sleeper_dave

You two use the same avatar... it confused me

eh, i'm an ******* sometimes. so what

drypipetiger

Sleeper Dave,

Where are you from? What do you run for a boat?

Neil

sleeper_dave

Lake St. Clair, 27' Fountain w/ single 502, no steps.

birdog

Ahhhh.....To be be 26 again........

Young Dumb & full of.......Vinegar?......No Offense Dave

cuda

Please do. We have enough bad press without some loud mouth jackass as yourself.
Btw, I don't see you lasting long on this site with that less holier than thou attitude. Personal attacks, cussing, and name calling will generally get you tossed out on your ass. Don't worry though, your legend will live on when threads come up about the legendary asshats that have come and gone.
Btw, I guess you just don't understand NOBODY goes out in their boat thinking they will get tossed out. It only takes one time, and apparently your time hasn't come up yet. I hear Lake St Claire isn't particulally deep, so it shouldn't take them long to dredge your waterlogged ass up should you take the unplanned dive off your boat.

BK

Uh....it's BK "girl".


And yes I've been thrown out a lot. Once when a clamp bracket broke and I took a 65mph hook to the left. Another time when another boat lost its steering and hit me port stern, causing my bow to stuff at around 75mph.

Situations that happened right out of the blue. No warning, just a day on the lake.

But one time I'll admit, it was my fault - but that was back when I was 26 and stupid.

But not stupid enough to not wear my gear. Unlike others who were either too stubborn or just too ignorant to wear a good jacket, I survived all of them.

drypipetiger

Any pics??!

Mentalpause

Following this thread reminds me of being a parent. My son is 27 now - but came home 6 months ago from 14 months of active duty.

A changed person. I'm so glad we are best friends again.

BK

Gdfatha has a couple.

sleeper_dave

I guess you need to pay more attention to maintenance and to the boats around you, then.

I don't think i've ever been close enough to another boat at that speed that i wouldn't have been able to avoid them if they took a hook to the left. Nothing comes "out of the blue" if you're paying enough attention.

An old acquainance of mine had something similar happen to him at WOT in a 23 scarab with a 502. No external steering and the internal steering broke. The drive immediately swung to full lock. He wasn't wearing a life jacket or a lanyard, but he was hanging on. Bent the hell out of the throttle.

Just my luck some drunk is going to ram me and send me into the water this summer...

I bought a boat because i percieve it as a safer way to have fun than a motorcycle. I'd venture to say that i'm much safer skipping across the lake at WOT with no safety gear on than i am riding a motorcycle down a "deserted" road in full leathers with a helmet. But when i had a bike i never owned leathers anyway.

It's all relative and i prefer to enjoy my day on the water unencumbered by a life jacket or lanyard. If that leads to an early grave, oh well. I'm not wearing a life jacket on my boat any more than i would on my dad's boat, or any more than i did when all i had was a 10 foot boat to get me across the lake in 3-4 foot waves, although in that thing i wore a lanyard.

From my experience wearing a lanyard in that RIB and in the jetboat, i can tell you that i'd kill the engine accidentally and put myself in danger a dozen times before i ever came close to getting thrown out of the boat. And the last thing i want to do is accidentally kill the engine when on plane with a full load of people. I'd swamp my boat... like the rich SOB that i graduated with, who sank his 40-some foot fountain two years ago and bought a hustler to replace it.


One more thing... and it's about perception. You want people to percieve this hobby (high-performance powerboating) to be a safe activity that doesn't put anyone at risk in any significant way, and that doesn't need any special legislation to slow the boats down or limit their use. Yet when a family launching their sea-ray on the next ramp over sees your crew strap on life jackets and safety lanyards before heading out for a relaxing day on the lake, it's going to make them uneasy. "If that skipper really has control of his boat, why does he need all that safety gear? He's got a bigger, more stable boat than me and I don't need to wear all that crap. That must be an inherently dangerous vessel and or a reckless operator, and I need to do something to keep these reckless fools off my lake"....


Last edit: I forgot to throw in a "woman driver" crack, BK