Has anyone ran over a Pwc?
 

Last weekend I was hauling ass down the intercoastal, and just bareley missed a guy on a personal water craft. is it just me or do these people not look at where they are going? I was just woundering if anyone has actualy ran one of these guy over before

How's this...I had one run over ME last summer! Took a chunk out of my port rear swim platform as he launched like a ski jump. This happened while I was coming off plane entering a no-wake zone. He apparently mis-judged my slowing down and launched. Could've been worse though, he couold've landed on me, on my fairing, or my high swim-platform could've been higher if I was flatter in the water and he would've had his head taken off. Instead he flew off to the portside. Needless to say they (PWC) make me even more nervous these days....

Don't get me started...

I nearly hit several people on PWCs, when they inexplicably darted directly in front of my boat without so much as a glance...

The problem I see with PWCs is that they are relatively inexpensive, so the average Joe, with no boating experience at all, can go out and buy one and be on the water that day.

Most of the PWC operators I come across have absolutely no clue about the "rules of the road" on the water and who is to give the right of way to whom This is where the problem lies.

Now I am not an advocate of licensing or any regulations which would impede my ability to have fun on the water, but one day it's gonna happen and I blame the irresponsible operators for it.

My suggestion to any first time boater or PWC operator would be to take a course before you hit the water. Have some idea what the bouys mean... Have a general understanding of the rules of the road and responible watercraft operation.

Almost!!!

Had one approach from my port beam and had to veer at the last minute. Probably came within 15' of a serious crash. Those PWC drivers ought to be required to take a Coast Guard course. That doesn't address the renters though.

You have to really watch for them as they usually don't observe any traffic patterns whatsoever. They tend to run abreast through channels with their comrades while we have to squeeze over to accomodate them.

Serious problem.

It is NOT you alone, the PWC riders seem to be obivous to their surroundings!:mad: Years ago, when I used to go to Lake Havafew in AZ/CA, I almost ran one over, (His fault!) and all he could do was give me the bird!:mad: I couldn't get my skier back in the boat quick enough to catch him and "School" him on HOW not to get killed driving his Lake Lice!
MD:cool:

Yes, I had one near miss which was really hairy.
He must have missed my bow by inches as we were both traveling nearly 50 mph.

I was traversing a well-marked channel and was coming up on the stern of a larger cruiser. The cruiser is maintaining his speed as he should and is keeping to the starboard half of the channel also as he should. I see a couple of pwc'ers taking advantage of the cruiser's big wake well in advance. As I begin to veer port to overtake the cruiser, I am assured of the fact that the two pwcer's are aware of my presence as they looked over their shoulders and we made momentary eye contact.

Well, to my surprise, one of the a$$holes decides to turn 180 and dart straight for me intending to catch my wake. He somehow misjudged the cruiser's wake, gets airborne and of course can't steer while in the air.---Had I not slammed the throttle to idle and slow immediately, I would have taken off his head with my boat's pointy end. I lose sight of him for a split-second, but fortunately he resurfaced on the other side.


The other problem is that boaters for the most part, excluding races and such, maintain straight-line and predictable courses with the intent of going from point A to point B....Pwc's are built AND USED with the intent of screwing around and zipping around like insects.

:mad:

I keep trying, but some of those little buggers are pretty quick...:D

Is there a daily limit on how many you can take per day?

One of my main gripes with them are at the ramp. They tie up like they have rented the ramp for the day, then carry their junk down to the ski. What really chaps my butt is when they take off at full speed from the ramp, throwing wake over everyone else who is docking or launching.:mad:

I have had several near incidents with these in spite of attempts to give them a wide berth. The problem seems to me to stem from the fact that most PWCers threat other boats as stationary objects as they weave their way up and down the lake. It just doesn't seem to occur to them that some of us might be traveling significantly FASTER than they are. Most of my near misses occur as I am overtaking and the PWC makes an abrupt 90 directly into my path.

You're right Laster,

That's my experience too! They fail to recognize the fact that they cannot simply take whatever course they desire---They must give way, when they are the give-way vessel(overtaken vessel)!

But alas, these are all concepts which are foreign to the casual weekend warrior PWC user. :rolleyes:

My favorite move is when the dumb-ass jetskier darts in front of you as you are starting to get on plane and your visibility is reduced. I wish they would ban the damn things from LOTO.
Or at least give you a hundred bucks for everyone you run over.

I have had two very near misses. Both of them were with my buddies boats. One was when I told him I wanted to drive home because they had all had a lot to drink. Well we were in his tripple engine 30 footer and running at about 60 when this girl that was riding to the left of us just turned into us. We were all yelling like mad and thankfully she heard us and was able to avoid becoming chum. The other time I was in a Billy Seabold Bouy racing boat when this guy just turned in front of me and I had to go into a full on turn at speed. Thank god I was in that boat, and it turned the way it did. A guy on the beach swears that when the bow bit and the whole boat flipped that they lower unit just missed the guys head. I was in shock and could not look as I thought that I had killed the guy. I thankfully just missed him. Well a couple min later the guy was doing the same ****!!!!! Now I have a new tacktic. I AIM RIGHT AT THEM. Beleive me it is worth the fingure that you get knowing that they are off plane and you are not going to hit them.

Jon

PWC - Personal wrecking craft!


AC
:D

YES

Last summer I saw some guy back the PWC in the water, put two young kids 11, maybe 12 years old and leave. The took off and were a danger to everone one around.


:mad: .....WHERE ARE THE PARENTS!!!

have'nt run one over but watched one make a new porthole on a 36' sea ray at the pumps!
yes there are more of them, yes they are easy to get rent or buy there fore you have more of the public on them so

more aholes
more crashes
more close calls

they need to be trained, educated, and marketed differently or they are gonna go the way of the 3 wheeled atv( bye- bye)
the marketing is the thing that gets me way to easy to finance then the commercials showing a pwc swapping the no wake zone marker, then tearing up the ocean with no boats around, so these morons get the grip it and rip it mentallity then when put in a high traffic situatuion they show no seamanship!


certification
certification!

seadoo has a learning key which acts as a governor and limits the
speed of the pwc based on the key in the safety lanyard, maybe they can do this by expierence or mental faculties,

Oh I'm sorry your a moron you get to sit on the trailer in the parking lot( no PWC for you)

off the soap box now

Mattyboy

We're on a bay were there are 7 jet ski rental places.

We've had so many near misses, I can't count. Las one was a guy with 2 kids on the back. We we're going about 50, with the jet ski about 150 yards of my port. For some unexplicable reason, the guy cut right accross my bow. I followed him, as he was returning his rental. Said he never saw me (aka he wasn't looking). Come on, 26' boat with yellow and purple graphics and he didn't see!

My near misses seem to be a weekly occurance lately.

Almost also. I was turning to port and this idiot decided to go around me: on my port side. :eek: After that I installed racing-style mirrors so I can see what's going on (without turning around) behind the boat.

Yes.....I actually had one run into us and sink us to the bottom of the lake. A Sunday evening last fall, three of them doing their "tricks" and one decides to break from the group. He dashes in front of us nearly missing us as my wife is standing up waving her arms and yelling at him to get out of the way.....the guy never looks up, whips a 180 on the other side of us, then hammers the throttle and blasts into the side/rear of our boat like a torpedo. Boat was on bottom in about 4 minutes. I'm not one to wish harm to anyone, but this guy didn't even get hurt. His PWC hit the back of the boat and by the time his body went over the top, our boat had already passed and he landed in the water. To top it off he swims back to his PWC like he's going to take off. some friends were around to make sure that didn't happen and none of the PWC's even offered assistance which is also against the law!!! Needless to say...Bruce has had my boat all winter and it now has a new (reconditioned) motor and will be back on the water in about a week! All compliments of this jack*ss and his insurance company as he did have alcohol of a .03 or so....not bad but enough to be impaired!!

I guess I'll stop here before I get even more p*ssed than I have been all winter.

wow Dave, thats incredible. Good thing you're all OK. F the guy on the jet ski.

I don't think there is anything that gets my blood presuure up than those f&%&(* things.

You would think that they (pwc riders) would realize that you are bigger,travelling much faster,and cant manuver as quick. So in other words stay the H#LL out of the way, Its like a guy on a bicycle trying to play chichen with a dump truck.

sniff sniff
 

Waaahh Wahhh Wahhh. Some of you guys sound like a bunch of cry babies.

Maximus

back when i was into jetskiing i ran over another jetski!!! a friend and myself were goofing around right off the beach. As i was aproaching him to spray him my steering cable snaped and last minute turn didnt work!!!! :eek: I ran right over his ski and put a golfball sized hole in his hood!!! After which i ran up onshore and flipped over the handlebars!!! If i had a video of it i would be $10K richer right now!!! LOL! :D :D

Originally posted by Cuda:

"Is there a daily limit on how many you can take per day?"

