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RE: TWL: Re: Re: Right of Way

mknott@bcpl.net

Tue, Aug 8, 2000 5:22 PM

===== Original Message From "Alex Hirsekorn" alexh@gte.net =====
----- Original Message -----
From: Hal Wyman hal@halwyman.com

So are oars and paddles considered "machinery"? Where do human-powered
vessels fit?
he yelled and cursed at me and my guests, insisting that kayaks have ROW
over powerboats.

Hi Hal,

That kayaker was not only an idiot, but a rude idiot as well.

I just want to add one more tale to this thread. Happened this weekend near
Annapolis in a small creek called Lake Ogleton. I was out in the middle of
the creek at dead slow speed headed for an anchorage. About a hundred yards
away, approaching me off my Port bow was an express cruiser that had just left
his marina and was well clear of the marina. He was also proceeding slowly
but we were clearly on a collision course. As I continued ahead and realized
this guy really had no intention of stopping or altering course, I hit five
short blasts and stopped. We were only one or two boat lengths away. He
stopped too... briefly, and said "I don't know what you want me to do... I
just left my marina." I told him politely, "I am in your danger zone and have
right of way (sorry, I forgot to use 'stand on' and 'give way'), you can stop
and wait or you can alter course and pass behind me." Whereupon he said "oh
f--- you, it's just that you have a bigger boat." I politely replied "excuse
me, but you asked me what I wanted you to do and I told you what the rules
are. I didn't write them, I just try to follow them." He shifted back into
forward, uttered a few more expletives, told me to get the hell away from
"his" marina, and crossed my bow anyway.

This kind of encounter, I'm sorry to say, happens all too often. There are
numerous boaters that not only don't know what the rules are, but don't even
know that there are any. When necessary, they just make them up as they go
along for their own convenience. When they encounter someone that is doing it
by the rules and isn't getting out of their way because the rules require them
to stand on, they think they are being bullied and want to fight about it.

I'm telling you folks, it's a little scary out there. Many boaters are
knowledgeable, but you don't know which ones they are and you can't trust
anyone. You have to be constantly vigilant and defensive.

Mel Knott
Sandpiper
West Indian 36
Annapolis, MD

>===== Original Message From "Alex Hirsekorn" <alexh@gte.net> ===== >----- Original Message ----- >From: Hal Wyman <hal@halwyman.com> > >> So are oars and paddles considered "machinery"? Where do human-powered >> vessels fit? >> he yelled and cursed at me and my guests, insisting that kayaks have ROW >> over powerboats. >> >Hi Hal, > >That kayaker was not only an idiot, but a rude idiot as well. I just want to add one more tale to this thread. Happened this weekend near Annapolis in a small creek called Lake Ogleton. I was out in the middle of the creek at dead slow speed headed for an anchorage. About a hundred yards away, approaching me off my Port bow was an express cruiser that had just left his marina and was well clear of the marina. He was also proceeding slowly but we were clearly on a collision course. As I continued ahead and realized this guy really had no intention of stopping or altering course, I hit five short blasts and stopped. We were only one or two boat lengths away. He stopped too... briefly, and said "I don't know what you want me to do... I just left my marina." I told him politely, "I am in your danger zone and have right of way (sorry, I forgot to use 'stand on' and 'give way'), you can stop and wait or you can alter course and pass behind me." Whereupon he said "oh f--- you, it's just that you have a bigger boat." I politely replied "excuse me, but you asked me what I wanted you to do and I told you what the rules are. I didn't write them, I just try to follow them." He shifted back into forward, uttered a few more expletives, told me to get the hell away from "his" marina, and crossed my bow anyway. This kind of encounter, I'm sorry to say, happens all too often. There are numerous boaters that not only don't know what the rules are, but don't even know that there are any. When necessary, they just make them up as they go along for their own convenience. When they encounter someone that is doing it by the rules and isn't getting out of their way because the rules require them to stand on, they think they are being bullied and want to fight about it. I'm telling you folks, it's a little scary out there. Many boaters are knowledgeable, but you don't know which ones they are and you can't trust anyone. You have to be constantly vigilant and defensive. Mel Knott Sandpiper West Indian 36 Annapolis, MD

scaramouche@tvo.org

Tue, Aug 8, 2000 10:21 PM

mknott@bcpl.net writes:

Many boaters are
knowledgeable, but you don't know which ones they are and you can't
trust

anyone.

I get a little bit of comfort from boaters that display the Power
Squadron Burgee. You can't get it unless you are a member of the CPS
and you can't become a member unless you have successfully completed
the basic boating course. Those flying the CPS Burgee may not be the
greatest sailors yet, but at least they have learned the rules of the
road (The course is intense, but - like the Hong Kong Harbour course
described elsewhere -purely theorie).

My 2 bits worth - George of Scaramouche, Lake Ontario, Canada.

mknott@bcpl.net writes: > Many boaters are >knowledgeable, but you don't know which ones they are and you can't >trust >anyone. I get a little bit of comfort from boaters that display the Power Squadron Burgee. You can't get it unless you are a member of the CPS and you can't become a member unless you have successfully completed the basic boating course. Those flying the CPS Burgee may not be the greatest sailors yet, but at least they have learned the rules of the road (The course is intense, but - like the Hong Kong Harbour course described elsewhere -purely theorie). My 2 bits worth - George of Scaramouche, Lake Ontario, Canada.