jetski soaked me on fathers day

ziggy

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Jun 30, 2004
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so, my sweety decided to let me go what we call boat camping on sat. night. my boat's just a nineteen foot w/hardtop. she's not big on boat camping anymore, so it was something special for me to do on fathers day.

we had to dodge mild rain prior to going out. wanted to go out about 6, but left about 5 trying to beat a small shower. got out on the water while only getting sprinkled on. while on the lake, we got sprinkled on some more. enough so that my carpet got a little damp where the hardtop don't cover. then the sun came out. had about an hour of light left so was great to see the sun. we were just cruising the lake, floating around enjoying the nice eve. it was very nice out. mid 70's.

so, while were floating there. i was sitting in the starboard side aft facing seat, just under the hardtop and here comes this seadoo pwc coming right at me from the aft, port side. i mean right at me, on plane. about the last second prior to impacting me. they turned and soaked us with their spray. ya could here them cackling and thinking that was real funny. they soaked the whole inside starboard side of the inside of my boat. water all the way to the dash. inside my hardtop. so as soon as they soaked us, they went to the next boat. a pontoon full of people. they did the same thing to them. the skipper of that boat was outright soaking wet they got him so good. then off to the next boat. another speedboat of fishermen. i don't know whether they got him or not. they didn't seem as mad as me and the pontoon boat fella. when they tried to soak the last speedboat. they fell off there seadoo. obviously not skilled pwc skippers. not good.

so me and the pontoon boat guy chased them down and gave them an earful of what we thought about their crummy behavior. while there hearing us yell at them, they get on the seadoo and drive off. the pontoon guy followed them right back to the marina. he called the state patrol.

it turned out to be two teenage girls on the pwc. after they got to the marina, they went right back to their camp site. i guess the father of the girls told the state patrol that his girls would never do something like that. + that if you go to the lake, you should expect to get wet.

when the pontoon boat guy came back out on the lake he contacted us and gave us the state patrol man's cell phone number. we did call and corroberate his story. not the girls father who said they'd never do something like that.

i don't know what happened to the girls. but i sure hope they got at least a earful from the state patrol. actually hope they got more than that. like a fine for the owner of the pwc would have been in order.

this was highly inappropriate, dangerous, behavior of these girls. i figured the pwc. was a second from impacting me. certainly not 2 sec. from impact. it was very close.
my boat finally dried out after staying out overnight. and all morning on the lake. then the trip home mostly dried it out in side. it took all day yesterday for my gear to dry out. i only had one set of cloths with me, so ended up sleeping in wet/damp cloths.

moral of the story is. ya can get into trouble even when your just floating in the middle of the lake peaceably. i was not wearing a pfd nor was my sweety. if we'd have had impact it would have been bad and i would not have had time to get my pfd

i was stunned that anyone would be so rude and dangerous to someone they don't know. hope i don't see them idiots out there again. if i do. i'm going to the other side of the lake. away from them !

sorry, no pics. it happened to fast.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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its jet skiiers like that who give them a bad name

one of the lakes that I used to be on every other weekend has a warden that sits in front of my buddies house (about 4 doors down from the boat launch), just holding onto the raft. whenever riff-raff on jet skis act like that, he takes a few pics with his binocular/camera. then simply motors over to the ramp when they are sitting there getting ready to pull their PWC's. he must have written at least 20 fines to a single group of people.

I hope that the girls received a wake-up call from the trooper
 

garbageguy

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May 8, 2012
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1,531
Yes, good reminder on having PFD's on or easily accessible - anything can happen, anytime. I make sure mine are accessible, and all on the boat know where they are, and can see them. Just curious where yours were that made you think you would not have had time to get your PFD?
 

ziggy

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Jun 30, 2004
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its jet skiiers like that who give them a bad name
ya it does. i was a jetskier for 9 years too. it was my main boat. i never did anything like that. + i took us power squadron classes. made it up to celestial navigation before i stopped taking classes. i tried to be a responsible boater, even if all i had was a pwc.
Yes, good reminder on having PFD's on or easily accessible - anything can happen, anytime. I make sure mine are accessible, and all on the boat know where they are, and can see them. Just curious where yours were that made you think you would not have had time to get your PFD?
yep, anything can happen at anytime. and it can happen fast too. like this jetsier did. i watched them approach me for maybe 5 sec. before i decided they weren't gonna turn. but they did in the last second. in that second. i would not have been able to grab my pfd and it resides loosly between the helm seat and the throttle. so right next to me when i'm at the helm. i was sitting behind the helm seat, facing aft. i don't think a sec. would have been enough to turn around and grab it from right behind me to the left as i was facing aft.... sure was scary. and i been boating most of my life. never felt like that before. it was out of my control. other than i could just keep my pfd on. the right thing to do. but who does that... not to many i don't think. not me that's for sure. i figure my pfd is right beside me, i'll be able to grab it... probably not in reality assuming bad stuff happens just that fast... doubt i'll change my ways either. i'm 57 now and never had anything like that occur before. hopefully not have it happen again too...
 

