7 dead this weekend!

[john warren]

this is unacceptable!
take all these people, and multiply them by the number of people that love them, add the heartache caused to the peoplethat had to deal with these tragedies. i.e. police , rescue, fire dept, hospital personel and such. to get the true impact .

now place yourself in that position and try to explain to those that love you why you don;t thiink you should take a boaters safety course.

[mikey]

That is insane.......another reason why I stay off the water on holiday weekends. Too many idiots out there who have little or no respect for safety out there.

[SalmonBum]

I hate to say it, but most of these are "natural selection". The guys on the Kayaks were "loaded" at 3 am with no life jackets, and if I was a betting man, the guy driving the 38' boat that hit the bardge had a few cocktails in him as well. If the people sitting next to him didn't have the brains to not get in a boat with a boozer, then its just as much their fault. Sorry, but I am beyond the point of trying to help people help themsevles. I'm not a babysitter, and neither should our tax dollors be used to try to protect the ones lacking common sense. If your dumb enough to get in a kayak without a PFD, let alone while your DRUNK, then my guess is that person didn't have the brains to cure cancer. Thats a bummer for is their loved ones, but hey, If you don't do dumb things, you don't die.

This has nothing to do with a boaters saftey, but all common sense.

[greg123]

Common sense is no longer common. Too many people only think of themselves these days. What if instead of a barge they would have hit a boat filled with you and your family. It is the same thing as when someone gets behind the wheel of a car that can go 150 mph and then wraps it around a utility pole. A boaters safety class is only as good as the person that gets behind the wheel. We all need to be watchful out on the water and stay out of the way of idiots. Have a radio and call in reckless drivers so we can minimize accidents. Drinking and driving is the same no matter which wheel you are behind. More than likely alchohol was involved in both incidences. We all need to do our part to stay safe while having fun out there.

Greg

[waterfoul]

I was on a local lake yesterday with MSUnolimit and his wife. It was not all that busy for a decent sized lake (~500 acres) BUT, I lost count the number of boats and PWC's that ran between us and shore... we were never more than 200' from shore and almost never in more than 6' of water. People were towing their children on skis and tubes less than 50' from docks and boats, not to mention throwing a big wake that sure had us rocking!! People don't realize that THEY are responsible for the wake THEY throw. At one point I thought MSU was going to start throwing crank baits at the drivers and call the cops for child endangerment!!!! It was insane and stupid.

To all you people (not MS.com people I'm sure):

Driving a I/O boat (or any boat really) in 2' of water with your OWN children behind you? There is an entire lake for those activities and you think it prudent to tow them within spitting distance of docks and other boats?? What is wrong with you people????

Just one more reason I think the State of Michigan should require all boat owners to take a class to obtain a boating drivers license before they are allowed to operate a water craft of any kind on public waters. If it's required for cars (which have brakes and are much more manuverable) why not boats???

I learned to boat from my father... and we have ALWAYS owned at least one boat since the day I was born. I was taught respect for others AND the water. Obviously MANY others have had NO ONE show them the ropes.

I shall now step down off my soap box.

[wally-eye]

I was on a local lake yesterday with MSUnolimit and his wife. It was not all that busy for a decent sized lake (~500 acres) BUT, I lost count the number of boats and PWC's that ran between us and shore... we were never more than 200' from shore and almost never in more than 6' of water. People were towing their children on skis and tubes less than 50' from docks and boats, not to mention throwing a big wake that sure had us rocking!! People don't realize that THEY are responsible for the wake THEY throw. At one point I thought MSU was going to start throwing crank baits at the drivers and call the cops for child endangerment!!!! It was insane and stupid.

To all you people (not MS.com people I'm sure):

Driving a I/O boat (or any boat really) in 2' of water with your OWN children behind you? There is an entire lake for those activities and you think it prudent to tow them within spitting distance of docks and other boats?? What is wrong with you people????

Just one more reason I think the State of Michigan should require all boat owners to take a class to obtain a boating drivers license before they are allowed to operate a water craft of any kind on public waters. If it's required for cars (which have brakes and are much more manuverable) why not boats???

I learned to boat from my father... and we have ALWAYS owned at least one boat since the day I was born. I was taught respect for others AND the water. Obviously MANY others have had NO ONE show them the ropes.

I shall now step down off my soap box.


Sounds like a normal summer weekend on the freek.............:dizzy:

Pulling tubes and/or skiers in 2 fow is about most stupid thing I can think of............see it every weekend..........:rant:

[chutta]

I'll only go til about 10 am or go on speed restricted after 7:30 lakes.
Fishing's supposed to be relaxing, not a blood pressure event.

[rockbass]

My jackass cousin was towing tubers and skiers yesterday on a small lake in oakland county. Guess what? He hit a 12' jon boat with three fisherman on it. No one was hurt thank God. Oh BTW, I am not on speaking terms with the jackass.:evil::rant::evil:

[Westlakedrive]

stayed at Brower Park on Hardy over the weekend you would never know there was some kind of gas shortage going on. Kayaking was a risky preposition no doubt.
Big fast boat after big fast boat after big fast boat after big fast boat...
Not a lot pulling skiers etc due to water temps but 90% of them going full throttle in whats basically a wide river. How many were drinking? Not sure but I do know summer before last there was a group of 4-6 people who showed up in our ER why?... because his 24 footer hit the damn.
Its has lights on it hello. :confused:

[frenchriver1]

You cannot legislate good sense but you can enforce the laws that are intended to penalize those who demonstrate a lack of it. Would be nice if there were enough officers out there to tickets all the fools..

[chutta]

I wish the neocon's and George would read your quote by Teddy

[CL-Lewiston]

How many killed by drunk drivers??

How many drunk snowmobilers killed or killed someone else this past winter?

This is looking kinda like guns--confiscate all guns as xxxx many were killed by guns. Check and see what the mayors of Philadelphia and Toronto have proposed for guns.

[KI Jim]

It was really busy on the lakes this past weekend. I was fishing on a small lake on Washtenaw county. I rounded a point and there were 3 boats sitting there casting for bass. I slowed down to a fast idle so as not to bother them-and some IDIOT comes blasting around the corner and cuts between me and the closest boat (maybe 30 yards seperated me and the fisherman) at about 40 mph.

What an idiot!

[Topshelf]

I have been seeing the same things on the SCR LOTS the last few weekends. Operators have no common sence or common courtesy to other boaters much less do they care about the safety factors. Guys will have a whole river thats a mile wide yet they will motor within 50 - 100 feet of someone fishing throwing a huge wake. :rant: