in just about any imaginable scenario. What else can stop in one boat length, reverse in seconds, spin in place, etc.?
Combined - it pretty much makes it up to us to keep clear - not the others to go around or wait on us.
The rules and common sense agree.
The stuff about other craft giving way to paddle craft are misinterpretations. The other vessels must do all they can to avoid collisions - but paddlers should not be putting other vessels in a position to have to do so in the first place.
simulater At a coast gaurd course we had a barge simulater to try out. the rules are good to know. but after seeing it from a captains eyes, it realy hit home how valuable knowing the rules can be.
"always on the right" The rules of the road are that vessels approaching each other head on should always pass port to port. So that means you stay to the right when around other vessels, especially when you are about to pass head on, or you are being overtaken. You should always stay to the right when coming around a curve. IT doesn’t mean that if you have clear visibility, a straight stretch of ICW, and no other vessels around, you still have to hug the right bank. It’s not like a highway where you have to stay in your lane, even when no one is around. As long as you are not creating a hazard or impeding other boats, you can paddle in the middle, even to the left, if the spoil bank is giving you some shade, as long as you veer right when near other boats.
so in general it is as simple as "keep to the right". I don't think you'll see a lot of sailboats tacking back and forth upwind in the ICW, not a lot of searoom for that.
Talk of "right of way" I remember back in HS when I took the Sailing and Seamanship class, the coast guard auxillary guy told us to erase from our minds the idea of a vessel ever having the “right of way”. He reminded us the stand-on vessel does not have a right or option to hold its course, but an obligation to, except if there is no other way to avoid a collision. IT definitely helped in my mindset in all the powerboating, sailing, and paddling I have done.
Try Long Island Sound You have a few professional fishermen (fewer every year), ferries, weekend warriors, and tons and tons of private yachts who think they own the water. Throw in a sailboat regatta or two, and you have our paddling reality.
Crossing to Fishers Island on a hot july saturday can be an exercise in keeping calm, and waiting a while for the channel to clear. Kayakers here learn the law of gross tonnage very quickly, and get no sympathy from other kayakers if they don’t learn it. Unfortunately, there are some paddlers who think they own the water, too.
For all my efforts to stay out of the way, I’ve only had maybe two bad encounters there in 10+ years, and they were both with people who had more money than brains, one of whom deliberately changed course into a group of 25 kayakers who were not in the channel. Idiots like that can’t be avoided sometimes.
When I go to places where I can relax and just paddle, it’s a real treat!
The biggest one I've heard is that paddlers are unpredictable. They say that if we either stop and let them pass, or hold our course and speed, they're OK with that, provided we're not in the middle of the channel.
It's when paddlers start weaving, or a gorup scatters all over the place in response to the ferry that they get annoyed (And nervous).
Most commercial boats I encounter wave to me as they pass, because I remain predictable, and stop and let them pass whenever possible.
Annapolis Maryland I avoid summer weekends. About the dumbest thing you could do is to think that anyone out there is following the rules. It’s like a game of Frogger.
That’s pretty funny apparently they don’t have any recreation boaters there. Kayakers do exactly that but they don’t go fast enough to be a problem. Sailboats and powerboats are often meandering as well and a far greater hazard to a commercial boat trying to follow a course.
Exiting Solomons Harbor Leaving the harbor from Back Ck or the Narrows, you have Mill Ck on your left - when in a kayak, I yield to everybody in there because they are all less maneuverable than my vessel. Boats in there under power are there for dockage, and I’ve never had a problem - but I avoid the area on summer weekends. I launch my powerboat at the public ramp under the TJ Bridge, again avoiding weekends, and have no reason to go into Solomons Harbor - no fishing in there…
It might be fun to pull up to Stoney’s by kayak for a quick crabcake sandwich some day though.
Actually Rec boats in major channels is, according to commercial interests here, the main problem they complain about. They said that sea kayakers are generally more aware of what they’re doing. Our local club (ConnYak) has been very active in promoting good relations with both commercial boaters and with the USCG, so we get the info right from the horse’s mouth.
A rec boater was recently capsized and rescued by the Fishers Island ferry just outside New London Harbor. He was paddling in the channel, and got caught between two large wakes, and didn’t know how to deal with it. Shouldn’t have been there in the first place if there was traffic – he should have waitied for the channel to be clear.
In a channel - absolutely I agree, because most recreational boaters tend to be going one way or the other in the channel - it’s predictable. One thing that contributes to the problem with kayaks that I’ve observed is that they are sometimes in groups of 5 or more and someone wants to talk so they turn their yak around to face those trailing behind. To a boat coming through the channel you are wondering if they are now heading in a new direction.
My tactics in crowded waterways is pretty straightforward - go straightforward. Act like a real boat and not a pool toy. Point in the direction you want to go and keep paddling. Rotate your head all the time, and do what is expected of any craft in the current situation.
a-hole boaters I had a guy in a ski boat come at me the other day, he was pulling a guy on a kneeboard and i guess he wanted to see how close he could get him to me. He was going around 30mph and got about 15 feet from me…thats pretty close when something is going that fast…it threw a huge wave onto me and into my cockpit…if they would have done this to an older person or someone with no experience they would have capsized…i dont know what some people are thinking.