Just a few days ago, I watched a couple of kayakers pass in front of me about a half mile away. They both had triangular orange flags but I found that their moving paddle blades seemed more noticeable than the flags. And that was with them crossing my course so I didn’t even see the full profile of the paddles. Every bit helps, flags, bright clothing, bright kayak but to me the flag added the least extra visibility.
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They’ve tried to do the same thing up here in NH, as well as MA. It’s a really bad idea for the reasons stated above.
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I don’t wish misfortune on anyone, but I’m not a fan of the little dipsy doodle jet skis. Too many are self absorbed and looking for cheap thrills.
We were Rock fishing on the shoals of the Chesapeake Bay. The cigar boats must sit in the marinas awaiting launch time. At 11:00 am on Friday, there’s a steady stream of boats heading up the Bay to the first Tikki Bar stop. They apparently load up and follow the leader to the next stop, and the next . . . Fortunately, they play follow the leader and stay in the marked channel.
I can’t say the power boats are much of a hindrance, other than the noise. The idea of enhancing visibility seems crazy. Despite power boater insisting that a 14 ft kayak is hard to see, I’ve yet to have one explained how they can see an 12 inch by 18 ft log floating with 2 inches exposed. Somehow power boaters can weave through a maze of black, white, red or fluorescent floats space at 30 ft, without hitting one. Truth is, we’re at the mercy of faster boats. The wise thing to do would be to just stay home.
Love that ad! Too close to actual boat trailer backing fiascos I’ve seen in the last three years. A couple of them required other people to step in and undo the kinked messes that threatened docks and other structures. Some of them take 20 minutes or more to get it done. Some neglect to tie the boat to the dock cleats, and their passengers don’t know anything about moving the wandering boat out of the launch area.
Jet skis seem to attract a certain personality which uses the high maneuverability of the thing to deliberately run tight circles around a kayaker, trying to cause a capsize. Don’t believe this? It happened to four of us paddlers, three newbies, at Chatfield State Park, CO, on an early summer day in 2002. It became obvious that the jerk circling around us in increasingly small circles was hoping for capsizes. We ignored him but seethed with wishes against his continued existence. At least, we assumed it was a him.
OK, nothing happened to us that day. But a short while later the same day, someone on the same color jet ski just happened to “accidentally” jump over the tow line between a young girl on a tube and her parents’s powerboat. The “accident” caused her to go into a long coma, from which her parents eventually made the terrible decision they were faced with. (Yes, they pulled the plug, and I don’t blame them at all given the fact that she had been rendered forever vegetative.)
The perpetrator was a young teenager who was with a large group of (adult) troublemakers who had violated other laws, and whom I had seen a few times doing similar crap in the preceding week.
The overlord (Shaw Aryan) of this abysmal clique turned out to own a local used-car dealership (now Parkway Motors—might have been a different name in 2002, and he supposedly had his business license revoked). When the teenager got caught (there were multiple witnesses), one of the unemployed men (Hurtado) “sponsored” by the overlord tried to reduce potential charges by claiming he had been the one who caused the damage. He also claimed he owned the jet ski.
Nope. The overlord owned the jet ski, had swizzled the registration to hide that fact, AND the wannabe martyr for the overload tried to bribe the park ranger! Turned out that Mr. Aryan had paid Hurtado to take the legal fall. Which he must have offered immediately upon seeing the accident. So obstruction of justice was also one of the charges.
What a bunch of wastes of oxygen. Shame that finding details from this horrible set of crimes is hard to do now. The parents of the victim were going to sue for wrongful death, but I can’t find any followup on that. Maybe Shaw Aryan paid them by settling out of court. Whatever it was, these kinds of incidents get glossed over way too quickly. And that same summer, a 14-yr-old boy killed someone with his reckless jet skiing at McConaughy Lake in Nebraska.
Still, without the deliberate repeated circling, jet ski wakes are small and short-lived. To the contrary, wake boat skis can be very steep, bigger, and last much longer.
I wish both of those were forbidden in anything but very large bodies of water, preferably restricted to one or two launches, with many better launches for other boaters ONLY.
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What’s most bothersome is how certain boats become magnets that attract a personality defect. Its the proliferation of the type that creates the problem.
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My hypothesis is that that jet ski exhaust somehow renders humans incapable of reason, judgment, and consideration of others.
Wake boats and wake boat operators are even worse. In addition to all the problems associated with jet skis, wake boats can also disrupt and destroy lake and shoreline ecology. They should be restricted to only the biggest, deepest lakes, and only away from the shoreline by several hundred feet. There’s a lot of information packed into this graphic:
https://lastwildernessalliance.org/wake-surfing-intro
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We have those problems around here with young dudes on jetskis thinking it’s fun to harass kayakers by deliberately swooping in front of or around them so their ski wakes cause the boats to bounce around. I’ve witnessed at least one capsize and several near ones caused by this bullying behavior and it’s clearly upsetting to people out in the ever popular short rec boats. (doesn’t effect me because I’m always in a sea kayak).
