riding on the bow (and what we saw today)

boatman37

boatman37

Well-Known Member
Jun 6, 2015
4,255
pittsburgh
Boat Info
2006 Crownline 250CR. 5.7 Merc BIII
Previous: 1986 Sea Ray 250 Sundancer. 260 Merc Alpha 1 Gen 1
Engines
5.7 Merc BIII
So we were anchored on the Ohio river today near shore and on the other side of the river a boat comes down river on plane with a bunch of people on board. A younger girl (maybe early 20's) is standing on the bow holding the rail. About 10 minutes later they came back up river and the same girl was now sitting at the back of the boat in a seat. It looked like she was holding her head and everyone else looked like they were standing around talking to her. Can't say for sure what happened but piecing the puzzle together I'm guessing her riding on the bow didn't end well.
 
Last weekend I was idling through a no wake zone and a small vee twin with dual outboards passed me at 8-9knots fast idle. Two kids, both under 12-13, hanging off the front. One was visually mentally handicapped in one way or another, AFOs on both feet, and was reaching down trying to drag his feet in the water. Dad was drinking a beer and obviously not paying attention. All I could think was either the kid was going to get pulled under and hit the props, or dad would see it happen and probably slam it in reverse which would obviously have terrible consequences, especially at that speed. No way to stop at that speed.

Next Darwin Award winner, unfortunately his kids would be the ones to pay.

Crazy these days.
 
I saw a small boy sitting on the swim platform of a cruiser that was on plane yesterday.

There’s no helping some of these people. A disaster might be the only way for them to learn.
 
Bt Doctur said:
And you never thought to call the Marine Police ?
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For the girl standing on the bow, there were no authorities on the river. They dock at our marina and their boat was sitting there all weekend. We also have a wildlife conservation boat at our marina but it has been at a local shop for several weeks now. Not sure what's wrong with it but either way, I was on the river some Friday, 1/2 the day Saturday and about 12 hours yesterday and did not see any law enforcement. Which is why I have said before that SeaTow, etc., doesn't do us any good.
 
I boat in Florida. I have seen quite a few boats this past year and the majority seem to follow the rules, boat safely, and keep a safe distance. We don’t have that many narrow channels that I frequent, so maybe that helps.
 
The Holiday weekends always bring out an abundance of unsafe boaters and their clueless passengers. Around here, I’ve learned that Saturdays are usually better than Sunday or Monday on Labor Day weekend.
We had a fantastic day and evening on the water Saturday, stayed at the dock on Sunday to avoid the crazies, and doing the same today.
Really looking forward to next weekend.
The best boating is before 4th of July and after Labor Day.
 
Never saw it too bad around here. We have about 15 miles of river in our pool so lots of room for everyone. The main obstacle we have to be concerned with is commercial traffic such as barges. Yesterday there were quite a few boats out but that was the only one I saw being unsafe (hence this thread). Think we are staying home today but if we do go to the boat we will probably just sit at the dock.
 
We got out last night to one of our close to the marina anchorage in penetanguishene bay seems like the weekenders either stayed at the dock or went to the ancorages that are a little further off . Just us and a 30 ft sailboat for a quiet night
 
2 weeks ago, I was traveling up the ICW from North Miami to Hollywood. I was in a fairly narrow section of 25 mph zone. I was on plane in my 450 and there was a slower moving boat to my starboard as I was traveling north and another boat on my port side heading towards me on plane. We all intersected at the same time, and just as I passed the boat to my right who was traveling in my same direction, I noticed about 10 girls on the bow. I thought "oh no!", and that charter captain then immediately turned into my wake just behind me, and I heard a ton of screams from their bow. I wanted to call that captain and ask what in the world was he thinking, having them all up there in a fast section like that. but I looked back to see that he didn't lose any passengers and went on my way.
 
Leardriver said:
I choose to mind my own business. I am willing to die or accept the consequences of my well-reasoned cautious risk taking. We are a society that is obsessed with telling other people what to do.
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The only problem is that sometimes someone takes a risk and someone else who has nothing to do with it suffers a consequence.
Example:
People on bow.
One or more go over in to the water.
Hey, Captain and person on the bow were willing to take a risk and suffer a consequence. So why not?
Collateral Consequence: Another boater who doesn’t see it runs over someone in the water.
Collateral Consequence: First responders pull out all stops to get to the scene and either while enroute or once they get there one or more of them suffers an injury or worse.
Neither is very far fetched.
 
JVM225 said:
The only problem is that sometimes someone takes a risk and someone else who has nothing to do with it suffers a consequence.
Example:
People on bow.
One or more go over in to the water.
Hey, Captain and person on the bow were willing to take a risk and suffer a consequence. So why not?
Collateral Consequence: Another boater who doesn’t see it runs over someone in the water.
Collateral Consequence: First responders pull out all stops to get to the scene and either while enroute or once they get there one or more of them suffers an injury or worse.
Neither is very far fetched.
Click to expand...
Yeah, this!!
 
The other side of it is that somebody is just unaware of the risks. I could definitely see where someone might think it is perfectly safe to stand there and hold the rail thinking it is safe.
 
JVM225 said:
The only problem is that sometimes someone takes a risk and someone else who has nothing to do with it suffers a consequence.
Example:
People on bow.
One or more go over in to the water.
Hey, Captain and person on the bow were willing to take a risk and suffer a consequence. So why not?
Collateral Consequence: Another boater who doesn’t see it runs over someone in the water.
Collateral Consequence: First responders pull out all stops to get to the scene and either while enroute or once they get there one or more of them suffers an injury or worse.
Neither is very far fetched.
Click to expand...

So very true!
 
Coming back into the marina and when a wake boat went zooming ahead of us in the narrow channel. Caught me a bit by surprise going that fast in such confined waters.... and then noticed he was pulling a tube with someone hanging on for dear life.

Do they realize that 34,000 lbs is not going to stop on a dime? Or that I am likely to hit or at the least scare-to-death anyone who falls into the water in front of me? Common sense doesn't appear to be common...
 
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See it all the time children and young adults w/o PFD's hanging onto the rail ...... especially over the this past weekend and surprisingly wildlife resources who patrol the TN river around Chattanooga were no where to be found. Their boats were parked all weekend long. :mad:

And Blkbird I can't stand folks who tube and zig zag all over the place in a busy channel when there are so many other less traveled areas to enjoy that type of activity.
 
We watched a boat with a rear facing seat with three teen girls sitting facing aft blast by us on plane. Is that safe? I also never let anyone on the bow underway at speed. For line handling, sometimes, but never during a transit.
 
Our new Crownline has a rear facing seat...well the seat back flips backwards to convert it so you can sit either way, but anyway, I will not let anyone sit on it while it is facing the rear while underway. Not sure if it would even be legal but doesn't matter for me.
 
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