Near death experience
Went to point walter today for my daughters 13th birthday to do a bit of ski bisketing(hate skiing/ bisketing at the best of times but it was her choice) to find it absolutely packed. I wanted to turn around and go home as soon as I saw boat trailers half a clik down the street but I didnt want to disappiont her.
I launched the boat finally after watching a couple of dickheads back their tubs into the water and then proceed to release the tiedowns in chest deep water, standard boat ramp shit/entertainment. We proceeded out to the marked ski area through the myriad of boats/jetskis doing 30 knots outside the bouys and got set up to do a couple of laps. On lap three my daughter fell off so instantly my spotters hand went in the air. Following us was a center console with half a dozen kids under the age of 8 with the skipper looking backwards at the adults he had in tow.
Every person on that boat was looking backwards! My heart rate went to marathon figures. I waved my arms and screamed so hard that I tasted blood in my throat. He was heading srtaight for my daughter. I think he must have heard my voice because about three boat lengths from my daughter he hit reverse and just missed her. The events that followed are the most stress I have ever had in my life. This guy did not give a flying fuck about what happened (waved his hands in the air and looks at me as if Im a serial killer!) I am still shaking whilst typing this. I retrieved my daughter and her best friend into the boat and told them it was over.
My ten year old son was crying, probably more from hearing his father scream like he had never heard before, from seeing a boat going full steam towards his sister. I called the day and explained to my daughter that there were too many inexperienced people on the water and it was extremely dangerous. My first expectation was to feel her heartbreak, but to my suprise she agreed with me.
How do I convince my Kids to get back on the boat? They are very shaken? What measures do I take to deal with this situation? More so, How do these people have RST's. Do we need to change the rules to have a more stringent licensing system.
My daughter was 15 meters away from death today. I invite all comments.
Regards, Nemo.
kinga86
Posts: 283
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Dead lucky mate. Good luck
Dead lucky mate. Good luck getting them back on the water, im sure it wont take too long. Maybe hit up a quieter area on the river? The canning around near Aquinas college might be a good start.
randall df223
Posts: 6454
Date Joined: 08/08/11
I do a bit of biscuiting at
I do a bit of biscuiting at point walter and see some scary things too. People going clockwise.. not looking.. etc etc. Needs to be more presence of marine safety at ares like this, or deep water point, or belmont. A msg to dot wouldnt go astray? There certainly are other less frequented ski areas. Check out a chart of the river. They should all be marked. There is one over in frenchmans bay (applecross) near the sea scouts that hardly anyone knows about.
Fish! HARD!
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Very lucky mate, and i
Very lucky mate, and i totally agree some people just shouldnt have a license? Its way to easy to your license. Or if you had a boat for so long you didnt even need to do the test.
I hate the river on the best of days to be honest.
A few years ago i had a 30 footer steaming towards me at and my dive flag at about 20 kt while i was diving out in the sound ( with about 100 other divers) He didnt slow down.I went under and unhooked my flag and bag and yep went straight over the top of me, just pushed my dive flag out of the way, turned around to hear me screaming at him, still didnt stop or slow... That was the last time i ever trusted anyone driving a boat. A boat in the area went after him, but i have no idea of the outcome!
As long as the kids are ok, thats all that matters!
Vin
Clown Fish
Posts: 111
Date Joined: 03/02/10
Thanks vinesh, kids are ok
Thanks vinesh, kids are ok but convincing them to get back on the water is a diferent matter. was a very scary moment.
opsrey
Posts: 1200
Date Joined: 05/10/07
Mangles bay Rackingham foreshore.
Put some nice music on in the car and keep driving to Rockingham.
Take your pick at four launch spots at the foreshore and enjoy a wonderful day biscuiting on the water.
Have a look at the mararitine regulations for sking the area, take off points etc and you should have a wonderful relaxing and safe day in my experience.
We dont do Warnbro any more, my kids arn't lures for GWs ...... I paln to stay off the nightly news where ever possible.
Dont leave getting back into the water too long, or the kids may never get back into the swing of it again.
Cheers,
Jason P
Posts: 521
Date Joined: 16/02/13
Good to hear it didn't end
Good to hear it didn't end in tragedy. I think some of these RST are given out on a whim cause too many skippers don't seem to follow the rules or have at least some boating etiquette. Usually find that the Entrance of Freo harbour to be a bit of chaos with big boats steaming fast leaving huge wakes running way too close past smaller boats while giving you a friendly wave. WTF. My usual saying is "The bigger the boat, the bigger the _anker." Not say all are, but seems like it sometimes.
I guess for your situation, just need to find some quieter water cause you can never really trust someone else to do the right thing.
DM306
Ben85
Posts: 442
Date Joined: 20/11/11
The only way people like this
The only way people like this will learn is if its belted into them.
I'd be very surprised if this guy would change even one thing next time he goes out onto the water, hence my initial statement.
sea-kem
Posts: 15023
Date Joined: 30/11/09
That is bloody horrible
That is bloody horrible mate. I'm surprised something more serious hasn't happened before now. I've had idiots run over my trawled lures on the river because of stupid innattention. You need eyes in the back of your head when on the water and that type of situation even more. I'm just relieved your daughter is ok,I think she probably realised the seriousness of the situation and probably how upset you were.
