coastguard joke

[tptrench]

I can't believe the coastguard rodeo clown got off after killing the 8 year old on SD bay 2 Christmas' ago. I frequent fishing the bay and have seen these punks cruising around at stupid rates of speed for no apparent reason! What a travesty of justice. So sorry to the kid and his family

[BT]

I did hear that the people who got hit did not have their white light on. That being said, I dont know if the CG driver was paying attention or not either. I do feel bad for the family.

One thing I do know is that when I am on my yak, the only time I ever turn my light out is when I am up against a jetty, or in the shallows where a boat wont usually go. But, even if I am at either of those places, if I hear a boat bear me, I turn on the lights. I also have a spot light as a back up and a head lamp. I dont know what the situation was on the boat prior to getting hit, but you would figure you would hear one of their boats and be able to turn on the lights or shine a light at them, alerting them to your presence.

I was always told that in the outdoors...

One light is no light (if it goes out you are without light)
Two lights is some light (if your first light doesnt work, you still only have one light)
Three lights is good light (you have a good chance that at least one light will work and you probably have one good back up)

I was on a friends boat back years ago, and we were coming home after a night of fireworks. There was no moon out so it was dark, and you would have to assume that your night vision is going to be bad after watching fireworks. You would think with all the boaters in the water EVERYONE would have their lights on, especially since we all know a lot of people like to have a cocktail or two in celebration. So we are about a 1/4 mile from my friends dock, and someone turns their lights on 20 yards in front of us. We had to cut the wheel hard in order to miss them. We werent flying either. Thank god my buddy was be a responsible boater.

But like I said, I dont know the conditions of the night, or if they were playing music, or trying to fix something, or if they had a problem with the lights. I just know I always have my head on a swivel when I am out there at night. Be safe folks!