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I had to laugh while reading the thread on Right-Of-Way... or any discussion of Rules of the Road... or any thread on stupid boater tricks.
This is something I deal with EVERY TIME I head out of the marina driving the cruise boats. There are 36 rental kayaks, 15 rental canoes, 15 rental powerboats, and a marina full of privately owned boats, as well as a boat ramp where boats are constantly being launched and retrieved. And there are times when it seems like ALL of them are coming at me in the narrow opening from the marina to the bay!! 
Forget the Rules of the Road... this is a water jungle, and you have to know that 99% of the people out there don't know "the Rules", many of them have never run a boat, paddled a canoe or kayak, and probably don't speak enough English to understand the instructions they're given. ("When you're about to run into something - STOP PADDLING!!")
I explain to my first mates that we are following "The Good Neighbor Policy", and we do our part by using proper sound signals (knowing that no one else knows what we're "saying," but hopefully the wandering hordes will at least turn their heads to see that there's a bigger boat moving nearby). See and AVOID. Neutral and reverse are my friends. A mate watching behind and in my blind spots.
A sense of humor and some patience helps... I have the former in spades, still working on the latter. 
Oh, and do all this on a schedule.
Best wishes,
Jim B. (anxious to get back on my own boat)
2 comments:
A few years ago, a nephew of mine was riding my 4 wheeler ATV on our farm. He returned without the ATV, we found it 50 yards off the road against a tree with the racks bend beyond repair. If you just release the throttle, they would stop within 5 feet or so. He had to have hit the tree at WOT to do the damage he did.....quit paddling!! Grins. Herb
Seems simple enough, huh?
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