Over the years I have heard rumors about making folks get a skippers lic in order to operatate a vessel in the water. It seems on the weekend around Narragansett Bay you have a lot of folks that have no clue what the rules of the road are. I decided to do a survey last Saturday as I piloted Restless to Potters Cove from Newport and count how many violations I came across. By the way I was piloting my own boat a Wellcraft Coastal 33. A 16 ton sea going tank.

1. As I was entering the channel from the mooring field I sounded my horn as required a guy in a sailboat actully gunned his engine to cut my off.

2. A power boat came roaring on at about 24 knots at the tip of Goat Island on my starboard side. He was out of the channel skipping over the boulder field at the tip of Goat. He was going at least 20 knots over the speed limit on the wrong side of the channel.

3. There was a small sailboat 14 foot or so, making way out of the harbor under sail, he was to my port side. He tacked in front of a 60 foot yacht, which had to do an emergency stop, this while 9 more boats where enterting from the Bay side.

4. A RIB crash boat from a weekend regata came in on the wrong side of the channel while taking pics of the racers.

Okay that was just in the 10 minutes it took to leave Newport Harbor.

5. When I was entering Potters Cove a 50 foot Catamaran under power cross over the channel right in front of me with no warning no horn , no whislte no radio call. She was on my Port side and had no rights. I had to stop my boat to let her pass.

6. As I passed into the channel and got to the last nun marking the cove, 4 small boats in a row. A floatilla of morons. Entered the Channeld from my starboard side with no horn, crossing my bow and forcing me to kick her into reverse.

7. On the way home a yahoo in a 45 foor cruiser was screaming up the bay past Sandy Point on the wrong side of the channel. I signaled by horn that I would pass him to my starboard. I turned to starboard so far that I was heading for the light house on the point and the moron was hard to Port trying to pass me on his port side. I had to crash turn to port to avoid a possbile collsion. He gave me a big wave , I just shook my head.

Lets not mention the countless jackasses that speed by smaller boats that are fishing putting up huge wakes or speed through the pass under the Newport bridge by the War College and go thru the wrong opening. I saw a cruiser have his prop ripped out and start to sink. The CG and Sea Tow saved that fools ass.

Its not bumper cars out there but sometimes I wonder. If we drove cars like people drove boats it would be mayhem and thats what it can be on the bay.

Its not bumper cars out there but sometimes I wonder. If we drove cars like people drove boats it would be mayhem and thats what it can be on the bay.
For the most part, people do. They operate with complete disregard of anyone outside of their "bubble". Even with lines on the road and signs everywhere telling you where you do and don't belong, think of how often people drive in the wrong lane or into oncoming traffic. Now, take the lines and signs away and you get the dangerous free-for-all that's witnessed on a daily basis.

Then there's also that there's significantly less chance of catching a ticket on the water than on land.

You like that horn :)
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

:wall:D

THat was you blowin that F$%^& horn ???

No one else even has one .

I went to the entrance Of Potters , Sunday evening & a small pontoon boat came flying by us .
Which is no big deal .. especially there .. The thing was , that a adult was driving it & the kids were sitting on the sides . Every single bump >>> they were airborn >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> No life jackets on anyone . I know its all in fun , But use just a little common sense ><><<<><

I saw the boat they were hanging in a private mooring that my dads buddy owns. big letters that said private on it. I decided not to get involved. I do sound my horn on passing situations. 1 beep for staboard 2 for port as the USCG states. I figure I will look better in court. lol

Over the years I have heard rumors about making folks get a skippers lic in order to operatate a vessel in the water. It seems on the weekend around Narragansett Bay you have a lot of folks that have no clue what the rules of the road are. I decided to do a survey last Saturday as I piloted Restless to Potters Cove from Newport and count how many violations I came across. By the way I was piloting my own boat a Wellcraft Coastal 33. A 16 ton sea going tank.

1. As I was entering the channel from the mooring field I sounded my horn as required a guy in a sailboat actully gunned his engine to cut my off.

2. A power boat came roaring on at about 24 knots at the tip of Goat Island on my starboard side. He was out of the channel skipping over the boulder field at the tip of Goat. He was going at least 20 knots over the speed limit on the wrong side of the channel.

3. There was a small sailboat 14 foot or so, making way out of the harbor under sail, he was to my port side. He tacked in front of a 60 foot yacht, which had to do an emergency stop, this while 9 more boats where enterting from the Bay side.

4. A RIB crash boat from a weekend regata came in on the wrong side of the channel while taking pics of the racers.

Okay that was just in the 10 minutes it took to leave Newport Harbor.

5. When I was entering Potters Cove a 50 foot Catamaran under power cross over the channel right in front of me with no warning no horn , no whislte no radio call. She was on my Port side and had no rights. I had to stop my boat to let her pass.

6. As I passed into the channel and got to the last nun marking the cove, 4 small boats in a row. A floatilla of morons. Entered the Channeld from my starboard side with no horn, crossing my bow and forcing me to kick her into reverse.

