Rules, regulations, and real life...

[merttan]

I'll be doing USCGA patrolling next season!

[Boasun]

Originally Posted by merttan

I'll be doing USCGA patrolling next season!

Good!! Have fun and please don't be a Barney Fife.




Note: Barney Fife, played by Don Knox, was the deputy sheriff from Mayberry FRD.

[zz4gta]

Originally Posted by merttan

There have to be a regulation for education for how many HP one should be allowed to use... For Christ sake, I wouldn't let those idiots use an RC boat!

Not sure if I read this correctly, but did you suggest a regulation for how much HP someone should be allowed to have? Thanks mom, after I brush my teeth can you tuck me in?

Why buy a fast boat if you can't use it? Granted, there's a time and place for everything and what was described in this thread (waking people) shouldn't be done. But a ban on fast boats?

After re-reading were you suggesting that people should take a class depending on how much HP someone has on their boat? Similar to racing certifications?

[sailortjk1]

Originally Posted by T34C

If I were you I'd stop yielding so easily.

Thats what I do, don't give in.
Don't let them push you arround.

Some body is being dumb and sitting still in a nnarrow channel, pass them within about a foot or so. That usually gets their attention.

I don't like taking a wake either, especially when it kills all my momentum on a slow day, but hey, what are you going to do? I don't own the water.
I usually give them a nice "Thank you very much," or "Nice wake dumb a$#," or "Thanks for the wake, sh%$t Head!" Usually they have no idea what your talking about, and hopefully they keep going with out turning around.

[sailaway21]

This topic always becomes tedious. I'm in agreement with Hellosailor's points but wish to add that while courtesy and respect are always in season, we're on a boat for God's sake. Only a sailor can go from bashing through five foot seas, heeled over 30 degrees, to complaining about some spilled beer because some 16 year old kid went by too fast in a ski boat!

Try staying up for two days on a freighter working cargo. You've just cleaned up and are sitting down for a nice lunch of home-made fish soup prior to getting a well-deserved nap and the longshoremen drop a forty ton diesel-generator set into the lower hold from fifty feet up! Now that's rockin' the boat!

We're always going to have the inconsiderates amoung us; don't let them rent space in your head, you'll be distracted from the good stuff that's going on. Sail On!

[AjariBonten]

Nice reality check, Sway..

I'd also like to add that more regulations are not the answer.

I'd even go so far as to say that more stringent application of the existing regulations is only a small step better than the first.

The only real answer is better education and understanding. Not of the laws and regulations; but of the reality of what it means to be on the water and responsible.

It is entirely possible to follow every law, etc. and be a total ********.

There are also times (many) that to follow the rules to the letter can cause way more damage than following prudent judgment.

Don't want to rant or hijack...................

[bobmcgov]

"Starboard!"

[T34C]

Originally Posted by merttan

To get back to my docking... I waited till it opened and started to pass beneath the bridge. What's wrong with that?

I think most prudent sailors would tell you that you should motor through bridge openings, not sail. There is too much risk of wind shifts, and changes in velosity, from one side of the bridge to the other, to guarantee you can maintain course and speed while passing through the bridge.

"Forget the tactics, go right at 'em..."

[sailingdog]

A lot of bridges, including the Swing Bridge I have to pass to get to Buzzards Bay don't let sailboats pass under sail. There's just too much risk if the wind fails or changes direction. Also, a sailboat with its sails up can take up a lot more space than it does motoring... think of how far the boom swings out...

[merttan]

Originally Posted by zz4gta

Not sure if I read this correctly, but did you suggest a regulation for how much HP someone should be allowed to have? Thanks mom, after I brush my teeth can you tuck me in?

Why buy a fast boat if you can't use it? Granted, there's a time and place for everything and what was described in this thread (waking people) shouldn't be done. But a ban on fast boats?

After re-reading were you suggesting that people should take a class depending on how much HP someone has on their boat? Similar to racing certifications?

Yup... Training and education according to the HP and size they are going to use... Like you can't drive a 18 wheeler with your B license... etc. etc. etc.
But of course training boaters wouldn't be good for the boat sellers, insurance companies, and boat yards...