Del Cecchi wrote:
Chuck Gould wrote:
Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:

I was down in Mystic yesterday and as is my custom, I head down to the
Mystic River bridge while the wife and relatives visit to watch the
clown show.

I have, quite arbitrarily and completely unfairly, decided that
kayaks, their owners, renters and users, are the new PWC.

If I had a dime for every kayak that did something dangerous, as in
turn in front of a boat, get caught in a eddy and slam into the bridge
pilings, etc., I'd have about two bucks more than I have now, but
still.

So, there you have it - kayaks are the new PWC.



Not at all.

The PWC crowd *loved* to have other boats on the water. Everybody else
was out there just to generate wakes for those fools to jump (or so
they thought).

Make no mistake about the attitude of most kayakers: they can barely
tolerate sailboats and see powerboats as Satan's spawn. The fact that
we don't always reduce our wakes to a ripple when within a mile or two
of a kayak only aggravates their sentiments that we are "defiling
Gaea".

If you want to draw a parallel between kayakers and some other group, I
think those bicyclists who pedal down the middle of the lane at 5-10
mph in a 45 mph zone and flip off every motor vehicle that dares to
pass them would be closer kin than PWC'ers.

There's room for everybody on the water. I always try to slow down
around kayaks or other unseaworthy small craft.......(how seaworthy can
something actually be when a key part of the training course is how to
recover after the frequent and fully expected capsizings?)....and I
wish them well in their chosen recreational pursuit. To the exact
degree that a portion of kayakers would love to drive powerboaters
completely off the water, I have little use for that portion of them.

Yep, just like the evil boy scouts coming into the Prairie Portage
ranger station in their canoes that were swamped by the innocent
powerboaters blowing by in the narrow opening to the bay.

Fortunately we were able to drag them to shore so they could right
themselves. The perps never even looked back.

There are a lot of idiot powerboaters around.

--
Del Cecchi

This is the worst time of year for encountering idiots. Lots of charter
boaters, or people taking their boat out for an annual excursion.
There's no excuse for thoughtless operation.

Part of boating is being overtaken by a boat that creates a large wake.
A thoughtful operator of a boat that generates a big wake will not pass
too close to other craft- allowing other vessels time to change heading
or make other adjustments in preparation.
A reasonable operator of a smaller or slower vessel will keep a careful
watch for wakes and not be taken by surprise. The scouts do need to
learn that dealing with a wave or wake is part of being in a canoe- but
there is no excuse for being deliberately inconsiderate.

In the no excuse category: the guy on a sailboard who came shooting out
out from behind the breakwater yesterday burning hell for leather
through a group of boats, (both powerboats and sailboats running
underpower), proceeding slowly and queing up orderly to pass through
the narrow opening into the marina. The sailboarder headed straight for
my stem, and while I gave him as much space as I could I had no time or
space to change course sufficiently to allow him a wide berth. After he
flipped me off, I watched him "slalom" through a half dozen boats
behind me- passing some to port and others to starboard . Sure, he had
the "right of way"- but he had no cause to behave belligerantly when it
was his *own* choice that eliminated most of the options anybody would
have had to accomodate him. I wonder if he's telling tales about the
arsehole boaters who nearly ran him down when he shot out from behind
the breakwater?