:D :D

I've heard they taste alot like chicken...


WM

Yes !!! And I hit him too!!!:eek: As I was approaching carefully to pass this zig zagging $%$##@# I tried to time it when he went right I would go left and pass him. Well for some reason he decided to cut back sooner than I would have ever had predicted. All I could do was turn as hard as I could and cut my engine. He decided at this point right in front of me to stop and get on his knees. (He still doesn't know I am coming at him) As I came off plane the bow of my boat ran right up his back and almost hit him in the head. I believe he needed a new pair of shorts after that. We gave each other some choice words and he then took off...

We had a situation very much like BajaDazes', at LOTO 6 years ago- overtaking a larger vessel headed towards the dam, passing to his port. There was a PWC on his starboard (that we couldn't see) that cut in front of him, then in front of us. The two riders panicked at the sight of our bow at high speed, and the driver froze up and released the throttle. We went on the bow rail to miss them, and the wake washed the two right off the thing. It was a miss of about five feet.
When we approached the two to see if they were alright, we were surprised, (and pissed) to find two young girls, age 9 and 11 crying. They were left by their parents to 'go have some fun', while they supposedly did the same. The PWC would not restart- we towed them back to where they were staying. We could not find the parents. Nice babysitter, huh?

We have not returned to LOTO since.


PWC's are a big problem where we primarily boat as well- Mississippi River. They NEVER look behind for traffic, and think a big boat is a 'wake toy'. What doesn't help is the speed these things can achieve now.

We were witness to a fatal on the river several years ago- a drunk rider trying to time his jump of the wake of a Mach One passing by- he left the sand bar at full throttle, badly misjudged the speed of the passing boat, and plowed into its side at WOT. Although help arrived immediately, he later died of head trauma.

I distance myself from them as best as I can, and expect the unexpected. It is unfortunate the high percentage of uneducated riders. Be careful and wary, the season is upon us!
Jim

in pa a coast guard course is required and it still doesnt help

Does anyone tell them that.... "WITHOUT BEING ON THE THROTTLE YOU HAVE NO STEERING" ???:eek: :eek: :eek:

:D :D :D

If only 98% of them had any brains or common sense. (Yes I think 2% of them actually know what they are doing), unfortunately we all have to look out for the other 98%. Where I boat (AC,NJ to Cape May NJ), there seems to be thousands of them, especially on the ICW, when the Atlantic gets over five feet, we get forced to "come inside" and have to put up with these idiots. I have not hit one yet, but one has "washed me down" while I was "obeying the law" @6mph, I did catch him a few miles later down the river and scared the @#$% out of him.

I think I did once - but not sure... :eek:

Had a close call once, but nothing too severe. Did see what remained of a jet skit that go run over. Not much other than a engine and a pump left.

Not yet!

I LIKE TO RUN OVER PHKNLAWYER !

Laughs,
Rick32

I used to get pissed when they would follow close behind me to jump my wake but now i've found a way to add some enjoyment into this. When I'm in my jet boat I wait until they are just about to jump my wake and shove the jetovator to full up position and floor it. Its great ! When the water clears all you can see is the PWC going around in a circle and the rider swimming towards it trying to figure out what the hell just happened. They don't try that any more ! It's hilarious !

Bo

I had a near miss and it cost my buddy his beer and a couple of bruises! I should have ran the @!##@$ over, but reason took hold.

The PWC up and decides to bang a 90 to jump the wake of a Baja I was 100 yards behind in the channel doing 60!

He never even saw me or knew I was there, kid on the back and all, just up and turned.

I killed the throttles and dumped my buddy on his head halfway into the undercabin.


2 weekends later I had one ask me for a tow 20 yrds from the ramp. I told him to swim!

I own three of the little boogers. Love 'em.

In '91 me and a friend collided after playing in circles spraying each other. I spun my ski in front of my buddy and was a bit closer than I had been the other times. It panicked him and he let off his throttle. No steering. His ski ran over the front of mine. Some cracked fiberglass, but no injuries. We never got that close again. This was on 35mph Yamahas.

My brotherinlaw bought a 50mph Kawasaki and invited all of his friends over to ride it (and mine - I had no idea about his party). He gave no instruction whatsoever. He just pointed to the skis and turned them all loose. One of his friends and his wife were riding one of my yamahas and the wife on the Kawasaki. She ended up aimed at him at some point. Off the throttle. Pow. Broken ribs, collarbone, concussion, loss of consciousness, ambulance, police.

By then it was 1992. Since that time, I have never allowed anybody to ride any of my pwcs without a "lesson".

