Boating Accident-Posted on June 20th, 2017 at 10:05 AM

[boatdoc55]

Fact: Accidents happen, society needs to realize this.

Fact: Everyone lived and used safety equipment.

Fact: Speed limit on river and Lake Havasu would make for a town with no one in it. Its the premier "hot boat" "fast boat" "performance boat" capitol of the world. You take that away and the money would leave.

Not so sure I agree with you on your last statement. Having been messing with boats ALL my life and a mechanic on them for 40 years, retired now, my impression of Lake Havasu is a little diff from yours. This town has over 50K people in it now and I highly doubt the percent of 100mph boats is above 20%. Yes many seem to think every fancy multi colored boat is a 100mph boat but not likely. Yes, I have grown older and don't really care one way or another for the "monster boats" but to think this town is going to dry up because of a "speed limit" is not thinking at all. We only have these boats, in great numbers, 4-5 months out the year at the most. So I guess what you're saying is, this town is a nothing town the rest of the year, yet most, not all, of the summer folks complain like hell when the winter people get here. Again this is NOT a stab at performance boaters, it's just a view from one's eyes that has seen this small blip in the desert become what it is today, a wonderful waterway for all to enjoy YEAR ROUND not just the summer months. Next time you're in town take a look around town, see all those framed up houses, a big percent of those have nothing to do with high performance boats and a lot to do with what is Havasu itself, a great place to live.

 

[hallett21]

Not so sure I agree with you on your last statement. Having been messing with boats ALL my life and a mechanic on them for 40 years, retired now, my impression of Lake Havasu is a little diff from yours. This town has over 50K people in it now and I highly doubt the percent of 100mph boats is above 20%. Yes many seem to think every fancy multi colored boat is a 100mph boat but not likely. Yes, I have grown older and don't really care one way or another for the "monster boats" but to think this town is going to dry up because of a "speed limit" is not thinking at all. We only have these boats, in great numbers, 4-5 months out the year at the most. So I guess what you're saying is, this town is a nothing town the rest of the year, yet most, not all, of the summer folks complain like hell when the winter people get here. Again this is NOT a stab at performance boaters, it's just a view from one's eyes that has seen this small blip in the desert become what it is today, a wonderful waterway for all to enjoy YEAR ROUND not just the summer months. Next time you're in town take a look around town, see all those framed up houses, a big percent of those have nothing to do with high performance boats and a lot to do with what is Havasu itself, a great place to live.

Speed limit would kill havasu IMO. And I have a feeling the city and state know it.

Edit: it costs me a minimum of $500 to go to havasu for a weekend just me and the mrs. without going to bars. And we have a house. Multiply that by 5,000 boats a weekend?

That's millions circulating in Havasu every weekend because of boaters

 

[daveb1]

Reading comprehension much?

It was a joke that the jet ski would go right through because THERE WAS NO CENTER "POD" ON THE SKATER.

here is the quote:

Without a center sponson he possibly could have cleared the jet ski and avoided all of this drama

now unless you don't know what without means, you should not be confused

 

[Croz]

Speed limit would kill havasu IMO. And I have a feeling the city and state know it.

Edit: it costs me a minimum of $500 to go to havasu for a weekend just me and the mrs. without going to bars. And we have a house. Multiply that by 5,000 boats a weekend?

That's millions circulating in Havasu every weekend because of boaters

I was thinking how the hell do you spend $500 in a weekend with just you two....then I added up my weekends and yep, there it is, same ball park

 

[hallett21]

I was thinking how the hell do you spend $500 in a weekend with just you two....then I added up my weekends and yep, there it is, same ball park

Kinda scary isn't it lol.

My math

150.00 for truck fuel there and back plus in town

150.00 for fuel and 2 smoke oil.

100. 00 +\- for beer and food to eat in

100.00 to have the house cleaned

To be fair the house does not have to happen and 75.00 of the fuel is in CA.

So absolute minimum is 325.00

Edit: over memorial was chatting with a DCB M owner at Parker oil in havasu (pretty sure he's a member here). My brother and I were getting fuel and we are watching him get shutoff at $100.00 multiple times. So I'm sure one of their weekends = 5 of mine lol

 

[BHC Vic]

Kinda scary isn't it lol.

