Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

[mphy98]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

I have a 20 foot starcraft and 2 jetskis. My son and his girlfriend (both 17) spent one whole Sunday this winter taking the safe boating course. I then showed them both how to operate and what the rules were again in the spring. I stayed out in the big boat just to keep an eye the first day. He and she are both honor role students and have good heads on their shoulders. I can also see a good pat of the lake from the back 20 acres. So not all jet skiers are idiots, just some.

 

[jdlough]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

I do wish I had my camera....

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=569801

 

[Brewman61]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

I have a 20 foot starcraft and 2 jetskis. My son and his girlfriend (both 17) spent one whole Sunday this winter taking the safe boating course. I then showed them both how to operate and what the rules were again in the spring. I stayed out in the big boat just to keep an eye the first day. He and she are both honor role students and have good heads on their shoulders. I can also see a good pat of the lake from the back 20 acres. So not all jet skiers are idiots, just some.

Thanks, if more people do what you did, my job would be a lot less necessary. And certainly not all jet ski operators are idiots. I think of it as the 90/10 rule. In almost everything 90% goes uneventful, and you spend 90% of your time and energy babysitting the other 10%.

 

[sublauxation]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

Jet skiers tend to think they have a lot more control than they really do. About a week ago a guy and his buddy were racing around on them, the front one stalled and his buddy ran right over him. He's now deader than dead. That story should be televised nationwide.

 

[ricohman]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

Wherever I go its the same. I can be out fishing along some shoreline far away from anything, but as soon as they see you, the jetskis come over and proceed to do "tricks" around your boat. And moving doesn't help. These guys are in search of an audience.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

Jet skiers tend to think they have a lot more control than they really do. About a week ago a guy and his buddy were racing around on them, the front one stalled and his buddy ran right over him. He's now deader than dead. That story should be televised nationwide.

Plenty of boaters have been run over by their own boat... Fall overboard without wearing a tether, and a boat will tend to end up going into a circle, aimed right at you. That type of accident doesn't happen with a PWC.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

Personally I believe jet skis should be restricted to certain parts of the waterways period.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

I still haven't been out on the jet ski yet this season. Hopefully soon though. I tend to agree they are everywhere and a lot of times tend to think they are invisible.

My last boat trip 3-4 of them buzzed me for a few minutes taunting me to throw a wake for them. I was not planning to go more than steerage speed and they were not happy about it.

I also just went to a wake of an acquaintance who died in a jet ski accident. I don't know all the details, but it involved a boat driven by a friend of his.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

Personally I believe jet skis should be restricted to certain parts of the waterways period.

Sounds a bit pretentious of you. They have the right to every bit of the water you do. Granted, some of them show less regard for others, but the same can be said of every type of boat operator.

 

[Brewman61]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

Like I said earlier, biggest issue I've seen with PWC's is the operators tend to be younger and less educated on boating laws. As far as crashes go, I've seen plenty on both ends. A couple years ago a kid lost his leg when a few teen agers were out goofing around in a ski boat and jet ski. The kid on the jet ski fell off, and was run over by the kids in the ski boat. Prop took most of the leg right there. Amazed he even lived. Luckily resuce was there very quickly. It wasn't a jet ski issue, it wasn't a ski boat issue, it was an issue of careless uneducated operators. Many of these kids don't realize in a panic situation that the PWC's don't steer unless throttle is applied- and in a panic their instict is to back off the throttle. Lots of crashes happen from that alone.
Everyone has the right to use the lake, and the responsibility to learn the rules and follow them. Report any violations, including registration numbers if you can. In my case I take citizen complaints very seriously. We can't be everywhere at once, but when we're out we can certainly keep our eyes open and value citizen input to help us keep things safe. Our dispatchers forward us everything that gets called in, and most everyone is out there with a cell phone. I've also been waved down by boaters who've described problems they've witnessed and will investigate those if possible.

 

[SDSeville]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

In my local lagoon (size of a small lake, but salt water), they separate the jet skis and the boats. The jet skis have about 1/3 of the lagoon where they can race around in the same direction at 50+ mph and the boats have the other 2/3. Nobody seems to complain. The skis can go crazy without worrying about where the boats are and the boats don't have to try to guess which way the skis will go next.

I am not saying it should be like this everywhere, but it works here.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

In my local lagoon (size of a small lake, but salt water), they separate the jet skis and the boats. The jet skis have about 1/3 of the lagoon where they can race around in the same direction at 50+ mph and the boats have the other 2/3. Nobody seems to complain. The skis can go crazy without worrying about where the boats are and the boats don't have to try to guess which way the skis will go next.

Separating by craft type makes zero sense... See above, its the operator, not the craft. I've seen far more bass fisherman acting like idiots than PWC's, so maybe throw them on that side of the lake also.

 

[SDSeville]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

Separating by craft type makes zero sense... See above, its the operator, not the craft. I've seen far more bass fisherman acting like idiots than PWC's, so maybe throw them on that side of the lake also.

No bass fishermen allowed on this lagoon

It is actually a pretty small lagoon (see picture in avatar), so this is the only way the city will allow it.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

.....whether they have a license or not. Look at how many idiots are behind the wheel of a vehicle that had proper training.

Look at the number of idiots that are still on the road after revocation!!!!

 

[JimS123]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

It used to be that all of the jetski riders were idiots, but now I see only 5% of the jetskiiers are idiots. OTOH, 95% of the Donzi, Formula, Fountain and other gofast owners are idiots. Seems if you got the $ they think they can go wherever and do whatever. We have a 30 mph speed limit on the river. If a 'ski gets caught doing 35 he gets a ticket. If a Donzi gets caught doing 55 he gets a pass.

Yes, there should be restrictions. Gofasts are arrested for over 25 in the river. Restrict them to the middle of the Lake.

Make EVERYBODY take a course. Educated and acting stupid is still better than dumb and stupid.

In NY you need a licence ("course") to drive your own 'ski. But you can rent one without it as long as the vendor gives you a pamphlet toread.

 

[Vegas Naturist]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

To the OP, I feel your pain. But it's not only jet skiers who are India Delta Ten Tango's. Had a situation this past weekend that got the adrenaline pumping. I was heading south on Lake Mojave, about a mile north of Nevada bay. I'm running about 200 yards from the shoreline in an area that's about a mile wide. About 1/4 mile ahead and to my left (maybe about 100 yards left of my track) there is a stopped boat with a tuber in the water. He's pointing east, which would put him heading away from my track. I decided to stay on course and pass behind him, thinking if he takes off, he'll be heading away from me and I'll (we'll) not be on a collision course. Just then, to my right, this bright yellow ski boat, pulling a skier, comes flying out of a blind cove, and is heading directly into my track. In hindsight, I probably should have just stopped (I was running about 40 MPH on the speedo). Not knowing what he was going to do, not knowing if the skier was going to stay up, and not knowing what the tuber to my left was going to do, I backed off and made a hard left and headed straight toward the opposite shore. When boating, my situational awareness is peaked, and I knew no other boaters were behind me at the time, so I knew I was clear to go left. Always prepare for the unexpected and leave yourself an out.

The yellow boat made a hard right to clear the tuber, which from my perspective would have been pretty much dead ahead from him, and the tuber stood fast. I don't know if the tuber saw what was happening, or just wasn't ready to take off yet, or what. But it still had my heart racing.

John

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Yeesh. Jet skis drive me crazy!

Wherever I go its the same. I can be out fishing along some shoreline far away from anything, but as soon as they see you, the jetskis come over and proceed to do "tricks" around your boat. And moving doesn't help. These guys are in search of an audience.

Exactly! They think we're impressed or something. Usually that's the time someone in the boat sez, "It's time to site in the -06"! Or, "Where's the -06 when you need it?". Yes, it's said in "jest". Sometimes you get a boat who will pass between you and the shore while you're trolling relatively close to shore. Those guys get put in the same category......