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Do you hate power boats?

6K views 44 replies 32 participants last post by  DivingOtter 
#1 ·
I am qualified and experienced on both power and sail. My passion has mainly been driven by being on the water - I just love it, whatever the craft!

That said, there is something very special about turning the engines off and just gliding along with nothing but the sound of the wind in the rigging and the waves lapping at the bow.

I have just been off on a noisy boat and I really enjoyed it! Here is the video:



As I departed Falmouth (minute 3.42) I was definitely a bit jealous!

Pete
 
#4 ·
My wife would trade our sailboat in a second. I keep telling her it's all about the journey, not the destination. She says that's crap, she just wants to get there.

Motoring makes me irritable. I'm happiest when sailing quietly along. That said, it seems I'm motoring a lot due to lack of wind, or wind from the wrong direction.
 
#5 ·
We have 35' sailboat and a 19' bowrider powerboat. Both are fun in different ways. When I'm on the sailboat, I look at powerboats with contempt of course. If the powerboat sank I would be very sad. If the sailboat sank, I would be devastated. Mostly, the powerboat is to make my wife and kids happy. The sailboat is my special place.
 
#6 ·
I do not hate powerboats. I live on one! It stays tied to the dock year round ;)

I do have 2 sailboats and I much prefer being out on the water on them. There is nothing quite like challenging yourself with mother nature to get the boat to go where you want to go. Piloting a powerboat is like driving a car....boring

Really though, it is all about your needs. Consider the pros and cons of your lifestyle and determine the best fit. We will still say you went to the dark side though ;)
 
#10 ·
I've definitely learned to hate power boaters. Obviously not all of them. There are good ones and bad ones, just like with sailboats. But, at least in my area, we have a LOT of power boaters that fall into one or more of the following categories:
  • More money than sense
  • As long as I don't hit you, I can drive my boat wherever I want.
  • Right of way? What's that?
  • Eat my wake! That'll teach you! (... but I'll wave at you like nothing happened.)
  • I really don't care about seamanship. That's why I got a power boat.
  • EVERYONE else is in MY way!
 
#15 ·
In my experience, it's really rare to have a power boater show any consideration for other boats, and those that do seem to usually be older folks in classic boats.

Power boaters don't seem to be very considerate to each other, either, passing too close, kicking big wakes that send crew flying, etc.

Probably the most maddening thing I've dealt with is people waterskiing between my anchored boat and a nearby shore.

Whatever happened to public service announcements? It would be nice to have people made aware of what's safe, and what's proper etiquette. I get the impression that motorboaters think that being jostled by wakes is just a part of being out on the water, which is why they wave even when digging a wake big enough to make you change course.

I don't think I've ever had another sailboat pull me off of a sandbar, though.
 
#12 ·
I'm with Stu, jackass powerboaters need to get humped. But that's not all powerboaters :) We are all powerboaters now and again.

I wish I could afford both. I'd like a nice RIB with a decent sized outboard, a small cockpit and some electronics. Just tool around at night or head to the beach for an hour. Having a sailboat is fun, but it's always a project to get anywhere.

Or a decent sized trawler at the dock and a smaller sailboat on a mooring. Something that didn't burn to much fuel, doesn't have to do 30 knots.

Seems like so much of vacation or weekend cruising is under power. I have good intentions, but you do have to get there. It really is like the friggen wind knows exactly what direction you want to go.

I motored my sailboat from Annapolis, up through the C&D, down through Cape May, up the Jersey shore, in through the city, down LI Sound, then out through Watch Hill Pass to Block Island. Never got to sail a millimeter. That's a lot of twists and turns and a lot of irony.
 
#13 ·
Like sailors, there are all kinds of power boaters. Granted, there seem to be more of the idiot variety driving boats with a lot of horsepower but I've seen enough sailors do boneheaded things to know it's not all one sided. I run our power boat a LOT more than the sailboat, but we live on an island and our power boat is our main transportation and we do a lot of fishing, crabbing, prawning, etc. I always go out of my way to give sailboats a lot of room and I wave at almost all boats I encounter but rarely do the sailors wave back. Kind of funny really. I've kept track and on cruises on the sailboat we end up motoring about 75% of the time, and I always sail whenever it's possible to make at least 3 knots over ground toward wherever we're heading. So I guess even when we're sailing we're mostly a powerboat.
 
#14 ·
It is a sad statistic, perhaps esp in the PNW how much of our summer cruising is under power. Longish distance, tidal gates, tides and currents often dictate timing, our often very sheltered waters affect the amount of wind we might get. And this, as jrd intimated, despite being willing to sail down to 3 knots boatspeed.

The big wave clods are a nuisance, but I have to say of late that we see many more 20+ knot capable boats lumbering along at 8 or 9, presumably to save fuel, or perhaps they've seen the light.

And on those flat, windless days it would be nice to zip to your destination in an hour rather than 4 or 5 droning hours under power. But MacGregor tried that and it didn't work out that well.
 