Love the West!
randall df223
Posts: 6454
Date Joined: 08/08/11
Unfortunately seakem, worse
Unfortunately seakem, worse has happened. There have been some very nasty accidents in ski areas. I hate to say this but these areas need to be policed and perhaps a dermit point system introduced where these idiots lose their rst if they dont learn....
Fish! HARD!
axey45
Posts: 1758
Date Joined: 26/11/13
Or carry a gun like in
Or carry a gun like in america. jokes but it annoy's me when they havent got any common sence. Glad there safe.
collin g wood
Posts: 313
Date Joined: 18/04/11
You could try the ski park in baldivis
Don't know much about the place but could be worth checking out for a more controlled experience, just a thought, I'm sure there would be others on here that would know more.
Auslobster
Posts: 1901
Date Joined: 03/05/08
RST's...
...there is no real standard as to how they're issued. Some versions take two or three days to complete, others maybe half a day. But then again, the theory/practical requirements to pass the drivers licence test IS to a standard and look at all the bad driving out there...
As said above...there are quieter places to go skiing/biscuiting...
Bruce
Posts: 527
Date Joined: 11/04/12
He should have a spotter AT
He should have a spotter AT LEAST 14 years old, or someone who he can trust so that he is able to give his full attention to the water infront of him and not have to keep looking behind all the time.
It happens all the time. At Mt Pleasant today adults riding jetski's without a life jacket and without the kill switch attatched to them. Saw them fall off and the jetski kept going. Another time an 80 footer almost ran over a skiier in the water. takes a while for a boat that big to slow down from 20 knots and it was so tight that the ski boat couldn't fit between the 80fter and the person in the water to sort of offer a bit of protection! I rekon its common sense also to not directly follow behind skiiers because if they fall off next time the person in the water might not be so lucky.
Just glad that it ended well and I think you made the right decision to call it quits after that incident happened.
randall df223
Posts: 6454
Date Joined: 08/08/11
You just introduced a new
You just introduced a new concept to the thread.... 'common sense'. Problem is, is that its just not that common....
Fish! HARD!
tiimmbo
Posts: 695
Date Joined: 16/08/09
take a sickie from work, let
take a sickie from work, let the kids have a day off school and go through the week, she would love that as a birthday present and there will be no-one there
Norty
Posts: 80
Date Joined: 13/12/12
Sorry to hear about the bad
Sorry to hear about the bad experience, but glad about the outcome (no injuries)
The only suggestion I can make is to get one of those aerosol can airhorns
and keep it by the wheel, much more effective at attracting the attention
of dickheads or others who are not paying attention..
this is just another reason I rarely put the boat out on weekends,
ramp rage and idiots..
Good luck
and +1 for tiimmbo's suggestion
Norty
DV700
axey45
Posts: 1758
Date Joined: 26/11/13
The air horns a great idea.
The air horns a great idea.
Asahambe
Posts: 154
Date Joined: 14/10/09
thats full on
thats sort of experience gives u sleepless nights for a long time some .... just dont know the rules and sometime u wonder where they got their ST from maybe bought it in Thailand for ten bucks.
Call the cops straight away and give the boat number to them. I was skiing in Dawesville a year ago when we had a similar incident and the water cops were their in 10 mins it turn out the skipper had no ticket and the boat licence was 4 months out of date so they had to go off the water. Some .... dont learn!!!
Yesterday again a bloke was pulling he's kid around on a biscuit in Dawesville when they were angry at Police for chasing them off the water with not having life vests of any kind and the 8yr old kid was telling he's dad it's he's fault for not packing in the vests. Once again some skippers just dont care by the looks of it.
Best of luck next time
Born to Fish
Forced to work!
keg
Posts: 399
Date Joined: 17/07/07
glad your daughters ok.
another bad thing with these idiots is they are teaching their kids how to be idiots too.what hope have the kids
got of doing the right thing when dad is doing stupid things like that.
hornet42
Posts: 179
Date Joined: 24/07/12
your first call
Your first call was right too many boats out not safe
PB Dhu 850 mm Pink 820mm
chrisd
Posts: 151
Date Joined: 05/07/09
Prats
Sorry if it offends anyone but I see prats running boats everytime I fish on the river. Get a grip is all I can say. Clown Fish I'm glad it turned out okay, being a parent with no control over a situation that involves your kids, how scary has that gotta be? Doesn't take much imagination to think what you thought of the skipper of the other boat in this one.
buschy
Posts: 626
Date Joined: 27/11/09
Sad
It really is a shame to hear stories like this and I'm just glad that your daughter was not hurt.
As with road users, it's really a massive challenge to try and police or control the idiots. I don't think there is any practical solution. The only answer might be to drastically increase the standards for being able to operate a vessel - making it tough to get your RST and having regular mandatory training to continue to hold the RST. But while that may reduce the number of idiots somewhat, on the flipside it's not foolproof and may turn some people away from one of Perth's more popular rec pastimes. It's needs to be accessible.
I'm with other suggestions - find a quieter spot away from the dickheads if possible.
Redchoppa
Posts: 102
Date Joined: 15/07/12
Gin palace
Your almost guaranteed that if you have right of way over a big ol gin palace you won't get it. Co2 air horns are great, so is letting the boys in light blue know regos of tossers.