Scary....Safety Lesson 376

[Choporoz]

Had a way-too-close encounter with a bass boat on plane the other afternoon a little after 4PM.  I was crossing a wide creek not too far from the mouth on Sunday in my kayak, going south to north...maybe about 2/3 of way across when he came around the corner.  The boat turned into the creek from my right at good speed.   He cut the turn wide, which was good, but then was headed straight towards me.  He started turning a bit astern of me....towards center of channel and I relaxed a little....and pedaled faster.

I looked to my right seconds later and he's coming right at me again....and hasn't eased the throttle at all.  I started yelling and waving my paddle....when he throttled back and threw the wheel over to the left.....I'm a poor judge of distance on the water, but I would say that he wasn't more than 25 yards away before he saw me.  I had a flag and a yellow PFD.   But, because my attention was to the south....and then to the east....I didn't realize until afterward that he was driving straight into the setting sun and could not see me....it just didn't occur to me until after.  Had I been more aware, I'd have taken more overt action much sooner.....I just thought he was a bit reckless.....no clue he might not see me.  It was a stupid, careless run when he was essentially blind (there were other kayakers further up the creek on that unusually warm day), but I should have been more aware.

[Glenn]

Glad you're safe!

 

Yup, I can see that happening.  You have to have your head on a swivel when you're running, be it in a kayak or a glass blaster, or anything else.

 

With the recent rise in popularity of watersports, this is never more important than now, as there are many more inexperienced boaters out there now.  It's to the point I just assume everyone out there isn't paying attention, and act accordingly.  Defensive driving at its finest.

 

It's also why I made this video.  Everyone thinks they don't need this information, until they do.  Then it's too late.

 

 

[TnRiver46]

Glad nothing happened! I get scared fishing in kayaks quite a bit. I prefer fishing out of kayaks in rapids where most boats can’t go. 
 

full disclosure: I’ve come up too close on some kayaks while I was driving a motor boat too. They do time trials near my house every Wednesday evening, almost year round starting at 5 pm. And they are usually spread out across the entire river. I only have 50 horsepower and I’m always tiptoeing my way upstream trying not to hit them but I’ve been shockingly surprised by how close they were to me a couple times, always right near sunset. It’s not exactly easy to see kayaks at sunset with forest background 

 

i fish out of canoes, kayaks, camo Jon boats, rubber rafts, anything. But I can say for certain I don’t like being in a kayak in a wide open area where big boats can operate at speed. Sure I have the right to be there in my kayak, but I also have the right to get ran over and drown. 
 

Boats that are low to the water are hard to see from water level, plain and simple

[GaryH]

Glad your Ok. It can happen so fast. Head on a swivel at all times.

[Darth-Baiter]

Glad disaster was averted.  Head on a swivel, but more importantly ears wide open. I told a buddy wearing earbuds listen to music wasn’t a good idea.  I convinced him. 
 

every time I hear a boat moving, I look and take inventory of my situation. 

[A-Jay]

@Choporoz Really Glad you're OK. 

That whole deal is a bone chilling frightening event, and obviously has the potential to have an outcome no one wants.

I've been on ALL sides of these things; except the worst one, thankfully.

As a canoe angler, I've been run at a number of times - just nowhere to go real fast.

Experience has taught me that I need to expect that everyone is trying to run me down and

I need to do everything I can to prevent it.  Depending on others to be vigilant is not enough and can be fatal.

As a power boat operator (both professionally & recreationally, I've come across small craft on the water that were very hard to see.  If one has only ever been in a smaller craft it can be hard to imagine how like in this case, a bass boat, couldn't SEE ME.  I'm here to tell you there are a number of ways beyond just not paying attention.

Some rigs have big Electronic screens at the console and Trolling motor gear on the bow that obscures their view looking forward from the helm quite a bit.

Other times navigation straight into the sun can be blinding. 

That's just a couple.

Add some wind & waves and things get complicated fast. 

Either way as mentioned here already and many times before,

we all NEED to be so watchful.

It only takes a second to turn a fun day on the water into something else entirely.

Stay Safe

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

[ironbjorn]

Operating a boat is never relaxing for me until I'm completely stopped. I never go fast and the whole time I'm constantly on the lookout for things I could hit, people or otherwise. It's stressful. I'll never be one of those 70+ mph dudes enjoying the scenery lol

[Bluebasser86]

The last kayak tournament I fished was on Truman in Missouri which is a fairly narrow reservoir in a lot of areas and it gets choked down even more by standing timber all over the place. I was moving locations in practice and saw the rooster tail coming around the bend a couple miles away, plenty of time to pedal across the channel I though. Not sure how big that motor was on the back of that boat, but when he hit the turn coming around the corner on the backside of the island I was pedaling towards, I was real glad I'd decided to cut through the shallow, backside of the island instead of taking the shorter route. Even still, it was a bumpy ride for a minute when he flew past the back of my kayak no more than 20 yards away at WOT. 

[schplurg]

11 hours ago, Choporoz said:

.... snippped for brevity ....