My math

150.00 for truck fuel there and back plus in town

150.00 for fuel and 2 smoke oil.

100. 00 +\- for beer and food to eat in

100.00 to have the house cleaned

To be fair the house does not have to happen and 75.00 of the fuel is in CA.

So absolute minimum is 325.00

lol I was thinking i must be cheap cause I can get away w around 300 w 2 boys but lots of time food is there and we clean the house ourself. This year I threw money in the safe and that's my casino money. When it's gone it's gone lol

 

[daveb1]

now for the important stuff. does anyone have an update on Brad's condition? last post said he was in critical condition. at least we have heard that Larry is out of surgery and should make a full recovery. i know Brad is one of the most technically knowledgeable owners in boat manufacturing. he developed a fix for the ill handling SCX-4 drive lowers that cured the abrupt turning issues at high speed with these drives in twin applications. fixed his twin engine E tickets and the 174 mph Speedster mentioned recently on RD's. also had him perform this on my single engine RPM and it improved the high speed steering. it wasn't as bad as the counter rotating twins, but would still pull to one side or the other above 100. IMCO has since incorporated this in their latest casting. they did not even thank Brad for solving this problem, according to him.

does anyone know who was piloting the Skater?

 

[GRADS]

I must have missed something here. People are saying slow down and associating speed with the boat because it's a Skater. Didn't I read they were going 80-100 mph? (Which is literally like a 1/4 throttle for this boat).

It is a 400 m.p.h. boat???:yikes:yikes

 

[RVR SWPR]

Not so sure I agree with you on your last statement. Having been messing with boats ALL my life and a mechanic on them for 40 years, retired now, my impression of Lake Havasu is a little diff from yours. This town has over 50K people in it now and I highly doubt the percent of 100mph boats is above 20%. Yes many seem to think every fancy multi colored boat is a 100mph boat but not likely. Yes, I have grown older and don't really care one way or another for the "monster boats" but to think this town is going to dry up because of a "speed limit" is not thinking at all. We only have these boats, in great numbers, 4-5 months out the year at the most. So I guess what you're saying is, this town is a nothing town the rest of the year, yet most, not all, of the summer folks complain like hell when the winter people get here. Again this is NOT a stab at performance boaters, it's just a view from one's eyes that has seen this small blip in the desert become what it is today, a wonderful waterway for all to enjoy YEAR ROUND not just the summer months. Next time you're in town take a look around town, see all those framed up houses, a big percent of those have nothing to do with high performance boats and a lot to do with what is Havasu itself, a great place to live.

Same going on at Landing,Incredible New Marina completed,infra structure for 200 room hotel/ Casino is finished,next the building starts.I would enjoy taking pics of the project and posting the progress but after all these years of reading the bitching about the indians,the boat etc. i think why bother.I have lived here for 10 yrs on land i own with not one problem with some mysterious indian.Fact is we thinking about moving up to the palms or someplace.10 years ago i had no idea they were going to build a phucking hotel right across the street from us.lol

 

[RodnJen]

My family and I were there Tuesday morning about 10:30. Three LEO boats were surrounding the boat. We came back by about 12:30 and 4 Towboat US were working on the vessel and law enforcement had the lake down to wakeless speed.

I won't speculate on what happened. However, if someone asked me what I thought happened I would respond "looks like the boat was traveling north and lost control pitching it toward the rocks on the east side of the lake." What we do know is that they were traveling south, correct?

My question is why would any boat, especially one traveling at high rate of speed, pick such a direct line from Copper Canyon to Steamboat? They never made it as far as Steamboat.

I spent Sunday through Tuesday on the water dodging all sorts of PWCs and families, some clearly new to boating, making all sorts of bad decisions. This is particularly prevalent along that stretch between Copper Canyon and Steamboat. There is plenty of space to air it out once south of Steamboat. And, if someone is going at a pretty good clip through that stretch, why wouldn't they stay near the center?

I am very happy to hear that those involved will recover. At the time we couldn't tell.

 

[BoatCop]

Larry is Out of surgery recovering. Pretty major surgery for some head impact and basically he was scalped by the windshield so they had to reattach his scalp. He's banged up but will be out of the hospital in a couple days. [emoji106]

Glad to hear he'll make a full recovery.