gm280

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Jun 26, 2011
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14,585
Some young teenagers seriously don't think about the consequences should something go wrong. That is why teen driving insurance is so high. They are still in the "I'm invincible" stage at that time and really think they will live forever. Sadly some of them face reality and never do make it to their next birthday.
 

ziggy

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Some young teenagers seriously don't think about the consequences should something go wrong. That is why teen driving insurance is so high. They are still in the "I'm invincible" stage at that time and really think they will live forever.
well stated gm280. i had actually had the same thought. though it don't relieve them of their actions and consequences. i can only hope that the leo's in this small situation will give some sort of fine out. just some ramification (if not a fine) for their actions is proper. sadly, if that don't occur, it sounded like the father of them girls don't think there was anything wrong with their actions. i disagree with that. it seems many folks are like that any more. taking no responsibility for their actions that harm others.

and them girls did damage my boat. my ski locker board is in less that good shape after 42 years. the glue on the plywood is giving up. well, now that they totally drenched that board with their pwc. that board has now warped and no longer fits proper. granted it was old, needed to be replaced. but i shouldn't have to have my hand forced to do the repair. it was still serviceable prior to getting totally saturated with water. now i have a repair to do. thanks to their short shortsightedness.
 

dennis461

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Aug 11, 2011
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516
I am pretty sure you have the right to file a formal complaint with governing agency, State Police, Coast Guard or whomever.
If you actually want to see them punished(can't think of a better word). Simply talking to a patrol officer, who did not see the offense, is little help. I think he has no ability to punish/fine anyone without either being a witness or having a formal complaint from you.

Now,
Where did I put my flare gun?
 

ajgraz

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If they soaked you that bad, they must have gotten pretty close. Like, maybe, "tossed anchor close" ?

(Kidding...barely!)
 

ziggy

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Jun 30, 2004
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Being annoying seems to be the main hobby of people on jet skis...
for the most part. jetskis seem to behave fairly well on branched oak lake. yes, i've seen at the very least annoying pwc. but i still would say. most seem mostly respectful. what happened to me and the pontoon guy was the worst i've seen for a pwc effecting other peoples good time.
I am pretty sure you have the right to file a formal complaint with governing agency, State Police, Coast Guard or whomever.
If you actually want to see them punished(can't think of a better word). Simply talking to a patrol officer, who did not see the offense, is little help. I think he has no ability to punish/fine anyone without either being a witness or having a formal complaint from you.
thanks for the food for thought. guess if i'm gonna whine, i better do it soon, like tommorow. game and parks are within walking distance of my house. so the only reason not to would be, i just don't want to. i hate being the bad guy, read as snitch. but it does bum me out that my board warped. i'd think the owner of the pwc would be liable for repairs.
Where did I put my flare gun?
well, i resides under my pfd in the under gunnel storage. i think i'd have gone for the pfd myself...
If they soaked you that bad, they must have gotten pretty close. Like, maybe, "tossed anchor close" ?
yep, that close. but it's even harder to get to that the pfd or flare gun. it's under the back starboard engine seat....sigh....
here's how wet i got...

don't really look that bad. ya can see i took it at an angle. my hardtop has side windows which blocked a lot. it's what came in under the hardtop that got me. while it don't look horrible wet. the carpet is saturated. squish squish under yer bare feet. everything in the starboard under gunnel storage got saturated too. mostly just clothes and sandals and 'stuff'....
 

briangcc

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Jul 10, 2012
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I think I'd be following up with the local LEO on that. Sorry it happened.


Unfortunately you're not immune as I've had my run ins with PWC operators as well. Most are not well behaved but a few out there actually give a darn. That *might* change as all PWC operators here need to go through a license class before they are allowed to operate one.


Ohh and it sounds like dearest daddy needs a little talking to as well as you shouldn't expect to get wet if you go to the lake just to anchor and enjoy the scenery.
 

muskyfins

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Jun 7, 2012
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578
I'm only 44 yrs old, but even when i was a kid, had I done that and LEO's showed up at my campsite, my dad would have taken a huge chunk out of my butt right in front of the cops. In fact, around town, most of the local cops knew most of us teenagers and the cops were the first ones to take a piece. Then they called dad. I was the same with my kids.

