PWCs are just as bad. Many of them operate with no apparent awareness of how much water they disturb. It is almost as though they had had neurosurgery to remove the cognitive part of their brains. Many times, I have seen them shut down the drive as though they expect to thing to stop instantly. Accidents happen that way.
Yes. I do much of my sailing on Lake Mead where PWC's are the worst. They appear to be so simple to operate with big handlebars front and center, but a PWC doesn't at all operate like most vehicles. It has nothing functioning like a rudder and only turns under power. An operator who is probably well acquainted to slamming on their brakes to avoid a daily fender bender on land finds himself barreling full speed on the water with no idea how to stop or swerve. And like you mention, the people on PWC's are rarely top cognitive performers. I have neighbors who park their newly purchased PWC's on a trailer next to a mountain of empty beer cans. This aluminum hill somehow accumulates when their guests forget to pile empty cans in the gutter up and down the street next to their cars. At least there is something of a cognitive barrier to entry as my neighbors haven't been able to make their PWC's run yet.
I know everyone wants to hate on PWCs, but man, are they ever fun on a wavy day.
My state has some good training for kids that want to use them, I was actually impressed. As Kitrick says, the "braking" is the hard part. Not only are brakes nonexistent, if you take the throttle off you lose all steering.
The operative word in your post is "kids." The training should be mandatory for all users and should be repeated on a regular basis. Showing up at a livery with cash in hand is not a qualification for getting on the water.
For that matter, all boat users, power, rowers and sail, should be required to take course similar to the Power Squadron basic course before being licensed to operate a boat unsupervised. And yes, licensing should be required, just as it is for motor vehicles.
Although most people are not conscious of it, the water is a hostile environment, especially for the untrained.
I used to hate them (PWCs). One day I and my motorless sailboat were trying to get under the bridge at Kent Narrows (to get to my car and trailer); the tide was against us and a big storm was coming; were I to wait for the tide to change, I'd get drenched; a couple of gals on a PWC towed me through. So I had to adjust my feelings towards PWC's after that. Lately I understand, mandatory noise abatement laws have been put in place for all PWCs - it seems to have made a difference. They don't seem near as raucously noisy as they use to be. Now to me they're just motorboats that don't cause too much of a wake if any; I even wave, sometimes.
The auto pilots and a general disregard for others are becoming a real danger even if you have 250 sq/ft of sail up on a sunny day. I have been nearly hit twice by lobster boats and once really close by a person driving a 25-27 foot sea-ray or bayliner who was looking back talking to the passengers instead of forward. thankfully one of the passengers screamed at the driver. These people in Hingham Mass. weren't so lucky https://www.thehulltruth.com/northeast/1336255-hingham-bay-accident-3.html
I used to be a powerboat owner for 20 years, previous boat being over 70' & 77 Ton. Powerboaters have this cheeky saying 'never look back!' It's tongue-in-cheek of course, but its' truthfulness is none-the-less there. Like a near death experience 'life-review', I now beg for forgiveness. It appears I have doubled-down and have developed a reformed smoker like attitude towards these acts, and lobby that we bring back the death penalty.
This apparently spans ships regardless of size or power. In Port Aransas, if I recall correctly, a charter fishing boat was cut in half by a larger commercial tanker.
Also I have to wonder if cell phones/go pros/ electronic devices are a factor in some of these unintentional close calls
I feel that many of these cases are related to ignorance. The very first boat I bought was a 25' express style cruiser. Once she was on a plane, she was fast and left a very small wake. But while laboriously getting out of the hole, she left a tsunami off the stern. The salesman I purchased her from spent the better part of the afternoon teaching me just about everything you could know about docking and handling. To this day, 45 years later, I have only met 2 other people who have had this great experience. The one thing that he taught me that day was courteous boat handling in regards to watching your wake.
I belong to a rather "Big Boat" yacht club. Many of our newer members have the wherewithal to purchase large, very fast boats. For many of them this is their first or second boat ever, and the first boat was usually something at 20' or so. Almost none of them have likely ever had any type of boating class or a knowledge mentor.