I think he'll win in any after-run scar comparison competition.

"Dude.... check this shit out.."

 

[Dog]

here is the quote:

Without a center sponson he possibly could have cleared the jet ski and avoided all of this drama

now unless you don't know what without means, you should not be confused

Still no reading comprehension?

Without a center sponson - which means the skater has no center sponson WITHOUT means no, none, the opposite of with.

he possibly could have cleared the jet ski - There would be nothing in the center for the jet ski to catch on, means WITHOUT, none, opposite of with a center sponson

and avoided all of this drama - the joke is the jet ski would have went on its merry way with no drama.

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

Still no reading comprehension?

Without a center sponson - which means the skater has no center sponson WITHOUT means no, none, the opposite of with.

he possibly could have cleared the jet ski - There would be nothing in the center for the jet ski to catch on, means WITHOUT, none, opposite of with a center sponson

and avoided all of this drama - the joke is the jet ski would have went on its merry way with no drama.

I'm glad that is settled

 

[RiverDave]

It is a 400 m.p.h. boat???:yikes:yikes

Do I really need to explain diminishing returns to you Greg?

 

[RiverDave]

I heard from Kim last night. he's banged up but Brad and the other two are all going to be fine.

A jet ski came at them out of a cove then stopped right in front of them. Not sure if that means he did a spin out deal or what.. haven't talked to Brad in person yet. I'm just thankful everyone is gonna be alright.

 

[GRADS]

Do I really need to explain diminishing returns to you Greg?

I learned a long time ago that boats=law of diminishing returns.

 

[That Guy]

Still no reading comprehension?

Without a center sponson - which means the skater has no center sponson WITHOUT means no, none, the opposite of with.

he possibly could have cleared the jet ski - There would be nothing in the center for the jet ski to catch on, means WITHOUT, none, opposite of with a center sponson

and avoided all of this drama - the joke is the jet ski would have went on its merry way with no drama.

LOL...I don't think he's ever going to get it no matter how many ways you explain it....D

 

[boatdoc55]

Speed limit would kill havasu IMO. And I have a feeling the city and state know it.

Edit: it costs me a minimum of $500 to go to havasu for a weekend just me and the mrs. without going to bars. And we have a house. Multiply that by 5,000 boats a weekend?

That's millions circulating in Havasu every weekend because of boaters

Every weekend??? Huh, I never see any high performance boats in Dec or Feb. All I see are packed camp grounds and lines to get in places to eat. They're not spending any money are they?? You ought to come to Havasu and see what it's like when the WEEKEND, two day, summer people aren't here.

 

[CLA]

Every weekend??? Huh, I never see any high performance boats in Dec or Feb. All I see are packed camp grounds and lines to get in places to eat. They're not spending any money are they?? You ought to come to Havasu and see what it's like when the WEEKEND, two day, summer people aren't here.

I've been coming out every winter since 2007. I see more performance oriented boats on the water in 30 minutes than I see an entire year on Texas lakes. Period. I'm not saying the whole town is speed freaks but there are a lot of hot rod cars, boats, and off road vehicles. Way more than in DFW of Texas.

 

[CLA]

One thing I have noticed on this site though......is the high performance boater seems to be disliked. IMO

 

[Raffit78]

One thing I have noticed on this site though......is the high performance boater seems to be disliked. IMO

I highly doubt that, but there is one other breed that is disliked...... :bash:

 

[CLA]

I highly doubt that, but there is one other breed that is disliked...... :bash:

Just seems that way man. Look at a lot of the post.

 

[Raffit78]

Just seems that way man. Look at a lot of the post.

Well this was an accident and thankfully, no one was hurt. It's rare for any accident to happen and people speak about it positively. Unless it's a wake boat and it sunk, without casualties


I don't own a fast boat, (i wish i did) Always loved the rush of adrenaline, the speed you travel, the engines roaring wanting to be released to the wild! There's something to be said about that. Whether it's a fast car, fast boat. It's just in our nature. We're adrenaline junkies.