7. On the way home a yahoo in a 45 foor cruiser was screaming up the bay past Sandy Point on the wrong side of the channel. I signaled by horn that I would pass him to my starboard. I turned to starboard so far that I was heading for the light house on the point and the moron was hard to Port trying to pass me on his port side. I had to crash turn to port to avoid a possbile collsion. He gave me a big wave , I just shook my head.

Lets not mention the countless jackasses that speed by smaller boats that are fishing putting up huge wakes or speed through the pass under the Newport bridge by the War College and go thru the wrong opening. I saw a cruiser have his prop ripped out and start to sink. The CG and Sea Tow saved that fools ass.

Its not bumper cars out there but sometimes I wonder. If we drove cars like people drove boats it would be mayhem and thats what it can be on the bay.

Your first problem was going on the weekend. Your second problem was going to Newport. Your third problem was thinking there would be more sane folks than insane folks.
My boat doesn't go on the water on weekends except in April and Oct.

Darwin watches.

He usually polices the waterways for us.

Your first problem was going on the weekend. Your second problem was going to Newport. Your third problem was thinking there would be more sane folks than insane folks.
My boat doesn't go on the water on weekends except in April and Oct.

It is a handful on the weekends. Newport is my home port. Not what it use to be when I was a kid.

Clammer clued me in many years ago. If you are gonna run on weekends. Get back in your slip by 8:00 AM

Clammer clued me in many years ago. If you are gonna run on weekends. Get back in your slip by 8:00 AM

Duke:
Learn to expect the unexpted. thats what I learned driving a giant steel box around that harbor...

Which boat are you driving?

Viking Queen
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Cool. I went on a booze cruise on her in 1983. Woke up on the ground under the ticket counter over on Goat Island. Total Black out. lol

FWIW, per Inland rules:

There is no requirement that sound signals be used at each and every instance of passing or overtaking. The device is not even required on vessels under 12 meters. Sounding the horn in such instances on a busy day is just a nuisance.

There is no designated sound signal for simply entering a channel.

Channels can be entered from either side. There is no correct side to enter or exit.

Except for narrow channels, there is no "wrong side of the channel."

I had my boat in Newport about 15 years out of the 23 I had it. It can be a real mess out there.

Sounds to me like there is some confusion about the rules of the road or I simply don't understand some of the descriptions of the reported mishaps.

Anyway , just like on the road , drive defensively.

Excessive speed is the single most dangerous thing out there. The guy bouncing his kids on the inflateable while going at excessive speed that Clammer mentioned is more dangerous to human safety than all the other rules of the road issues brought up.

Wait till this weekend! I cant belive someone hasnt been chopped in a prop on festival weekend

4. A RIB crash boat from a weekend regata came in on the wrong side of the channel while taking pics of the racers.


Weekend?
Try the entire week.
It was NYYC race week last week.

IMO, the harbor is pretty tame compared to the 80's and 90's... Back then it could be a battle zone.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

IMO, the harbor is pretty tame compared to the 80's and 90's... Back then it could be a battle zone.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

It hasn't changed much... during downswings in the economy, less idiots in 45ft sea rays... otherwise, same issues, same morons with boats...

Duke, before my time on the VQ... but driving that around the harbor, particularly through Brenton Cove Moorings, I'd put my 'close quarters combat' boat handling up with anyone. I was frequently the one cut off by the little sailboats as you describe...

The small 14' - 17' sailboats in the harbor are brutal. They just boot in and out the main channel with no regards for anyone else.

When my parents owned a 60 foot steel ketch, we would tear through Newport harbor under full sail. So much fun..it was best when the wind was out of the west
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

The small 14' - 17' sailboats in the harbor are brutal. They just boot in and out the main channel with no regards for anyone else.

+1. It seems that lots of blowboaters do not seem to realize that their status as stand-on vessel over most motorboats does not apply to when they are entering a channel.

Still, even with all the potential craziness, I'd rather be on the water than driving in a car.

Still, even with all the potential craziness, I'd rather be on the water than driving in a car.

agreed

When my parents owned a 60 foot steel ketch, we would tear through Newport harbor under full sail. So much fun..it was best when the wind was out of the west
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Then let me retroactively say #^&#^&#^&#^& you.... :love:
along with your small boat racing days....

FYI. we need to get coffee or a beer soon. been a while since I saw your cuddly mug....

LOL!! I knew that would get you fired up! I've been trying to rondevous with Paul.. Maybe all 3 of us can meet up.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[QUOTE=Roger;950152]FWIW, per Inland rules:

There is no requirement that sound signals be used at each and every instance of passing or overtaking. The device is not even required on vessels under 12 meters. Sounding the horn in such instances on a busy day is just a nuisance.


You are correct. My point was that I had to use my horn because I had head- on traffic.

