I have been drowsy many times behind the wheel of the car. Sometimes I
pull over and sometimes I putt ahead. Many times wondering how I made it to
my destination. I can only imagine how often this happens out in the deep
sea where traffic is next to nothing. No excuse though to take falling
asleep behind the helm for granted or acceptable..... There is always that
1 iceberg that seems to always find the right ship at the right time.



"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
"DSK" wrote in message
. ..

It's happened. Off the coast of New Jersey a 60-footer ran over a
fishing boat and killed one of the men on board, while the owner of the
60-footer was said to not even be above decks (he claimed he was, but
was looking down "momentarily").

Now THAT is ridiculous. I guess I'm paranoid, but I can't imagine EVER
leaving the helm of a moving boat unless another competent person (or my
insane son) took my place while I was away.

Around 8/25/2005 1:08 PM, Doug Kanter wrote:

Just like water heaters only melt down 3 hours after you've left on
vacation.... :-)

Yeah, any idea why do they do that?



Funny story time:
Because a pipe had cracked and the basement had flooded, my uncle (same
one that had his gas stolen) had new carpeting installed in his basement
courtesy of his homeowners insurance while almost the entire family was
on their annual two-week boat vacation.

Since the house was empty (and having just dried out the flooded
basement) the water heater was very prudently turned off.

So.

My cousin comes home from college for the weekend to take a shower and
wash clothes, and he turns on the water heater. He forgets to turn it
off, and heads over to his girlfriend's for the night. Comes back the
next morning, and the basement (including *two-day-old* carpeting that
his parents haven't even SEEN yet) is covered in about 5 inches of
water, thanks to a failed water heater tank. Being the only relative
nearby with a wet/dry shop vac and some spare time, I was enlisted by my
somewhat frantic cousin to go and help with the mopping up. Uncle made
it home from Friday Harbor in record time, and much swearing (and other
such hilarity) ensued.



--
~/Garth - 1966 Glastron V-142 Skiflite: "Blue-Boat"
"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats."
-Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows