My thought was that at the point of the motor boat's last turn it was the paddle craft that had Stand-On status. Up to that point, you probably had to be there to be sure. It's been a bunch of years since that course, and I didn't recall if ROW was a term that appeared in it.
But whatever they had officially, in most cases it is better for a paddle boat to cede way to a bad motor boat driver than to find their status changed to being Stood-Upon. I suppose if there are two of them coming at you from both sides, you either sit and wave like hell or practice your diving skills. :-)
Later add - in that video, I guess the lesson is that bright colors don't always help!
Did you have that? This is usually thought of for night, but it'll work on a bright sunny day too. If you wave the paddle in the air, the SOLAS tape will create a bright flash in the sun that looks like a light of some sort.
Second what Nate said - the bigger draft boats will usually stay in the channel, but we've learned to never assume that everyone will stay where they are supposed to. This is especially true in areas of higher tides like Maine, where at full high tide even larger draft vessels can play loose with the channel, or there are really hard shorelines. And it is best to assume that the smaller runarounds with outboard motors will go someplace that you didn't expect.
Tommy I don’t have any better suggestions than the others, but I’m glad you are OK, and that the other operator was contrite when he realized the close call.
Had you joined at least six fellow pnetters plus twenty-some other open boaters at the TRPC Turkey Bash whitewater clinic on the Lower Youghiogheny River in SW PA, we would not be having this thread. Hope to see you there next year.
it seems they can SEE you = imho you're rolling the dice. Around suburban/urban New England...when guys get high/buzzed-but-still-standing...they wanna go out and do something. I NEVER assume that a powerboater is sober and can see me, so I look to where I think their line of safety is...and avoid it. *Good paddling to not get hit T! I think as others have said..short of sending up a flare, the bright orange something...paddleblade-cover or something is the color to use...
Reflective tape I use the silver reflective tape. Tape two pieces together to form a streamer about 16-18 inches in length and then I fly it from an old flexible tent pole (like the ones used for dome tents). It doesn’t take as much wind for it to flutter as a flag does and as it does so it flashes light in every direction.
no thanks A 4’ pole with a flag on it screws up rescues and scrambles and such. Plus, hold that flag in your hand in a 15 knot breeze, and I think you’d be surprised how much wind it catches. Attach that to your stern and you may find it impossible to turn downwind in a breeze. That’s a safety hazard to me.
No real good solution for Numnutz Earlier this year, I was pedalling home on my bike and watched in horror as a woman pulled out of a side street as I was approaching. I could see she was looking in my direction, but she didn’t see me until I was almost into her door. Then her eyes got saucer big, she hit her breaks as I swerved. Her front bumber knocked my foot out of the pedal, and that is about as close as one can come to being run over and still ride away uninjured.
I know the lady was looking my way, so why didn’t she see me? Because, the lady was looking for cars, not a thin, upright, slower moving cyclist. The brain recognizes patterns it is expecting, and exludes the rest as immaterial to the current task.
I think your power boater was a numnutz, because he should have been on the lookout for large brown objects in the water. Hitting a log at speed could cost him a screw, punch a hole in his hull, throw him out of the boat, or a combintation of those things. He’s an accident waiting to happen, canoeist or no. But your boater and my lady in a car offer similar challenges–how do you MAKE THEM SEE YOU?
My answer has been to mount the brightest strobe I can find on my handlebars. It won’t be so good for boats, because in bright sunlight you have to be within about 15 degrees of the aiming point for the strobe to really grab your attention. Psychology tells us the brain will focus on moving or flashing objects. Kayak paddles are a perfect example, as pointed out by a previous poster. Kayak paddles move and flash. Flashing may be less effective for a canoe, because there is a lot of light flashing off the water, but if it is bright and persisitent… I think it will help. Flags or streamers also seem like an effective answer. Even in low wind, I think the paddling motion will make the boat rock and get the flag to move, and if it is mounted on a flexible FG standard, that will amplify the motion.
And my final answer? A spinning disco ball.
Good luck with your visibility amplification challenge.
Big vessels play the eddies just like kayakers do. Do it 5 days a week! Seriously, we optimize our efficiency by working the tides and eddies just like a paddler does. So, to Celia’s point, never assume anything. Captains with years of experience in given waters know all the tricks and will often cut markers etc, which are simply guides. This is especially true with tugs / tows.
As I recall Tommy, your Voyager is WHITE...As in white caps, white foam, white froth. And even though this color in paddle craft has a certain yacht-ski appeal, it makes one somewhat difficult to find on the water at times. As a new paint job in ORANGE has already been ruled out(And I guess the next best citrons of LEMON and LIME, as well.) Then lets forget any "evasive action" shall we, and get in the face of powerboater proper, by taking a cue from Carmen Miranda --Put some fruit atop your head!!!
Hudson Hi Celia. Lesure boaters dont stay in the channel around Henry Hudson state park near Castleton-on-the-Hudson.
Twice I have seen ocean going traffic leave the channel north of Tivoli, and of course, any commercial vessel that is entering or leaving port is out of the channel.
White Flares Gun Launched I was thinking about carrying some big white pistol launched flares. I would have no problem firing one over a vessel on a collision course.
Somehow, I dont think a whistle or even bottled air is going to get the attention of joe cigarette boat, his 200w radio player, and twin 454’s.
I guess it does not matter since joe is not liable for running over a kayak anywhere in New York State.
Do they make pistol launched explosives (what do the sailing crews use to notify all the sailors that they put up new flags.??)
yes Yes, some meteor flares are launched by a pistol-shaped launcher. And you can get white flares for those launchers. (They’re intended for lighting an area, and collision avoidance.)
However, during the day, I don’t think they’ll be much use. If a boat is 100 feet away, and you fire a flare 500 feet into the bright morning sky, it’ll just disappear.
(if you fire it AT another vessel, you could seriously hurt someone or cause a fire, and you should probably be prosecuted)
… You dont fire it up you fire it right over their head or in front of them so they see it and wake up. Or you put a little pink flag on your head or paddle that they can put in your casket with you.
I had an almost identicle incident back when I used to ride regularly. The driver stopped at the sign, looked right at me, and decided to go anyway at the worst possible moment. The car lurched forward, hit me, then stopped in the classic, indecisive brake/accelerator/brake move. I nearly got run over by an overtaking car. Thankfully, that driver’s eyes and brain were functioning in the intended fashion. I think she was actually looking at him, misjudged his speed, and really didn’t see me at all.
I’m kinda lovin’ that. Silvered Mylar streamers on a whip mast. Good for sunny days on inland rivers, perhaps. Ocean and big water are nothing but tiny flashes of reflected sunlight, though. Not sure about effect there. Worth a test maybe?
I agree that pilots tend to notice colors and movement inconsistent with surroundings. Bright orange or yellow blades on kayak paddles are best. I watched a single-blader on an outrigged ski about 3/4 of a mile out in the channel a week-and-a-half ago in the early evening sun. I probably never would have seen him but for his yellow PFD.
Nothing you can do sometimes I had a similar experience a mile off the coast of Massachusetts. A lobster boat came barreling from behind me. I waved my paddle to be sure he saw me but he obviously didn’t and missed me by about ten feet –he saw me just as I was broadside and he looked really, really shocked. He was on his cell phone and for 30 seconds not paying attention. I can’t blame him, it’s just human nature – he probably travels that route every day for years and never sees anything smaller than a Boston Whaler. I wasn’t familiar with that area and didn’t have a feeling for customary power boat lanes.
I look at it as a risk that’s on me whenever I go somewhere there are rarely kayaks.