Pigeon Point, Sat 11/8

Queen of Hearts and Bob and Sherry Ingles have such a great reputation perhaps an email to them might shed some light on the incident

After the last reported close encounter I did just that, emailed them explaining that I often kayak the areas they fish and asked what frequency they use on the VHF.  No response.

-Eric

It depends on the radar, what range its set to and weather conditions. In calm conditions, ranged in, I can spot kayaks, even crab buoys and birds. Thats on a 3kw raymarine (I think) unit. If its bad weather, these things can get lost in the "clutter". Still no excuse. You gotta look where you're going! One would think that a parB capn would at least have an eye on birds etc. to find fish. That being said, I wasn't there and I'm not saying this was deliberate.

I don't believe for a second that he doesn't see us yakkers.  I think he's just more comfortable in traffic than most of us are.

  I see him almost every saturday. If you want me to ask him about it for you I can. BTW, the harbour was the busiest I've seen it all year last saturday.

Tim, Howard,

If you know the captain and can approach him I'd be very curious to hear what he has to say about yaks.  I can understand if its foggy and he can't see us but it was crystal clear on Sat and there was only one other PB at Pigeon Point.  When Scott alerted me on the VHF about the QoH bearing down on him, it was going full throttle and the boat was in line with both of us.  If he didn't change direction he would have taken both of us out.

I know that this is a bad season for party boats given the cost of fuel, the closure of salmon season and we know that it's not easy for them to make a living.  However, does he blame us yaks for any of this and/or does he feel that we're taking out too many fish?  I would like to think that there's plenty of fish to go around and we usually fish where its relatively too shallow for party boats anyway.  Is there something we can do to avoid these situations?

Gary

Hi Gary. The point I'm making is that I know the owners and don't think Bob would deliberately aim at you and that you and the others should wait for a response before condemning the operation. I'll ask him and Sherry and get back to you.

Howard

  I see him almost every saturday. If you want me to ask him about it for you I can. BTW, the harbour was the busiest I've seen it all year last saturday.

Hi Gary. The point I'm making is that I know the owners and don't think Bob would deliberately aim at you and that you and the others should wait for a response before condemning the operation. I'll ask him and Sherry and get back to you.

Howard

Queen of Hearts and Bob and Sherry Ingles have such a great reputation perhaps an email to them might shed some light on the incident

After the last reported close encounter I did just that, emailed them explaining that I often kayak the areas they fish and asked what frequency they use on the VHF.  No response.

-Eric

sounds like a school yard bully tactic to me......but I'm just a boy in a MANs' world   They know DAMNED WELL kayaks are prone to fish those waters regularly.....i'm sure they'll have a great answer
way to keep your head on Scott!, butKEEPyourFINGERonTHATtrigger&CAMERA!  

I'm passing on a response from the Queen of Hearts owners, regarding the encounter with Scott and Gary at Pigeon Point:


From Sherry and Bob Ingles, owners and operator of the Queen of Hearts:
 
I've asked Hojoman to post this for us as we are not members of your forum...we do not belong to any forums.  We learned a long time ago to just steer clear...no pun intended in regards to the current matter.  We appreciate that he brought this matter to our attention and gave us a chance to respond.
 
Bob says he completely remembers the two kayakers at Pigeon Point this past Saturday.  The weather was clear and there was no need to use radar.  He actually had slowed down as he rounded the point as the sun was absolutely blinding that morning.  He saw the kayakers and was suprised to see them so far offshore.    Bob says he veered away from the kayakers well before he felt he was close to them and knows that had actually slowed our boat down more before passing them.   As he passed by, Bob does not believe he was even close enough to throw much of a wake if any, and always does what he can to give kayakers ample room.   He was simply travelling to an area he was interested in checking out and taking the most direct route there.  Bob was surprised and disappointed that the kayakers felt threatened by him, as he is one of the most experienced, conscientious and caring operators on our coast.  He would never do anything that would endanger anyone on the water, let alone a kayaker, and he has many friends that are kayakers.  Please rest assured that Bob always keeps his eyes open to his surroundings and would never do anything intentional towards a kayaker.  Keep in mind that Bob has been running rockfishing trips along our coast longer than anyone else currently running, and he knows every rock and crevice and you'll often see him in spots you won't see any other big boat. 
 
With that said, Bob did give a bit of advice.  He thinks it would be a darn good idea for kayakers fishing the ocean to attach a flag or reflectors to make them more visible.  Especially this time of year with the time change when the sun lays low in the horizon it could be very difficult to see a kayak if they were in line with the sun behind them.  Think of how a person on a motorcycle or a bike will wear reflective clothing to make them easier to be seen.  If a kayaker does think that a larger boat does not see them, wave their paddle in the air or something else to make sure they are visible.  Second, all vessels are required to monitor Channel 16 on the VHF...that is where anyone on a vessel should always try to contact another vessel if they have any concerns.  As far as a particular channel to get a hold of Bob on, he says he monitors about 15 channels a day.  As he puts it, he's working and the radio is just a part of his job.  There is no particular channel to reach him on and he really doesn't talk to folks he doesn't know on the radio.  That is why I didn't reply to Eric's request about how to reach Bob.  Please accept my apology, Eric...I should have sent back a reply but I didn't want to sound snooty about it...and I hope I don't sound that way now.
 
Last, I did see several people who posted on the topic in our defense, and we want to let you know we really appreciate it.  We do have a good reputation and always do what we can to keep it that way.  If anyone ever has any concerns or questions for us, all you have to do is get a hold of us by either coming by our shop, the boat or giving us a call.  I really am not a fan of trying to explain misunderstandings by email or over the internet...it is too easy to be taken the wrong way.  And I sincerely hope we are not taken the wrong way now.  Thanks again for giving us a chance to reply.
 
Bob and Sherry Ingles
Queen of Hearts
Half Moon Bay Sportfishing

I highly recommend this safety flag:

http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=FAC-sflag&Category_Code=

It sits high in the air and makes the kayak visible in swells.

It doesn't get any more high vis than GB2 and his rig, flag or no flag.  I'm just sayin'...

Howard

Thanks for clearing up the misunderstanding and my apologies to the QOH if my comments were inaccurate. I think the issue of a safe distance to pass a kayak on the ocean has many variables, however I will say it is hard to stay upright in big swells or mixed swells  and dodging boat wakes makes makes it even more difficult. What seems like a safe distance from a boat looks not appear that way from a kayak. 

Scott

Howard,

Good to hear that Bob and Sherry are concerned and are making an effort to clear the air about any misconceptions that we may have.  Since we're not behind the wheel of a big PB like Bob, we're not aware of how they handle or what it takes to make turns etc.  I suspected that big boats may not see us at times and its good to know that when Bob sees a yak he tries to not swamp us.  Given that the QoH runs shallow water, light tackle trips I would have to give Bob the benefit of the doubt because he must have a lot of patience to deal with those folks. 

A good winter project will be making a safety flag setup that will survive a BH or Limekiln yardsale landing.   

Thanks for bridging the gap,

Gary