Ignorant Semanship

[mottseng]

Allow me to vent on this subject which I am sure has been brought up many times already. This past weekend while cruising in Georgian Bay Ontario I encountered, for lack of better words, an ignorant boater. I was under full sail on a starboard tack when a 50+ motoryacht on my port side increased speed in order to pass me on my bow. Once he got past he slowed down and turned right to go around a buoy. The wake caused was at least 5-6 feet. I smashed through these waves with the only damage being a broken wine bottle.

I wish I could have spoken to this person and asked him/her how difficult would it have been to slow down and go behind me considering he had to slow down anyhow? For the most part the power yachts are respectful however when you encounter someone like I did you feel disadvantaged because you can't chase him down to discuss his behaviour and sounding off on channel 16 serves no purpose other than entertainment for others. You would think that someone who owns a $500K plus boat has some sense of reason?

Yes, I am concerned about any potential damage but more importantly I was concerned about my passengers. I had my 90 year old mother in law on the boat for the weekend.

So here I am a day later, still fuming and wondering what possible actions could I take in the future?

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by mottseng

You would think that someone who owns a $500K plus boat has some sense of reason?

Some people have more money than they have brains!

At this point forget about it. Do not let this unknown person occupy space in your brain any longer.

[yardpro]

just because you can afford a boat does not mean you should own a boat

[senormechanico]

Take a pic, look him up online......

[Leo Ticheli]

Maybe we could benefit from dash cams on our boats. I wonder if anyone has thought about a device that would feed an overlay of radar and other instruments onto a video camera.

Fair winds,

Leo

[Pegu Club]

People like that just do not care if they cause harm or damage to others.

[mottseng]

I like the dash (bow) cam idea. In hindsight I wish I did take a pic or at the very least note the boat name and then look him up however, I did have my hands full. The wave he caused came right over the bow of the boat. I hope he is a member here and reads this and looks at this as a learning experience.

A situation like this leaves you disadvantaged and frustrated. In Ontario and I am sure this applies to most other parts of the world, to obtain your boating licence its the same course for sailors as well as power boaters. I had the right of way and he knew it. He would have also known exactly what he was doing.

There is no excuse.



Thanks

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by mottseng

So here I am a day later, still fuming and wondering what possible actions could I take in the future?

You can post about it. That will result is sailboaters taking your side in calling power boaters ignorant, this will then lead to power boaters posting about sailboats cutting them off etc.

But you could have turned before this all became an issue because I would guess you could have seen the squeeze coming at the buoy.

[mottseng]

Sailorboy1, I can appreciate your viewpoint. I was clearly and unquestionably in the right. The powerboater should not only have given way but slowed down as well. The buoy was to the right and behind me by approx. 500 yards. The ignorant boater that caused this sped up to just get by my bow then slowed down, turned right to go past the green channel marker. There was no excuse. There was no reason he couldn't do his maneuver prior to crossing me.

This boater was ignorant plain and simple. Like I said for the most part there is a mutual respect for each other and an understanding as to who has the right of way.

We have all been there, it was one of those situations where you are asking yourself, does he see me? Is he going to fall off? should I tack? How long do I wait? Oh S$#T, hang on everyone.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by mottseng

We have all been there, it was one of those situations where you are asking yourself, does he see me? Is he going to fall off? should I tack? How long do I wait? Oh S$#T, hang on everyone.

Yes, we've all been there!

I would say that more than half my close encounters have had a buoy involved that cut the choices in half. On those even though I was the stand on boat I feel I waited too long to act and that really made that buoy a major item because the other boat wasn't thinking it though past avoiding my boat.

[JstaRebel]

Originally Posted by mottseng

Allow me to vent on this subject which I am sure has been brought up many times already. This past weekend while cruising in Georgian Bay Ontario I encountered, for lack of better words, an ignorant boater. I was under full sail on a starboard tack when a 50+ motoryacht on my port side increased speed in order to pass me on my bow. Once he got past he slowed down and turned right to go around a buoy. The wake caused was at least 5-6 feet. I smashed through these waves with the only damage being a broken wine bottle.

I wish I could have spoken to this person and asked him/her how difficult would it have been to slow down and go behind me considering he had to slow down anyhow? For the most part the power yachts are respectful however when you encounter someone like I did you feel disadvantaged because you can't chase him down to discuss his behaviour and sounding off on channel 16 serves no purpose other than entertainment for others. You would think that someone who owns a $500K plus boat has some sense of reason?

Yes, I am concerned about any potential damage but more importantly I was concerned about my passengers. I had my 90 year old mother in law on the boat for the weekend.

So here I am a day later, still fuming and wondering what possible actions could I take in the future?

Do you really think that anyone that had boat sense would buy a $500K + stink pot?? All you can do is shake your head and move on. Barge pilots, Tourists, 6 pack captains as well as the credit card captains.. A lot of em don't have a clue.. Better for us that do understand right of way and boating etiquette to stay away from them as much as is possible and don't let them ruin our adventures..

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by mottseng

So here I am a day later, still fuming and wondering what possible actions could I take in the future?

Pic/video and report to OPP Marine unit.

[Jhhastie]

What you need is an RPG. OK. OK. I remember a day at the beach watching an old man with a drink in his hand turned around looking aft when his 50' boat ran down 2 kids In a Hobie 16. His prop almost cut off one kid's leg but the life guard jumped in his boat when he saw it happen and ran out to the scene while calling an ambulance to the beach. Saved his life. Of course the power boat didn't stop. The coast guard got him later. OK, maybe just a gun?



Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[rwidman]

Ahh, the all too common "big wake" post. Without these, boating forums would be pretty slow.

It's easy to complain about the behavior of other people, but in reality, there's nothing you can do about it except try to minimize its effect on you. You're not going to change the world to suit you.

I see you've assigned bad boating behavior to power boaters. That may get you a few "poor babys" on this forum but it doesn't help the situation. The power boater is probably posting on another forum about this sailboat that got in his way.

You say you wish you had a way to catch up with the guy. What would you have done then? What would it have accomplished?

In the end, nothing you can do or say will change what already happened. It's done, it's over with. Finished.

Move on, dwelling on it will accomplish nothing but keep you aggravated.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Jhhastie

........... OK, maybe just a gun?

If someone shot and killed every other person who displeased them, the water would be red, bot blue. An accidental wake (or even an intentional one) does not rise to the level of lethal force. Not even close.