Re: [Paddlewise] Drop in Enforcement Leaves Kayaks Vulnerable to Jet Skis

Regarding a strafing by a jetskier on Mission Bay, near San Diego,
California.

I am rarely on the soapbox but the incident in this news piece brings an
experience clearly to mind.

I was out on Mission Bay with a long-time friend. It was his first time on a
kayak. That is, he was atop a Scupper and I in an Arluk. I was anxious to
see him develop skills that would allow him to accompany me on week-long
tours.

I admit that I felt clastrophobic on the bay ringed with bathers and full of
boat traffic. But conditions were calm and suitable to the need. My buddy
looked understandably awkward but we had ample safety gear and I have
paddled thousands of miles, including the entire California coast.

Now one would think that such an idyllic situation might be peacefully
allowed to continue so. We were quite courteous, if not wary aquanauts,
anxious for no trouble from vessels of greater power. But alas we were
spotted, like hapless mudhens, by a young buck in full testosterone at the
throttle of his beast. Mudhen though I am, my instincts told me that we
would soon have his merciless attention. We were subhuman, lacking
horsepower, despicable and worthy of a strafing.

My buddies eyes grew large and I braced casually into his centrifugal wake,
ski-ward of my pal. The charioteer was disappointed, perhaps chagrined,
because he turned back again with greater zeal and bore down with a
vengeance. By then I was ample distance clear of my buddy. When this fine
speciman of a human being came down upon my pathetic insolence I capsized
and waited till the whirring of his little two stroke waned with distance
and rolled back up.

I don't think Al will ever paddle again, certainly not when the habits of
jetskiers supercede the serenity of sheltered water. Funny thing is, I never
see them on the open sea where boaters show utmost respect for each other.

Sid Taylor
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>   http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/vvny/20010907/lo/27847_1.html

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