Encounter with fishing boat, kind of funny I guess

Paddlers' Place
#21

I never see “law enforcement authorities” anywhere or anytime.
Be ever vigilant, Carry an air horn you can reach in a hurry. Power boaters are inattentive, they go too fast, sometimes the operators drink a lot.

I have been scared several times by idiots like these people. Thank God the guy saw the kayaker.

It is disturbing when power boaters had straight at me at high speed. Their message is they intend to ram me or do not see me. If you want to talk to someone in a human powered boat, do not aim straight at them. Head off a ways and slow down well ahead of time.

I was paddling my wooden sea kayak on a mostly private lake near Lake Tahoe. A lady kept going past at high speed, often aiming her ski boat right at me. Finally I gave her the finger in desperation. She stopped to chat. It did not go well. I could not get her understand why she was scaring the crap out of me.

#22

Around here powerboats sometimes steer towards me as they politely steer around other powerboats. They seem much more willing to steer around obstacles than slow down.

An air horn is not a bad idea. One local river passes through a golf course and there have been two times when a golfer was driving a ball straight across the river just as I passed…and only one of them waited for me.

#23

I’m surprised they stopped so gently. I’d have expected the guys in the boat to get launched when it came to a halt.

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