Victoria Slough

I met up with some friends yesterday afternoon for a pleasant day of riding on the delta, but I left at the end of the day shaking my head at the stupidity of some of our fellow boaters. There seems to be very little boating ettiquette or regard for the safety of some riders on the water.

We were riding in Victoria Sough yesterday afternoon. It wasn't a very busy day on the water so there really wasn't any trouble finding good water. We tried to be courteous to the other boats in the area by not power turning and allowing boats to pass by before pulling our rider out of the water. Pretty common things to do when riding at the delta and the same things that 90% of the boats in the area do every weekend.

There are always exceptions to the rule though, and in this case, it was only one boat that continued to put his rider in danger as well as impede our pulls. Numerous times yesterday afternoon when travelling at speed with a rider in tow the same boat pulled up his rider directly in front of us in an effort to get the better water. I am fine with this tactic provided you allow enough space between the two boats so that my boat isn't half way up the other riders arse. The first time they jumped us, we had to stop our boat and drop our rider to allow their boat to get far enough ahead so that we wouldn't put their rider in danger of getting ran over if he fell. We chalked the first time up to the fact that perhaps they didn't see us coming.

After the second time this happened, we realized that they simply didn't know what they were doing. By the time that they got up to speed we were less than 100 feet behind their rider. The rider was freaked out and the people in the boat were giving us the finger and yelling at us for following to closely.

I am not sure what the other boat expected us to do. Were we supposed to stop mid pull to allow them to get up in front of us so that they could get the pristine water in front of us both?

We all want the best water for our ride, but the safety of our riders has to come first.

I realize that I am more than likely preaching to the choir, but I was pissed off yesterday for two reasons. First, the other boat put their rider in danger for no apparent reason other than they wanted to get the smooth water and second, because of their reaction toward us for following too closely.

Boating can be a lot of fun for everyone on the water, but it only takes one idiot to ruin the day and possibly the lives of everyone around them. Let's try to use a little common sense and common courtesy on the water and everyone will make it home safely and without incident.