Wow, u must have some pretty amazing cat like reflexes if you could have lifted ur throttle in .002 seconds, yes it happened that fast.

But you know right, cause you were there?

Total bs, please let me know what road you use to drive to work, I'll be sure and come down and cross into your lane at the very last second. If you hit me it will be your fault right?

Thank you.

Seems to me these guys are really upset about what COULD HAVE happened, but never did. Great way to live your life.

I am not wreckless, but caution is and always be an opinion. What is fast to your grandma might not be to John Tomlinson. I choose not to be a grandpa

Yup....
In fact if they slam on the brakes on purpose for you to hit them it is still your fault unless there is a third party witness ..
Anytime you rearend a vehicle it is always your fault regardless what the other vehicle did to cause it UNLESS you have a third party to back you up as in multi car collisions.

I think one thing that is not apparent is that some of us have seen first hand what happens when a go-fast boat like we all love is involved in an incident/accident that includes our own personal circle of friends, in our own "water holes". I've been close to it with two friends. Both of them had virtually the exact same thing happen to them: PWC drove into the side of both of their boats (42Fountain & 38TG) while at cruising speeds between 45 and 55 mph. One was fatal; the other damn close. Both of these folks have had to fight off the law and lawsuits for years; not to mention being chastised in their communities, as well as boats being impounded (even damaged while impounded); and beyond.

Knowing all of this, I don't take any chances with any boat in my vicinity, including PWCs. I'm not saying 4bus did either. But I do know how the rules of the water would be interpreted by the law and a jury; and I stand by my assessment based on those attributes. How they are interpreted by other crowds, including ours, and even The higher power, are irrelevant.

After stating all of that, I too am a long time PWC owner. I was taking a friends' daughter out for a ride a few weeks back; and I too found myself surprised by another vessel in my vicinity, while I was too busy concentrating on the safety of my passenger. Knowing that, I also assume that every PWCer is normally oblivious to their surroundings a majority of the time.

Really? So I pull off a side street out in to traffic, I don't have to look? If someone t bones me it is their fault cause they couldn't stop in time?

How about if someone crosses into you lane on the highway, and impacts he side of your truck, your fault too cause you couldn't avoid?

Have you people lost your minds?

Now I am a clown huh? Sounds like you are just a few brain cells away from being retarded if you that someone that pulls out in front of a vehicle is not at fault. Or turns into you lane on the highway and impacts your side.

I know midwesterners are generally slow, but this is basic stuff you learn on your permit test

Brian,

I agree with you 100 percent. No doubt that day changed my outlook on running anywhere near someone I do not know. However I also posted he video to show what can come to you, when you are simply making a straight heading.

Im still not sure if I would had did anything different if the same thing happened today.

If you look closer, had I lifted my throttle (assuming I had time) it may have slowed me enough for them not to be able to avoid me.

Sometimes holding your line is the best evasive maneuver you can make.

Btw, are you going to have any new thunders at key west in November? I would like to see a new 37 :D

I see you also ride a motorcycle as well. That's one of the first things a street motorcycle rider learns; hopefully in a training class but sometimes on the street.

We'll have 3 ATs down there of newer vintage. We have a 37 getting close to being done, but we are not going to rush it.

rearend means hitting the BACK of a vehicle not the side..
and yes if someone pulls out right in front of you and stops and you REAREND them you are at fault unless you have a third party witness to back you up..

Had that jet ski hit me they would have hit the side of my boat

The experience I learned from road racing motorcycles has save my butt more time than I can count on the street. Easy to be cautious and evasive on something so nimble like a bike, plus you are open and vulrible....much like a jet ski, which should be more careful but are not.

The last thing I would want is a collision of any kind. 23 years of operation on both skis and boats since I was 14 and still no incidents, I would like to keep it that way but I still want to to have fun.

I'll send you an email about key west. We will be down for the week, as newly weds :) wifey wants a little more cabin, but still wants to go fast.

And you'd be proving to a jury that they hit you, and you didn't hit them. Oh well.

How come you ran between those two islands, and not to the south of them where it's alot deeper? It can be as shallow as 2-3 feet deep on that side while it's 6+ on the other side.

Going just by the video posted, this is what I see:

• I see a small wake on the starboard side of the boat that is fairly close and on a semi-parallel course
• I see that wake get bigger and still semi-parallel but intersecting, then....
• I see a waverunner that is being passed WAY too close for the speeds being driven
• I see that the waverunner driver probably didn't have eyes in the back of his head
• I see that the waverunner didn't realize this boat was passing at >25mph
• I see that once the waverunner realized the boat was so close in passing, they turned way from the boat (probably scared)

Based only on this video, I would have to say that if there was an impact betwen the two vessels, the overtaking vessel would be at fault. The waverunner's course didn't change that much in this video but there was no reason to pass the waverunner at such a close range.

What if the Fountain had a mechnical failure at speed and altered course to starboard by 10 feet? Why people put others at risk like this (and their own financial well being) is beyond me. What about keeping 15-20 feet of distance (minimuim) between vessels for every 10mph of forward speed? Would that make boating be any less fun?

