Typical AZ boat driver

[Memphis]

This is what I have to deal with every weekend in Phoenix at my home lake.

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I seriously have started getting worried about my safety on this lake on the weekends. We have had two really close calls in the last month.

One was while surfing. We had a boat end up withing 20 feet of our transom with someone free riding. The boat also approached us from the rear, obviously not looking ahead of him, but rather behind him at his tuber. Luckily we had a experienced surfer that could stay in the pocket and also do a swim platform start/stop.

Second incident happened to me last weekend. My poor wife almost had a heart attack. She later told me it was the first time she had seen my life flash before her eyes(and she has seen me take 30+ foot falls rock climbing). I fell wakeboarding and when I came up and waved my hand to say I was OK and then turned around to see what was behind me(this is habit you must have in AZ). I see a boat that was following our path. I keep watching and he is not diverting in any direction. I look back to our boat and I see them hauling back to me, everyone standing up yelling. I start splashing water to try and get the drivers attention it still hasn't worked. I am now starting to take my life jacket(non-CGA) off to start diving down. Finally the guy turns as I am pulling my jacket over my head. I am still not sure if he turned because he saw me or if turned because the boat the was pulling me was heading right at him.

30 minutes later he got too close to us again, so we let him have it on the Wet Sounds. I wanted to see that guy on land so bad. It would have been one of the only times in my life I would have started a fight.

I feel ya, when I was first learning to wakeboard at lake lanier, there was a moron dad with his 2 kids on a jetski following behind me like 15-20 feet back...I kept falling alot because it was my firs time boarding, he ALMOST ran over me once - my friends in the boat and me in the water start screaming at him and he drives off. we think ok, all better now, as soon as I get up again, hes RIGHT BEHIND ME again...that was it, we just killed the boat and absolutely lit into this guy. Kinda felt bad because his kids were with him, but anyone driving like that needs to learn a lesson, even if its an unpleasant one.

[MoneyPity]

MOney pit.

Anyone crazy enough to be towed on the chain...it taking their life in thier hands. We would get cautious anchored at the sand bar of other boats, let alone going thru the channells from lake to lake and how about the wave factory going down the river part.

IMO anybody who takes a shiny new boat to those lakes is not doing the hull any good, prop in danger of shallow main channel on mud bottoms. We know people who have gone there and spend a bunch of hours to clean water passages and flushing.

people I work with have hoses on Grass Lake and Fox Lake and they are nice but the fox will always be somewhat dirty since it is a mud bottom, shallow and where treated water is put back in the flow. On a weekday the lakes are calm until Friday afternoon and then the traffic jams on land and water converge.

[turbonine]

Close one...glad he didn't hit the reef marker.

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[SPBFAN]

I had a similar incident a few years back but with my wife down in the water and the guy was towing his kid on a kneeboard not watching ahead but rather at his kid.
I always have a portable air horn next to the driver so I can blast the other operator and get his attention. Trust me it really works.

I like this idea. I am going to get one of those. anyone else want one.

Turbo I would have been yelling on the WS the first time it happened and I would have called the rangers and reported him as a possible DUI driver. The rangers would have come out because they might get to arrest someone.

They love to do that. If he was not DUI he would have been put through the test and would start to pay more attention if he did not get scared off the lake.

[jwanck11]

I thought an air horn is a USCG requirement. If you boat on lakes, do those requirements not apply???

[turbonine]

Turbo I would have been yelling on the WS the first time it happened and I would have called the rangers and reported him as a possible DUI driver. The rangers would have come out because they might get to arrest someone.

They love to do that. If he was not DUI he would have been put through the test and would start to pay more attention if he did not get scared off the lake.

We did get him with the WS the second time, but I still don't think he had a clue eventhough there were loud obscenities and everybody standing in the boat giving him the one finger salute.

I would love to report it to the ranger, but there is no cell phone reception on 4 of the 5 Phoenix area lakes. Besides the rangers are too busy pulling me over. Four times I have been pulled over.

1) person on gunwale
2) being on the lake when it was closed due to a road closer
3) turning the wrong direction. You can only run the lake in a counterclockwise motion.
4) riding after sunset. Riding at 7:45, sunset was at 7:42, it was still light till 8:20

The sheriffs at our lake will get you for technicalities rather than safety issues. They will get you for some technicality just to pull you over then try and get you for the rest of the stupid stuff, i.e. CGA vest count, throwable floatation, properly charged fire extinguisher, registration, nav lights. Then they say this is all safety related. But driving recklessly isn't???

This has been a very frustrating issue out there for a few of the "local" enthusiates who our out there at least once a week.

[talltigeguy]

Second incident happened to me last weekend. My poor wife almost had a heart attack. She later told me it was the first time she had seen my life flash before her eyes(and she has seen me take 30+ foot falls rock climbing).

I knew you should pull the trigger when I met her last year. Congrats!

This is kind of like the dorkwads who followed us last year when Ruck was trying to ride at the Lake Mead reunion.

[dingleberry]

This is kind of like the dorkwads who followed us last year when Ruck was trying to ride at the Lake Mead reunion.

Of course, the person who then came out to chase away those PWC's created a slightly scary moment, too! Ruck probably still has nightmares about it.

[nothingbuttige]

hey man, go to Roosevelt on the weekends. I know it is a bit farther but well worth it..On Friday I think there was maybe 4 boats on the whole lake and on Saterday there was only 2 boats in the morning hours.

[Joeprunc]

I figured I'd share what I saw yesterday on the Sacramento Delta. Luckly we just pulled our skier and rope out of the water and were floating next to the levee, an I/O boat hauled a** past us followed closely by a jet skier (obviously friends). Definitely too close for comfort, I'm glad the rope was in and we were way off to the side. As the jet skier passed us he tried to cross/jump the wake from the I/O he was tailing. As he crossed the wake, he caught just enough air to kick him sideways. When the ski landed he flew off and the jet ski still hauling from the momentum drove itself up the rock levee a good 10 feet. Then slid back into the water.

Luckly the operator fell off the ski before it hit the rock wall, otherwise he would have been spending time in the hospital. We went over to help him out and see if he was alright. He flipped the ski over and there was a good sized hole in the hull. He rudely told us off and sped off in the other direction. Not sure why he was suck a a-hole to us, maybe he was flustered or embarrassed or pissed.

I second the notion that you should be required to get a specific license to operate a water craft.

[TigeTrojan]

I just got back from a wedding on Catalina Island, and on the way home we had a tiny inflatable boat with a little outboard cut across right in front of our huge Catalina Express boat. The captain was on the fog horn for like a minute straight. There is no way he didn't see the 145' boat we were on.