Rick Cortese wrote:
Unless you are in your own home, you may have
the "duty to retreat" in your state. This means if someone is
harassing you,
you have to leave the area. I'm as serious as a broken leg about
this, you
have to leave or you will be charged with a crime.

And John Weiss replied:
In context, there is a serious flaw in your "duty to retreat"
argument: A kayaker is ABSOLUTELY UNABLE to "retreat" from a
powerboat! All he can do is snip

There is another possible flaw here, in some (most? all?) states your
boat may be recognized *as* your own home when you are aboard, and some
people live aboard their boat as a primary residence. Also, even in
states that require you to "retreat", there are usually extenuating
circumstanses that may be recognized as legal allowing you to stand if
you cannot, for one reason or another, retreat without futher
endangering your life. You are also in most states allowed to defend the
life of a loved one, in or out of a home, so that may add another
dimension. Of course, all of this depends on how good your defense
lawyer is...
In my state, if I were to defend myself inside my home from an armed
attacker which resulted in killing the attacker, I would bury the
slimeball somewhere and tell no one. Here it was declared some years ago
by the state illegal to defend one's self, but the lawsuits are the
worst part - you will lose everything even if you are declared innocent.

"Red" wrote...
In context, there is a serious flaw in your "duty to retreat"
argument: A kayaker is ABSOLUTELY UNABLE to "retreat" from a powerboat! All
he can do is snip

There is another possible flaw here, in some (most? all?) states your boat
may be recognized *as* your own home when you are aboard, and some people
live aboard their boat as a primary residence. Also, even in states that
require you to "retreat", there are usually extenuating circumstanses that
may be recognized as legal allowing you to stand if you cannot, for one
reason or another, retreat without futher endangering your life.

Indeed, the laws as well as the perceptions change significantly when you
transition from kayak to sailboat or powerboat. Also, laws are in a constant
state of flux as court decisions contradict or modify current law as to the
definition of a "home" in the context of a boat or RV. While the case of a
liveaboard or a RV driver on extended vacation is more clear, a kayak (context
of OP's original question) would almost never be considered a "home," even
though it is legally recognized as a "vessel."