L
Great Idea for the VHF!!
I’ve had the exact same experience
Up a marsh gut to get away from motor boats and nearly plowed by a jet ski running a tiny water body. Then the guy starts yell obscenities about me being out of place. Let’s see, depth ~3ft, width from bank to bank ~25-30’.
supposed to
with the huge difference in mass toss the “supposed to” out the window, wave and smile, think of him as a whale and aren’t you lucky?
As both a sailor and a kayaker
and a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, I can assure you that the operator of the sailboat was in the wrong for two reasons…
It was under power.
It was the passing vessel.
However, there is NO RIGHT OF WAY in the Navigation Rules (with one exception not worth mentioning here). There is a BURDENED vessel and a PRIVILEGED vessel, each with its own responsibilities. Your responsibility was to maintain course and speed so the sailboat could carry out its responsibility to give you plenty of room. However, the ultimate rule in the Nav Rules is that a vessel MUST deviate from the Rules to avoid a collision. And, according to my friend who is an attorney specializing in maritime law, in court a percentage of blame will be assigned to each party involved! Seldom is one party found to be 100% liable.
So, better luck next time.
I always wanted
to use my flare gun that I had when I sailed my
Morgan in Lake Ponchatrain. The thought of it tight on my pfd ready for action, ummm, is good.
I get to work off a litte rage, and I am definetly signaling that I am the vessel in distress. Ergo, I have the right of way.
In reality, I love winter kayaking. I am often the only boater and I just can’t feel angry at barges…only dutifully scared. Last spring I did have an encounter with a jet skier. The young man slowed down for me, as he should…just behind him was a sign in the creek…“make no wake.” I saluted him and then prostrated myself across the bow on my deck. He had a young chick on his backside. She smiled admiringly at her captain. Made this almost ole fart feel almost as good as it would be to discharge that flare gun as he so would like to.
HEY, DL, YOU WERE RIGHT -AND
as Sally all too often reminds ME in the car, that COULD"VE turned out to be a case of “he was right -dead right!”
Discretion, it turns out, is not only the better part of valor -it’s also, as you yourself exemplified, the better part of smart!
But you’re right -a smile and a wave sure would’ve gone a long way to defray the need to get out of THEIR way. Like a number of other posters noted, let tonnage and stupidity and blockheadedness and inconsiderate boors rule in cases like these.
But still, jees, dang it if it doesn’t just plain piss you off!
All in all it’s better to give way such that on the NEXT day you can, perhaps with BETTER sailing company,
Paddle on!
-Frank in Miami
That cracks me up!
I would have loved to witness that. I’ll have to remember in case I ever need to resort to it.
Thistleback
heed michigansnorkeler’s words
as he knows the Nav Rules and how they do play out in court. Do not let pride or assumptions get you run over. Paddle responsibly and predictably so the traffic knows what you are doing and where you are going. I routinely paddle in an international harbor with HUGE cargo vessels and 15 foot runabouts. I know where the channel is and where I am at all times. I have never had any close calls, harsh looks or words.
PWC operators, and all other boaters, over here must take and pass a very stringent course to drive a powered craft. My US experience is that inland boaters rate far below saltwater skippers.
Stay your course…
– Last Updated: Jan-09-04 12:12 AM EST –
I think the best thing to do is to stay confident and be deliberate in your course. Give way to anything you're on an immanent collision course with but don't deviate or stop paddling just because another boat is present. Be predictable and above all else be visible.
i wish…
i would have been a kayaker when i was honolulu. oh well, i did hike up diamondhead but i never rounded it in a kayak.
Easy solution
Come on back and go paddling. It’s nice out there.
they cannot see
Was almost straddled by a catamaran and almost got runover by large sailboat with a one man crew. He said it was a good thing I was wearing a yellow golf hat. Carry a large white or orange plastic bag on deck rigging in front of you to slip over the end of your paddle as you wave it high when THEY get too close for comfort. If you cannot see their face, then get busy and wave something up where they can see or maybe an air horn or flare.
tonnage rules
Regardless of what the law might say -
Might makes right.
If you are bigger … you have the ‘reality’ - right-of-way.
… just as it is in the animal kingdom
It may not be fair … but its always the safest way to approach the situation.
now … when two boats of equal size get on a collision course … its a game of chicken for those who ignore the laws.
Michigans (and Canadas) Lk St Clair is a prime example of ‘might makes right’.
The biggies go where they want and the smaller boats scurry around avoiding them.
For some, boating=
drinking. A lot of water fatalities are booze-related, I believe, and so is much boorish water behavior. You can’t reason with someone who’s been drinking, much less expect them to know or follow the rules. I’m not talking about a beer at the campground, I’m talking about the folks who can’t motor or sail without a can or glass in one hand.