Re: [Paddlewise] Radar, Kayaks and Visibility Study

From: Nick Schade <nick_at_guillemot-kayaks.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:40:17 -0400
On Jun 16, 2009, at 12:14 PM, Craig Jungers wrote:
> And just as an aside, there are commercial operators (tugs, fishing  
> boats, sightseeing boats) who feel that because they earn a living  
> out there they have more of a "right" to the water than recreational  
> boaters of any sort. Combine this attitude with one too many beers  
> at Joe's place down by the docks and you really don't want to be  
> where they go.

The other group with an attitude are racers. I've several times been  
near sailboat races where the boats were not going to give way for  
anything. In one case a group of us was approached by a lone dinghy.  
As he got closer the sailor started yelling "I'm racing. I'M RACING."  
Well, I'm all for being courteous and will generally do what I can to  
keep clear of a race, but it is a courtesy. We were a group of  
kayakers out recreating, he was a lone sailor out recreating, I failed  
to see why his recreation should suddenly have priority over ours.

BTW, there were no other dinghies in the harbor at the time, so he was  
either way ahead or way behind, so the 0.1 seconds he might have lost  
by steering around us would not have made any significant difference,  
but he was racing so he felt he had the right to yell at us.

We got out of the way because it was easier than dealing with a  
collision.

Nick


Nick Schade

Guillemot Kayaks
54 South Rd
Groton, CT 06340
USA
Ph/Fx: (860) 659-8847
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/
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Received on Tue Jun 16 2009 - 09:40:41 PDT

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