Do I over react?

[lucky7t]

Yesterday two incidents happened.

1. Two young children were on an older wave runner and were very close. Our daughter fell and they were so close that they hit the wave and flew off. The wave runner went out of control and missed our daughter by 5 feet at the max. I jumped on the back of the boat and yelled what the **** are you thinking, there is an entire lake to act like an idiot and you choose to ride 5 feet away from my boat. Get the $&@; out of here!

2. I was wake skating yesterday and a brown , yes brown MC pulled his boarder literally 5 feet or so right next to us. I cut out and jumped wake to wake. The guy behind the MC thought this was a competition so he cuts out and attempts a wake to wake but lands face first about 1 foot next to me. He hit so hard I heard the man say oh$&@:
I had my wife stop the boat and I quickly swam up and turned around. I told the guy that number 1 you don't power turn, and number two you don't pull boarders that close to other riders. Especially inexperienced riders. He told me to $&)( off . I got really pissed. I said to him come over here and say this. He laughed and yelled wanna be. So I proceeded to lose my temper and followed him. When he stopped he said your just mad because I have a MC. I laughed and told him he had a killer boat but that had nothing to do with that. He needs to be safe. He laughed again and said ok dad and took off.


So my wife tells me that I'm on my period and need to chill out. What's your thoughts?

[bhectus]

The answer to your question: NO. Someone just posted on CCFan about a horrific story in VA yesterday where a young 10-yr old boy was tragicly killed when the boat driver slung the tube he and his 9-yr old friend were on into the woods where they struck a tree. People need to wake the F up and think about the consequences to their actions BEFORE they actually do stupid $h!t.

I wish more people would stand up for what they know is right and then maybe there wouldn't be so many idiots in this world.

[mastercard]

Lucky, your wife may be complacent or unaware of the accidents that can occur on the water. You did a lot less than what I would have done!

[SkiTower]

No you didn't overreact. I actually think you had pretty good restraint. I would have at least told the brown MC owner what I thought of his turd!

[gride]

nope. my friends often think i overreact when i yell at someone who gets to close to my rider or whatever moronic thing they may do. i tell them i'm the captain of the vessel and "love it or leave it pal." aside from fun and and improvement safety is my number one concern.

[swankster]

You are on the money. I'm considering several options that may be classed as an over reaction:

1. Buying two jet skis to ride beside my boarders (at safe distances) to help to protect them.
2. Mounting a video camera on the boat so I can report and document stupid acts to any authority or news media that will listen.
3. Moving to a private ski lake.
4. Finding a job where I work weekends and can ride on weekdays.

[lucky7t]

I appreciate the responses as I was feeling like an $&&hole . It was tuff to hold back.

[HS]

Wish more boaters and pwc operators took their responsibility for safety more seriously. When I see a pwc get too close I want to shut it down, (but can't if I have a rider). Why don't PWC operators get it?

[Texan1554]

I'll go the other way... people are stupid on the water, you already know this so act before an incident could occur.

1: You have probably done this but educate your daughter about keeping an eye out for people behind her and try not to fall if someone is following too close. If you've got a jet skier riding your wake do what you can to let them know that's not ok, or just stop, give them the finger and go about your business after they pass. This or get a WS 420/megaphone and tell your daughter to ear muff it while you politely ask the said idiots to back away from your wake.

2: Whether you're in a cove or on a river but anyone driving out there needs to drive defensively. Someone pulls up too close to you, there's no need to be stubborn and continue on your course. They obviously have no clue and it's then up to you to move to a safe distance. Feel free to attempt to educate the other guy on boat safety but again, they've already shown you they are clueless and likely will not agree with you. Another good reason for a megaphone, so that you can educate the rest of the cove to stay away from the idiot in the MC who has no clue what he's doing.

Our family has been skiing the same crowded river for 30 years and dealt with this daily. If there's a dedicated lake police you can give them a call and a description of the boat to watch out for, other than that... don't let it ruin your trip to the lake.

[Nauti-Cats]

We had a similar incident happen this past weekend as well. Similar in that my daughter was in the water, pretty close to our boat getting ready to ride. A boat pulling a tube split the water between us and a boat that was anchored. I would guess less than 25'. He then proceeded to turn and buzz us on the other side of our boat. I had a few choice words for him. Obviously they didn't care. My regret is I yelled instead of focusing on getting the registration numbers. If i had those, water patrol would have gotten a call.

My daughter is 13 and, yes, the education has begun about boating, what to watch out for, how to handle the watercraft (we have a jet ski as well, no Boos please

[bscott]

Been in the same situation myself ... yelling and everything. Seems like the yelling doesn't work and I've decided it's not how I want my kids to react. Maybe a better response is to calmly (definitely not easy after what just happened) tell the offenders that there is a better way to be a safe boater. No one reacts well to being yelled at.

[ers906]

You certainly did not overreact. I have done the same thing u did in the past. My only concern is that you never know how the moron in the other boat will react. A friend of mine got shot at on the water by a driver that cut him off. After some choice words and gestures, the other driver did a 180 and fired. Thankfully he was a lousy shot, we proceeded to find the sheriff, show him the gopro video and was subsequently lead away in cuffs. Scary day, and I can guarrantee that he did not learn his lesson. Just be careful (moral to the long winded story)

[Chexi]

Getting arrested for attempted murder (which is what he should have been charged with) might have taught him a lesson. It might not be a lesson on how to be a safe boater, but it is clearly a lesson this clown needed to learn.

I can see the decision tree in my head now.

This guy yelled at me for something I do not consider to be wrong and we have now exchanged words. I can (a) drive away and let it go, (b) continue an argument that neither of us is going to win and waste more of my boating time, or (c) pull out a gun, start shooting at him, possibly take one or more human lives, risk a gun battle and risk getting myself or some of my family killed or seriously injured, and likely go to prison for a very long time. No question, (c) is the only rationale answer... pew pew!

The idiocy of human beings never ceases to amaze me.

[johnboyy7]

Been in the same situation myself ... yelling and everything. Seems like the yelling doesn't work and I've decided it's not how I want my kids to react. Maybe a better response is to calmly (definitely not easy after what just happened) tell the offenders that there is a better way to be a safe boater. No one reacts well to being yelled at.

i agree with this. no one, especially myself, responds well to yelling and screaming and for sure if its name calling or cussing.

[gride]

if we are both idling or stopped i'll try to wave the wally over and first calmly explain what i'd like to see happen. if they are rude then i become rude and revert to my neanderthal like aggression and the expletives fly. doesn't happen very often though.