I often paddle on the nearby wide and winding Monongahela River, which has shallow mucky sand bars along the banks in many areas, some of them extended quite a ways into the stream. The river is murky enough that you can’t really see these unless you are right on top of them. I was out on one such section years back during a dry spell when the river level was at least a foot below normal – I usually stay near the bank for the shade and because the powerboats stay in the main channel and, this being a major industrial waterway, there are big barges, tugs and even faux paddlewheel party-liners.
There were a lot of kayakers out that day, many in rec boats from the local rental stable, and it was clear some were already a little challenged by the reflected waves that were making for chop along the shallows as the various wakes bounced off the steep shoreline which has a lot of abandoned concrete docks and sea walls where the steel mills used to be located.
Then 3 young jet-skiers showed up and started playing chicken with the little clusters of paddlers by churning up the water even more. I yelled at them to back off bothering the paddlers but they either didn’t hear me or pretended not to. I knew we were approaching one of the more protruding sand bars, one I usually avoid even in my low profile boat because at that level my paddle will hit the muck that is barely inches below my hull. But this time I tracked directly over the bar and got the attention of one of the jet ski dudes and flipped the bird at him. He bought the dare, cranked his throttle and headed for me. Found that bar right quick. Then had the balls to plead with me for help as I paddled past while he was wallowing in the knee deep muck beside his stalled out half submerged ride. I just smiled and said “Nope.”
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wakeboats are some of the worst craft out on the water. They are not only usually driven by the inexperienced or people out for a thrill, but they throw a much larger wake for the size of the boat that can cause damage to other boats and the shore.
It should be driven ten feet into every boater’s head that they are responsible for any damage their wake causes.
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I also sail. My boat is an almost 60 year old wooden GP14 Dinghy from the UK. While completely rebuilt over the course of a few years, she is still a bit more fragile than a modern dinghy like a 420. I too have been harrassed by jet skiers and even larger boaters who think it is fun to wake the small sailboat. It’s not fun to try and settle a boat with a 22 foot tall wooden mast. Once that thing gets swaying, it wants to keep going.
This is why I always have at least one gopro going when out on the water. If nothing else, it allows you to go to the Marine Police or the Coast Guard and show them exactly who is the problem out there.
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In addition to capturing wildlife and scenery, having a decent camera along is good for getting the boat registration numbers law enforcement will want. Beyond that, most small boat harassers know they’re being jackasses and they tend to take off as soon as they think their picture is being taken. My phone’s camera isn’t always good enough to capture a clear shot of the numbers, but the jerks don’t know that … just holding up the camera as if their behavior is being recorded is usually enough to send them away.
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yeah I think that in my kayak if they kill me maybe GoPro will be found. 
Situation looks dicey i hit record if it’s not on already.
wonder if it’s legal to carry a bow and arrow?
Sling shot possiblity? Harpoon?
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Got my weapon ready (that’s me launching my harpoon with the norsaq). We made these in a full day workshop the day before at Michigan Qajaq Training Camp last August. I wonder how a jet skier would react if I hefted this off the deck as they were headed my way…
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Reading this thread gave me goosebumps. I’ve never seen such malicious behaviour here in Central Europe as to intentionally harass somebody with a wake, etc. Granted, there are those ignorant boaters who just cannot slow down for a paddler or teenagers on jetskis doing dumb stuff but circling around somebody or passing too close on purpose that’s just another level 
As a class. We are polar opposites to the jet ski/wake boat/cigar boat crowd. We value solitude, pristine environments, mastering human power, efficiency, and shared resources.
“We” can coexist, because that is primarily our nature. We pass silently, try to leave no trace, limit our use of resources, we’re in intimate contact with the environment. Consequently, we respect habitats and the impact that even paddling through a flock of birds will have on their well-being.
Those wave riders are disconnected. Where I pass with virtually no impact on the shadow of the sea floor that I can see 6 ft below, they increase turbidity, disrupt fish spawning, block sunlight from the seaweed, make noise, endanger anyone and anything in their way.
I can tolerate the borish behavior if there’s a way to limit impact. Just as boats of a certain size requires the owner to be licensed, maybe its time for classes and licensing on specific watercraft, speed restrictions in populated areas (no wake zone during weekends shouldn’t mean unlimited speeds any other time), explain legal liabity for wake damage (laws already exist for reckless behavior and intoxicated operation).
I don’t resent their selfish disregard, only request that they should practice it away from others. That way we can coexist safely.
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A flare across their bow might get their attention. Not that I am suggesting doing it.
Or an RPG.
Crazy, crazy! Or 100 lb fishing line in the path to wind up into the propeller.
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Yes my husband and I do in the fall during hunting season. We don’t generally paddle where boats like to go. The flags are Just to give hunters a visual that pokes up above the reeds during duck hunting season. These are just regular old bicycle flags attached to the metal framed kayak seats.
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