I have listed some minor boating frustrations my wife and I have experience over the last couple years. I would be very interested to hear what some of you seasoned boaters have to say about them.
First a little background:
My wife and I are relatively new to boating, two + years now, when asked if we have any regrets with our decision to make this huge change in our life stile, we proudly respond with resounding "none whatsoever".
In fact these last two years have been fantastic. From the very beginning we have been very fortunate, the boat we purchased (43' Ocean Alexander) is perfect for our needs. Please understand we knew nothing about boats when we started looking (4 days before we made the purchase).
But I digress a bit, so as promised here is a list of some of my boating frustrations: (from minor to a bit larger)
*** Boating courtesy: We are located near the San Juans (Laconner, Wa/) and "each and every time" we go out, a boater will zip by us "really close" at double our speed with very little regard to his/her wake and the resulting rocking it causes! This happens in open water as well as in the Swinomish Channel a no wake zone.
In the open water is this something I should just expect and live with, or is there an unwritten courtesy rule where a boater should "try" and pass no closer than "X" feet? Or should they come up fast, slow down just aft of our boat, pass at a reasonable speed, then kick it in again after they go by? (we are a 10 knot boat.)
*** Generators: Some boats have really loud generators or they just do not have sound insulation around them. When at anchor some boaters will run their generator into the wee hours and truly the noise gets a bit annoying. To clarify, most of the boats we come in contact with have very quiet generators and you can hardly tell they are on.
Again, should I just expect this to be a part of the boating package?
*** This "minor frustration" will probably get me in some trouble, but here goes. As I mentioned earlier we are a 10 knot boat. We cruise up here to many different of the different islands and either moor or anchor in a variety of coves and/or bays. On occasion we will be heading to a specific location, say "Patos" Island, we know there are only two bouy's in the SW cove so we typically will leave mid week in hopes of finding one open. The last time out we were approx 1 mile out from the entrance to the cove, when I noticed another boat come around a point heading to the same spot, what surprised me was how he/she obviously kicked his boat up in speed to get there ahead of us. Knowing I could not compete I just laughed and eventually arrived at our destination only to find both buoy's were taken before either of us arrived anyway.
This same scenario has happened a number of times at different locations. I understand human nature, but as stated earler it is a "minor frustration" we have learned to live with.
"What say you"?
As other frustrations come to mind, I will list them, but I am very interested to read you comments as well as some of the frustrations you care to post.
oledutch
First a little background:
My wife and I are relatively new to boating, two + years now, when asked if we have any regrets with our decision to make this huge change in our life stile, we proudly respond with resounding "none whatsoever".
In fact these last two years have been fantastic. From the very beginning we have been very fortunate, the boat we purchased (43' Ocean Alexander) is perfect for our needs. Please understand we knew nothing about boats when we started looking (4 days before we made the purchase).
But I digress a bit, so as promised here is a list of some of my boating frustrations: (from minor to a bit larger)
*** Boating courtesy: We are located near the San Juans (Laconner, Wa/) and "each and every time" we go out, a boater will zip by us "really close" at double our speed with very little regard to his/her wake and the resulting rocking it causes! This happens in open water as well as in the Swinomish Channel a no wake zone.
In the open water is this something I should just expect and live with, or is there an unwritten courtesy rule where a boater should "try" and pass no closer than "X" feet? Or should they come up fast, slow down just aft of our boat, pass at a reasonable speed, then kick it in again after they go by? (we are a 10 knot boat.)
*** Generators: Some boats have really loud generators or they just do not have sound insulation around them. When at anchor some boaters will run their generator into the wee hours and truly the noise gets a bit annoying. To clarify, most of the boats we come in contact with have very quiet generators and you can hardly tell they are on.
Again, should I just expect this to be a part of the boating package?
*** This "minor frustration" will probably get me in some trouble, but here goes. As I mentioned earlier we are a 10 knot boat. We cruise up here to many different of the different islands and either moor or anchor in a variety of coves and/or bays. On occasion we will be heading to a specific location, say "Patos" Island, we know there are only two bouy's in the SW cove so we typically will leave mid week in hopes of finding one open. The last time out we were approx 1 mile out from the entrance to the cove, when I noticed another boat come around a point heading to the same spot, what surprised me was how he/she obviously kicked his boat up in speed to get there ahead of us. Knowing I could not compete I just laughed and eventually arrived at our destination only to find both buoy's were taken before either of us arrived anyway.
This same scenario has happened a number of times at different locations. I understand human nature, but as stated earler it is a "minor frustration" we have learned to live with.
"What say you"?
As other frustrations come to mind, I will list them, but I am very interested to read you comments as well as some of the frustrations you care to post.
oledutch