Conference vicki::boats

    Yeah, why don't those kids get out of our way so we can have
    some fun! Who do they think they are? Who pays taxes anyway?
    
    I think we've lost our sense of humor!
    
    Let me get this straight.... You're complaining that this girl
    was going TOO slow in a power boat? If she was to your right
    she had the "right of way" in mass waters. What if she was in
    a paddle boat or row boat? At 2 mph it doesn't sound like she
    was a real threat to you.
    
    Try to keep in mind that our mass waters are for the enjoyment
    of all. I'm for regulation but of power boats that try to break
    the speed of sound and fail to yield the right-of-way and be
    curtious and ....
    
    If the lake was that crwthed then you should have been more alert
    and saw her coming before you had to react in an emergency situation.
    I think a quick review of mass boating laws is in order to avoid
    a similar situation in the future.
    
    

    
    I don't blame you. Its a common situation. I run into the same thing
    near my house with ATVs. There are a lot of kids in the area with them
    and they have no idea what they are doing. These kids drive around the
    neighborhood, through the woods along the railroad tracks with no
    helmets or any safty gear at all. They have never been instructed in
    saftey or in proper operation. I'v spoken to several parents because
    I'd hate to have a kid smashed all over the roads or wrapped around a
    tree because of stupidity. They look at me like I'm nuts and just
    about tell me to mind my own business. I spend a lot of time
    teaching both my kids the proper operation of a boat or any other
    vehicle on the water. My 11 year old has more sense than most people I
    see each weekend. My 15 year old daughter wants to attend the Power
    Squadron course this year so she can better understand whats going on.
    This makes me feel good at least I feel I'm teaching them something
    right. Hopefully none of us every have to witness or be involved in an
    accident of any kind, especially if its a child who didnt know better
    because someone wouldnt take the time to tell them right from wrong.
    
    Thats my dump for the day.......
    
    Bill  
      

    
    Reply to .1
    
    EXCUSE ME! this *kid* was NOT in a power boat..she was on a JET SKI!!!
    and she was un qualified to be on the lake un superviesed!@!!!@!@!!!
    so allmost go KILLED more than once...she was 10 YEARS OLD!!!!!!!!!!
    and in the middle of the lake surrounded by atleast 50 boats,,she did
    not know how to opperated the jet ski at all...my concern was not that
    I had to drop my skier, my concern was for this KID! she should NOT
    under any curcumstances been on this lake ALONE!!!!!@@@@!!! I think
    parents should be more careful..and anyway the law is that you must
    be 16 years old to operate a jet ski and have a licencs! she was 10!
    
    Reply .2
    
    Thank you for your note..I'm gald you daugheter wants to take boating
    coarses, she souds like she will be a smart boat operator!  good luck
    
    Louisa
    

    re: .0
    
>        and the lake was over crowded per usual..you could bearly water
>    ski..but anyway..I was pulling my husband on ski's when this 
 
    	My first thought when reading .0 was that it may have been
    a wise choice *not* to ski. Unfortunately, it takes plenty of
    room to ski, manuevering a boat and 75 feet of tow line thru
    an over crowded lake is not an easy task. 
    
    	While it's true that the 10 year old did not belong on the Jetski,
    it's also true that this fact didn't matter and that you took appropriate
    action to avoid collision(the number one concern). Regulations are
    not going to stop boneheaded-ness! The yahoos will still swarm to
    our lakes. This is similar to the stories occaisionally heard were
    some guy on Winni hands the keys to his trip 454 36 footer to his
    15 year old son and the son drives it thru someones lakefront house.
                                                                        
    	I am for education of boaters, maybe a mandatory safe boating
    course, but anything more is only going to lighten our already
    featherweight boating wallets.
    
    	This also reminds me of the 20/20 episode on boating accidents.
    Did the guy that was run over on the jetski have the right-of-way?
    He did since he was to the right of the oncoming boat, but did his
    sudden change in course (out to the other shore and right back)
    negate that r-o-w? Not that r-o-w matters to him now.... :-(
    
    Safe water to all....
    
    Rick

    Ok Basicly this whole topic belongs back in the "Obnoxious boater"
    note. The bottom line is that the child did not belong on the Jet Ski.
    The LAW say's 15 years old or must have a training certificate to
    operate a boat with more than 25 HP. So maybe just maybe she had a
    certificate???? Proberly not. 
    
    Solution: Take the hull numbers and report the violation to the Coast
    Guard, Div. of Rec. V., Harbor Master or Game Warden.
    
