I have yet to hear of a paddle boater being able to run over and kill someone in any kind of craft, something that is a possibility with a power boat.
It'd be best if a lot of people knew colregs better, but until the risk of damage to others is more equitable between paddle boats and power craft the folks behind the wheel of the power boat have a greater need.
I just tried to get a listing of how many states actually require that anyone take any course before buying and launching a power boat. I couldn't find the exact count easily, but in the majority of states the license is a money grab with no course requirements where it is needed. The only place I tended to find a requirement that anyone take training was for PWC's, for all operators. And of course in many states if you are a minor you have to take a course - but their parents who bought the boat don't have to know what they are doing.
Unless and until the CG wins the arguments with states that there has to be some kind of requirement for training as part of issuing a boating license, it is silly to argue that recreational motor boaters have any more clue about stuff like colregs than paddle boaters. The only diff between the two groups is what each has learned to be careful about, at least the ones that don't get hurt.
Professional mariners are a different bunch in terms of training and background than recreational motor boaters. No one with a full commercial license would have any regard for the idiots who regularly have to be hauled off of rocks on Lake George because they really don't know what the white markers mean.
As to the crappy paddlers part - yes, it is a tragedy that most on this board were not paddling since they were in their early 20's and had scads of time with the top coaches in the world when they were young. But most of us just have to make do with being the most decent paddlers we can manage between day jobs, family and the rest of our lives. The elite paddlers of the world will have to reach into themselves and find the fortitude to deal with it. (Especially if they want enough people to keep paddling to invest in fancy new hull materials.)
Your comments are fair I think. Believe me I KNOW that many recreational power vessels are operated by ignorant people and yes, they can kill you! You should be very wary of them.
My points all along on this board regarding this subject have consistently been to remind us paddlers that our sub group aint any better in terms of general maritime knowledge or courtesy! I get tired of the arrogance of finger pointing from a group that isn't any better in my world.
On a daily basis I encounter power vessels that are clueless, recreational sailors who come to complete stops in the marina entrance to work thier rigging, kayakers that are clueless about what's going on with zero self awareness, row boats that expect zero wake etc..
I'd guess that among the recreational operators, regardless of vessel (kayak to sail) maybe 20% actually understand the Rules and are actively aware of vessels around them.
Our state (Washington) recently started a boater certification program that is somewhat educational and we'll see if it has a positive impact over time.
My contribution here is seen as arrogant and some even assume I cannot paddle and am not a paddler. You know better via some mutual contacts, but what really pisses people here off is my reminder that kayakers where I live and work are just as ignorant and disrespected by those who work on the water. Yeah, a kayak aint gonna kill anybody.
So, once again my message is a reminder to folk here to make sure their own stuff is in order.
BTW, I take all of it in stride at the helm. It's just a reality of the job. And I am in NO WAY better than anyone here as a human, rather I can authentically share my perspective as both a paddler and professional mariner. Some will appreciate that, many will resent it and that's fine.
Also note: There are people out there with USCG Licenses that shouldn't have them as well. I'll be the first to aknowledge that, but by and large the daily operators are skilled courteous mariners...where I live. It sounds like the density back east is such that it amplifies problems between vessels. Glad I don't live there.
Some kayakers like to feel "special"......
My guess is the one's who whine the most about power boats are the very ones I'm referring to here...
i just want them to not run me over or hit me i do all i can do to avoid boats. but i will take above advice to be a better paddler hell i can admit im not the best.but i assure ya ill be trying to get better i try every day
It makes me nuts that I had my junior power boat operator license when I was 15 maybe 16, (and junior first aid and junior lifesaving) and a grownup can go out and be a fool at ridiculous speeds in an overpowered craft with no education requirements. But until something changes, that's the way it is.
Responsibility You took responsibility as a youngster and still clearly do. Folk like yourself aren’t a problem because you make the effort to be well rounded in your chosen avocations. If we met on the water there would be no issues regardless of craft. In kayaking that means learning about other water users, the appropriate Regs, safety etc. We may not always agree but I see you here coaching others around safety, outfitting, etc. I try to shed some light where I can from my perspective, which I would hope is useful to some.
Kayakers are perhaps the most frustrating to me when I’m working on the water because they expect special priveledges and don’t typically follow common Rules or courtesy. They are hard to see and even harder to predict at times. They will be out in open water and expect us to leave ZERO wake. Aint gonna happen folks. Schedules, tides to make, steerage to maintain, etc. It is unrealistic of them to expect every power vessel to ensure them a lake like experience in open commercially active waters…but many do and then get on the internet and whine about mean power boats etc.
It’s the perpetuation of the stereotypes that are exagerated and non-condusive to learning.
I mean as a sea kayaker you’re supposed to hate power boats right?? Don’t we kinda teach that in the kayak community in various ways?
There is a strong cadre of long time recreational power boaters on upstate locales like Lake George that know what they are doing. And there are younger, newer owners who scrape together the funds for dockage who are also quite responsible. The guy who just did the work on our house is one of them. Unfortunately 5 digit taxes are driving out anyone who is not filthy rich, so older owners are being replaced by folks without a legacy of time on the water.
We avoid these folks when we are on vacation in Maine by a happy circumstance. The bay we love as a place to refresh each summer is notoriously thick with lobster pots that snag the rotors of anyone who is not a local.
But we don't have the experience of sea kayakers being the rudest folks on the water, perhaps because we are not in the major destination points like Stonington to the east and places out of Portland to the south. Even the questionably licensed outfitters do a decent job at that. There are other aspects of their operation about which we've had concern.
Most the times that we've ended up suggesting that paddlers get out of the channel, it's been a flotilla of people in rec boats who made it out to an island they shouldn't have tried. In our experience, people in sea kayaks are less of a problem.
And well-meaning intelligent people can get tripped up in Maine by relying on red right returning. The smaller harbors often have an in and an out side, which is not obvious from the height of a paddle boat, and the out side points to the next little harbor. So the out side will be green right returning. It's easy to get tripped up. I was losing the argument one time with a highly trained coach from a southern state unused to the nooks and crannies of the Maine coast - until a lobster boat came by on autopilot about where we would have been.
paddle somewhere else Sorry but these threads always devolve into useless battles over who is less competent. In this case, lake kayakers vs. lake powerboaters. None of that solves the problem.
You are paddling a heavily traveled lake. The powerboaters may be malicious or ignorant…but you can control neither. OTOH you can control what you do, where you go, the nautical conventions you observe and how predictable your actions are.
If you can’t accept the condition that you cannot change, and look at it as an opportunity to get accustomed to paddling in traffic, perhaps another venue is in order.
It’s not exactly that There are some themes that always get a little rough and issues about power boaters tend to be among them.
However - in your replies above you have indicated that you are uncomfortable about capsizing in a boat that most with seat time would find very stable, have not picked up a phone to ask the folks at the club for advice on where and when to paddle to avoid the problem (as far as we know) and have leveled some fairly serious charges about the intentions of the operators of the power boats that you encounter.
People are actually being much nicer than you realize.
You can't control anyone's ego but your own. It was a good question for someone in your position, don't sweat it. Don't worry about celia's post above unless you already knew to do these things.
i called them wasnt no help i dont drive i have to kayak where i can get i practice every day i watch youtube videos ive been working very hard to get better.im more worried a boat will run me over.i iwsh i had videos of the boaters im talking about
OK - sorry then It is difficult to figure out where you are paddling that you can’t stay near enough shore to be out of traffic, but then again I don’t know this lake. Near shore does seem to be your best option given your anxiety about power boats.
