anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

[clearwatguy]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

That's why you belong on the water - and they belong in jail, their boat confiscated and donated to a youth organization.

You can not change other people but you can change your perception of the situation. You reacted extremely well in a very extreme situation. Gain confidence and trust in yourself from that fact.

Roland

well i appreciate that and all the other compliments to be honest i figured i would get flamed for doing what i did, you guys have all made me feel much better about the whole ordeal. its hard when your learning, not really knowing what to do in situations and then have to deal with somthing that is apparantly (thank GOD) not somthing that happens a lot. i was afraid that this sort of thing happened a lot and i feel way better knowing it is not the norm!!!

 

[pmat1]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

I expected you to get a beating on here for what you did, even if it was the right.. or maybe not so right thing to do, but you gotta do what ya gotta do. Dont give up on boating, its one of the better things in life.

Come to think of it, wouldent someone pulling up next to you and trying to tie up to you with bad intentions be considered piracy?

Wheres a magical Bilge plug pulling gun when you need one?

They are lucky they werent in my neck of the woods, or they would have to move to another state

 

[bigb2008]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

Too bad I'm so far from you. I'd be happy to get out there with you and make sure they wouldn't ever do that again.

One thing you could get if they are getting that close is a floating net. Just need to throw it in their path, and they would be all done. That'll usually stop them right in their tracks, and would typically spin a hub, making it near impossible for them to do anything but spend the time to get the net out, then limp back to the ramp w/ a spun hub.

 

[rndn]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

So, what exactly are the rules for defending your craft and crew from pirates?
I think Smith & Wesson would have supplied a proper defense, especially if they tried to grab my cleats with a rope.
In my 20 years of boating in Lake Ontario, I have never been subjected to anything like what you went thru. I'm sure the cops would have loved to bust them.

 

[purple98tj]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

Wouldn't tying off to someones boat without permission on the water be considered an act of piracy?

 

[scipper77]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

I'm no tough guy by any stretch and furthermore when someone is showing that kind of poor judgment I would have to assume that "any" physical retaliation will escalate this situation into a self defense situation but....

I keep an unbelievably sharp bait knife on board so if they tied on to the boat I could make short work of there lines.

I would have tied on a rattletrap and aimed for there faces as they sped by

or

or made sure that my anchor line was not tied to the boat or tangled and thrown the anchor at there boat while it was moving

but

before i tried any of the above I would have called 911 and reported there registration #.

It's best to let the pros handle a situation like that. If I hooked one of them with my lure I would be guilty of assault unless I could prove that there actions were considered assault and I was defending myself. I've seen cases where the person who retaliates gets hauled off to jail while the person who provoked the confrontation just gets a ticket.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

I've been boating around people all my life and never heard of something that bad. I've seen some scary folks out and a couple of wierd encounters, just like anywhere else. I did hear about a ski boat intentionally swamping 2 kayakers, though, this summer. so don't let it ruin your boating;l you'll probably never see that again (unless you go back there). What are you going to do--take up white water canoeing? (cue Deliverance music)

 

[TahoeQ4Pilot]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

For the OP, what a crappy way to end the day, I am sure sorry to hear your hassles. But I suggest most folks on the lakes are good, at least 'round these parts, you are bound to run in more of them than the buttheads.

I would ask about the folks saying you should bring along a gun or get a conceal and carry license, I read a number of responses that indicated they would have used it in this case.

I wonder for the other gun owners, how would you have handled this if it was you and you had a gun on board? Shoot the driver or the guy trying to rope the cleat? Shoot warning shots or disabled the motor? Wave it menacingly at them? What if they brought out bigger guns, escalating the situation?

This reminds me of the joke about a country lawman pulling over the city boys. After writing the driver a ticket for a number of violations he heads back to his car, but first walks over to the passenger and punches him upside the head. The startled city boy asks the sherrif what the hell he did that for? The sherrif said "so that when I get a block away you dont start talking crap that you would never let no backwoods police treat you that way.

I for one agree the OP gave them what for and got the heck outta dodge.

 

[timdan94]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

For the OP, what a crappy way to end the day, I am sure sorry to hear your hassles. But I suggest most folks on the lakes are good, at least 'round these parts, you are bound to run in more of them than the buttheads.

I would ask about the folks saying you should bring along a gun or get a conceal and carry license, I read a number of responses that indicated they would have used it in this case.

I wonder for the other gun owners, how would you have handled this if it was you and you had a gun on board? Shoot the driver or the guy trying to rope the cleat? Shoot warning shots or disabled the motor? Wave it menacingly at them? What if they brought out bigger guns, escalating the situation?

This reminds me of the joke about a country lawman pulling over the city boys. After writing the driver a ticket for a number of violations he heads back to his car, but first walks over to the passenger and punches him upside the head. The startled city boy asks the sherrif what the hell he did that for? The sherrif said "so that when I get a block away you dont start talking crap that you would never let no backwoods police treat you that way.

I for one agree the OP gave them what for and got the heck outta dodge.

if they hooked my boat with a rope a warning shot would have been more than warranted... if they continued a nice big hole in the hull... up there you'd have waited for an hour if you did get a hold of a leo. it is a remote lake that especially after the normal season (memorial-labor day) the leo's are rarely around. The area is severely understaffed with any kind of leo, especially one with a boat. The lake is massive they'd have taken off and it would have been hard to find them especially because there are a few launch ramps.

 

[clearwatguy]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

Too bad I'm so far from you. I'd be happy to get out there with you and make sure they wouldn't ever do that again.

One thing you could get if they are getting that close is a floating net. Just need to throw it in their path, and they would be all done. That'll usually stop them right in their tracks, and would typically spin a hub, making it near impossible for them to do anything but spend the time to get the net out, then limp back to the ramp w/ a spun hub.

wow thats a great idea! i was in the first and 501st airborne when i was in the army and i have a whole mess of 550 cord chute strings i think ill make myself a net! that stuff is 1/2 the diamater of a pencil and will hold 550 lbs

 

[fishrdan]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

WOW, I can't believe someone would do that. Piracy, yup that came into my mind too while reading your story, so many of us had the same impression. There's nothing wrong with what you did in my eyes.

I fish with big (14") lures and long rods that can send the lure a long way. If someone is bugging me I sit there holding the rod and let them get a good look at the lure and nasty hooks, then let it fly 100 yards. I haven't had anyone stick around and keep bugging me after they see what I'm throwing around. Usually they are nice and respectful (waving and all that biz) after seeing that I would like a small slice of water to do my thing.

May I suggest one of these mounted up on the front deck to deter further incidents... (joking)

 

[clearwatguy]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

if they hooked my boat with a rope a warning shot would have been more than warranted... if they continued a nice big hole in the hull... up there you'd have waited for an hour if you did get a hold of a leo. it is a remote lake that especially after the normal season (memorial-labor day) the leo's are rarely around. The area is severely understaffed with any kind of leo, especially one with a boat. The lake is massive they'd have taken off and it would have been hard to find them especially because there are a few launch ramps.

i have guns lol ex army airborne, but i really didn't think i would need them at willow bay lol was going out to relax and have a good time didnt think it would be like bike week at sturgis! I really dont think these guys meant to harm anyone just got carried away and obviously had had way to much to drink. but it is like timdan94 says out there its a huge lake surrounded by allegany national forest and there is not much law for miles and miles and even less on the water if there is any at all this time of year... it is no mans land out there. if anyone out there is familiar with this area its the body of water that was man made in the 60's over indian land breaking the treaty george washington signed with cheif cornplanter of the seneca indians. johnny cash wrote a song about it back in the day, they say its cursed because of the flooding of burial grounds.

 

[lowkee]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

I wonder for the other gun owners, how would you have handled this if it was you and you had a gun on board?

A fair question. Just to clarify a mindset of lawful gun owners. I don't look for reasons to wave a gun around. I attribute it to not having to look for trouble, because trouble finds you often enough as it is. Just as having a bumper on my car doesn't mean I'm looking to ram people.

In order, I'd likely shout a stern warning to take the party elsewhere, if no effect, raise the gun towards the water, if no effect, raise the gun towards their lower hull (in a manner obviously aiming for the hull, not them), if no effect, repeat the warning and fire a water shot, if no effect, fire two shots into their hull (one is provocative, two indicates willingness to escalate if necessary), if hostile response or no effect, shoot out the engine and head for port to fetch leo.

Granted, prior to all of this, I would likely bring out the camera and get a nice portrait for evidence. The camera may well be enough to calm down casual do-badders.

The flare, though a good in-the-moment idea, would scare me way more than shooting the hull or the engine. If boats explode from not venting, a flare is playing (literally) with fire. The point of carrying a gun isn't to kill, but to protect you from harm. It is rare to read a news story where someone requires being shot to stop a crime. Most times a demand and the knowledge it won't be tolerated is enough. The gun is there for the tiny chance when it isn't enough, and then the tiny chance beyond that where shooting something can't diffuse the situation well before considering shooting someone.

I certainly wouldn't want to be shot, so I'm not about to want to shoot someone else. Then again, I don't go about getting hammered and playing cowboy with other peoples' boats, either. Sometimes it's real easy to forget who the aggressor is in a situation like that. Defending yourself before someone injures you is still defense. You can't exactly prevent injury after you've been injured.

 

[clearwatguy]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

WOW, I can't believe someone would do that. Piracy, yup that came into my mind too while reading your story, so many of us had the same impression. There's nothing wrong with what you did in my eyes.

I fish with big (14") lures and long rods that can send the lure a long way. If someone is bugging me I sit there holding the rod and let them get a good look at the lure and nasty hooks, then let it fly 100 yards. I haven't had anyone stick around and keep bugging me after they see what I'm throwing around. Usually they are nice and respectful (waving and all that biz) after seeing that I would like a small slice of water to do my thing.

May I suggest one of these mounted up on the front deck to deter further incidents... (joking)

now THATS a boat but what happens when your battery dies? lol

 

[nitsuj]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

As a gun owner and someone licensed to carry concealed, I don't think I'd have shown my weapon unless it got worse. I'd have never thought of the flare thing. The first thought that would have come to my mind would have been one of the oars. I'd have it ready and when they came in to get my cleat, "WHACK" one of them's getting clunked. That would probably (hopefully) let them know I'm not an easy target. If that didn't work or made it worse, I'd consider taking the gun out. But not unless I was sure I exhausted all my options.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

While I certainly understand needing to take action against clearly dangerous actions of another person, I think I would have played "dodge" with them for awhile. Simply put, tell any passengers to sit down and hang on to something. At that point, make a hard turn away from your assailants every time they get close. In all probability, they would have gotten bored after awhile.

The problem with the flare idea is that you could have caused an explosion aboard their boat, or caused it to burn to the waterline. Either option would have probably resulted in injuries or worse. In fact, if the boat had exploded close to you, both you and your mother could have been hurt. Once again, I don't blame you, but morons like that would be the same type of people, who would sue you for something that they caused themselves.

One other thing to remember, is that most cellphones have a video recording function these days. The simple act of "filming" them might have caused them to reconsider their stupidity.



???

 

[HappierWet]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

Evidence again, That God in his infinite wisdom and generousity created more horses rearends than there are horses to occupy them.
Congrats on your quick thinking and providing for the safety of your craft and crew.

 

[Splat]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

As another responsible gun owner, if this story had gone down as described, my gun would not have come out, but my hand prolly would have been on it, along with with my cell phone recording hangin on my belt. After a few stern warnings, how the situation ends would have been up to them.

Up until this point there would be no reason to use my weapon and I don't feel anyones life was in danger.

Bill

 

[timdan94]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

It may not have sounded this way but for me the gun would have been the complete last resort. My outboard trimmed up just so the prop is under the water gives one hell of a stream of water that would take anyone standing on that boat off of their feet. granted I may have had a slow troll back to the dock with the electric but it would have at least knocked some sense into them.
this is the lake we are talking about.
http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/rec/lakes/WebBrochPDF/kinzua/Kinmap.jpg

 

[beerfilter]

Re: anyone else ever get harrassed by drunks on a speed boat?

I also run very( comparatively ) small craft , and , have been in similar situations . While no one has had the cajones to try to physically grab or take control of my vessel , yet ( they would be wiping their butt with a hook if they tried ..) , it is always a possibility .

Good thinking with the flares , I would have let Mr Colt talk to them , untill he was completely out of " breath " ...

I stick to waters that usually preclude the presence of these kind of morons . I.E. the most snag infested , hull ripping waters you could imagine .
It is what the wave makers and gas wasters avoid , where the best fishing to be had is usally found .

On waters that that are open to all manner of idiots , I try to set up in a locale that allows me to fish in relative peace , while holding extreme dangers for any craft that attempts to buzz by in close proximity .

For those unfamilliar with a body of water , these may be hard to find untill you learn the water and develop a bit of evil strategy , but , it pays off in the end .

I call this the rope a dope method . Anyone stupid enough to screw around is going to find themselves the direct victim of their own actions and ignorance of the waters .

Yes, I get my jollies baiting more than just fish , but , I never try to escalate directly . Let the fools make victims of themselves if possible .

Barring this option , it is best to just report the fools to the local constabulary , and , not try to escalate the confrontation .
It may be they desperately deserve to be handed a reality check , but , you have little right to escalate or provoke a confrontation unless they are directly threatening your safety and/or that of your passengers .

A cell phone is great , especially if it has a camera . So are witnesses .
Yes , your local cops and DNR are interested , but , they need info .
They do not like these aholes any more than their victims , but , they need more than just a vague description of a craft and the operator .

I would advise you to go out with a partner or 2 in seperate crafts , but , these type of idiots are random and fishing partners are often hard to come by , especially good ones .