I guess thats true. The only good thing is that I see the fisherman having their catch checked for short fish often.

true but they can pull along side and tell them to stay out of the channel. enforcing the laws doesn't always mean ticketing.

You got that right !!.......had this very conversation with some friends awhile back......over the last 30 years Ive been involved with lots of motorsport related hobbies......street bikes, stock car racing, musclecars/hot rods, motocross, offshore powerboating even slot car racing......our consensus was at least 10 - 15% in any of these sports are just idiots and another 5% are complete effin' A Holes.......wanna see some pompus d wadds??......try Superbike racing.......and musclecars arnt far behind.......our sport doesnt have a lock on A Holes.

I've just come to the conclusion that most people are Dik's.
Rarely, you find exceptions to the rule - Those you call acquaintances, possibly even friends.

Interesting thread. I am like several others, I wave at people constantly if I am not running real fast(safety first with a lanyard and life jacket), I ALWAYS stop to help other boaters whenever I see one in trouble and most of the time I keep the exhaust muffled around the docks. It only takes a few with a grudge to start some idiotic legislation and that is where the problem is. Yes there are problem performance boaters just like there is also problem blow boaters, house boaters and cruiser boaters.

couldn't agree more Todd, there are a few on this site alone that if I see them at a run I would walk the other way.

As someone pointed out, there are rude jerks everywhere, but ...

Our stuff stands out. It's big. It's loud. It's flashy. To a lot of folks, those qualities are obnoxious. Because of that, there is a general assumption that we are obnoxious, too.

Unfair as that assumption may be, we need to be BETTER than the average boater. Nicer. More polite. Better drivers. More willing to talk about our hardware on the dock when all we really want to do is have lunch.

Look, I don't think there's some great liberal conspiracy to ban our stuff, but we are low on the fossil-fueled toy food chain. Some of that is just public ignorance, some of it we've brought on ourselves. If we behave poorly ... no, if we're not on our best behavior at all times ... we're done. It might not be right, but that's the way it is.

The good news is you, as an individual, can help change perception every time you're on the water.

My father in law uses the term misanthrope for himself. He is one of the nicest guys I have ever met. Wants to be friendly to everyone, but is just over dealing with all the d'heads of the world. I feel his pain. But I still wave to every boater I pass no matter whether it is shooting a stream of water in the air our using the air for propulsion. It's just second nature to me having grown up on the water.

Great thread BTW.

I know I wave at everybody, but then most people wouldn't consider my boat a performance model. :D

I'll probably take some heat for this, and it's not directed at anyone personally, but in the 8 years I have been going to LOTO I would have to say that 90% of the people in Cig's look through me like I'm not even there when I wave at them. :(

I have been a performance boater for 25 years, but I have found over the years that the type of boat is not a direct correlation of the type of person you are... There are Azzholes in all types of boats and more of them are on jet skis...