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#16 ·
I grew up in a family of both sailors and stinkpotters. My official position is that stinkpotters are an inferior life form. :)

Truthfully, the best mariners are competent at both, like the former WWII Merchant Marine captain that took me on my first dinghy sail over 40 years ago.

Just had a brother-in-law buy a ********. He absolutely loves coming out on our boat and decided to get into boating himself. He's usually a very responsible guy. He buys a I/O motorboat, takes a safety course and decides to just head out a few weeks ago, with no experience, etc. Scares the heck out of himself, not apparently understanding that just because it has a wheel, doesn't mean it works like a car. He's a believer now, but this experience seems very common for the stinkpots.
 
#17 ·
I've always enjoyed both for different reasons...

I enjoy fishing and water skiing which is much easier behind a power boat ;) I've typically had both... my first boat I owned was a 15' Tri Hull with 70 hp OB, then I bought a J 22, then a Sea Ray Sundancer 220, then sold them all and moved to California. About 3 months back in Maryland I bought a 20' Buccaneer and a year later my Tartan 37. We have a 27' ski boat on a lake in Western Maryland.... ultimately I love the water... but if I had to choose... I would keep on sailing no question
 
#20 ·
Yeah, but there's no real reason to hate a powerboat. I've seen many reasons to hate power boaters.

Here's my take...there are a lot of jerks in the world. If you put a jerk at the helm of a powerboat, you get an amplification of the jerkiness.

Add to that, how many of these jerks drink at the helm.
 
#22 ·
My daughter and her husband have a 40ft sport-fisher they use for game fishing. He is a very responsible boater and a highly skilled skipper and angler. If all power boat owners were like them, the boating world would be a better place.

Hate power boats? I don't particularly like them when they are rolling on anchor or wallowing while fishing but they have their place. As someone said earlier sailboats don't generally come to your assistance when you're aground. We have many power boat owners who "donate" their boats to our Coast Guard and often sailors who call for help are attended to by a private power boat owner who volunteers his service.
 
#23 ·
No reason to hate a boat, but I find engines to be a (potentially) necessary evil to be minimized at all costs, both on water and land.
I also think the recreational power boating crowd tends to attract more people who want to go fast (usually male) and people who just want get there (more often female). The first category, by nature, have a higher proportion of asshats, and given the generally self centered bent in our culture that seems to be getting worse, those people are the ones that annoy others (and sometimes genuinely put people at risk). But, if you hang around here enough you know it's not just a powerboat thing.
 
#24 ·
There seems to be a vastly disproportionate number of clueless and/or obnoxious a$$holes "driving" powerboats compared with sailboat skippers.

I've always thought that a big contributor to the differing levels of competence is the fact that you gotta know some stuff in order to make a sailboat go - you can't just turn the key and "drive away".

All the fatal foul ups I'm aware of locally involved powerboats - running between a tug & tow, running at high speed into a moored boat at night and things like that.

We are required to have a "drivers license" (PCOC) for operating boats and its introduction was entirely due to the mayhem caused by clueless powerboaters, principally jet skis and smaller runabouts.

That said, there are some powerboats that I would definitely sell my soul for (or pawn it at least) - Big GB Europa for example. I have always really liked the old "F" series Trojans as well. If I lived on a lake I'd probably have a ski boat as well as a sailboat.
 
#25 ·


I agree with the rising majority it comes down to who is driving the other boat...

I would add that, for me, it seems to be a correlation to size.

It is hard to dislike a 15 foot fishing boat when it is 20 feet from my 15 foot sailboat.

However, back when 30 foot cabin cruiser made only a little effort to avoid my 13 sailboat on a narrow river.. and didn't slow down to avoid make a wake that went over the gunnels... I have a few unkind words for that person...

I have to admit that when the wind died and another motor boater hauled me back to the launch, I had great affection for boats with motors and nice crews!
:2 boat:
 
#26 ·
I have nothing against power boats, just not very interested in them. Personally find them kind of boring unless you are the one driving.
Some of the "sailors" I know/knew are just as much a menace as some power boaters. My dad was an idiot, I'm sure he would have let someone ram him if he was "right". One of the reasons I bought my first boat at 16 was so I wouldn't have to sail with him! He sold his boat because nobody would sail with him, all his friends went once..... My mom quite after the first summer.
I do really like the antique mahogany power boats. I love the old piston powered unlimited hydroplanes.
 
#28 ·
We love all boats, no matter the method of propulsion. Rowing, sailing, motoring....if it's happening on the water then we're good with it.

We have owned a number of power boats and have enjoyed them immensely, although we have always preferred the peacefulness and the challenge of sailing. At the time we owned them they served a purpose for us, but when we had the time and resources to have a sailboat we always went back to that.

We already know there is a trawler in our future after I am no longer able to sail, and when that day comes I will still be so happy to be on the water. I am sure I will love my trawler just as much as I do my sailboat.

I don't see any point in boat snobbery of any kind. Whether it be type of propulsion, number of hulls, what kind of keel/rudder, how many masts, age of the boat, equipment (beyond required and safety) or any of the other things that people seem so prone to argue about on these forums. Just enjoy the water, it's all good.
 
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