Wouldn't be hard to prove with a hole in the side of my boat. Plus.....this just in, they didn't hit me


Normally I run the south side of the island, there was a guy fishing on the south side of the island, just of the south shore point, I went to the north side. 8 ft of water if you stay close to the island and away from the north shore.

I think a lot of good will come from this near miss like the LOTO Fountains video.
Wake up calls don't have to come from collisions, stuffs, and ejections.
On the LOTO video I learned about my unsafe leash on my lanyard because I liked it long to reach the port side gunnel while in motion, I could have been tossed to the deck, and in the meanwhile my boat would still have been under power with the drives engaged and no pilot.
On this video I learned that you never can trust a jet ski rider, who wants to race or not, to hold his line. Not that I ever trusted one before, now I'll keep sharper attention on my passing of any vessel carrying higher speeds like mine during the pass.
While many may think of some of these posts as a catfight I disagree, the sharing of input ilke this will make everybody a little bit wiser when they're faced with the same situation.

I'm thankful that it was simply a close call, and am optimistic that the girl operating the PWC got a bit of a wake up call herself. She put herself in a bad spot on the water at a high rate of speed with her actions regardless of who would have been held accountable.

See ya,
Kelly

What you don't see is the jet ski "coming to get me" If I got off plane everytime a ski came to race, or jump a wake I would get no where. Sometimes they are like flies.

That wake was in video for about 4 seconds, that is how long that ski was next to me. When they came from the bay to my left they were making direct eye contact (both drive and pass) and I had already started to turn slightly left wondering what they were doing. Then then turned in line with me and got on it, so I stayed on it thinking they wanted to race (they always do)

What if the jet ski had a mechnical failure?
What if someone on the boat had a heart attack?
What if a rock dropped from the sky and killed us all?


Here is a secret, every single time you start your boat you are putting others and yourself at finanacial risk.

That ski came to me, I don't care what side they were on. I had 5 people on my boat and witnesses on shore. I was on a way to a friends house, in the back of the lake. Earlier that day they were chased down (and passed) by the same ski.

Lastly, had their been an accident this video would not exist

Well said, while there are things I could have did different, and will in the future (this scared the crap out of me) but I will be damned if I am going to take full responsibility for it.

You are free to justify your actions anyway you want. Like I mentioned, I was just pointing out what I see in the video. IMO, you passed another vessel far too close to be safe at that speed.

Here is my Comments to your Questions:

Q1: What if the jet ski had a mechnical failure?
C1: This is something to consider and another reason you want a safe distance to the vessel you are over-taking.

Q2: What if someone on the boat had a heart attack?
C2: If you mean the driver of the boat, another reason to keep distance (more than 15-20 feet) frrom the vessel you are passing? Your Q1 above has a much higher possibility of happening.

Q3: What if a rock dropped from the sky and killed us all?
C3: This is just a silly comment to try and divert attention away from the issue that you passed another vessel at high speed with (to me) an unsafe distance between the vessels.


You can only be responsible for your own actions and passing too closely was just that.....your action.

Right of way or not. That was an azzhat move for both parties. Lucky there was no collision or worse. :poopoo:

Tough crowd (or people just looking to troll and get a rize out of me) that jet ski was next to me for 4 seconds, 4 freaking seconds.

If I did anything wrong it was letting happen what I saw happen, they wanted to race so I held my line. I was suprised at the sharp turn, it is what it is.

If It happened again at that speed, for 4 seconds, I am not sure what I could have done. Turning a stepped hul at that speed is not an option, at least any more thant the gradual left turn I was already making. Dropping the sticks and letting the bow rise and losing site of the ski also was not an option. Maybe I should have chapped the throttles back and forth and turn the wheel hard and we could have had another video for the world?

Had 4 people plus me on the boat, the ski came to me, didn't think they deserved to be tossed around because a ski came to pester, race, wake jump, whatever.

Some please explain to me how chopping my throttles would have helped anything here. Maybe they would have ran into the side of my boat at 70 mph vs 90 mph? WTF, there is NO TIME. If I came off plane, as I once was they would have sped off, just like before, and waited until I came back on to race, and wake jump. Maybe I should have shut it off and waited until dark just to be safe? Maybe I should leave the boat on the dock, just to be safe......oh, there was no collision.

I am really surprised and disappointed in some of you, a ski comes out of no where and nearly bites it into the side of my boat. I held my line, held my line, held my line. I have just as much right to be there as anyone else.

Would love to go boating with you guys, just keep you on my left, and I'll be on your right.. look out! I am going to do everything possible to hit you, everything. If you come off plane I will wait unitl you go back on, then slam you from the side....after all, It will be my right of way right?

Your words speak volumes.

I'm guessing you couldn't turn because you literally had no where to go:But then you say the opposite, when justifying why there was lots of room to run 88mph:This is why speed and distance between vessels matter:So which one was it:Or:IMO, if you chose the south route around the island (and would've avoided the jetski), you'd have to slow down because the fisherman. So instead you took a chance and went to the north, leaving only a narrow line to run:Here's a link to a map of the area in case anyone is curious (also a great spot to view nav charts for free). The incident sounds like it happened to the far left side of the map, right about where the "ISLES" of the "Lake of the Isles" is written on the map.

