Steve and some others have been back channel about things... and I had already replied to him when I decided that it really has enough for the group. So here it is. :) On Sat, Jun 5, 2010 at 5:03 AM, <Nole4ever_at_aol.com> wrote: > yes, it is down.... a clean kill..... right between the "K and the A" of > Kawasaki. > LOL... tourist areas almost always have a "local" bar scene that features comedians and musicians who sing, talk and joke about tourists and developers. I never lived in Honolulu but I was in port so often that many people in town thought I lived there. Including the denizens of one of "those" kind of clubs; upstairs, smoky, dark. Hicks would have fit right in. I'm a jet ski operator... and, if I say so myself, a damn good one. We have two of them. One of them is a 3-person job with forward and reverse, several compartments for storage, and handles almost as well as my 25-foot Carver sport fishing boat. But my favorite jet ski, "my* jet ski, is a convertible. It converts from a jet ski with a motocross-type seat to a jet ski with no seat (stand up) to a jet-ski with a seat mounted right down on the deck. It will carry 2 people if one of them is under 3 years old. SeaDoo, when it heard that I had one and liked it, immediately discontinued the line. My wife's jet ski is basically a useless piece of crap. It serves as basic water-borne transportation slightly better than my stand-up but it's not really much fun to operate unless your idea of fun barely breaks out of negative numbers on my list of fun. A good way to see how the world looks at almost anything is to check the art world. There are tons of very arty pictures of horses, horses and wagons, and horses and barges. There are wonderful paintings of sailboats and whales, sailboats at anchor, sailboats awaiting launch at the yacht club. I have some swell watercolors of kayaks (thanks mostly to Pam) and even some antique photos of Inuits towing home whales. I even have an exquisite side-lit photo of just the frame of a kayak resting like the skelaton of some sea critter on a beach. I defy you to find anything remotely resembling art featuring jet skis. About the best you'll get are "action shots" featuring spray, barely clad bodies, and spray. (Did I mention spray?) I have so many questions for jet ski operators. Such as: Why do they go in circles? Do they reverse the circles to unwind? Why did they buy a jet-ski with a huge seat and then crouch over it in some crippled attempt to mimic a stand-up jet ski? And the most important question of all: Why do they have to go in circles just off my dock when their own goddam dock is only 200 yards up the lake? I am, in general, not happy with jet skis except when I'm driving one. (Which is also, come to think of it, pretty much the way I look at flying.) Well, when I'm driving mine. But as far as I'm concerned the stories of kayakers capsized by the wakes of jet skis have either been written by people who have never seen those itty-bitty wakes or by drunks. Because a jet ski wake is the most puny, dinky, unusable wake there is. My dad had a 3-hp Evinrude on a 12-foot aluminum fishing boat and *that* made a better wake than any jet ski I've ever seen. Why do so many people buy them? I mean even their WAKES are useless!!! Almost every other type of vessel has some redeeming qualities but I've yet to find any for the jet ski. Except for mine, of course..... it's fun and if you get tired of doing something with it set up one way, set it up another way and give *that* a try. Otherwise, aiming between the "K" and the "A" seems reasonable to me. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
>Steve and some others have been back channel about things... and I >had already replied to him when I decided that it really has enough >for the group. So here it is. :) > >On Sat, Jun 5, 2010 at 5:03 AM, <Nole4ever_at_aol.com> wrote: >>Yes, it is down.... a clean kill..... right between the "K and the >>A" of Kawasaki. <snip> >I am, in general, not happy with jet skis except when I'm driving >one. (Which is also, come to think of it, pretty much the way I look >at flying.) Well, when I'm driving mine. But as far as I'm concerned >the stories of kayakers capsized by the wakes of jet skis have >either been written by people who have never seen those itty-bitty >wakes or by drunks. Because a jet ski wake is the most puny, dinky, >unusable wake there is. My dad had a 3-hp Evinrude on a 12-foot >aluminum fishing boat and that made a better wake than any jet ski >I've ever seen. > >Why do so many people buy them? I mean even their WAKES are >useless!!! Almost every other type of vessel has some redeeming >qualities but I've yet to find any for the jet ski. Except for mine, >of course..... it's fun and if you get tired of doing something with >it set up one way, set it up another way and give that a try. > >Otherwise, aiming between the "K" and the "A" seems reasonable to me. > >Craig Jungers >Moses Lake, WA >http://www.nwkayaking.net 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 *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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? *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
