Re: [Paddlewise] Jetski incident

At 09:25 PM 4/13/01 -0700, Matt Broze wrote:
>
>Good idea Ralph, I was also wondering if the kayakers were carrying flares.

We were, but only those piddly little skyblazers, just to be legal for the
odd occasion when we go onto the great lakes. They were not close to hand.

>Shooting one off early on in the incident would signal to the jetskiers that
>you considered this an emergency situation and were seeking outside help.
>The jetskiers may have thought or were pretending that they were just
>playing some fun water games. Timed right, so the jetskier couldn't miss
>seeing the flare and he would later have a hard time claiming in court that
>this was all just in fun if he continued. 

Hadn't thoguht of that aspect. Hmmmmmm . . .

(snip)

>However,
>they might also realize that you might not be as helpless as you had at
>first seemed and they might back off from their behavior without any real or
>implied threats being made on your part, only a simple call for help in an
>emergency.

I wouldn't want to bed that the jerk would have seen it that way.

>Some Jetskiers may see kayakers as the self-righteous spoilsports that have
>limited their access to the marshes and backwaters that kayakers can freely
>go into but jetskiers have been banned from. Finding members of the kayak
>gang on their own (open water) turf they may have wanted to send the
>kayakers fleeing back to their own territory where they wouldn't be in the
>jetskiers way. Young men think this way. Something about testosterone

I don't see that as a factor in this case, but there are other areas where
it's a definite problem. Voyagers National Park is a good example. There
have been organized protests, in which the governor (remember, that is
Minnesota . . .) has participated. This could be an increasing problem with
the extension of national park and other jetski bans.


>poisoning I think. Others like Doug and myself channel this poison into
>battles with the elements. My answer to Craig's question to Doug, which was
>in part:
>>>>>>You acknowledge the risk of what you're doing, you abhor what you're
>doing
>at times, yet you're still drawn to it; are you willing to share with us why
>you think you are drawn to storm paddling? <<<<<<<
>
>testosterone poisoning.

You might have something there . . .

(snip of most of a good story of antoher water terrorism incident)

>consulted about what we wanted to do. I chalk this one up to testosterone
>poisoning as well. The presence of the female sex probably set off their
>idiotic "show-off" reflex that must be obeyed. 

Was definitely a factor in this case.

>One of my daughters in
>college complained that it was hard to take guys seriously who thought you
>would be impressed by how much they could drink without passing out.

My daughter has made similar comments, thank goodness. I must have done
something right.

>Gee, thanks for the tip about Rec.Boats.Paddle. Doug. I learned on the Deja
>vu archives that I'm both a fool AND a murderer (apparently somewhere on the
>level of Jim Jones) but also not really the inventor of the murderous
>paddlefloat that has killed hundreds if not a thousand already. Yep, it made
>my day. Thanks again Doug, you are always so helpful.

For some reason, I didn't post this incident on RBP. No point in adding
fuel to that fire.

-- Wes
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