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Originally Posted by Evenstar
A boat can be approching me, without being on a zero bearing - which is what I was talking about.
Two foot waves go up and down. My visibility is just fine in waves. If my visibility is so limited, how come I NEVER have trouble spotting other kayaks even when they are a mile or more away, yet many powerboaters say that they have trouble seeing us? I think that visibility is much more of an issue as speed increases - due to many factors.
Well, you are "flat wrong" about this. I'd love to see someone try to roll a kayak that has a flag on a pole attached to it! Self rescues whould be nearly impossible to perform. Do you have any idea of what it's like to paddlle a 23" wide sea kayak in windy conditions? You control these boats by balance and by putting them on edge - which would be virtually impossible in any cross winds, if there was any kind of flag attached to a long pole, which is attached to the kayak. Don't you know anything about leverage? If you can't see my bright red kayak, or my 2 foot square red pfd, or the bright orange blades of my paddles, you're certainly not going to see a little flag. Even the blades of my paddles are bigger than the flag you mentioned.
So collisions have never happened in open areas of a large lake? Powerboats traveling at high speeds on an open lake have run into each other. How does that happen? One would think that they could spot each other miles away - yet these kinds of accidents still happen. Maybe powerboats should have large flags on a long pole attached to them.
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EvenStar..
Do you understand the rules of navigation? That video has nothing to do with speed and everything to do with being an complete idiot! That speeding boat that you are so afraid of being run over by is a
U.S. Coast Guard Patrol Boat, probably similar in layout to the one the MP have on Lake Winnipesaukee. It wasn't somebody driving a Hi-Performance boat! The helmsman at the controls of the USCG Patrol Boat was WRONG! I did not hear any siren or horn that indicated they were enroute to an emergency and thus be given the right of way. In this instance the Coast Guard boat was the give way vessel... he didn't yield right of way and the little boat got run over! He should have chopped his throttles and turned to starboard in order to miss the little boat. Of course on the Great Lakes where this occured there is no 150' Safe Passage Rule... so he could have missed the little boat by a few feet and all would be well and legal!
If the boat is not approaching you on a Zero bearing then its not going to collide with you. Your forward motion of 5-6MPH is pretty similar to the headway speed of any powered vessel and is pretty negligible. Its that simple. Speed is very difficult to judge on the water because you have no point of reference. Its not like a car where you have trees and signs etc to give you a point of reference.
I can concede your point on the flags. Rolling a kayak with a flag might add a bit of difficulty, but it will not be immpossible. Perhaps if they add a requirement that instead of a flag, you are required to have hunter orange paddle blades and wear a hunter orange PFD... would that work for you? Last year on the weekend after July 4th I witnessed 3 kayakers out at out at dusk in a dark green kayaks, black wetsuit tops and no lights... That is a recipe for disaster. I don't think all kayakers and other paddlers are that irresponsible.
I do understand your fear, and to you its real. But statistically you can safely enjoy your sport on the big lake without compromising another individuals personal freedom. Nobody has been run over in a kayak or canoe by a speeding boat on Lake Winnipesaukee! Boating accidents are down dramatically since the inception of a BSC requirement. To point, accidents are down 68%!
Woodsy