 

It was a stupid, careless run when he was essentially blind (there were other kayakers further up the creek on that unusually warm day), but I should have been more aware.

You could have ended the post with the bolded part. That was 100% his mistake. I understand what you mean though because it is a 100% certainty that you would lose in a collision. Guess I'm stating the obvious.

 

Glad you're okay, that's scary.

 

I have an air horn, I wonder if he would have even heard it? We can only pedal so fast.

 

What else can kayakers do in such a situation?

[TnRiver46]

4 hours ago, schplurg said:

You could have ended the post with the bolded part. That was 100% his mistake. I understand what you mean though because it is a 100% certainty that you would lose in a collision. Guess I'm stating the obvious.

 

Glad you're okay, that's scary.

 

I have an air horn, I wonder if he would have even heard it? We can only pedal so fast.

 

What else can kayakers do in such a situation?

Get near land is what I do 

[Bassandbodybuilding]

Phew brother glad you’re ok. As a bass boat operator of nearly 30 years I for one can say I NEVER operate at unsafe speeds in creeks or especially when running into the sun because, well you can’t see anything. It doesn’t matter what type of boat someone is driving there’s always going to be people who think they are the only ones on the water etc. I teach my nephews that you always have TO LOOK OUT FOR EVERYONE ELSE constantly scanning the water ahead of you . 
with all the new boaters on the water over the last two years it’s definitely gotten crazier.

[flyfisher]

11 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Get near land is what I do 

If I see something far enough away and I am still concerned, I stand and wave my paddle around as it will get their attention.  The 2 times I have had to do it, it worked and they both came over to make sure I was ok and I said yeah but I was concerned they didn't see me.  One said they didn't before I waved my paddle and the other said they did.  I did ask the one who saw me before what he saw and he said he saw my paddle going into the air on my paddle stroke.  I do have bright yellow paddle blades but whenever anyone asks about a paddle, I do mention this as it can make a difference.

Scarier run in for me is with hunters on a specific body of water but that is a different story and thread I guess.....

[TnRiver46]

22 minutes ago, flyfisher said:

If I see something far enough away and I am still concerned, I stand and wave my paddle around as it will get their attention.  The 2 times I have had to do it, it worked and they both came over to make sure I was ok and I said yeah but I was concerned they didn't see me.  One said they didn't before I waved my paddle and the other said they did.  I did ask the one who saw me before what he saw and he said he saw my paddle going into the air on my paddle stroke.  I do have bright yellow paddle blades but whenever anyone asks about a paddle, I do mention this as it can make a difference.

Scarier run in for me is with hunters on a specific body of water but that is a different story and thread I guess.....

Yeah I know how that goes too. I try to stay out of duck hunters way but it’s hard to see them, you’d think they would know that after spending several hours creating something called a “blind”

[flyfisher]

2 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Yeah I know how that goes too. I try to stay out of duck hunters way but it’s hard to see them, you’d think they would know that after spending several hours creating something called a “blind”

the few duck blinds I have seen stick out like a sore thumb but they are on swampy areas and raised off the ground.

 

[AManWearingAHat]

On 12/28/2021 at 8:17 PM, ironbjorn said:

Operating a boat is never relaxing for me until I'm completely stopped. I never go fast and the whole time I'm constantly on the lookout for things I could hit, people or otherwise. It's stressful. I'll never be one of those 70+ mph dudes enjoying the scenery lol

Agreed on this one. Running on plane is fun, but I'm always focused on what's ahead of me and what's around. Last lake I was operating on had floating debris after a recent storm and other potential hazards. I'm definitely a "take it easy" guy on the water. Fishing is supposed to be relaxing.

[Captain Phil]

This happens far too often.  Last year Florida had over 800 boating accidents with 79 fatalities.  I was in a bass tournament years ago where a competitors bass boat running on plane cut a small boat in half killing the driver.   Two good friends of mine hit a large alligator running on plane at 60 mph plus.  Both were thrown out of the boat and severely injured.  Boating collisions in the Everglades air boat trails are common and deadly. 

 

Since Covid, we have many new boat owners on the water that do not realize how quickly bad things can happen.  Slow down, stay alert and be courteous.   You don't want to end up in the hospital, jail or worse and you sure don't want to live with the fact that you killed someone.

[Catt]

On 12/28/2021 at 3:38 PM, A-Jay said:

I've been on ALL sides of these things; except the worst one, thankfully.

 

I've been on all sides of these things including the worst one!

 

Rather it be fishing, hunting, or on the road, this is part of our lives. 

 

On 12/28/2021 at 3:38 PM, A-Jay said:

Experience has taught me that I need to expect that everyone is trying to run me down and

I need to do everything I can to prevent it.  Depending on others to be vigilant is not enough and can be fatal.

 

This is part of driver's education (water or land) that is not stressed enough. I know for a fact there are many distracted drivers on the highway & would bet there's a few on the water. 

 

Today's electronics have drivers distracted, they're constantly staring at a screen. Video fishing is a fairly accurate description & we all know how distracting that is.

[gim]

2 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

Two good friends of mine hit a large alligator running on plane at 60 mph plus.  Both were thrown out of the boat and severely injured. 