If one comes roaring into the harbor throwing out a gigantic wall of water, I make it a point, at a private moment, to simply look behind them to guage their wake. Almost to a person they say they've never thought about that and I am thanked. In a few cases I'm sure they're giving me the mental middle finger, but I think are are appreciative. I wish more experienced boaters would pass this onto the naive.
PWC's are also mentioned here for good reason. In the WA county I live in, they are completely banned. Riding one here can net the operator a hefty fine. This came about from reckless operation and rampant harassment of sea life, including whales!
Do not get me wrong, I do not dislike power boats. I actually separate them from "speed boats" which I do loathe. The difference being the loose nut behind the wheel. I grew up around power boats, my late father was an ex navy engineer and after seperating was the last engineer aboard the Flying Saucer, a converted PT boat that used to give tourists the thrill of a lifetime up and down the coast in Ocean City NJ. I still have vague memories of that loud and smelly monster of a boat.
Growing up in OCNJ, most of my friends had powerboats or access to them. Most of them were driven with reckless abandonment. It was during this time that while spectating a yearly event called "night in venice" that family friends of ours where killed. The son of a local developer and marine owner ran over their boat at full speed while drunk. He got off without even a slap on the wrist. I have never cared for speed boats since.
The biggest issue I have with today's boats is the sheer speed they are capable of. Growing up in the 70s and 80s, most power boats had fairly modest engines. A boat with a tall 200hp mercury outboard hung off the stern was fast! My friend's boat had a 25hp johnson seahorse that would quickly get his skiff up onto plane. Certainly fast enough to make the wind bring tears to your eyes. Today, it seems, if you do not have at least 600hp, you are not really a boater. Do we really need to go that fast?
PWCs are just as bad. Many of them operate with no apparent awareness of how much water they disturb. It is almost as though they had had neurosurgery to remove the cognitive part of their brains. Many times, I have seen them shut down the drive as though they expect to thing to stop instantly. Accidents happen that way.
Yes. I do much of my sailing on Lake Mead where PWC's are the worst. They appear to be so simple to operate with big handlebars front and center, but a PWC doesn't at all operate like most vehicles. It has nothing functioning like a rudder and only turns under power. An operator who is probably well acquainted to slamming on their brakes to avoid a daily fender bender on land finds himself barreling full speed on the water with no idea how to stop or swerve. And like you mention, the people on PWC's are rarely top cognitive performers. I have neighbors who park their newly purchased PWC's on a trailer next to a mountain of empty beer cans. This aluminum hill somehow accumulates when their guests forget to pile empty cans in the gutter up and down the street next to their cars. At least there is something of a cognitive barrier to entry as my neighbors haven't been able to make their PWC's run yet.
Aluminum hills and top cognitive performers...so good. You'd better send another article over just to get it off your chest ;-)
I know everyone wants to hate on PWCs, but man, are they ever fun on a wavy day.
My state has some good training for kids that want to use them, I was actually impressed. As Kitrick says, the "braking" is the hard part. Not only are brakes nonexistent, if you take the throttle off you lose all steering.
The operative word in your post is "kids." The training should be mandatory for all users and should be repeated on a regular basis. Showing up at a livery with cash in hand is not a qualification for getting on the water.
For that matter, all boat users, power, rowers and sail, should be required to take course similar to the Power Squadron basic course before being licensed to operate a boat unsupervised. And yes, licensing should be required, just as it is for motor vehicles.
Although most people are not conscious of it, the water is a hostile environment, especially for the untrained.
I think in Michigan all users are supposed to. I'm 46 and I think I am just over the age cutoff where you have to get a license.
I used to hate them (PWCs). One day I and my motorless sailboat were trying to get under the bridge at Kent Narrows (to get to my car and trailer); the tide was against us and a big storm was coming; were I to wait for the tide to change, I'd get drenched; a couple of gals on a PWC towed me through. So I had to adjust my feelings towards PWC's after that. Lately I understand, mandatory noise abatement laws have been put in place for all PWCs - it seems to have made a difference. They don't seem near as raucously noisy as they use to be. Now to me they're just motorboats that don't cause too much of a wake if any; I even wave, sometimes.
The auto pilots and a general disregard for others are becoming a real danger even if you have 250 sq/ft of sail up on a sunny day. I have been nearly hit twice by lobster boats and once really close by a person driving a 25-27 foot sea-ray or bayliner who was looking back talking to the passengers instead of forward. thankfully one of the passengers screamed at the driver. These people in Hingham Mass. weren't so lucky https://www.thehulltruth.com/northeast/1336255-hingham-bay-accident-3.html
I used to be a powerboat owner for 20 years, previous boat being over 70' & 77 Ton. Powerboaters have this cheeky saying 'never look back!' It's tongue-in-cheek of course, but its' truthfulness is none-the-less there. Like a near death experience 'life-review', I now beg for forgiveness. It appears I have doubled-down and have developed a reformed smoker like attitude towards these acts, and lobby that we bring back the death penalty.
This apparently spans ships regardless of size or power. In Port Aransas, if I recall correctly, a charter fishing boat was cut in half by a larger commercial tanker.
Also I have to wonder if cell phones/go pros/ electronic devices are a factor in some of these unintentional close calls
https://www.caller.com/story/news/local/2024/07/16/2-victims-idd-after-deadly-boating-crash-in-port-aransas-ship-channel/74423752007/
Never leave the dock without securing for sea!
I feel that many of these cases are related to ignorance. The very first boat I bought was a 25' express style cruiser. Once she was on a plane, she was fast and left a very small wake. But while laboriously getting out of the hole, she left a tsunami off the stern. The salesman I purchased her from spent the better part of the afternoon teaching me just about everything you could know about docking and handling. To this day, 45 years later, I have only met 2 other people who have had this great experience. The one thing that he taught me that day was courteous boat handling in regards to watching your wake.
I belong to a rather "Big Boat" yacht club. Many of our newer members have the wherewithal to purchase large, very fast boats. For many of them this is their first or second boat ever, and the first boat was usually something at 20' or so. Almost none of them have likely ever had any type of boating class or a knowledge mentor.
If one comes roaring into the harbor throwing out a gigantic wall of water, I make it a point, at a private moment, to simply look behind them to guage their wake. Almost to a person they say they've never thought about that and I am thanked. In a few cases I'm sure they're giving me the mental middle finger, but I think are are appreciative. I wish more experienced boaters would pass this onto the naive.
PWC's are also mentioned here for good reason. In the WA county I live in, they are completely banned. Riding one here can net the operator a hefty fine. This came about from reckless operation and rampant harassment of sea life, including whales!
Do not get me wrong, I do not dislike power boats. I actually separate them from "speed boats" which I do loathe. The difference being the loose nut behind the wheel. I grew up around power boats, my late father was an ex navy engineer and after seperating was the last engineer aboard the Flying Saucer, a converted PT boat that used to give tourists the thrill of a lifetime up and down the coast in Ocean City NJ. I still have vague memories of that loud and smelly monster of a boat.
Growing up in OCNJ, most of my friends had powerboats or access to them. Most of them were driven with reckless abandonment. It was during this time that while spectating a yearly event called "night in venice" that family friends of ours where killed. The son of a local developer and marine owner ran over their boat at full speed while drunk. He got off without even a slap on the wrist. I have never cared for speed boats since.
The biggest issue I have with today's boats is the sheer speed they are capable of. Growing up in the 70s and 80s, most power boats had fairly modest engines. A boat with a tall 200hp mercury outboard hung off the stern was fast! My friend's boat had a 25hp johnson seahorse that would quickly get his skiff up onto plane. Certainly fast enough to make the wind bring tears to your eyes. Today, it seems, if you do not have at least 600hp, you are not really a boater. Do we really need to go that fast?