    If they get a few complaints they will investiate the situation.
    
    Still, I agree about patential stupidy. ie: My next door nieghbors let
    there 14 year old girl dirve the family Cars, including the Jaguar
    anytime out on the streets. They bought the older girl a Brand new
    Blazer S-15 when she was 15 to run around with? and 3 years back the
    got them 150 MPH snow machines to drive around my house and tear up my
    lawn with.
    
    Lot's of iresponcibility there. More Money than BRAINS!
    
                                        Walt
    

    re: .3
    
    I think you're confused, possibly about the boating laws.
    
    You don't call a jet ski a power boat yet you site the under 16 yrs
    w/o adult supervision law req'd to operate a POWER boat. You say she
    was in the MIDDLE of the lake yet you could't go around her or you
    would have gone aground even though there were boats ALL around her!!!
    You imply she was an obnoxious boater going 2MPH!!! How are these
    things possible? They sound contradictory to me.
    
    I'm certainly not picking the side of a reckless boater. My family
    and I have been safe boaters on a busy (they're all busy) lake for
    20 years. Yes I've seen some crasies. Yes I've cursed more than once
    at them. And yes I've tracked them down and gave them a piece of MY
    mind. Nothing changes. You just learn to be more careful.
    
    Regulations might help this year but what about next year when and
    the year after when we begin to see personal SUBMARINES surfacing
    at various places on the lake, personal boats that become airborn
    a foot or so off the lake surface for short distances, jet propelled
    boats, personal hover crafts, power shoes, water bikes, powered
    water kites, etc., etc.. All these things have appeared in developers
    laboratories over the years.
    
    The best thing we can do is be better "defensive boaters."

    Louisa:
    
         I agree with your complaint/concern....  children should not be 
    allowed to do anything dangerous unattended.  It's like letting a babe 
    wander out into the middle of a busy street!  Clearly you were not 
    concerned with interupting your skiiers fun, you were merely trying to 
    avoid injuring a child on a jet ski that shouldn't have been there in the 
    first place (and wasn't even old enough to know to stay to the right 
    of other water craft).  Anyone in this notes file that may have taken
    your note in any other way ought to hang it up!  They are probably the 
    same people who lose their kids to stupidity each year!!!
    
    
    Happy wakes!
    
    -Another SAFE boater- 			PS.  Quinsig should be
    	   T.J.				             monitored by boat
    						     patrol a little
    						     more closely!
    
      
        
    

    re .7
    
    	Thanks T.J. I couldn't have put it better myself. Your right on
    target.
    
    								-mike-

    
    I'm pretty sure that one of Mass's new (this June) jet ski regulations
    says that the operator of a jet ski must be 15 or 16 years old,
    possibly with a safety course.  I have the new regs at home, so I'll
    check and post the answer here.  The regs also contain language about
    jumping a boat's wake, operating distance from beaches, etc.
    
    Kevin
    

	Louisa,
		I live on Lake quinsig and dock 2 boats on it. I have been on 
the lake for a good number of years and have seen the traffic get progresivly
worse. (I DO NOT take my boat out on weekends between 10 am and 6 pm.) I also 
attend all the quinsig watershed association meetings which discuss issues like
this.
	The bottom line is that for a lake that averages 1/4 mile in width, 
there are many spots which become bottle necks on a busy day.. (especially
when they allow the launching of 30 ft 'scabs' with better than 400 hp hanging
off the transom. You did the right thing... I have had to do the same.  

Consider this:

	The lake has increased its patrols by 2 boats over the past 2 seasons. 
	When you see neglegence on the water, track down the patrol boat, 
	worcester, shrewsbury or game warden and let them know.. They DO REACT!
 	
	I agree with you... there are many dumb parents who allow this sort of
	thing to happen. I have approached many of them myself but you have to 
	'tip toe' so they are not offended but listen and consider what you
	have to say.
	
	I have also had a police car at my house taking radar on some boats 
	flying into the bay area where I live and they have then radioed the
	on-lake patrols and actually booted the boat off the water! They 
	appreciate the help! It is EVERYBODIES responsibility to help patrol
	the waterways!