We are lucky that we even get to experience seeing these bad ass boats in Havasu. People travel thousands of miles to see the stuff in Havasu. It's like Rodeo drive for boats.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

One thing I have noticed on this site though......is the high performance boater seems to be disliked. IMO

If you are too rich with too fast and/or too big of a boat
If you have a PWC
If you have a jet bote
If you have a wakeboard boat
If you rent a boat

 

[boatdoc55]

One thing I have noticed on this site though......is the high performance boater seems to be disliked. IMO

Please don't put me in the dislike for performance boat category. I owned a world record holder in 1978.

 

[That Guy]

One thing I have noticed on this site though......is the high performance boater seems to be disliked. IMO

This should go over well...

 

[Outdrive1]

If you are too rich with too fast and/or too big of a boat
If you have a PWC
If you have a jet bote
If you have a wakeboard boat
If you rent a boat

You forgot if you have a jet boat.

 

[FreeBird236]

One thing I have noticed on this site though......is the high performance boater seems to be disliked. IMO

I certainly don't feel that way. Most of the high performance boaters are a world of information.

Some can be a little uppity.

 

[FreeBird236]

You forgot if you have a jet boat.

:headscratch:

 

[RiverDave]

One thing I have noticed on this site though......is the high performance boater seems to be disliked. IMO

Just seems that way man. Look at a lot of the post.

There are several members of RDP that fit into the ultra exotic performance category. KIWI77 has one of the fastest Skaters out there. Skater40 just sold what was arguably "The" fastest 40 Skater out there (he kept the power though).

Larry who owns this boat that crashed, I don't believe is a member. I met him at Monster Bash last year and he bought some hats etc and said he enjoys the site.

I think I understand your meaning, but just wanted to point out that I have never seen Skater40 or Kiwi take any shit on this site at all?

 

[boatnam2]

I pretty much hate sea doo's but picked one up last trip just for the simple fact i can't afford to run my boat up and down the river all day and i hate sitting around. I rode it for 5 days everyday all day, rode along the shore never came close to a boat, did all the donuts, turns and other fun stuff i wanted to even on a Saturday without every putting a doubt in a boaters mind what i was going to do. So this proves to me that pwc's don't run out in the middle of the river for no reason, make left hand turns without looking, ride against traffic, let 6 year olds drive, try to splash their buddy while he is floating in water, jump boat wakes, wakeboard in the front of foxes on a saturday afternoon or any of the other stupid shit they do has nothing to do with the sea doo but 100% the rider. Just sad people have to get hurt for something as simple as a little instruction on how to operate a vessel properly and are at great risk for getting killed on any given day and don't even know it.

 

[Old Texan]

I pretty much hate sea doo's but picked one up last trip just for the simple fact i can't afford to run my boat up and down the river all day and i hate sitting around. I rode it for 5 days everyday all day, rode along the shore never came close to a boat, did all the donuts, turns and other fun stuff i wanted to even on a Saturday without every putting a doubt in a boaters mind what i was going to do. So this proves to me that pwc's don't run out in the middle of the river for no reason, make left hand turns without looking, ride against traffic, let 6 year olds drive, try to splash their buddy while he is floating in water, jump boat wakes, wakeboard in the front of foxes on a saturday afternoon or any of the other stupid shit they do has nothing to do with the sea doo but 100% the rider. Just sad people have to get hurt for something as simple as a little instruction on how to operate a vessel properly and are at great risk for getting killed on any given day and don't even know it.

Yup.....The human factor gives the inanimate object a bad name on the water as on land.

Just because you can afford to buy something does not eliminate the need to learn how to properly use it.

 

[Tommy Gun Images]

If you are too rich with too fast and/or too big of a boat
If you have a PWC
If you have a jet bote
If you have a wakeboard boat
If you rent a boat

Let me fix this for you.

If you are too rich with too fast and/or too big of a boat and are an asshole
If you have a PWC and are an asshole
If you have a jet boat and are an asshole
If you have a wakeboard boat and are an asshole
If you rent a boat and are an asshole

That about covers everyone that gets hated on here

 

[boatnam2]

Let me fix this for you.

If you are too rich with too fast and/or too big of a boat and are an asshole
If you have a PWC and are an asshole
If you have a jet boat and are an asshole
If you have a wakeboard boat and are an asshole
If you rent a boat and are an asshole

That about covers everyone that gets hated on here

You forgot about GRADS.

 

[460]

One thing I have noticed on this site though......is the high performance boater seems to be disliked. IMO

Not more then crying Jordan. Just saying [emoji16][emoji16]

 

[Tommy Gun Images]

You forgot about GRADS.

You didn?t see where I said asshole?

 

[boatnam2]

LOL!

 

[Ziggy]

Let me fix this for you.

If you are too rich with too fast and/or too big of a boat and are an asshole
If you have a PWC and are an asshole
If you have a jet boat and are an asshole
If you have a wakeboard boat and are an asshole
If you rent a boat and are an asshole

That about covers everyone that gets hated on here

Seems they all went to BMW drivers training

 

[CLA]

There are several members of RDP that fit into the ultra exotic performance category. KIWI77 has one of the fastest Skaters out there. Skater40 just sold what was arguably "The" fastest 40 Skater out there (he kept the power though).

Larry who owns this boat that crashed, I don't believe is a member. I met him at Monster Bash last year and he bought some hats etc and said he enjoys the site.

I think I understand your meaning, but just wanted to point out that I have never seen Skater40 or Kiwi take any shit on this site at all?

For sure Gary has the baddest skater on the planet and old Predator aint no bish either.........lol

No hate meant Dave. You run a bad ass website with great boat reviews. I've just seen some stuff posted that I thought was not fair. But that's the internet.

 

[ChiliPepperGarage]

I think we can all agree that slowing down when you see another craft will certainly reduce accidents. But to what degree? If we had a 5 MPH speed limit we'd reduce most accidents (there would still be some knuckleheads managing to crash into something).

Here is a very common scenario that I have encountered numerous times as I'm sure other have:

I'm cruising up the river at around 50 MPH, sometimes in narrower areas. Because I have a bigger boat (32') with twins I get the PWC's buzzing around like gnats. They start when they see me coming by and charge at the stern so they can jump the wake. I've seen them up ahead of me and turn around to race towards me so they can quickly turn and wake jump. They will also stop and wait for me to go by so they can race after me and wake jump.

Many times, after they tire of wake jumping they will try to race ahead of me and suddenly cross my path. I have no idea why they want to do this but I have had to take evasive action before.

What is the appropriate coarse of action? If I slow down it just makes them hang around longer. What I usually do is just go full throttle to try to get away from them as my boats is generally faster than they can go.

I have also seen them shoot out from shore or coves and I will generally slow down or at least have my hand on the throttles ready to back off if I can see that they are not looking my way.

I don't what it is about PWCs that make the drivers so brain dead. I will tell you this, many years ago we had a SeaDoo 3 seater. My ex was driving and I was riding "bitch" on the back. We were following a friend in his small runabout boat across the lake. I was not looking ahead but was look back and to the sides until I decided to take a peek around my ex wife's head. Just as I did I saw my buddy had stopped his boat and my wife was headed straight to his stern. I yelled and fortunately, she snapped the bars to the right and didn't let go of the throttle. We did a 180 and the jet of the PWC smacked the outdrive of the boat and I managed to hold on.

After some severe yelling on my part from almost having us all killed, I asked her WTF was she looking at and why she didn't see the boat stopped? She replied that she was looking at the water directly ahead of the PWC and it had put her in a trance! WTF?!? Needless to say, she never drove the thing again.

Anyway, I wonder if that happens to other riders as well? I know a lot of car drivers just look at the bumper of the car in front of them instead of farther down the road. That's why they get into rear-enders because when the car stops they are not prepared. Maybe PWC riders just do the same.

So again, what is the best method of dealing with these things? I will continue to just try to outrun them and get as far away from them as I can. I have also been thinking about mounting a set of train horns on the boat to wake them up.

 

[Ziggy]

I've stayed out of this thread but have read the majority of it. Amazing how many smarty experts we have here:rolleyes.....more amazing are the actual smart people:thumbsup.
.
.
Speedy recovery to Larry and any injuries Brad and other occupant suffer. :thumbsup:cool

 

[530RL]

Holy Moly, (not the short guy) 20 pages long :eek

This thread needs some humor.

The latest from Dave at his last moderator meeting.

