Just wondering ....

[Raul]

If to get your driver 's license you have to present an exam why is it that nobody is asked to do the same to drive a boat ?

Just WONDERING  :-?

[HAMMER23]

EXCELLENT POINT !!!! I have seen some boat traffic that would definately put someone in defensive driving had they been in a car.

[Sam]

Good question.

In Virginia, the rules are changing and you do have to take boating safety course, pass the test to get your license, to operate watercraft, including jet skis.

The date to have completed the course is staggered based on your age.

I took the course two years ago and am now in the Virginia DGIF computer as a qualifier for the rest of my life.

So Raul, things are starting to change regarding watercraft operation.

[MALTESE FALCON]

I've been singing that song for the past ten years. I even wrote my congressman. All I got was...."I'll look into it".

As Sam said, here in Michigan, we have a boating safety course for kids twelve years old. They must pass this course to operate a boat, or PWC.

Falcon

[CatBassin]

Here in NC you don't need a license unless you're 14 or under, I believe that's the age. I think we need to change the law so that you must have one and I also think the test to get a driver's license should be much harder than it is, just look at the people driving around town and you will see what I mean. Also, why would you even think about driving your boat that you paid so much for like that in the video.

[Raul]

Watching the video reminded me about a trip my friend Pedro, his BIL Alejandro and I did to Tampico many years ago. We got friends in Tampico who are also avid fishermen ( actually we first met them at a fishing trip ), one of them called and asked us when we were going to pay them a visit, they were interested in taking us fishing to some lagoons they have been surveing in the area near Tampico.

So we packed our stuff and paid them a visit, that particular day they were going to take us to a lagoon known as "La Escondida", in order to get to it you had to launch from another lagoon called Laguna Del Chairel, navigate the channel that connects El Chairel with the Tamesí river, navigate up river for about 30 min and then turn and get into a narrow channel that connects La Escondida with the river, the reason they calle it La Escondida ( the translation would be The Hidden ) is because it 's not easily accesible.

We loaded a couple of 12 ft boats with the stuff and headed to the other lagoon, I took a ride with Tony from Tampico, Pedro and Alejandro took the other boat and that 's when stoopid began his act, Alejandro has driven boats many times, the catch is, he has never driven flat bottoms ( flat bottoms and semiV/V hulls are different animals ) so he put the boat on half throttle as we navigated the channel, the point where you have to turn to navigate the river is a sharp T turn to the right, on a flat bottom you have to reduce the speed, open wide to the opposite direction you are going to turn and make the turn as wide as possible or the boat raises on it 's side and begins to skid; well, Alejandro did exactly what you shouldn 't do when driving a flat bottom, he didn 't reduce the speed and he didn 't open wide to make the turn, I and Tony were driving ahead of them and all we saw was how the boat lifted on it 's side and skid for about 20 yards, if it weren 't for Pedro 's quick thinking ( he managed to level the boat ) they would have ended plowing the fields right along the Tamesí river.

Now when we look back at incidents like that we all remeber them as "stuff that happens in a trip", when we are there fishing and remembering some of the stuff that happened we even find it funny however one thing important is that many of those "stuff that happens in a trip" provide a lesson, lesson: Don 't ever let Alejandro drive a flat bottom, he don 't know how, he stoopid flat bottom driver !  

Drive safely folks !

[senile1]

That video really drives the point home!  Notice that when the boat finally stops his head is not too far from the motor.  Thank goodness, he was using the killswitch.  

[5bass]

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