-INLAND-
Steering and Sailing Rules
RULE 10
Traffic Separation Schemes
(a) This Rule applies to traffic separation schemes and does not
relieve any vessel of her obligation under any other Rule.
(b) A vessel using a traffic separation scheme shall:
(i) proceed in the appropriate traffic lane in the general
direction of traffic flow for that lane;
(ii) so far as practicable keep clear of a traffic separation
line or separation zone;
(iii) normally join or leave a traffic lane at the termination
of the lane, but when joining or leaving from either side shall do so
at as small an angle to the general direction of traffic flo

Duke:
In a dessignated spereation scheme.
That applies south of the Bay, but Newport Harbor is not a designated seperation scheme....

agreed

Yup, rather be on the water than pretty much doing anything else. I cant wait for the Folk Festival. Bring on the craziness!

I am mounting water cannons and raising the skull and cross bones ..argggggggghhh.

back when i was a kid.. maybe 1986 or 89, i sailed my laser into the boats anchored at the Jazz Festival. I kid you not, there was a boat full of topless hot chicks having a water balloon fight with another boat full of topless hot chicks.
At that moment, i was the luckiest kid in the world...

wow

im telling ya.. it was right out of Porky's or Animal house.. Another time i was at the Baths in Virgin Gorda and a zodiac containing 6 topless french girls came in to the beach.. bouncing from wave to wave. These girls were model material. Again.. luckiest person on the planet. :jump1:

The one that used to piss me off the most was when I was docked at Brewers Cove Haven Marina in Bullocks Cove. To get in there you have to get in a dredged channal fairly far out from the cove entrance because its just too shallow . So at say 6pm on a Saturday there are a lot of boats all in line just meandering in at say 4 knots. These huge tubs of power boats would be going along then either spaced out or whatever and would start heading toward the sides of the channel instead of hogging the middle like they were doing. Next thing you know they rev the engines to 2000 rpm to get a burst of speed to correct their course back into the middle of the channel. Of course this kicks up a huge wake right there in the middle of the narrow channel with small boats all around. I used to curse them and hold up the one finger salute to let them know they were jerks.

When my parents owned a 60 foot steel ketch, we would tear through Newport harbor under full sail. So much fun..it was best when the wind was out of the west
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Hell, we still do it on the 60 to 90's made out of carbon. :hihi:

ps: the 30 foot protectors with twin 250/300 vrods are worth more than most people's houses.

back when i was a kid.. maybe 1986 or 89, i sailed my laser into the boats anchored at the Jazz Festival. I kid you not, there was a boat full of topless hot chicks having a water balloon fight with another boat full of topless hot chicks.
At that moment, i was the luckiest kid in the world...

Now that is memory you cherish for life

im telling ya.. it was right out of Porky's or Animal house.. Another time i was at the Baths in Virgin Gorda and a zodiac containing 6 topless french girls came in to the beach.. bouncing from wave to wave. These girls were model material. Again.. luckiest person on the planet. :jump1:

Yet you still ended up liking guys...
reverse psychology I guess.....






:love::love:

Now that is memory you cherish for life
You know it.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Yet you still ended up liking guys...
reverse psychology I guess.....

:laughs:

Eben, you've been to The Baths? That must have been amazing. BVIs will be my next excursion, almost went by myself over the winter...

I've been there 3 times :P
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

It's over rated. You want a cool place to go? Go spend a week on Carriacou.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Really? you didn't like the Caves, JVD, Half Moon Bay?

They were cool, but it's a friggen zoo with tourists. And topless French chics :hihi: I fell in love with Carriacou. It's like comparing Newport to Cuttyhunk.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I was supposed to do a catermaran trip through the BVI's with my captain buddy sailing it last year. i was super pumped. Unfortunatly he and his fiance split and axed the vaca. Still want to do it though. Just need him to sail.

I'll be your captain :)
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I'll be your captain :)
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Make sure he stays on his side of the cat unless you want to be the big spoon.

Really? you didn't like the Caves, JVD, Half Moon Bay?

JVD is nice, the day is touristy, but the nights and away from white bay is quiet, peaceful and pretty nice.

go to the bahamas for better DIY fishing though....

JVD is nice, the day is touristy, but the nights and away from white bay is quiet, peaceful and pretty nice.

go to the bahamas for better DIY fishing though....

Tarpon is better in the BVI.

Meant to say Cane Garden Bay, not HMB. I would like to get an efficiency apartment there and use that as my base of operations for a week. Might do it this winter...

I'll be your captain :)
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Sounds good. You'd have to be prepared for a week long bender. If so your hired.

:)
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Same problems existed 40 years ago. Only requires money to own a boat. No skill needed.

FYI, you cannot "drive" a boat. Or an airplane for that matter. One can drive trucks and cars but not boat or airplanes. I learned that in the 1960's while enrolled in a safe boating and navigation course offered by the U.S. Power Squadrons. I read Chapman's "Piloting, Seamanship, and Small Boat Handling" handbook. Twice. Cover to cover. I was 16 years old. I'm now 62 years old. Nothing has changed. Weekend warriors still exist. Best advice is to get off the water by 9:30 A.M. on weekends.

Just avoid weekends if you can, boating is a lot more fun on a Wednesday.

Personally, I would like to see a mandatory license and "road test" for boaters. That would cut down on the plug and play weekend yahoos. Further, more police and stiff fines for minor infractions. There are too many boaters, this would be a way to cut down and raise revenue at the same time.

bwaaaaa