[Skipper of the Sea Que]

Originally Posted by elchase

Skip,
Here's a post of yours from the archives from back before we had a speed limit. Were the MP officers chasing this Donzi Poker Race around the lake at high speeds more or less safe than the ones retrieving the bodies? Had these MP officers been out there fishing these guys out of the lake when this poker race came flying by, which risk (pulling in the bodies or dodging the Donzis) would have been more endangering? And you guys are saying it is ME who doesn't care about our safety officials?;
Forum Archive
I am a radio nut - What I heard about Poker Run
Posted By: Skipper of the Sea Que (CQ)
Date: Tuesday, July 31, 2001 at 12:13 a.m.
In Response To: Marine Patrol can't keep up with Donzi's (Don Zee)

You might want to give me another nickname so forum readers don't confuse ME with my good friend SKIP .

You quoted a message by me from 8 years ago. The 2001 thread started with a post claiming:

Originally Posted by Don Zee from the archives

Around 1 PM the Donzis invaded Wolfborough town docks (to get their card or ticket game piece). This prompted complaints to Marine Patrol about the swarm of boats bumping other boats, crowding the dock and violating safe passage. As the MP approached the docks the Donzis, having gotten their game pieces, headed to their next destination. From Marine Patrol point of view, the Donzis saw MP coming and took off (violating safe passage in the process).

Marine Patrol took off after them in hot pursuit. Would you believe The Donzi Boats did not stop for Marine Patrol. Marine Patrol had to break off pursuit because the Donzis were too fast for MP to catch. Easier to bag those family boaters. ...

This is very different from the Donzi group heading FOR marked MP and police boats. Just the opposite in the referenced archive thread. In a CHASE situation the MP were BEHIND the Donzi boats. The initial complaint was about crowding, boats bumping boats at the dock (AT HEADWAY or SLOW SPEEDS) after that, they left the area in violation of the 150' SAFE PASSAGE rules. Again, not the same as boats speeding toward marked rescue vessels and jeopardizing MP safety.

There were different versions of the situation and I just related my OPINION and what I heard. Importantly, the Marine Patrol used cell phones so that casual eavesdroppers (like me) could NOT hear everything that was really happening. The MP fleet has also changed a bit in the last 7 years.

Another poster in that thread suggests:

Originally Posted by Ann On Um Us, from the archives

... The Poker Runners may not have even heard the MP siren over the noise of their loud boats. They might not have looked astern to check for boat traffic and seen the blue lights chasing them. Some of them, not all of the contestants. Serious posters are not passing general judgement on Donzi boat owners. I can see how mis communications come to play here. ...

Boats don't break laws, people do.

So, the scenario from my 2001 post was not GFBLs heading toward MP boats or placing them in jeopardy. I'm sure that the MP officers know how to keep themselves safe. Whatever the situation really was, in a chase or a rescue, a LAW (including a speed limit) would not alter the degree of safety of the MP in either case.

Originally Posted by elchase

Sorry if the tone of this response is unintentionally offensive.

No offense taken. You have absolutely every right to be wrong