Re: [Paddlewise] A thought about jetskis and kayaks

At 06:58 PM 4/14/01 -0400, ralph diaz wrote:
>Isn't it amazing that a sport, jetskiing, that is
>relatively new . . . and has
>reached such huge numbers of advocates . . . who have shelled
>out mucho money and supported a large industry that has done extensive
>advertising, created a whole bunch of magazines . . .
> is probably on the brink of being effectively
>shut down or very seriously curtailed.  That total ban it faces in national
>parks, the many state-level strictures in the form of licenses, mandatory
>training, etc. all are narrowing where a jetskier can go and how he or she
>can operate.

Thought-provoking post, Ralph.

A couple years ago, I was out doing an early Sunday morning paddle on one
of the lakes. I came around a point very close to shore, and saw a small,
low powered speedboat. A couple of people in it were working on teaching a
young, maybe nine or ten years old girl how to water ski. Good way to do
it, not a lot of power to intimidate the kid, and she was doing fine. I was
close to shore, and ducked in behind the swim bouys to stay out of the way.
On one of the docks was a woman about my age, watching intently. It was an
interesting sight that brought back memories -- that speedboat would have
been a big honker when I was a kid. I was ready for a breather, pulled up,
and soon discovered that the woman was the girl's grandmother, and was a
lifelong cottager. I've lived in the area most of my life, and we fell to
talking. "Remember when we were that age and people thought that
waterskiiers were the pains in the fanny?" I said.

Well, of course, she did. "I guess those people grew up, and had kids, and
their kids decided they had to have something even more irritating. Hence,
the jetski."

Well, she laughed and I laughed, and we remembered the old days for a few
minutes and I was soon on my way, but my wisecrack has stuck with me.

Over the years, I've seen a number of threats to peace and tranquility come
by.

Thirty years or so ago, when snowmobiles were first becoming popular, a lot
of people thought that they were the scourge of the winter woods. In fact,
there were a lot of reckless, thoughtless riders in those years. There are
still some today -- but the response of local government and the snowmobile
community brought a lot of that under control. Today, snowmobiles are
liscensed and regulated, mostly stay on designated trails and in locations
where they're supposed to be. Snowmobiles are a big economic factor in the
north woods these days, and while there are yahoos out there, they are
relatively rare.

But snowmobiles spun off into all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). Like the
snowmobile, the ATV gives a tremendous amount of mobility in the woods.
This is good for the people that just don't have the physical stamina to
backpack or cross-country ski, but enjoy being in the woods. However, there
was an even greater explosion of yahoos ripping things up. It took a while
for law enforcement, lawmakers, the industry, and other cooler heads to
prevail, but now, at least in this state, ATVs are pretty well restricted
where they can operate.

Much of the next few paragraphs will probably reflect the fact that over
the last fifteen years I've put a lot of time into hiking trail
development. I've spent many more hours working on hiking trails in one way
or another than I have in the seat of a kayak, so I can't help but have a
skewed perspective.

A big part of the problem with ATVs, and later mountain bikes, was and is
the perception that if there's a trail in public land, many riders feel
they should have access to it. That sounds good in theory, but the actual
practice is that most hiking trails on public lands outside of parks are
developed and maintained by volunteers. It may be fun for the ATV rider or
mountain biker to go out and throw some dirt, but if you're the guy with
the fire rake that's concerned with treadway degradation, or if you're the
hiker that has to walk in a "linear sand dune", then you're going to think
that it's an outrage. If you're hiking down a hill, carrying a pack, and
some bozo on a mountain bike comes down the hill after you at thirty miles
an hour and yells "Get the #### out of my way!", well, you're not going to
have much use for mountain bikes. If you're concerned about trail being
eroded, you're not going to have a lot of use for the guy that wants to go
out and "shred some trail."

We were past the peak of ATV problems on hiking trails when I got into
working on hiking trails with the North Country Trail Association, on the
North Country National Scenic Trail, but mountain bikes were spooling up.
We spent a lot of time bitching and whining about mountain bikes. But, one
day I spoke up in a meeting, and basically said that the thing to do would
be to hang tough, and pretty soon it wouldn't be a problem any more. And,
you know what? At least in this state, the mountain bike organizations
started to realize that they were going to have to clean up their own acts,
and were going to have to start to contribute to trail devlopment and
maintenance, or get thrown off the trails. The process isn't complete yet,
but let's just say that mountain bikes on hiking trails aren't quite the
issue they were five years ago. Which is not to say that the yahoos aren't
still out there, but are beginning to learn that their behaviour isn't as
tolerated as it once was. 

The point that I'm reaching for, I guess, is that as each one of these
activites come along, the yahoos come with it, until the authorities and
the more responsible practioners and the industry crack down. Mountain
bikes are the only human powered activity that's drawn the yahoos, and
they're getting the heat for it. (I know those that look at rec.backcountry
are going to think "Mike Vandeman", but, as Jackie says, "Let's not go
there . . .")

To drag this back to somewhere near being on topic, I think I can see the
process taking place with jetskis. They have been a scourge in recent
years, but the yahoos are starting to draw a reaction from the authorities
and more responsible elements. The industry is going to have to take
notice, or they're going to have their market legislated out of existence.

Things change. The jetski market has forced some change. In fact, the
design of jetskis has mutated rapidly. Ten years ago, most jetskis were
powered surfboards with standing riders. That's how they got the name. In
fact, I haven't seen many of those types of jetskis in recent years -- the
things are changing, becoming larger, and less agile, turning more into
small runabouts. In fact, I'm seeing "jetskis" that are nearly the size and
power of a small runabout from back in the days when the proud grandmother
and I were kids, with side by side, in the boat seating. Deja vu.

Yesterday, one of the guys from the "jetski incident" and I were out
paddling down a narrow channel when we saw a pontoon** coming the other
way. Quite quietly. I turned to my partner and said, "Love those
four-strokes!"

"Why's that?" the guy on the pontoon asked from twenty yards away. 

"Quiet, no smell. Thanks," I replied. Sure enough, he had a big,
four-stroke Evinrude on the back of that thing. My van runs noisier than that.

A lot of the irritation we feel with jetskis comes from the noise and smell
and pollution of the two-stroke engine. I would not be surprised to see the
banning of two stroke marine engines in the foreseeable future. In fact, a
ban on the production of two-stroke outboards is in the works, if I recall
correctly.

So, I think that in the next few years things will improve. It will come
slowly. But, I am concerned that paddle sports may become restricted in
much the same way. It's still pretty wierd to see a kayak on some of these
cottage lakes, but that's changing. There were several people out doing
yard work around the lake that we paddled yesterday, and we stopped and
talked to several. It's really not much of a sample, but of a dozen people
that we talked to on one lake, six had recently purchased recreational
kayaks, or were thinking about it. In fact, the cottager where we landed to
recover from the incident said that he was thinking about getting a kayak,
and we promised to take him out when the water is warmer. How's a guy gonna
waterski when there's a hundred kayaks out on a small lake? More user
interface problems . . . most of us are interested in growth, if for no
more reason than to have like minded people around, but there can be too much.

Changing topics slightly, it struck me today that one of the problems that
we had last Sunday was not that there were too many jetskis, but too few of
them, and other lake users. Given some more powered lake users around, a
number of things might have happened. First, the incident might not have
occurred at all -- the punk waited until he knew there was no one to
interfere. Other jetskis, other lake users, could have interfered. Or have
been witnesses, with the capability of pursuing to get the kids number. Or,
assisted in a rescue. The punk wouldn't have done it if he'd thought he
wasn't going to get away with it.

--------------

** A post-script: Some distance above, I mentioned "a guy on a pontoon".
The things are common as dirt around here, but other Paddlewisers in other
areas may not know what I'm talking about. What we call a "pontoon" is a
raft supported by two (or sometimes more) pontoons, typically about two
feet across and twenty or so feet long.  There's lots and lots of deck
space for coolers, people, lawn chairs, barbeque grills, etc. They're very
popular among cottagers on inland lakes. When I was a kid, you built your
own, using 55-gallon drums, and powered them with a small outboard. These
days, they can have some honker engines on them, and I've seen them towing
water skiiers. The more things change, the more they stay the same. And the
more they change.

-- Wes


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