Good weekend till....

We were floating 40 yrds off some no wake buoys by a beach, and the kids were in the lake swimming. There were two guys on jetskis by us, the one was going as fast as he could 2 feet by the buoys and the other was on a stand-up ski and was obviously new to it. Well the guy on the stand-up fell off and guess what, no freaking safety kill switch hooked up. We thought we were fine but all of a sudden this thing makes a turn right at us and slams into the side of my buddy's boat. I jumped off the boat and got the ski shut down as the guy swam over. I proceed to tell him that he needs to put a safety switch on it, at the same time his buddy comes over and tells us it is our fault for being parked there?!?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! This guys ski slammed into the side of someones boat and it was our fault! He kept running his mouth telling us his buddy was just learning to ride and this and that. I asked him if he teaches people to drive a car with no brakes? He told us that the ski was to old to have a switch, I told him that was BS and they needed to take it to a shop and have one installed. How can someone run a $500 jetski into a $40,000 boat and blame it on the other person?

RANT OFF

You did better than me, I would have beat some a$$! I have seen this happen twice and heard of it numerous times. I hate Jet Ski's!

The boat and everyones okay?

That's a case of get his numbers and shut him down.

That's crap. I definitely think that there needs to be a better system for people getting their operators license. In Canada, it is a written multiple choice test that is the easiest thing ever. I believe that people need to take a practical course as well like drivers education, or at least a practical test. There are a lot of unsafe boaters out there. In this case, this was definitely NOT your fault. That other guy needs to get his head checked.

I couldn't agree more with people taking a written and driving test. So many people buy watercraft and don't have a clue how to operate them.

That is crazy. I might have tried to drown the idiot on the jet ski.

I know the old stand up ones don't have kill switches. If you fall off it, it will go to an idle and spin a small circle til you get back on it. That being said, stay the F away from boats and people if you are leaning to ride one! I swear you throw someone on a jetski and common sense gets thrown from the wayside! I don't hate jet skis and wave runners, I just can't stand the idiots who use them!

Yea we got the numbers from both skis. The boat is actually ok there are some blue marks, the hood was blue. They ran their mouth but as they were headed to the beach. My buddy took it really well, he said he didnt like that it hit his boat but it was an accident what really got tempers flaring was when the other guy started shooting his mouth off. Funny thing is 10 min before that the guy mouthing off to us was getting yelled at by another boater he had cut off while jumping the wake of another boat. He was being a real menace. We usually dont go to that end of the lake unless we need cell service.

It seemed like this ski was idling real high and that is why it didnt circle, although I think in the PA boat manual it says you must get a kill switch put on if it doesnt have it already. The guy that fell off of it was appolagetic

dude that sucks what were that damages to the boat

Man, that is tough to read! I have a $500 stand-up without a kill switch but it stays away from boats and everyone else. I suck and wouldn't take the chance of hitting someone. I am sure he is responsible for any damage, right?

I would be in jail for trying to shoot the lippy one with my flare gun!

Hey Jason, did this happen somewhere in PA? If so, what lake?

You can report those guys for leaving the scene of an accident.......big fine/ticket for that!
(not telling you what to do, but I would)

Yikes....much worse than running out of gas! (see other thread)

Yea this happened at Lake Raystown. I was ready to beat someone. What if that ski would have ran into one of the 10 yr olds that was swimming around our boat or that ski would have made its way infront of a boat that was full tilt, could have killed someone. I think that now that it is a few days later it would be hard to get anything done. We should have called at that moment.

Jackass for running into you, but he probably was correct about the shutoff switch. The old jetskis do not have them. They go in circles after you fall off.

The class and written test thing doesn't fix STUPID. Here in NJ we have a mandatory class and written test and we still have rivers full of idiot boaters and jetskiers. Every time they try to make something dummy proof, they just invent smarter dummies. YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID!

(Message edited by jim_b on June 17, 2009)

OMG
Jason you have amazing control.
I would have been a nut case and someone would have been very messed up.
Thats about the worst nightmare I can imagine. What if someone in the water would have been hit, were talkin instant death.

No the written test does not fix stupid, but at least some people might gain a little bit of knowledge and respect out of it. Some people up north don't even know who has the right of way on the water. I am trying to board and some guy on a jet ski, or pulling a tube drives 200 ft in front of my line. That is not safe at all, not to mention it just wrecks the day for everyone knowing that people aren't knowledgeable enough to be on the water