[video=youtube;YU6ebNd9v-w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU6ebNd9v-w[/video]

 

[Ziggy]

For sure Gary has the baddest skater on the planet and old Predator aint no bish either.........lol

No hate meant Dave. You run a bad ass website with great boat reviews. I've just seen some stuff posted that I thought was not fair. But that's the internet.

The not fair and unkind posts are prolific......gotta learn to read over those and shake your head.
Not too difficult to figure out who's full of hot (dry)air and who's not when their expertise is expressed in these kind of threads.

 

[New to boating]

There are several members of RDP that fit into the ultra exotic performance category. KIWI77 has one of the fastest Skaters out there. Skater40 just sold what was arguably "The" fastest 40 Skater out there (he kept the power though).

Larry who owns this boat that crashed, I don't believe is a member. I met him at Monster Bash last year and he bought some hats etc and said he enjoys the site.

I think I understand your meaning, but just wanted to point out that I have never seen Skater40 or Kiwi take any shit on this site at all?

I agree with that. Diverse opinion over some topics involving exotic performance boats, brands, certain individuals but I do not see a constant "culture of hate" of anything ultra high performance. I run a very fast larger Skater in the lake and on the River 2 to 3 days a week and have for a long long time along with many other Skaters I have run on this lake. I have no basis to authenticate or question the fact set about what happened to the boat and crash that is the subject of this thread, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that Jet Ski's issue is real (if that is what happened to cause the accident).

Most of them (the PWC operators) are just fine, you come up on them and they continue to run in the direction that they are going and its predictable so you can make a decision about navigating around them and provided they continue to do what they are doing not an issue. There are however a certain number of them that appear to be completely unaware that there is anyone else on the lake - other than them and their vessel - many of them beeline directly at you (I suppose to wake jump) and when they are doing it it seems like they are almost trying to hit you - and if you are running 100 + it initially pisses you off, then requires you to at least consider a directional change, sometimes abruptly and large Air Entrapment Catamarans DO NOT like to make rapid directional changes "aired out and at speed" abruptly, regardless of brand - in fact if you have to put full rotation on the wheel at speed (and you don't have to be running 170 MPH to be aired out) your asking to crash, or at least hook. I have had Jet Skis that were traveling dead straight as I was approaching them make hard turns directly in front of me - and seemingly never see me (or at least that's how it appeared to me) probably 20 or 30 times and like the Warden said "they probably had no idea about what they did" because they don't even look. I am over the top careful and run as far away from them as I can but even with that extra level of caution they are so nimble and so fast these days you can be a long way away from them and especially if you are running fast they can still end up right in front of you almost in the blink of an eye.

I have no solution and I don't think there is one. They have the right to use the lake, they are not going away, no license, skill set (or common sense) required to own one.

I agree with Boat Cop on this one... If you have a very fast boat or even a semi-fast boat Dial it back on weekends, Dial it way way back on on Holiday weekends if you even go out. If you think you need to give the PWC's a wide margin of error make it even wider - assume that 100% of them are going to make a mistake that puts you in a bad position 100% of the time and act accordingly.

Ironic about this incident if the Jet Ski component is accurate - if you were going to try to test for some Big Speeds and you know the traffic patterns of this lake Monday or Tuesday Morning early is the time you would select as the lowest risk time to do it.... thats when they were out there, still a big problem..

 

[Ziggy]

I think we can all agree that slowing down when you see another craft will certainly reduce accidents. But to what degree? If we had a 5 MPH speed limit we'd reduce most accidents (there would still be some knuckleheads managing to crash into something).

Here is a very common scenario that I have encountered numerous times as I'm sure other have:

I'm cruising up the river at around 50 MPH, sometimes in narrower areas. Because I have a bigger boat (32') with twins I get the PWC's buzzing around like gnats. They start when they see me coming by and charge at the stern so they can jump the wake. I've seen them up ahead of me and turn around to race towards me so they can quickly turn and wake jump. They will also stop and wait for me to go by so they can race after me and wake jump.

Many times, after they tire of wake jumping they will try to race ahead of me and suddenly cross my path. I have no idea why they want to do this but I have had to take evasive action before.

What is the appropriate coarse of action? If I slow down it just makes them hang around longer. What I usually do is just go full throttle to try to get away from them as my boats is generally faster than they can go.