Granted, I do all of the stuff that pwcs are good at: wake jumping, spinning, spraying, s-curves. BUT I am always aware of where all other boats, buoys, other pwcs are around me. I never veer from a straight path without a thorough "head-check" behind me on both sides. I am teaching my kids to do the same. I currently only let my boy ride the slow one while I am, with him on the other. Technically, he is still a year too young to be by himself, but we only let him ride solo in the early mornings WITH ME when there is no boat traffic. Any other time he rides on the 1200 with me. Yes, he usually drives it (which is legal in TN with me on the back) but I constantly correct him when he forgets to turn and look, gets too close to a boat or dock, etc..

We have lots of stupid kids riding them on the lake and I try to take note of the worst ones and hunt them down when I am on my ski. They usually will stop and let you talk to them and are usually receptive to well-worded criticism as long as they don't have a girlfriend with them.

These little boats are a royal blast and it is a shame that people refuse to treat them with respect, and refuse to show respect to other boaters when they are on them.

I don't fish much. I run my 20,000# diesel express cruiser down the lake rolling big wakes. I think it is stupid for somebody to anchor in the main channel and fish. I think they should know better than to expect to have calm conditions if they are sitting there. IT sometimes aggravates me to see themn anchored there. I want to blast by and watch them capsize. What I do, though, is I slow down to a moderate wake whenever I will be passing near these guys. It's just part of what you have to do when you share the waters.

When I blast down the lake at 70 or so, I get hacked off at the prissy sailboats lumbering around in circles. I could rip straight down the middle of them as long as I don't get dangerously close. What I do, though, is bear to one shoreline and if it is populated, I will slow to a less imtimidating speed. It's just part of what you have to do when you share the waters.

When I see a pack of jetskis, I always figure that they are blind and will turn and run into me. While they should use some sense, it just ain't gonna happen overnight. The waters are full of idiots. All you gotta do is sit at the boatramp and witness scads of guys who have no business at the helm of a boat.

Fishermen deserve the right to fish in the waters. Cruisers deserve the right to cruise in the waters. Go-fasts deserve the right to go fast in the waters. Jetskiers deserve the right to ski in the waters. Divers deserve the right to dive in the waters.

I feel that these are and should always be RIGHTS, and not privileges. If we are not careful, though, they will indeed become privileges and will then be restricted more and more until these rights/privileges are finally taken away.

No different than on our roadways, except that enforcement is lacking sorely in the waters. Every jetskier needs to get superficial injuries and significant fiberglass damage from a close call from doing something stupid. I think it would make them all better and more polite riders.

M

Finally some sense
 

Well put.. mcollinstn! Allways expect them to pull a "Crazy Ivan" and you'll never be disappointed. Hey people.. what you guys are saying about Jet ski's Someone is writing about us on some sailboat site.

Chill out .. you know that saying "if it's too loud your too old".....You guys need to step back and imagine what we look like screamin' around in 120db speed machines like we own the world. Also, think about the destination points for most "offshore boats...Bars. I seen more than one drunk Jackass get into a 1000hp machine and go tearing down the intercoastal (might have done it myself, in the past) Were all out here to have fun!

Now...with that said.. there are always going to be riders and boaters that could use a little more sense..Have a little patience and remember that kid most likely looks at your machine and says "I'm gonna get one of those someday". I know I did.

Maximus

Oh yeah.. My jetski does 69mph on gps. Wanna race! :p

A friend of mine had a 18' tunnel and was running on Lake Havasu one afternoon. He saw a waverunner coming toward him w/2 people onboard, and knew the driver was not paying attention. He backed off and came almost to a complete stop -- but the PWC driver never looked up and slammed right into his side.

It destroyed his deck and both riders ended up landing on him., bruising them all.

To his surprise, the riders were two young girls: ages 13 and 8 --- the 8 year old was driving!!!

Their dad suggested to my friend that they not tell the police - that he'd cover the repairs -- but my friend was not going to go for that. The water patrol showed up.......and the dad told him the accident was the fault of the BOAT driver! My friend was given a FINE!!

It ended up going to court, all the while the dad and the girls were telling a totally fabricated story about the accident, and claiming the 13 year old was in control.

But in the end, my friend won -- acting as his own lawyer he stumped the girls while they were under oath -- he asked the 8 year old "which arm" she had the kill switch tether on, and she replied her "Right, no no..LEFT!" ....proving that SHE was indeed the illegal operator of the PWC.
:eek: