Collision avoidance - VERY NEAR MISS

[501]

I had a similar thing happen to me last season. It was fairly late and we were just anchored and were fishing (yes, I fish). I had my Nav lights on, but a boat going in was coming at 25mph staright for us. At about 100 feet it became very obvious they were gonna hit us, so I turned on the tower lights. They swerved at the last minute and we were safe but without the tower lights, I'm not sure what I would have done becuase they were just plain not paying attention. I had all the LED lights on in the boat too, so it was glowing blue on the water, not sure how they didn't see us.

[pickle311]

360 ramp? It gets crazy there at dusk.
We were out on the Perd last weekend and had a retard in a Supra do a power turn around my boat and drug his rope through my boat. I was pissed to say the least. We were anchord up by the shore, probably 15 feet off of dry land and he powered through that small gap. I was screaming at him then pulled up and told him I'd hold his head under water and offered driving lessons. Another case of more money than brains.

[phospher]

Another case of more money than brains.

Boating may just be the #1 offender of this, at least in my life experiences so far.

[squeeg333]

Big Bossman, I am glad to hear everyone was okay in this situation. And I think you did what you needed to do. In my boat experience and education (a class is required in Idaho, and recently in WA state) if you overtake a slower boat, you must pass on the right. So, theoretically, you should have kept going straight, and they were to pass you on the right with plenty of leeway (and more theoretically giving you a honk to tell you that's what they were doing). But all theory goes out the window when you have copious (word of the day)amounts of alcohol. So, you have to do what you have to do to protect yours.

So, I think in reality, you did what you should have. I usually err on the side of every boat is full of idiots unless they prove me otherwise. It's hard to tell which group people fit in when they are coming at you from behind at 30mph. So you have to make snap deicisons. Unfortunately, you have to find out the hard what which ramps/areas to stay away from.

[TL7]

Hey at least Texas wrapped it up! Hook 'Em!

[you da man]

I can't imagine the traffic on Lake Austin on a weekend/holiday. That has got to be anxiety for the driver. I've been on Lake Austin twice on my boat, the test drive at delivery and one other time but they were on Thurs and Monday. The Hula Hut was empty and only a handful of boats out.

[Big Boss]

Yeah it was at the 360 bridge. It can be a little nuts there at the end of a long day. I know this all too well, and usually avoid it on weekends, but we had some friends that really wanted to go out, and they really didn't want to drive all the way from Circle C (way far away) to Quinlan Park. So it was against my better judgement to use that launch in the first place. Lesson learned, they can drive or stay home!

you da man, the difference on Lake Austin between a weekend and weekday is incredible. We will go out on Mon and Wed most weeks, and rarely see more than 5-6 boats on the upper end. It's great. But you are right, on weekends it's like I-35 without lane markings.

squeeg333, here in Texas the overtaking boat can go to either the left or right side. On Lake Austin it's almost always the left, because it's basically a wide river, and most people drive to right of the center of the lake. This usually makes for a more predictable traffic pattern. That combined with the fact that I was only about 30-40 feet from shore is why I started to go right.

You are totally right about assuming every boat is full of idiots, that is pretty much my standard frame of mind now.

[zabooda]

I always remember the right of way rule and if there is a collision it best be on your port side (left). If the collision is on the right side and the other boat had damage to their left side it would be very easy to be cited for failing to yield. I use that with jetskiers as I make sure they are seeing my left side even if I have to do a power turn (Crazy Ivan).

[jester]

You did everything right. You should not have to not stay out past duck because of other people. Going to the right is the way you should go. You should also do 5 short blasts on your horn. Everyone should know that this means DANGER and to lookout.

As far as proactive things to do is carry a flare gun and shoot it into their boat. oo wait that is not nice to do. You can carry a VHF radio and tune to CH 16. Any police or coast guard in the area will be on this channel. An example of the call would be.

"US Coast Guard US Coast Guard US Coast Guard this is pleasure craft "Name of your boat or your boat number" on channel 16 over."

After you make contact you will be asked to change your radio to a working channel.

I always keep an eye out for people drinking during the day and try to watch if they are still out past dusk.