I have also seen them shoot out from shore or coves and I will generally slow down or at least have my hand on the throttles ready to back off if I can see that they are not looking my way.

I don't what it is about PWCs that make the drivers so brain dead. I will tell you this, many years ago we had a SeaDoo 3 seater. My ex was driving and I was riding "bitch" on the back. We were following a friend in his small runabout boat across the lake. I was not looking ahead but was look back and to the sides until I decided to take a peek around my ex wife's head. Just as I did I saw my buddy had stopped his boat and my wife was headed straight to his stern. I yelled and fortunately, she snapped the bars to the right and didn't let go of the throttle. We did a 180 and the jet of the PWC smacked the outdrive of the boat and I managed to hold on.

After some severe yelling on my part from almost having us all killed, I asked her WTF was she looking at and why she didn't see the boat stopped? She replied that she was looking at the water directly ahead of the PWC and it had put her in a trance! WTF?!? Needless to say, she never drove the thing again.

Anyway, I wonder if that happens to other riders as well? I know a lot of car drivers just look at the bumper of the car in front of them instead of farther down the road. That's why they get into rear-enders because when the car stops they are not prepared. Maybe PWC riders just do the same.

So again, what is the best method of dealing with these things? I will continue to just try to outrun them and get as far away from them as I can. I have also been thinking about mounting a set of train horns on the boat to wake them up.

I've had PWC's chase after me to do their wake jumping and whatever else..........I slowed down and gave them stink eye, that didn't work. So I just stopped and stared at them, they both hung around a few minutes til they left. I started back up and went on my merry way again, low and behold these fuggers came back after me so I just stopped dead in water again. They gave me the wtf arm wave, I laughed my ass off at them. Think they got the message that time.

 

[CLA]

I agree with that. Diverse opinion over some topics involving exotic performance boats, brands, certain individuals but I do not see a constant "culture of hate" of anything ultra high performance. I run a very fast larger Skater in the lake and on the River 2 to 3 days a week and have for a long long time along with many other Skaters I have run on this lake. I have no basis to authenticate or question the fact set about what happened to the boat and crash that is the subject of this thread, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that Jet Ski's issue is real (if that is what happened to cause the accident).

Most of them (the PWC operators) are just fine, you come up on them and they continue to run in the direction that they are going and its predictable so you can make a decision about navigating around them and provided they continue to do what they are doing not an issue. There are however a certain number of them that appear to be completely unaware that there is anyone else on the lake - other than them and their vessel - many of them beeline directly at you (I suppose to wake jump) and when they are doing it it seems like they are almost trying to hit you - and if you are running 100 + it initially pisses you off, then requires you to at least consider a directional change, sometimes abruptly and large Air Entrapment Catamarans DO NOT like to make rapid directional changes "aired out and at speed" abruptly, regardless of brand - in fact if you have to put full rotation on the wheel at speed (and you don't have to be running 170 MPH to be aired out) your asking to crash, or at least hook. I have had Jet Skis that were traveling dead straight as I was approaching them make hard turns directly in front of me - and seemingly never see me (or at least that's how it appeared to me) probably 20 or 30 times and like the Warden said "they probably had no idea about what they did" because they don't even look. I am over the top careful and run as far away from them as I can but even with that extra level of caution they are so nimble and so fast these days you can be a long way away from them and especially if you are running fast they can still end up right in front of you almost in the blink of an eye.

I have no solution and I don't think there is one. They have the right to use the lake, they are not going away, no license, skill set (or common sense) required to own one.

I agree with Boat Cop on this one... If you have a very fast boat or even a semi-fast boat Dial it back on weekends, Dial it way way back on on Holiday weekends if you even go out. If you think you need to give the PWC's a wide margin of error make it even wider - assume that 100% of them are going to make a mistake that puts you in a bad position 100% of the time and act accordingly.

Ironic about this incident if the Jet Ski component is accurate - if you were going to try to test for some Big Speeds and you know the traffic patterns of this lake Monday or Tuesday Morning early is the time you would select as the lowest risk time to do it.... thats when they were out there, still a big problem..

Nice post. Mid week boating is where its at.

