From: gnc@ace.acadiau.ca (GRAHAM CHEESEMAN)
Subject: Re: Bayliner myths: a challenge
Organization: Acadia University
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 13:52:31 GMT

In article <18q34kINN3ro@gilligan.East.Sun.COM> mike@gilligan.East.Sun.COM (Mike Roncadori) writes:
>From: mike@gilligan.East.Sun.COM (Mike Roncadori)
>Subject: Re: Bayliner myths: a challenge
>Date: 11 Sep 1992 08:23:48 -0400
>In article <1992Sep10.145158.4341@bnlux1.bnl.gov> gc@bnl.gov writes:
>>In article 14192@cbfsb.cb.att.com, heon@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (garry.j.heon) writes:
>>
>>Obviously there are *!#$%s on both sides of the sail/power division.
>>But it might help the power boaters to understand the attitude of the
>>sail side of the house (I admit it, I am a sailor) if you consider the
>>percentages.  I dock my boat up a small creek with a 5 mph speed
>>
>	[lots of stuff about rude boating deleted]
>>---
>>Graham
>>gc@bnl.gov
>>
>
>I think the underlying idea here is that just like there are
>rude drivers, rude pedestrians, and rude eaters, there are
>also rude boaters.
>
>I kind of wonder how much of it has to do with the way boats
>are marketed today. I grew up around boats, and they were not
>nearly as aggressively marketed back then. My father also taught
>me to respect the water, and always be the guy who pulls the th-
>rottle back when there is a standoff, whether I have the right
>of way or not.
>
>Today, if you want a boat, you go to Boat-A-Rama, and the sales
>guy says "This baby'll do 90mph... It has 1600HP, and dual 27"
>Stainless Steel Freddie Kreuger props." Never mind the fact that
>the prospective buyer may or may not have ever driven a boat in
>his life. They'll sell you as much as you can afford, and the
>ability to operate it safely has no bearing whatsoever.
>
>I strongly support licensing requirements for boaters, and I
>feel that in order to buy any boat capable of high speed, one
>must complete some sort of fast boat driving school. Something
>along the lines of Wellcraft's Scarab driving school would be
>a good place to start. (It's only available to Scarab owners.)
>
>One way I use to see how much experience a person has in a boat
>is to watch them launch and trailer it. A good boater in a well
>rigged boat can be in or out of the water in under 3 minutes with
>ease, and never has to leave the helm. An inexperienced boater
>seems to take all day, and they always have ONE person do all
>the driving (of the tow vehicle, and the boat). This means that
>they have to pull up, dock (usually blocking the ramp in the pro-
>cess), go get the tow car, and finally get the boat on the trailer
>(usually with alot of wading, and harsh words towards one another). 
>Sailboats are a bit different in this regard, because of their
>odd shape, low power, etc..
>
>IMHO, there are alot of people out there who don't know what they
>are doing, from the moment they drop the hitch over the ball. I'm
>not saying this to sound elitist, it's just that I see more people
>do stupid things in one day at the lake than I see the rest of the
>week.
>
>-- Mike
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------
>My opinions, not my employer's

   I own an 18 foot sailboat which I frequently trailer.  While I try 
to display a positive attitude to my fellow boaters, it does take 15-30 
minutes to set up and launch, and this after 20 years experience and 
numerous USPS courses.  The design of many launch sites exacerbates the 
problems by having limited nearby parking for pre-launch setup and in many 
cases overhead wires which sail boaters must try and avoid.  Even on a small 
ballasted sailboat, stepping a mast is an akward job alongside a dock with 
the boat bouncing about from unconcerned boaters wakes, therefore, we 
must step the mast etc. either nearby or on the ramp.  I agree with the 
trend of thought which feels that there is a small minority of problem 
boaters (sail and power) and that a little patience and understanding of the 
relative problems each genre of boater has to face, would go a long way to 
alieviate the problems.

--- Graham
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