The problem starts with the dad. Perpetuating the "my precious angels would never do such a thing" mentality. As soon as you pull that, you're already wrong. And where did the kids learn this behavior has no consequences?? Mr Miyagi from Karate Kid said it best "No bad student; only bad teacher"
 

ziggy

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but even when i was a kid, had I done that and LEO's showed up at my campsite, my dad would have taken a huge chunk out of my butt
The problem starts with the dad
yep. i was in the same boat when i was a kid. if the cops were bad, dad was worse....

fwiw. i did follow up and go the game and parks. saw the 'man'. while he was sympathetic to my story of the bad pwc behavior. i don't think much will happen. he didn't even ask my name.
last weekend though. i heard (i was canoeing last weekend so didn't see in person) while talking with other boaters at the public dock. that the warden was out on the lake. randomly pulling people over and boarding and inspecting them. while i think law enforcement was thinking about ramping up enforcement this summer. a story like mine, told to them, likely helped them double think that they should be out boarding folks. i inadvertently may have helped open the can of worms... it seems to me that it's the kind of thing that happens when ya just talk to leo's. the best contact with leo's is no contact at all. especially if ya've only been minorly abused, like i was.
 

jbcurt00

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I wouldnt mind an increased presence or enforcement. Should be a reminder to boaters of all types to not act like a fool, or there will be consequences. For those not acting a fool, it should be of no concern

A lake I used to frequent growing up recently had an on the water pursuit of a DUI boater. Lucky nobody got hurt, even luckier that the guy (or anyone who had the misfortune to be around him) didnt die.

About a month earlier an 'adult' (and his buddies) decided it'd be a good idea for him to tube w no PFD at a bachelor party. Took them most of a week to recover his body.

Increased presence removed a hazardous boater in 1 instance and might have saved another if they'd been made aware of or seen a party boat towing someone w no PFD.

Boat safely and accept that like in normal day to day life, boat LEOs are necessary, if only to minimize the risk of Darwinism to others

And appreciate the work they do. I know I wouldnt want to spend my on the water time in uniform doing what they are doing....
 

boatman37

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May 14, 2015
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Same here. I have no complaints about having more LEO's out there to watch over us. Definitely appreciated! This past Sunday we had swift currents and (I was told) 2-3'ers on the Ohio. Tons of debris too. Big logs. I heard there was somebody out there tubing in this. Crazy. Good way to get killed.
 

billybl

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May 21, 2017
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I had the same thing happen to me at Willow beach Az on the Colorado about 20 years ago. I had spent the night fishing/sleeping in a little cove. Then as the sun started to come up and warm things up (It was early march) I heard two PWC's coming down the river.. No concern to me since I was anchored almost out of sight of the main part of the river... So as I just sat there they spotted me and made a right turn headed right for me, I figured they were just going to buzz me and make some waves, but no they were being total priks, Sent so much water into my boat that soda cans started to float. I immediately pulled in my fishing line and then just untied the anchor and fired up the boat and was in hot pursuit.. OMG I was so mad, it's a good thing for them (and myself) that my Lil Johnny 65 stinger was no match and they quickly left me behind, because I would have ran them down had I got to them!
And these guys weren't kids either, they were in their 20's. After that morning, I always arm myself with a fishing pole loaded with 78lb braid with a 12" muskie lure with 3 huge treble hooks and I'm not afraid to use it if need be.
 

EchoNovember

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May 25, 2017
Messages
315
I am pretty sure you have the right to file a formal complaint with governing agency, State Police, Coast Guard or whomever.
If you actually want to see them punished(can't think of a better word). Simply talking to a patrol officer, who did not see the offense, is little help. I think he has no ability to punish/fine anyone without either being a witness or having a formal complaint from you.

Now,
Where did I put my flare gun?

I was thinking this exact same thing. Keep it handy, and when you see them coming right at you, take it, aim it dead at them (unloaded of course, dear God don't actually fire that thing at them!) and see if they panic and turn sooner. Get video of them doing it and with the registration numbers visible, then see if the patrol does nothing.

I can count on one hand with fingers left over the number of considerate jet skis I've seen. There aren't enough fingers and toes in the family tree to count the number of a-hole jet skis I've had to deal with. Really wish some lakes, not all, would ban them outright to create "safe havens" from these jerks.
 

Vikesfan

Seaman
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May 5, 2007
Messages
65
Here's a dream shot

I've actually had this happen to members of my PWC riding club. During one of our rides (we average over 100+ miles on our club rides) we crossed under a bridge where the river narrowed. We all slowed down and moved as far away as possible from a bass boat anchored in the middle, but it was still too close for him. He hooked a couple of my friends and fortunately only caused some small cuts. This is a PWC Club who's average age is close to 50 and our club is led by a former Coast Guard officer that teaches the boating license course. I hate PWC riders that behave poorly, but I've seen just as many bass boaters being unsafe. Everyone needs to be respectful of everyone on the water, regardless of what they ride, drive, or paddle.
 
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