Re: [Paddlewise] kayaks and .50 cal......

On 06/06/2010 12:11 PM, Paul D. Hamilton wrote:
> I loved Craig's message. I consider kayaks and jet skis to be natural
> enemies and diametrically opposed states of mind (you know like
> Heavan and Hell). However I do disagree with Craig on one item...
> where on a kayak would you mount a 50 caliber? Not to mention the hot
> casings flying back in your face if the wind is wrong...
>
> No, I have thought of another approach that could be deployed from a
> kayak -- the bolo. Now I'm remembering this from a book I read in
> junior high school so I might be a bit fuzzy... but the Argentine
> cowboy "Gaucho" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaucho) used them
> as weapons and for sport. I believe some native people of the far
> north as well. Basically it's an arrangement of rock and ropes that
> you swing in a circle over your head, then let fly. Think of a sling,
> except there you hold onto the rope and hurl the rock, whereas here
> your throw the whole contraption away.
>
> Apparently the thing is supposed to open up in flight and become a
> rotating circle as it flies in a straight line (probably takes a lot
> of practice). The fun part happens when any one of the stones at the
> end of the rope hits an object - the whole thing collapses around the
> struck object and tangles it up. Fun! Apprently the is how gauchos
> have sport after imbibing massive amounts of alcohol - one guy gets
> his horse up to a full gallop, the other guy tags the horse with the
> bolo, and the rider has to launch off the horse so as not to be
> crushed when they go down. I don't remember anything about whether
> the horses found it fun or not.
>
> Anyway, these are the kinds of revenge fantasies that I come up with
> when the quiet majesty of my kayaking route is invaded by noisy
> smelly useless-wake-producing machine from Hell. Not that I'm
> prejudiced or anything!
>
> Paul Hamilton
>    
The bolo idea made me think back on a few summers ago when a fellow with 
a SeaDoo boat spent an entire weekend trying to extricate a length of 
rope that had gotten up into the works on the propulsion system (shared 
by the PWC, I believe). And therein lies a potential answer. It has 
deniability, low impact on the environment, and is cheap to implement.

Cut lengths of plastic rope (it needs to float) and deploy them in the 
areas where the PWC are swarming. I suspect you'd need at least a 6' 
length. It would be nice if you could find rope that wasn't yellow or 
any other colour that made it easy to spot (and avoid). Once one of the 
pieces of rope gets snarled up in the PWC's engine, they're done for the 
day. When more ropes are spotted, the other PWC riders will vacate the 
area quickly, so as to avoid damage to their own machine.

I realize this isn't going to help when you're trying to go from point A 
to point B. But it can be a boon to people paddling the same areas, 
especially lakes where the current isn't going to float the ropes away 
any time soon.

-- 
   Darryl

Do you think PWC riders spend time thinking about ways to deter kayakers?
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