That's unreal!  Wonder how the gator came out of it...

[KSanford33]

I've had the same experience a few times last year. My favorite place to fish locally is a 42sq mi lake, so of course there's lots of boat traffic. And it usually has a bit of a chop to it, so I completely understand not seeing me. 

 Like others have already said, no matter whose fault it is, if you're in a kayak you're going to be on the losing end. You have to fish with your head on a swivel. I've come to the conclusion that if I see someone coming at me, I immediately head to the nearest safe area I can find. It interrupts fishing a little, but at the end of the day I'm still above ground.

 

 Funny story actually. I run planer boards occasionally when I'm trolling, so on a kayak it's a little weird to be taking up 50-60ft of water. This guy on a powerboat is coming right at me (he's easily 1/4 mile away, so I'm not worried), so I start a gradual turn starboard towards shore. As it turns out, the guy is going to his dock, so both of us are doing a left-right-left to try to avoid each other. Finally the guy eases off the throttle about 200ft from me. I was getting ready to bail, figuring if I can dive 5-6ft down fast enough I'll be ok. He pulls up and smiles and apologizes for the confusion. He asks me if I'm ok, I said I was fine, I was just disappointed I didn't pack a change of shorts!

[Gera]

On 12/28/2021 at 4:38 PM, A-Jay said:

@Choporoz Really Glad you're OK. 

That whole deal is a bone chilling frightening event, and obviously has the potential to have an outcome no one wants.

I've been on ALL sides of these things; except the worst one, thankfully.

As a canoe angler, I've been run at a number of times - just nowhere to go real fast.

Experience has taught me that I need to expect that everyone is trying to run me down and

I need to do everything I can to prevent it.  Depending on others to be vigilant is not enough and can be fatal.

As a power boat operator (both professionally & recreationally, I've come across small craft on the water that were very hard to see.  If one has only ever been in a smaller craft it can be hard to imagine how like in this case, a bass boat, couldn't SEE ME.  I'm here to tell you there are a number of ways beyond just not paying attention.

Some rigs have big Electronic screens at the console and Trolling motor gear on the bow that obscures their view looking forward from the helm quite a bit.

Other times navigation straight into the sun can be blinding. 

That's just a couple.

Add some wind & waves and things get complicated fast. 

Either way as mentioned here already and many times before,

we all NEED to be so watchful.

It only takes a second to turn a fun day on the water into something else entirely.

Stay Safe

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

While I'm also guilty of it, I really don't understand why we have those screens in boat consoles blocking our view, it is great to be able to see your screens while at the wheel, but they definitely obstruct your view and it very distracting.

I understand that this comes from a time were we had a 6" screen. but today's are huge and of course.. why only one when you can have two.. 

[A-Jay]

26 minutes ago, Gera said:

While I'm also guilty of it, I really don't understand why we have those screens in boat consoles blocking our view, it is great to be able to see your screens while at the wheel, but they definitely obstruct your view and it very distracting.

I understand that this comes from a time were we had a 6" screen. but today's are huge and of course.. why only one when you can have two.. 

My HB screens are 10 inch and flush mounted at both the bow & the console.

But from my seat at the console, when stowed on deck for running,

my trolling motor gear definitely obscures

some of my field of view over the port bow.

I'm always looking over & around it for whatever.

(this camera angle is high & somewhat deceptive).

Stay Safe

A-Jay

 

 

[Gera]

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

My HB screens are 10 inch and flush mounted at both the bow & the console.

But from my seat at the console, when stowed on deck for running,

my trolling motor gear definitely obscures

some of my field of view over the port bow.

I'm always looking over & around it for whatever.

(this camera angle is high & somewhat deceptive).

Stay Safe

A-Jay

 

 

 

The camera angle is perfect for that shot, its a great picture ?

 

that's a very reasonable height, flush mounting should be a standard. but the fact that you will see some boats with the screens right on the eye level height its scary.. 

 

[A-Jay]

8 minutes ago, Gera said:

 

The camera angle is perfect for that shot, it a great picture ?

 

that's a very reasonable height, flush mounting should be a standard. but the fact that you will see some boats with the screens right on the eye level height its scary.. 

 

Thanks ~

I've seen it on a few broadcasted derbies, as well as in person,

(multi-species rigs are not exempt from this)

where folks are trying to peer THROUGH the 1/2 INCH CRACK space between two Magnum units at the console as they barrel down the lake at a speed my rig could never even come close to approaching.

#playingchicken

A-Jay

[Gera]

Exactly, the other day I was looking at a youtube video (from a Pro) on tips for SI. The guy had to move forward and raise his head to look over his units. 

[gim]

2 hours ago, Gera said:

I understand that this comes from a time were we had a 6" screen. but today's are huge and of course.. why only one when you can have two.. 

I have a 7 inch screen flush mounted on my console similar to @A-Jay setup. A 7 inch screen is the max size that will fit. I’d have to do a specialized bracket to use anything bigger. There is also a benefit of having the screen/unit protected from debris while driving down the road when you flush mount it into the designated spot on the console.