	The other thing... Don't launch on the lake when its busy.. your better 
	off taking a day during the week.. Its really nice during weekdays.. 	
	(I know this is unreasonable... but if you want quality time without
	 getting completely stressed out.. its the best time)

We have been working on limiting size and how many boats allowed on the water
with little to no success. It really $%^& when you have to couple all this with
irresponsible parents and  boaters. (asside from the incompetence of some 
drivers)

My personal opinion is that these frigin jet ski's are a nuisance (espeacially 
at 8 am when all you here is  WOOOWA  WOOOWA   WOOOWA) They should stick to 
jet ski PARKS which have more to offer to these local lakes do.

be cool! be safe! and help out the patrols!
							Roger

    I have to agree with .6.  
    
    2 MPH is hardly dangerous.  As far as right-of-way goes, that's a
    "guess you had to be there."  
    
    The other thing, I have seen 10 year-olds who could drive better than
    any adult and who knew the laws and followed them.  As to whether or
    not this 10 year old did or didn't is another matter of being there.
    
    And lastly, I am fed up with parents who make everybody's
    business their own.  Who are you (or I) to "give a piece of your (my)
    mind" to someone else's kid?  The most you could really do is offer a
    suggestion to the parent that maybe the lake isn't the best place for
    their little kid right now, because it's really too crowded.  The only
    thing those parents are going to do, is throw that piece of your mind
    in their bilge pump!  :-)

    I guess I have enough to say that I will jump in here....
    
    It's been a couple years since I've had to talk to kids / their
    adults about BOATS, and shorter times since I've talked to
    kids / their adults about ATVs, dirt bikes, motorcycles, etc.
    that run on land.  The principles have worked out to be the
    same.....
    
    When possible (i.e. - I can safely stop the vehicle and
    talk to its operator) I speak to the "kid" directly, as I
    would to an adult.  This person is, after all, engaging
    in an "adult activity", and I assume that (s)he is willing
    to take adult responsibility for their own actions.  Calmly
    (it frequently takes lots of effort to do this...) I ask
    about their drivers license, license plate, insurance, etc.
    that is required for them to be operating where they are.  
    Are they aware of the law(s) covering (insert activity that
    got you ticked off to bein with)??  Are they aware of the
    consequences or probable results of them doing (whatever)??
    
    Sometimes this produces some real THOUGHTful reactions in the
    "kid" being talked with.  More usually, I get a reaction that
    (a) they will *&$!!@ well drive where they want, or (b) that
    their (insert title of adult) said it was okay....
    This leads to the heavy questions....
    
    Is this adult aware that they are responsible for your actions?
    Is the adult aware that being uninsured / unregistered / 
    unlicensed / un-whatever-ed leaves THEM to cover damages caused
    by "kids" they are responsible for?  Does this adult own a car?
    A nice (expensive) one?  Do they own their own house??  Would
    they like to keep their car, house, etc.??  They would, huh?
    
    Still calmly, I ask the kid to tell their adult(s) that I have
    noted the time and place I spoke to the vehicle's operator.
    (I do this.... sometimes I even had camera in hand when I
    stopped them....)  Please inform the adult(s) that - should
    any damage to me, my family, of property result from this
    vehicle's operation, I will gladly do my best to relieve
    these adults of their car, house, etc. etc....  to cover the
    damages.  If the adult(s) would like further information, they
    should talk to the (local police)(Registry of Motor vehicles)
    (Game Warden)(etc.) and discover what is REQUIRED in this
    situation.  They can talk to an attorney to find out their
    liabilities in case of damage.  And yes, they can come talk
    to me about why I happened to stop their kid....
    
    Only once have I actually had to bring a police officer in to
    the conversation.  Having stopped a kid (12 yrs old, at a guess)
    driving an ATV on the sidewalk in front of the school that my
    kids (along with lots of other folks' kids) were leaving, and
    getting his name and address, I followed him (driving my car) to
    his house.  Nice, expensive house.....   While walking to the
    door, I heard a female voice screeching "What the #@%*!! did
    you tell him for?!, and I guessed my chances of success....
    She lit into me something fierce.... When I got my chance, I
    asked (calmly, I think...) if she would like to talk to me,
    or to a police officer.  She cursed me, and ordered me off the
    property.  I went to the corner phone, called the police, and
    said I would be at (address) until the officer arrived.  It
    took half an hour or so, but the ATV / kid / mother were all
    there when the cop arrived.  I explained what I had done, and
    agreed to leave while the nice uniformed officer went to talk
    to the woman.....  I wish I knew what was said, but the results
    were satisfactory.  The ATV not only was not seen around the
    school for months after (at which time Summer vacation arrived),
    but when I checked, there were no tracks in the snow / mud /
    grass as the weather changed.  I guess it worked!
    
    Anybody else have some specific techniques that work for them?
    
                               - Ed -