wow.... that is terrible :(

Update - Larry is Out of surgery recovering, alert and doing good. Pretty major surgery for some head impact and basically he was scalped by the windshield so they had to reattach his scalp. He's banged up but will be out of the hospital in a couple days.

"like" :-)

this is great news

Well said!

Havasu has always been a fast boat lake. Everyone has to adapt to where they boat / jet ski, what have you.

That's great news, thanks for the update Tank!

The easiest way to not ged dead or fubar and avoid deading anyone else is to assume everyone else is going to take the right of way whether they have it or not and operating your boat like everyone around you has no clue... most of them dont anyways. There are times and places to run hard, there are times and places where running hard is inviting disaster and then there is a lot of time and place in between.

At least its not as bad as riding a bike yet. I got my first motorcycle when I was like 9 or 10, I raced for years, Not to sound egotistical, but I am a really good rider. world championships, walls full of trophies etc. I will NOT ride a street bike. I would love to ride one but I do not trust the other guy and I dont want to get dead because because some chick was texting, because some mom was yelling at her kids in the back seat, because some guy stopped for a few beers after work.

I agree (mostly) I was at a shootout maybe 8 years ago, actually just arriving, on the back side of the spectator fleet and coming off the throttle so as not to send a wake into the fleet. I look to my right and see a MTI running about 150 taking a celebrity for a ride. I turned to port and watched him go by at well over a hundred. I was not expecting that and later in the day heard he was *****ing about me not seeing him quick enough. If I'd had the opportunity I would have explained what a moron he was as he could have run down the course in relative safety.

It was one of many stupid things that happen around shootouts/poker runs that I have seen in 30+ years of boating.

I race a jetboat, so not afraid of speed, just has to be the right place and time as in "closed course"

That's exactly the way I have operated my boats forever and I've yet to regret it - although I have been the one to stand down or even come off plane countless times when I had the right-of-way. We as HP boaters have machines that will two-fold out-accelerate and outrun any potential idiot that might ever wander across our path (if we can turn them) so I always "TRY" to keep enough distance between myself and any potential idiots so I can avoid them no matter what erratic move they make. . If it is too crowded or if I am in too restricted a channel to allow for such maneuvers I simply I slow down - or even stop.

I assure you guys that although some people on this site feel that it is the responsibility of every other boater that we share the water with to account for the possibility that one of us might come barreling at them in a 150+ MPH machine, the rest of the boating community does not share that view. The first time one of our 150 MPH machines runs over a 14 year old erratic girl on a jet ski it might be over for all of us because the public will vilify us to hell and back no matter how at fault the teenager was.

Anyone that thinks they have the right of way because their boat goes xxx mph is 100 % wrong.

There is one indisputable fact that everyone must always remember. Most boat operators only drive there boats once or twice a year. They don't have a clue about rules of the road and seldom pay attention to other boat traffic. You must drive defensively during peak boating times because these operators have no idea what to do in boat traffic.

I have completely stopped in the water because I had no idea which way they were going.

Everybody be safe. And always carefully pick your time and place to push the throttles open.

Well said, I have found that there is a device in my go-fast that keeps me out of trouble in crowded waters ......... it's a throttle ..... and I pull back on it.

Same here.

I agree with you. It's just too much risk otherwise. I despise lake lice but they are not going anywhere and are indeed increasing as the yahoo quotient multiplies around here. Conroe is now the fastest growing city in the USA - that's right 11-12% a year and real estate is skyrocketing. They have built 10,000+ 3-4 story apartment units in the lake area in the last 1-2 years and every yahoo is buying a - yep you guessed it. I employ my wife as vigilant spotter and don't go for a run without her.

"like"

They waited until early Monday morning. Had all the Safty gear working for them. This was after the weekend boat traffic. Horrible accident. It really sounds like they were trying to be safe. Testing for the shootout on a Monday morning. Hope everyone can make a full recovery.

It sure seems like they did take effort to do the testing at what in theory would seem the best possible time. And when that jet ski ran in front of them the driver made a split second decision to put himself in harms way. As others have pointed out, we'd be looking at a very different public reaction if he hadn't.

Hoping for a speedy recovery.

BTW- The like button is back.

I feel good after reading the last 1/2 dozen posts that a lot of you guys truly care about your safety as well as everyone around you. Like a lot have said, there are so many morons on the water who just went out and bought a boat or rented a boat yet have no clue about the activity. It's very scary on my lake every wknd when there are boats going in every direction without a single clue about safety. Like others have said, I'd rather come off plane and putz until I figure out what the idiots are going to do. Too many times I'm rolling down the lake and 40-50 and a boat will just continue to rip across my bow and not even look. As if they can't hear my exhaust and see me coming. Even if I have the right of way I typically alter my course just to get away from the idiots and lake lice. I'm happy to hear the occupants of the Skater are OK and I pray that all of us out on the waterways stay safe.