m-day follies

[FSTHUH]

Re: m-day follies

Went out Saturday with wife and a kid and saw idiots pulling their (young kids 10 years old) on a tube doing 45+ MPH...tubes and kids flying all over the place..I was suprised there was no major injuries...boats had no flags nor obeying any laws.

At the end of the day we found two boats stranded (engine would not start) and (both boats had young kids on it) I pulled both of them back to the dock. (one by one)..

At one point of time I lifted my engine cover just to take a glance (make sure everything is ok) I had one boat fly up to us to check if everything was ok or if we needed any help...I thought that was pretty awesome from a fellow boater."thumbs up"

 

[H20Rat]

Re: m-day follies

i agree to a point, i dont see the craft as the issue but many jetskis are owned by people that dont obay the rules, ive had skis and ocassionaly i ride them but i will use water rules and use my brain to stay safe. i dont know why anyone would buy a ski over a boat?

completely different crafts, and entirely different purposes. You could say the exact same about motorcycles, why do people own motorcycles when you can buy a honda civic?

Don't blame it on the craft. Jetski owners tend to be new boaters, and MOST new boaters are dangerous on any craft they are on. I saw some incredibly stupid things this weekend, and jetskis didn't have a monopoly on it by a longshot. At least in my area, pontoons tend to be the worst. They have no concept of giving way, and will gladly run you over when overtaking before turning. Most pontoons have two speeds. Barely moving and wide open throttle. (and almost all pontoons locally are owned by relatively new boaters) I can't count the number of people sitting on the front desk of a pontoon dangling their feet over the front, at full speed keep in mind. The game wardens stop for this, but people still do it. INCREDIBLY dangerous!

(disclaimer, I have a jetski, a jet boat, and a pontoon)

 

[90sunbird]

Re: m-day follies

i agree

 

[90sunbird]

Re: m-day follies

i am deffentally getting a repeat vibe that young jetskis are the cause of all out distress!!!!!

 

[Philster]

Re: m-day follies

Wow, same thing here. After some good running, I decided to raise the engine hatch at a safe/slow point to make sure nothing was leaking/spraying or lingering in the bilge. Before I could register a look at my outdrive reservoir, the first guy going by asked if everything was okay.

All was good and I was on my way.

 

[90sunbird]

Re: m-day follies

still some good people out there!!!!!

 

[Sparkinator]

Re: m-day follies

I didn't get a chance to make it to the lake, but my sister did. She said she saw a 20 foot deckboat and 18 people crawled off it onto the dock.

I guess the skipper thought it wasn't that big of a deal, cause most of them were kids.

 

[QC]

Re: m-day follies

Where do I start . . .

I was at Lake Havasu, lot's of fools, lots of drunks, lots of PWCs, lots of boat renters, LOTS of LEOs!!

The worst one was actually very unexpected. Narrow channel, boats going both directions, sort of lined up in proper direction of travel:

There was a Casino shuttle boat (Dreamcatcher):

Probably 65 ft. couple of decks, say 30 passenger. All else were under 30 ft. He goes through this channel 38 times a day (19 round trips). All of the other boats are moving 3 MPH (GPS). Nowhere to go but neutral and bump in and out of gear. He tried to force it with clearly no coherent plan except ramming He was coming towards me. I had room to Starboard, but I'm thinking "where does he think he's gonna go?". Well the boat just behind me, 23 foot jet and he was having trouble keep her straight (operator seemed OK actually) and was wandering bad. He swings to Port towards the oncoming Dreamcatcher and then at the last second gets her back moving to Starboard and glances off Dreamcatcher. Clearly, with no doubt in my mind, the Bigger vessel's fault. Imagine a Tractor Trailer trying to force his way through bumper to bumper traffic by heading into Opposing traffic. No other real way to explain.

I also saw a 'toon full of drunks get towed to some courtesy docks by the Police . . . I was in a slip there hanging out. I helped them tie her off. After dark, no all around light, nobody sober. The Police boat drags her over, I help get her secured with a boat hook. One of the passenger's starts puking, and then they ask where they can get something to eat. And the coppers just leave WTF? Then one of them says "I can't believe I ran out of gas." And then it struck me, the boat wasn't underway, so they had nobody to arrest as an operator. Lucky dumbarses

 

[clockwatcher]

Re: m-day follies

I don't take my boat out during the holidays. I've learned my lesson years ago. Too many numbskull's.

I live 1/4 mile from the lake in the dfw area. So I heard lots of ambulances and police. There's still a body missing somewhere in the cove down the street from me. He jumped in without a jacket and didn't come back up.

What is sad is the count this year was comparatively low.



3 dead, 1 missing in Dallas-Fort Worth lake accidents

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/053110dnmetdrowning.1b88ae8.html

 

[hostage]

Re: m-day follies

Was cruising at the 25mph speed limit and some idiot in his bass boat flies by me, his boat was jumping completely out of the water as he zoomed by me.

There was also the car sales men, who were driving there BMW's with dealer plates seemed to enjoy there overly loud cigarette boat that was taking on water. When they tried to pull it out something broke with the winch, then they jury-rig it using a screwdriver. As the pulled the ~45ft boat out of the water there was a loud "pop" and part of the screw driver went flying through the parking lot. Thankfully no one or nothing got hit.

-Hostage

 

[jkust]

Re: m-day follies

Pretty tame this weekend. Only things fishing boats fishing in the center of narrow channel, tubers and the towboats getting too close to other boats. I don't even comment on jetskiers anymore since I just expect agressive behavior and I am rarely disappointed. Most folks were civil and my kids waived at everyone and they all still wave back. Never saw the DNR except at the ramp (taking up a trailer space without a trailer) checking for invasive species.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: m-day follies

not bad around here, but it seems we have mostly experienced boaters and few out to party, few "sofa boats."
Saw a couple of people (mostly said 'sofa boats') going in "no wake" at slow speed but enough so the stern drags and the wake is like surf.
One guy pulled two--two!--tubes with children on them through the channel under a large bridge--he was going "no wake" but still dangerous.
LEO's were checking every boat on the river.
Almost everyone waved.
Overall a very nice day. The stupidest antic was my own: I cut the grass instead of going fishing!

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: m-day follies

Re: children riding on the swim platform: they will die of carbon monoxide there, or pass out, fall off and drown. Next time you see that you really should intervene.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: m-day follies

Re: children riding on the swim platform: they will die of carbon monoxide there, or pass out, fall off and drown. Next time you see that you really should intervene.

or they might have thru-prop exhaust or a specific underwater exhaust outlet meant to prevent this type of thing. (starting to become common on wake/ski specific boats) 'riding' on the swim platform is still probably illegal though.

http://www.freshairexhaust.com/

 

[Shife]

Re: m-day follies

or they might have thru-prop exhaust or a specific underwater exhaust outlet meant to prevent this type of thing. (starting to become common on wake/ski specific boats) 'riding' on the swim platform is still probably illegal though.

http://www.freshairexhaust.com/

I see the marketing director of that company went to the P.T. Barnum School Of How To Sell To Suckers.

Riding on the swim platform while underway is illegal everywhere in the US and exposes you to high doses of CO. Even if the exhaust is magic and underwater.

 

[MTribe08]

Re: m-day follies

Where do I start . . .

I was at Lake Havasu, lot's of fools, lots of drunks, lots of PWCs, lots of boat renters, LOTS of LEOs!!

The worst one was actually very unexpected. Narrow channel, boats going both directions, sort of lined up in proper direction of travel:

There was a Casino shuttle boat (Dreamcatcher):

Probably 65 ft. couple of decks, say 30 passenger. All else were under 30 ft. He goes through this channel 38 times a day (19 round trips). All of the other boats are moving 3 MPH (GPS). Nowhere to go but neutral and bump in and out of gear. He tried to force it with clearly no coherent plan except ramming He was coming towards me. I had room to Starboard, but I'm thinking "where does he think he's gonna go?". Well the boat just behind me, 23 foot jet and he was having trouble keep her straight (operator seemed OK actually) and was wandering bad. He swings to Port towards the oncoming Dreamcatcher and then at the last second gets her back moving to Starboard and glances off Dreamcatcher. Clearly, with no doubt in my mind, the Bigger vessel's fault. Imagine a Tractor Trailer trying to force his way through bumper to bumper traffic by heading into Opposing traffic. No other real way to explain.

I also saw a 'toon full of drunks get towed to some courtesy docks by the Police . . . I was in a slip there hanging out. I helped them tie her off. After dark, no all around light, nobody sober. The Police boat drags her over, I help get her secured with a boat hook. One of the passenger's starts puking, and then they ask where they can get something to eat. And the coppers just leave WTF? Then one of them says "I can't believe I ran out of gas." And then it struck me, the boat wasn't underway, so they had nobody to arrest as an operator. Lucky dumbarses

I was out there on Monday as well! I think it had tamed down quite a bit from the weekened..but still pretty cool. My first time there. We hung out on the boardwalk under the bridge and then went over to Rotary Park and let the kids swim. Didn't bring the boat this time..if I go back with the boat I want to stay a few days. Where did you stay? or do you have a RV?

I did hear about a boat sinking just outside of the bridge...see that?

 

[H20Rat]

Re: m-day follies

I see the marketing director of that company went to the P.T. Barnum School Of How To Sell To Suckers.

Riding on the swim platform while underway is illegal everywhere in the US and exposes you to high doses of CO. Even if the exhaust is magic and underwater.

That product wasn't specifically designed for people RIDING on the platform. It is for wake-skating, which is 100% legal.

 

[Dkrager]

Re: m-day follies

Glad I don't have to deal with the jet ski's (They are banned on our lake)

My weekend was great. I had to work everyday, but still got out friday night, sat night and sunday afternoon and evening. Small local lake 750 acres, 1/4 mile from home. Busy but not too many idiots out. Seems the economy has weeded out the idiots. Our lake isn't nearly as busy as it was 3 years ago.

I did pull a stranded fishing boat in to the dock at their camper Saturday night.

Another guy was waiting to launch on one of the side ramps, but was blocking me from using the center ramp (currently open) that doesn't have a dock. I had a few choice words to myself, but I let it go. (He could have pulled off to the side and let me go around him, but oh well)

 

[tractoman]

Re: m-day follies

I saw a few way over loaded boats with arms and legs hanginng all over the place, a few who don't know how to launch or retrieve worth beans, and a guy that fired up and ran his engine at the staging area on an IO for about 25 seconds after retrieving, to apparently flush the water out of the engine.

 

[sparky461]

Re: m-day follies

Not bad on the Il. river, Sat. night fire dept. had to put in to go get a man that overheated(that's what they told us). They held up the ramp forever. Sunday a guy was out of gas so I towed him to his camping spot 1 or 2 miles away. His wife tried to give us money I said "no thanks" but she gave it to my daughter and said "get some icecream". I told them I hope someone will do it for me if need be. Come to find out they gave us $50. CRAZY!