Quote:
Originally Posted by XCR-700
We will simply have to agree to disagree on too many aspects rather than to keep burning electrons and getting no where. I proposed a specific scenario and its either one you don not believe exists, or you believe is easily overcome and not a risk. So be it.
I will live with my respect for the power and mass of my boat and my fear of the shockingly dangerous actions I see others doing, and you will have to live with your confidence that you will never find yourself in a situation that is not 100% within you ability to control.
I hope you are right and you never find yourself in such a predicament where you need to apply constant power (not just bumping in and out of gear) to exit a dock with a strong cross wind or waves from someone on the bay in a wake boat sending waves your way or both at the same time AND a paddle boarder with the wind to their back passing at the very end of the dock blocked from view by another boat tied up at the end of the other side of the dock. Does this happen often, nope. Can it happen, yes, I have seen it more than once a season and I am not there every day, so it is a reality.
Best of luck practicing safe boating.
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All those situations you list are just an everyday part of boating.
Do you just whip out from a parking spot in your car when your view is blocked by an object and hope that you won't hit something? I doubt it, but that is what you are saying above that you do in a boat.
Move no faster when in close to an object than you would want to be moving if you hit it. Take those words to heart, that is how you should be operating your boat, it removes almost all fear from boating. You keep saying "constant power", I don't know what boat you have, but in my boat, that gets me going too fast in close, and my experience this is true with almost all recreational boats.
I'm telling you that you need to work on maneuvering your boat slowly, I can tell from how you post, you are afraid and you don't need to be. Start by going to an area that is not busy, throw a life jacket in the water, move a few hundred feet away, then approach it slowly. Keep it in sight and bring to spot a few feet away where you can see it, then keep it in that spot for a minute or two. Then find a dock, bring the bow of the nose just up to the dock, but don't touch, try to hold it there. Back off and do it again. Figure out how to angle the boat based on conditions so you can hold it there without moving more than a foot or two. Nudge the power as you need to keep the boat under control. Being able to do this will make paddle boarders no big deal regardless of where they are. It will also make your feeling that you have be going a certain speed to maintain control go away.
Finally, find a u shaped dock, and back into it, that is the real test of boat control.
Being able to do these things will help you realize that maintaining boat control is not a function of maintaining a certain power level. Power actually has nothing to do with it. I've said that I go no faster in close than I want to be going if I hit something. Which is probably a very slow walk speed. The amount of power I need to MAINTAIN THAT SPEED is not a constant. On a windless, waveless day it may be a short nudge that moves me 100 feet at that slow walk speed. On a day when the wind is howling it may be constant power to MAINTAIN THAT SPEED. The danger is not a random paddle boarder near a dock for a few minutes, the danger is boaters who do not know how to drive their boats. If you are in fear, or worried about driving your boat or operating your boat in close quarters, find someone to help you learn, read a book on how to handle a boat and get out and practice. The point is maintaining that slow speed and control. Not maintaining a power level.
The only thing I really fear while boating is someone who doesn't know how to operate their boat getting all puckered up near me, thinking they need more power and running me over.