I think both parties shared fault; glad no one was hurt.

Whoops forgot to add the link:

Here's a link to a map of the area in case anyone is curious (also a great spot to view nav charts for free). The incident sounds like it happened to the far left side of the map, right about where the "ISLES" of the "Lake of the Isles" is written on the map.

http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/14772.shtml

Not looking to debate or get a rise from you or anyone else. There is no reason to be that close to another vessel while under way. The dik hole jetski owners run up on boats here too, in fact a few boat owners do it also. It is the captains responsibility to put his passengers safety first. Simply holding your line because you had the right of way wasn't the safest choice as the video shows. Maybe an evasive maneuver would've been a bit much. Slowing down and gaining distance at first sight of the other vessel would have been a safer choice. My .02

Absolutely avoided the fisherman, because I was out to GO FAST in my GO FAST boat. When I came on the island, there was no jet ski to be found.

The island that is happened near is labled "Baileys Island" on your map, being such an expert of the area I thought you might know that. We all know you can see so much from just a video, figured you saw that too

Here is a google map, showing the size and distance of what you consider a small area, based on the convex lens of a go-pro

http://maps.google.com/?ll=44.333426...84543&t=m&z=14

You really saved the planet today Donzi ZX 26, thanks for making boating safer for everyone.

From now on if I can see land, a boat, even a bird I will stay off plane (slowest it will go with tabs down is 45, and we all know that is too fast) so I will wait, for that moment when it is ok with everyone to finally give it some gas.

Nah...scratch that, I will continue to boat as I have for 20 + years, but now with the new found knowledge that I can plow into the side on of anyone on my left! Because I infact have the all mighty "right of way" no matter how erractically I am driving.

Sure was a pucker factor. :)

I don't understand why if the jetski driver had made eye contact a few times, or even if just noticed your boat, why did the driver still turn towards you? Crazy.

I can't speak for the operators up north but I can tell you about SE Texas.
Any Eastex redneck bubba on a 4 wheeler or a jet ski CANNOT be trusted to know the rules or be able to make a smart decision in a crisis or not.
We encounter them all the time and drink beer with them a bunch. They live for that one millesecond of fun without regard for theirs or others safety.
Perfect example, we're riding dirtbikes in the Nat'l Forest on PMT's (permanatly marked trails) I blast a rutted corner trying to keep the boys behind me, run head on into a quad and crash into him. He was going the wrong way on a 1 way trail.
I exploded "WTF dude this is a 1 way trail and your going the wrong MF'n way." His response was that he didn't know, hadn't ridden there before, and didn't have a map or know how to read colored arrows nailed to trees. His group didn't stop at the Rangers office to get a map and the rules and regulations pamphlet. I'll give him credit though, he accepted that he was going the wrong way after looking at my map and the arrows on the trail, apologized, and offered me a beer.
Later that afternoon pulling into the trailhead he and his bud's were being ticketed by a Ranger for not having offroad stickers on their 4 wheelers and not purchasing a day pass for the riders.
After the POPO left we walked over and I apologized to him for being $hittish at the accident scene. We had a couple of beers and he about flipped when I told him to expect the fines to be 500 to 1000 per person. All because of an 8 dollar annual sticker and a 5 dollars day pass for a single rider.
Moral of the story is, Eastex Bubba's don't know the laws in effect to protect them from others and others from them.

See ya,
Kelly

Was there damage to your bike? Did he cover it?

It bent my front fender, ripped the plastic finger protector on one of my barkbusters, and tossed me into the woods.
I hopped up on my feet and started cussing him, a couple of minutes later with him and his friends and me and the kids I cooled off, showed him a map, where we were, and how the arrows on the trees designate different trails within the trail system.
He apologized, admitting they were 1st timers there and wasn't aware of how it all worked, they were out to have some fun riding 4wheelers in the forest and drink a few beers.
I didn't ask for anything except to follow the arrows direction and note that some trails are 2 way trails so pay attention riding for arrows behind you.
Funny thing was that had I hit this corner 10 seconds before I'd have seen him approaching and had time to react.

I did feel bad for them getting citations but laughed it off with the kids later when talking about the tickets over the years there.
Here's a great one, I told my college daughters boyfriend (1st timer) don't throw your cigarette butts on the ground, put them in your pocket or the ashtray/coke can etc.
Forest Ranger making his rounds campsite to campsite later looking for offroad stickers and spark arrestors on exhausts asks my daughter who's cigarette butts those were laying on the ground by her chair. She say's "They're Matt's, here he comes now walking up" As he begins to address Matt about the butts Matt dropped one and stepped on it with his motocross boot.
While receiving his ticket he told the Ranger "Yeah man my girlfriends Dad told me don't throw your butts in the dirt or you'll get a ticket"
They make a living and support the National Forest system with their fines, I've seen them writing many many citations there since the early 70's.
I've only seen maybe a half dozen tickets written on the water for poor boatsmanship, the rest (100's) are always for over limiting or keeping to large or small of a particular fish.

See ya,
Kelly