It seems that holidays and weekends always bring out the idiots. That may be a pretty severe description in your mind, but after today, I consider it mild and almost a nicety compared to what some others might say.
As I waited for my partner to go to the truck and back the trailer down, a boat that was obviously overloaded, full of people and water-ski equipment, came barging through the no wake zone next to the ramp, throwing an awfully big wake. The only thing I could do was point my boat into the wake and wonder to myself just what was the captain thinking?
Luckily for us, he did no damage other than to frustrate the boaters who had their boats tied to the pier. Unlucky for him, a Sheriff’s Department Marine Patrol was launching his boat and experienced the wake. Justice was had on this one.
But the real kicker at the ramp this time was the husband and wife launching their jet ski. Anyone who reads my work knows how I feel about jet skis.
The wife, a rather portly woman, obviously did not know how to drive the craft. As I was positioning my boat on my trailer, they launched and started the jet ski next to me. She immediately turned the craft and seemed to aim it at my boat! As her husband stood and watched, she managed to ram the side of my boat and trailer.
With no apology and acting almost as if this was a normal occurrence, she motored off toward the dock, not realizing that jet skis, like boats, have no brakes.
Launch ramps on weekends and holidays usually resemble a Keystone Cops movie reel. It seems that this is the time for all idiots to come out and show the world that they know little or nothing about boating, and that they obviously lack any common courtesy. I was lucky this time, there was no apparent damage.
With more and more boaters on the water, perhaps it is time for a boater’s license, with a driving test to go along with the rules of the road!
Or maybe there is a simpler fix.. Maybe some people just need a sign around their neck to advise others of their lack of knowledge. Something like, “Beware, I know nothing about boating”!
