Report: Losers on a yacht (almost lost my boat)

[Hookup]

Happened today... to me... not anywhere near as bad.. but had to be a 32footer on the Rideau R.... older couple... i'm sure he's thinking this is a nice slow put... see the nice houses... he's throw'n 2 foot waves peak to trough... had the kids and wife in the boat... frigg'n brutal... anyhow, i do know how to take waves, and we were fine... but another example of careless boaters is all i'm saying...

[MLR]

Maybe its time to retire the small boats to small lakes and rivers where these big wake throwing boats can't get us.

Until the big boat circles around and throws another wake at me, I wouldn't take it personal.

[Hookup]

Agreed, it's not personal.. it's ignorant.

[Pepe]

Possible solution - little boats, stay out of the "channel". If no "speed" laws are broken or boating rules infracted upon, so be it. Big boats make big wakes. What about on the St Lawrence for example - should the tankers slow down because of the "smaller" boats on the system. Be alert and cautious of all the conditions around you, no matter what boat size your in.

[mikemicropterus]

Had to pipe in on this one guys.

I have found that the BIGGER the pleasure boat the smaller the brain.

I worked for a marina on the Rideau, we had a million dollar 45ft cruiser with twin diesels out for a TEST ride, at idle speeds it put out a 3 ft wake, most of the guys from the shop were on the boat for it's maiden voyage. As we went by James Island a poor husband and wife, in a CANOE were picked up and almost swamped by the wake. Most of the techs were up on deck but as I saw the wake and the canoe and knowing what would happen I ran for cover went below deck,ya I know I was a coward but I couldn't watch. We used to test drive a lot of BIG cruiser and even demolished a guys dock. The owner paid to have it fixed.

Anyway about a month later the marina owner, a customer and the president for the cruisers we sold put it up on a sandbar for 4 days on the Ottawa just above Montebello, TOO MANY POPS They called the dam at Carillon and wanted them to close the dam to raise the water level so they could float it off,,IMAGINE THE GAUL, but that's my point ths type of boat owner thinks they own the water and can drive anywhere and anyway they want.
I really loath the attitude and like I say it corresponds to the size of the boat.
It's not just the Ottawa or the Rideau which I don't go on anymore until the fall when all the yahoos are gone because it TOO COLD for them..

I do a lot of tournaments and the ones I dislike are those that come close enough to ask how the fishing is going, I tell them "Fine until you came by" and the looks are priceless.

Lac Des Chenes is like this with sailboats. I'm out there one morning at 5:30am and I hear a starters pistol and ignore it and continue to fish a SCHOAL but 20 minutes later I'm surrounded by 40 sailboats who are using the schoal as a tacking point, each boat wants to know how the fishing is and I just give them the ONE FINGER SALUTE, they were not impressed, in fact one sailboat being steered by thwe owners daughter while he was below deck almost hit the schaol and if not for him coming up just as they were about to hit it they would have run aground

You can't legislate intelligence and common sense at times is not that common.

Sorry to hear about your incident but if you stick with it it won't be the last and if your girl is okay with it buy a bigger boat, won't stop the idiots but it will maker you feel safer and wear your PFD

Oh ya Pepe the BIG boats on the St.lawrence don't come by close enough to ask you HOW"S THE FISHING!!! Nor do they care

[Hookup]

Possible solution - little boats, stay out of the "channel". If no "speed" laws are broken or boating rules infracted upon, so be it.

Let's just say, I disagree completely.

Big boats make big waves.

Well, if you've been on the water a short-time you'll see that boat wakes can be increased or decreased based upon speed. Just saying "my boat is big, it makes big waves, deal with it" is to me, very ignorant of other people, shore lines, docks, tied-up boats, etc, etc... Someone with this attitude is NOT "alert & caution of all of the conditions around them"...

What about on the St Lawrence for example - should the tankers slow down because of the "smaller" boats on the system.

There's so much of a difference between tanker waves and the ones we are talking about I do not even know where to being to respond...

Be alert and cautious of all the conditions around you, no matter what boat size your in.

Yup. That's good advise for all situations i think... if we could just get people with big-boats to follow that advise the way everyone else in this thread seems to we'd not be having this discussion...

[Pepe]

Mike - true- - except for that stretch of 1000 Islands in the narrows - YIKES - canoes, bass boats, tubies, ships - Good luck with BAOO and Renegade this year - great season ahead.

Hookup - small boats/channel - what I meant was that many (most) times, smaller and slower boats (canoes, kayaks, 12 foot aluminums) get caught in the flow of "traffic" in channel type areas and unfortunately once passed in either direction, they encounter wakes that cause perceived problems - not by neglect or ignorance of a passing larger boat.

"if you've been on the water a short-time" - - I've been on water for "a long time " and it seems that there are always boaters, shore owners etc who will always come up with a issue with other boaters on "their" lake/river and what they consider to be proper etiquette or rules. I believe that I am "alert & caution of all of the conditions around them" and I am certainly not "very ignorant of other people, shore lines, docks, tied-up boats, etc, etc"

[Mike M]

Got to jump in on this one. I spend a lot of time on the Rideau south of Merrickville during the summer and have become quite used to dealing with inconsiderate folks operating large vessels at high speeds in narrow channels. I soon came to realize that no matter how much I rant and rave about nearly getting swamped, always with some unmistakeable hand gestures to let them know how happy I am with their actions, their behaviour is not going to change. As operators of smaller craft, we need to take some responsibility to ensure our own safety. I'm always keeping an eye out up and down the river so that I can be ready for that big bow wave when it comes by turning my bow into the wave. It's surprising that it has become second nature to me.

Funny thing though...I've noticed that the vast majority of cruiser operators who do take the time to slow down, usually well in advance of reaching me to prevent an even larger wave, are flying the stars and stripes. The folks that do not seem to take notice of anyone else on the water are almost always flying a Canadian flag. Even with having to have a pleasure craft operators card, common sense for some Canadians isn't all that common afterall. And before some of you jump all over me for saying that, I am a proud Canadian who's served his country in uniform for 3 decades.

[CNs]

Got to jump in on this one. I spend a lot of time on the Rideau south of Merrickville during the summer and have become quite used to dealing with inconsiderate folks operating large vessels at high speeds in narrow channels. I soon came to realize that no matter how much I rant and rave about nearly getting swamped, always with some unmistakeable hand gestures to let them know how happy I am with their actions, their behaviour is not going to change. As operators of smaller craft, we need to take some responsibility to ensure our own safety. I'm always keeping an eye out up and down the river so that I can be ready for that big bow wave when it comes by turning my bow into the wave. It's surprising that it has become second nature to me.

Funny thing though...I've noticed that the vast majority of cruiser operators who do take the time to slow down, usually well in advance of reaching me to prevent an even larger wave, are flying the stars and stripes. The folks that do not seem to take notice of anyone else on the water are almost always flying a Canadian flag. Even with having to have a pleasure craft operators card, common sense for some Canadians isn't all that common afterall. And before some of you jump all over me for saying that, I am a proud Canadian who's served his country in uniform for 3 decades.

Mike M Thanks for your service.

One thing I have noticed as I have had my boats on the rideau (kars) for the bast 7 years is that the bigger boats are being operated better.

WHen I first started, it seemed no one was operating their boats properly. The newer the boat the worse the wake.

Since more and more people are getting the operators card, the boat operators seems to be doing better.

That being said I do not think the current set up to acquire an operators card is optimal.

The test you take should be graduated. Like a driver's license,if you drive a motorcycle or a truck. Your licensing is based on the vehicle and application.
It should be based on the type of boat size, and power.
So if you own a 30 ft twin diesel cabin cruiser then you need to take a different course than if you own a 12ft tinny with a 20 hp.

Be aware that the OPP and CO's ask if you have an operators card!
The opp were out yesterday on the BIg Rideau stopping mainly pleasure boats

[DropShotr]

Sorry to hear about your experience. I'm glad no one was hurt and there were no damages.
I'm not in the position to say if you had your 12ft. boat overloaded or not. That's your call.

I've had my share of experiences on the Rideau with large pleasurecraft. I do not believe a lock-pass gives the owner the right to swamp boats because he can. I also believe the owners of small boats have to be aware of their surroundings in these situations.
Just my observation, but displacement hull owners seem to be more intelligent and aware of there surroundings, but the owners of 25-35ft. planning hull boats are the most ignorant, arrogant SOB's on the planet.

Agreed, it's not personal.. it's ignorant.

What about on the St Lawrence for example - should the tankers slow down because of the "smaller" boats on the system. size

There are speed limits for large vessels on the St. Lawrence. I've seen MTO with radar set up at Maitland to checking the speed of shipping traffic.



DropShot'r

[Hookup]

@pepe/all,
We look like we are all saying the same thing (other than possibly the tanker issue)... and I agree, in my years of boating it hasn't changed and isn't going to anytime soon...

[Newt]

I have a large 36' cruiser as well as a 17' fishing boat so understand the problems of wake from both sides.

It's too bad these idiots didn't.

As the water ways become more congested, more respect needs to be displayed.

It doesn't matter the size of the boat, everyone has equal rights on the water and equal rights to be safe.

Sorry about your incident and I hope it hasn't jaded your respect of larger boat owners.

Newt

[Pepe]

Hookup - agreed I truly believe that no one intends on causing a situation on the water, however, as a situation develops it usually is how we react in the end that gathers the attention.

Have a great and safe season ahead on the water, gang.

[wolfe]

fisherguy,

That must have been a really anxious few moments. I'm glad you and your brother-in-law managed to act fast and prevent a disaster.

There are plenty of imbeciles out there zooming around. We had a close call with a boat load of over privileged "Chets" on Charleston Lake who were going way beyond "too fast". Anyone could see we had little kids in the boat, too, but to some it just doesn't matter or maybe it doesn't even register.

W.

[Newt]

I read a few of the negative comments on large cruiser owners. As a cruiser owner I do watch out for smaller boats and slow down to reduce my wake. I also notice the same of other cruiser operators when I'm fishing on my 17' Lowe.

I believe most of the cruiser operators will slow down for smaller boats, it is too bad that there are some that don't. These are the ones that are noticed.

As a person who drops a line in any chance I get, I would hope that I would get a respecful response if I quiry "hows the fishin'" as I slowly pass by on my cruiser.