Re: [Paddlewise] Jetski incident

At 10:18 AM 4/14/01 -0400, ralph diaz wrote:
>The interchange regarding Wes Boyd's hairy encounter with some dangerous
>jetskiers has had a lot of food for thought.  Here are some of mine:
>
(a good point snipped)
>
>2.  Not all jet skiers are bad.  We tend to lump them into one big pot but
>many are responsible and generous in incidents.  Last year we got a reminder
>of this from one PaddleWise couple in which they cited an incident in which
>the wife was having symptoms of cardiac problems while on the water and a
>jetskier happened along and whisked her to shore faster than they could ever
>have hoped to do via kayak towing kayak.  Around here except for one real
>major incident near the Intrepid carrier museum, most of us have found
>jetskiers not to be much of a problem.  They tend to give us a wide berth
>(one tends to thread lightly amongst ourselves in NYC encounters anyway as a
>part of street survival savvy: watch who you mess with...they may react with
>a surprising fury and not be mid-West or Canadian polite about things).  I
>have actually had them slow down as they pass a group of kayakers.  And they
>do wave in a fellow sharer of the waters gesture and I wave or nod back.
>Jet skis themselves however are inherently bad because of noise, air and
>water pollution.

This is the tough part. While most of us find jetskis irritating, I think,
I've really not had any serious problems, except for this time. I've had
many friendly, neutral, or curious encounters. All it takes is one bad
apple to spoil the barrel.

(another real good point snipped, mostly because I can't add much to it.)
>
>4.  Turf sharing.  Increasingly our waterways and bustling maritime shipping
>ports are seeing more recreational users of the water and greater commercial
>ferry and dinner cruises.  Everyone has a right to use the water (although
>jet skiers may be on the slippery slope toward losing it starting with all
>national parks).  My suggestion is to treat every other user with respect.

Absolutely. The Golden Rule still works. 

-- Wes
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