 

[RiverDave]

For sure Gary has the baddest skater on the planet and old Predator aint no bish either.........lol

No hate meant Dave. You run a bad ass website with great boat reviews. I've just seen some stuff posted that I thought was not fair. But that's the internet.

I agree with that. Diverse opinion over some topics involving exotic performance boats, brands, certain individuals but I do not see a constant "culture of hate" of anything ultra high performance. I run a very fast larger Skater in the lake and on the River 2 to 3 days a week and have for a long long time along with many other Skaters I have run on this lake. I have no basis to authenticate or question the fact set about what happened to the boat and crash that is the subject of this thread, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that Jet Ski's issue is real (if that is what happened to cause the accident).

Most of them (the PWC operators) are just fine, you come up on them and they continue to run in the direction that they are going and its predictable so you can make a decision about navigating around them and provided they continue to do what they are doing not an issue. There are however a certain number of them that appear to be completely unaware that there is anyone else on the lake - other than them and their vessel - many of them beeline directly at you (I suppose to wake jump) and when they are doing it it seems like they are almost trying to hit you - and if you are running 100 + it initially pisses you off, then requires you to at least consider a directional change, sometimes abruptly and large Air Entrapment Catamarans DO NOT like to make rapid directional changes "aired out and at speed" abruptly, regardless of brand - in fact if you have to put full rotation on the wheel at speed (and you don't have to be running 170 MPH to be aired out) your asking to crash, or at least hook. I have had Jet Skis that were traveling dead straight as I was approaching them make hard turns directly in front of me - and seemingly never see me (or at least that's how it appeared to me) probably 20 or 30 times and like the Warden said "they probably had no idea about what they did" because they don't even look. I am over the top careful and run as far away from them as I can but even with that extra level of caution they are so nimble and so fast these days you can be a long way away from them and especially if you are running fast they can still end up right in front of you almost in the blink of an eye.

I have no solution and I don't think there is one. They have the right to use the lake, they are not going away, no license, skill set (or common sense) required to own one.

I agree with Boat Cop on this one... If you have a very fast boat or even a semi-fast boat Dial it back on weekends, Dial it way way back on on Holiday weekends if you even go out. If you think you need to give the PWC's a wide margin of error make it even wider - assume that 100% of them are going to make a mistake that puts you in a bad position 100% of the time and act accordingly.

Ironic about this incident if the Jet Ski component is accurate - if you were going to try to test for some Big Speeds and you know the traffic patterns of this lake Monday or Tuesday Morning early is the time you would select as the lowest risk time to do it.... thats when they were out there, still a big problem..

Well said.

RD

 

[Old Texan]

The thing about PWC misconduct, is it ain't a regional or area deal. Wherever they exist they show the same lack of sense.

Something I've had happen numerous times is to be sitting on anchor in the back of a cove. Quiet day. Few others around. Sitting and relaxing with the wife. When out of seemingly nowhere a PWC enters the cove at speed and circles the cove as close to the bank as possible. Even passing between my boat and the bank which is way to damned close.

This has happened enough times to wonder if it's some damned ritual these clowns all have to do for some insane reason. Damned if I knw, but it is irritating as hell.

I've often felt some just think they are so cool doing their bullshit stunts, the whole world is waiting in great anticipation of seeing them acting out their big dick fantasies.:rolleyes

It's all about the operator, but something about the craft brings out the idiot gene too many possess.:skull

 

[jones performance]

After some severe yelling on my part from almost having us all killed, I asked her WTF was she looking at and why she didn't see the boat stopped? She replied that she was looking at the water directly ahead of the PWC and it had put her in a trance! WTF?!? Needless to say, she never drove the thing again.

Anyway, I wonder if that happens to other riders as well? I know a lot of car drivers just look at the bumper of the car in front of them instead of farther down the road. That's why they get into rear-enders because when the car stops they are not prepared. Maybe PWC riders just do the same.

this indeed is very plausible i think. just watch some people riding quads or sxs's, hell even sand cars in the dunes. they focus on the path directly in front of them, tunnel vision basically.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

If you are too rich with too fast and/or too big of a boat
If you have a PWC
If you have a jet bote
If you have a wakeboard boat
If you rent a boat

You forgot if you have a jet boat.

?