I'm looking for a small trawler ( 30'+, hull speed boat) to add to my
Paceship, Prindle, Al. Jon boat and Carolina skiff. I'll never own a big
planning hull boat simply because of the high cost of operation. If you
spend the amount of time that I do on the water, fuel consumption becomes a
real issue. BTW Mr. Krause, If you can't effortlessly maneuver around a
sailboat traveling at hull speed when under sail or power maybe you're in
the wrong sport. Exactly how many times have you been "run down" by sail
boats? I have some really good video of "power boater" misbehavior /
incompetence from this summer and not one single instance of a hull speed
boat (sail or power) occurred for me to shoot. The Trawlers seemed
particularly well captained.

Here's what I said before, Y'all must have missed it.

"Unlike most weekend boaters, I live on the water and my dock and boats
(both
power and sail) are setup so that wake is not a problem. I also sometimes
make wake
with my fishing boat and seadoo right out in front of my house that affects
my and my neighbors boats and piers. OTH if there are people in boats out
in the narrow sections I slow down and in the wide sections I give them a
wide berth. I am mainly referring to large boats running past hull speed in
the canals that are designated 6 mph zones and other areas that common sense
should be enough to dictate a change in speed. I'll soon have a 30'+ power
boat in my boat house that will be capable of creating a large wake and I'll
have the courtesy not to inflict that wake on others. Out in the open bay,
wakes are not a concern. But it was not just the wakes that I've found to
separate planning hull boats from the hull speed bunch, it's an attitude
thing.

That's not to say that we didn't meet some friendly courteous power boaters
(remember, I'm one too) but we sure endured a bunch of jerks too. Like the
one 40 footer that came roaring past our two sail boats as we approached the
park docks on McGregor Island (1000 Islands) sending a huge wake into all of
the boats tied up at the docks. It looked like there was only one dock
space left and he was going to have it...everyone else be damned. As it
turned out, there was another boat traveling with him that did not have
enough room to get past us or just chose not to pull the same stupid stunt
and it pulled up outside the dock area and waited. There were actually
three dock spaces left but one was in really shallow water. We took the two
slips in deeper water but after checking the depth determined that I could
move to the shallow slip if my keel was up and we did that to allow the
other boat to dock. I wonder if the 1st jerk would have extended me the
same courtesy had the roles been reversed... I really doubt it. I can
relate many more instances in the same vein but won't waste the time...you
should get the drift.

Because I live on a fairly busy waterway and I spent a lot of time out on
the water, I see boater behavior on a daily basis and I can say without
fear of contradiction that planning hull power-boaters, as a group, are by
far the most discourteous, unseamanly and environmentally unfriendly of all
boater groups. I know that PWC can be a problem in some areas but they have
been a non-issue for us and we see a lot of them. I don't believe that I
should just "get over" bad behavior on the part of any group of people and
from this point on I'll take video and turn the jerks in when it is clear
that they are breaking an established set of rules. I did exactly that to
the commercial fishermen that were using our Bayou as a dumping ground for
their old boats. After the CG and Sheriff used my video to nab a few of
them, they no longer dump their boats...at least not in this bayou. It
really ****es me off that we have instituted a tough set of rules for the
PWC in Texas and yet let the big boats do far more damage without
consequence. 600' ships produce less wake than these idiots.
Hell, I don't mind waves or wakes. My boat can handle it. I often seek out
black clouds to sail under just to get really good rail down sailing. But
not in an anchorage, narrow channel or where my boat handling will adversely
affect other boats.

It's interesting to note that the other boat that accompanied us on this
trip is captained by a highly experienced man that has done professional
sal****er boat deliveries for years.( Mainly large power boats BTW) At one
point during the trip he said
"I know parts of Texas and Louisiana where these jerks would be running
around with numerous .30 cal leaks at the waterline if they behaved like
this very often".


"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Clarence Bell wrote:

If you boat anywhere near Annapolis in the summer, you have to keep a
constant watch for discourteous sailboters who think nothing of running
you down if you are in their way. Or, the sailbot captains become dazed
by the heat and the inability of their crafts to move at hull speed.