>Why do so many people buy them? I mean even their WAKES are >useless!!! Almost every other type of vessel has some redeeming >qualities but I've yet to find any for the jet ski. Except for mine, >of course..... it's fun and if you get tired of doing something with >it set up one way, set it up another way and give that a try. If you get bored you could do like some jet skiers I've observed. You could run down ducklings, or maybe find a group of slow moving kayaks to use as slalom gates. Or maybe if only one kayaker is available you could run straight at them and then turn at the last second and blast them with spray. Or you could find a narrow estuary and race up and around its blind corners as fast as you can. Don't worry, the kayakers that might be in there can hear you coming and will scramble to the inside bank to get out of your way as fast as they can. The bolo is three weights on the end of three striings tied in the center. You hold one weight and swing the other two around yourself, letting go when the two weights are headed for your target. The weights spread out into a circle once you let go and when something is contacted by one of the strings the weights wrap the strings up around the object (and tighten the curve of the weights speeding them up and likely clobbering the object/target as they reach maximum speed). This would probably work better on a water skier buzzing you than a jet ski but then you would likely have to deal with his friends in the high horsepower powerboat. So back to the pop-up deck mounted .50 caliber. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
On Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 1:41 PM, MATT MARINER BROZE <marinerkayaks_at_msn.com>wrote: > ...............Or you > could find a narrow estuary and race up and around its blind corners as > fast > as you can. Don't worry, the kayakers that might be in there can hear you > coming and will scramble to the inside bank to get out of your way as fast > as > they can. > I've seen this in the waterway between Lake Samamish and Lake Washington but it was not jet skiers doing it. A middle-aged guy and his girlfriend in a boat so overpowered they could barely make it run in a straight line. He'd give it full power and make two or three turns before it got away from him... then repeat. I had thought about paddling this waterway but when I witnessed this I decided not to attempt it. My guess is that this happens a lot. Craog *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Craig wrote: >>>>>I've seen this in the waterway between Lake Samamish and Lake Washington but it was not jet skiers doing it. A middle-aged guy and his girlfriend in a boat so overpowered they could barely make it run in a straight line. He'd give it full power and make two or three turns before it got away from him... then repeat. I had thought about paddling this waterway but when I witnessed this I decided not to attempt it. My guess is that this happens a lot.<<<<<<< When I was a kid (probably around 55 years ago or more) they used to have a powerboat race down the Sammamish Slough each Spring about daffodil time. Our dad would take us to watch the mayhem at some of the harder corners. We enjoyed watching some of the boats losing it in the corner and skidding up on the bank. We never went to auto races though. This was probably because the Slough race was free. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
On Jun 10, 2010, at 8:37 PM, MATT MARINER BROZE wrote: > When I was a kid (probably around 55 years ago or more) they used > to have a > powerboat race down the Sammamish Slough each Spring about daffodil > time. Our > dad would take us to watch the mayhem at some of the harder > corners. We > enjoyed watching some of the boats losing it in the corner and > skidding up on > the bank. We never went to auto races though. This was probably > because the > Slough race was free. I remember those Slough "hydro" races. Now we don't have the races, and the slough is being re-branded as the Sammamish River. Must be by some real estate types. I guess living next to an irrigation ditch doesn't sound as good as living next to a river. Paul Montgomery paul_at_paddleandoar.com http://paddleandoar.com *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Matt Broze wrote: "So back to the pop-up deck mounted .50 caliber." I think you guys are being quite silly, talking about using implements of destruction like this. Giving people such negative ideas! Really! What y'all are missing is one of the most obvious and ethnographically correct weapon systems for a kayaker -- the atlatl and spear/dart. Check http://www.hollowtop.com/atlatlbob.htm or any other good site for throwing sticks. A Greenlandic atlatl is a multi-functioned instrument of selective destruction, and provides plausible deniability in the event of later encounters with the harbor patrol or marine police since it also serves as a rolling stick in extremis: there is no test to see if an atlatl has been "fired", and if the spear or darts associated with this stick are well sanded and properly weighted, there will be little in the way of fingerprint or other forensic evidence remaining -- and the missiles can be weighted to sink. Go indigenous! Joq *************************************************************************** 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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