Quote Originally Posted by WVWalleyeHunter View Post
keep from making it worse. If he is not a charter captain he was sure acting like he was one with his group.
Acting like a charter captain???? I'm not sure what this means, but please don't lump all charter captains into one group! I run the second largest full time private 6-pack boat on the lake, and I couldn't tell you how many times I've turned off a line that I wanted to be on because someone else (no matter what size their boat) had the right-of-way. Some people get it, some people don't. Right-of-way has nothing to do with size or the number of lines you're running. I've had little boats come at me on my left side, get inside my board line, then yell at me because I'm the *******! I'm sorry, but if you were on my right side, I would have turned long before you got that close, it's simple right-of-way.

I do everything I can to work with all the other boats around me, and sometimes we get in a pinch and have to call on the radio and ask for some help. Maybe ask someone to slow down just long enough to get by if we can't turn the other way. It happens! And about 6 times out of 10, we'll get a little help from the other boat. The other 4, we just have to deal with it. None of us want to trade paint out there......the paperwork just isn't worth it.

Oh, and my 2 cents on the original issue here? As the captain of any vessel, it is your responsibility to maneuver your vessel in order to avoid collision, even if you do not have the right-of-way. It sucks, I know. But in order to save your gear, sometimes you need to give way when you shouldn't have to. There are too many boater out there that either do not understand the rules of the road, do not care to follow the rules of the road, or get too involved in what's happening out the back of the boat to realize what's about to happen in the front!

Process of elimination.....this particular boat is not a charter. I saw Sara J mentioned a few times here... If it were a Sara J boat, close enough to hit your gear, you'd easily be able to identify it. Sara J's boats are floating billboards, you can read Sara J from 3 miles. (I'm saying this was NOT a Sara J boat involved in the original complaint post.) "Eagle Eye" is another 34' King Cat, and he is in the water at Anchors Away, but has not been out on the lake yet. "EyeTime", another 34' King Cat, still in the building at Anchors Away.

Anyway, thanks for reading this far. Tight Lines! Good luck! Stay safe!