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alsadad · 05-16-2008, 06:01 PM

I've been thinking about this visibility issue. As painful as it was, I thought back to trigonometry in high school (the best 6 years of my life). Now, I may have this wrong, but I think that if a boater travelling at 60 mph (or any speed actually) spots an object one mile dead ahead and makes an immediate course change of 5 degrees, a mere flick of the wrist, the boater will pass approximately 460 feet to one side or the other of the object (or at least from the spot where the object was when first seen).

Or if you, like me, lack the visual acuity, mental sharpness and reflexes of a varsity athlete, and it takes your muddled brain another 20 seconds to process the information and transmit the command to your wrist, then you will still pass more than 300 feet to one side or the other of that spot.

Five degrees is all it takes to avoid that spot on the water by well more than 150 feet. In the tradition of seafaring ditties and other pnemonic devices handed down through the years(red sky at morning, right red return - except on Winni, etc), I have composed a rhyme to help all you lawless cowboys out there remember this rule of thumb:

When you spy a lonely kayak,
While on your high speed run,
You know that you'll be tempted to
Swing close and have some "fun."
But please resist temptation,
Be nice don't be a turd.
Five degrees is all you need,
Flick your wrist, and not the bird.

05-16-2008, 06:01 PM	#278
alsadad Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 45 Thanks: 8 Thanked 41 Times in 10 Posts	Visibility I've been thinking about this visibility issue. As painful as it was, I thought back to trigonometry in high school (the best 6 years of my life). Now, I may have this wrong, but I think that if a boater travelling at 60 mph (or any speed actually) spots an object one mile dead ahead and makes an immediate course change of 5 degrees, a mere flick of the wrist, the boater will pass approximately 460 feet to one side or the other of the object (or at least from the spot where the object was when first seen). Or if you, like me, lack the visual acuity, mental sharpness and reflexes of a varsity athlete, and it takes your muddled brain another 20 seconds to process the information and transmit the command to your wrist, then you will still pass more than 300 feet to one side or the other of that spot. Five degrees is all it takes to avoid that spot on the water by well more than 150 feet. In the tradition of seafaring ditties and other pnemonic devices handed down through the years(red sky at morning, right red return - except on Winni, etc), I have composed a rhyme to help all you lawless cowboys out there remember this rule of thumb: When you spy a lonely kayak, While on your high speed run, You know that you'll be tempted to Swing close and have some "fun." But please resist temptation, Be nice don't be a turd. Five degrees is all you need, Flick your wrist, and not the bird.