see me

[Dave Legacy]

My wife claims my kayak can't be seen on the water after only a short distance away, but her eyesight is only so-so. My paddles have yellow blades, so that has to help some, but I'm considering a flag too. It seems to me that private boaters don't seem to care too much for us on our kayaks and I'm not sure that I blame them. I kind of consider kayakers/SUPs to be the cyclists of the ocean. I try not to take it to personally when a boater seems annoyed about having to change course, because I'm too slow to get out of the way.

What color is your kayak? Mine is stone and I'll admit it's pretty hard to see.

[dmrides]

A fisherman on a boat can spot a lone bird sitting on the water, or a kelp from an insane distance; yet can't spot a kayaker? Feel free to draw your own conclusions.

[FISH11]

Originally Posted by dmrides

A fisherman on a boat can spot a lone bird sitting on the water, or a kelp from an insane distance; yet can't spot a kayaker? Feel free to draw your own conclusions.

I attribute these problems to the now "Me first and only" attitude of todays society. Most PB owners are the same ones you see on the road or in stores, rude and clueless. Other PB owners and Cattle boat captain, hate them as much as we do. There are some Cattle boat Captains who also are part of the same problem. Keep your head on a swivel and never think the other guy sees you or cares.

[taggermike]

Some boaters are just clueless, some don't care, and some unfortunately like to F with people. I commuted by bike for several years and there are many similarities between bikes n yaks. Both are hard to see, slow, small, and will get the worst of any encounter with a motorized vehicle/vessel. When biking I always assumed drivers dont see me. Same with power boaters.

Many guys have video cameras on their yaks now. Get the encounter recorded and file a report. I believe boaters are responsible for any damage their wakes cause. Weather it's deliberate or inadvertent. Like possibly flipping a yakker.

Another "solution" might be to land and drive to the closest launch ramp. A yakker will look much bigger on his feet n an ahole boater will be much smaller out of his big boat. Mike

[Dannowar]

I slow down, share bait, see, and am courteous to kayakers....so like....

[wiredantz]

They just don't care,


Yesterday about a 40ft yacht with all the bells and whistles about 80ft away Doesn't slow down but keeps his space, makes two 4ft wakes with 3 secs interval.


Be on your toes.


Not all boaters do that just a few of them that stand out.

[driftwood]

these "wide open"bites bring out the saltiest of the saltiest boaters in town!

[Harry Hill]

Originally Posted by Dave Legacy

My wife claims my kayak can't be seen on the water after only a short distance away, but her eyesight is only so-so. My paddles have yellow blades, so that has to help some, but I'm considering a flag too. It seems to me that private boaters don't seem to care too much for us on our kayaks and I'm not sure that I blame them. I kind of consider kayakers/SUPs to be the cyclists of the ocean. I try not to take it to personally when a boater seems annoyed about having to change course, because I'm too slow to get out of the way.

What color is your kayak? Mine is stone and I'll admit it's pretty hard to see.

my kayak is lime green and my paddle blades are orange. I should stick out like a sore thumb but I looked at the boaters yesterday and not one returned my look. They were looking straight ahead and never looked my way. I'm sure they saw me and changing course just a little would not have put them off course, they were just a mile or so out from the harbor so a couple of hundred feet wouldn't make a difference. Sven did what I did with the big wakes we turned our bow into the wake so we didn't get hit sideways.

[alanw]

They see you but I think most of them just don't realize what their wake does to a kayak.. it doesn't even cross their mind. Seldom do I see a boater look back to see what effect his wake has. They have a whole ocean and yet they are always cruising within 40 yards of me.