or Sleeping With the Enemy Yesterday, my wife and I put in for a nice Sunday afternoon paddle in Port Jefferson Harbor (Long Island, NY) and proceeded to paddle around to Setauket Harbor to the west. While exploring the coast (and ogling at some really nice homes), we came upon a pond, about 300-400 yards in diameter, adjoining Setauket Harbor to the west. At the center of the pond was a jet ski, with a guy and gal aboard, going nowhere. Now this pond was maybe 8 inches to a foot deep with a very soft mud/mucky bottom. Since the jet ski seemed to be in distress (the gal weakly waving in a distressing way), we paddled over to investigate. As we approached, the guy asked if I had a spare "oar" he could borrow. Apparently, they entered the pond at a high rate of speed, which allowed them to get to the center before they got clogged with muck and essentially ran aground. They tried to walk away, but found they sank really deeply into the muck with every step. Now, is this every kayaker's dream, or what?? Well the guy's eyes lit up when he saw the spare paddle I carry on my back deck and he really broke into a smile when I reached around to my back, unclipped my tow line (I was wearing a tow belt) and clipped in onto the jet ski's front eye. The smile disappeared when I said "I claim salvage rights". Since we only had one tow line, I asked my wife to scout out the location of deeper water and I started to tow. The guy on the jet ski was a big guy and, with only me pulling, I think I moved them only about an inch per stroke. Next I gave the jet ski crew my spare paddle and had them help. Now we were making about two inches per stroke, but the wind was taking some of that back. In the end, the guy and gal took turns walking in the muck behind the jet ski. The combination of less weight on the jet ski and whatever pushing the walker could contribute, now made the process possible. In 5 to 10 minutes I was able to tow them to deep enough water so they could clear the engine and be on their way. As my wife and I paddled back to the put-in, I felt really smug and a little glad that I had spent time in the gym this year. My parting advice to the jet skier: "When you see a pond with houses on the shore and none of them have a dock, take that as a hint....." Bill Leonhardt *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Bill said: > My parting advice to the jet skier: "When you see a pond with > houses on the shore and none of them have a dock, take that > as a hint....." Obviously, the jet skier was not a rocket scientist. LOL! *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
By definition, a jet skier is not a rocket scientist. Or put in another way, if they had the brains to be a rocket scientist, they would not be a jet skier. -----Original Message----- From: Steve Holtzman Subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Rescue on the not-so-high seas Bill said: > My parting advice to the jet skier: "When you see a pond with > houses on the shore and none of them have a dock, take that > as a hint....." Obviously, the jet skier was not a rocket scientist. LOL! *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Just a followup note regarding the stuck jet skier. While there are real pests among them, many are decent citizens who will help you out in a jam or at least inquire if you need help. Bill may have forgotten but a good mutual friend of ours, Joan Volin, was helped out by a jet skier a few years ago. She and her husband, Bob who regularly contributes to both these email lists, were out with a group when suddenly she experienced chest pain (or some serious feeling body distress signals). A passing jet skier whisked her back to shore faster than she could have paddled (if she should have still been paddling), while the group towed her kayak back. I think it turned out to be nothing or just dehydration (which can bring on heart palpatations...I experienced that once after paddling and not drinking enough). Still, regardless of the basic decency of many jet skiers, there is no getting around that, even when they are well behaved and responsible, their machines are just too disturbing to the peace of being on the water due to sheer sound and high pollution. BTW, you might want to check out some of the accessory gear they have for adaptation to kayaking. Some of these were covered awhile ago in Paddlewise. For example, the lanyard they use as a safety device in case they fall off the machine makes a great inexpensive paddle leash. It is meant to attach to their PFD and to the ignition switch or such on the machine to turn it off. But its loop that hold the key easily fits around the shaft of a paddle and the latch hook on the other end can be attached to a deck line or bolt. It is quite lightweight and coiled. Other things to check out for adaptation include their docking lines which are a nice length for kayakers wanting to have such for their kayaks. Lightweigt, quite inexpensive and nice plastic hooks that won't rust. Other items are their boat fenders, small and easy to stow. Same with their anchors...lightweight and easy to stow. All of these items tend to be a lot less expensive than similar devices dedicated to kayaking and being for a similar environment to those of a kayaker work well. West Marine has carried a lot of these. I have not looked at their catalog to see if this is still true. ralph diaz *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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