Death By Powerboat

Yellow is the most visible color on the water. Flag all the time. Light and flag in low viz situations. Always be aware of boats around you and give way if necessary. I carry a mini air horn after Jack and I had a close encounter in heavy fog with the New Sea Angler last year at TC. http://www.sportchalet.com/product/301746_3033372.do?utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=301746_3033372&utm_campaign=product_listings&gclid=CPLPhrP3qLwCFTJp7AodxWoAxg

We have had a few minor collisions but nothing that caused damage or injury. There are places where I won't fish during the summer like the delta and Berryessa. The vast majority of boaters are competent and respectful.

scary stuff you really have to pay attention out there its sad but most people who have power boats have no idea how to act on the water i wish they had a driving test like cars i have been on the napa river all my life and have seen some really stupid people out there and have almost been hit a couple times be safe out there guys

Old motorcycle saying, "watch out for anything bigger than you, they have the right of weight".

That is so messed up. So running over a kayak is fine, but running over an AI with sails deployed is not? WTF?

The picture of the shredded kayak was incredible.

They have to yield to the AI because AI is considered a vessel. That's why you pay for that little square sticker at the DMV if you own an AI.

I think it's BS that they make us out to be less than human.

Very sad indeed, I got harassed by a couple of jet skies after telling them they were tearing it up in a 5 zone on Shasta Lake. No cell reception to report it, wished I'd had a flare gun ( horizontally aimed )  . When ever I hear a boat / motorized craft behind me I turn perpendicular to them to be sure I'm seen. Be safe out there all.....

This year Lost Isle in the Delta is going to open back for business, that place is full of intoxicated people by mid afternoon, We are going to have to be more careful and have a flags for safety.

In 2010, a "38m Mariner Flybridge doing over 20 knots" ran over a kayak angler fishing off Australia. The boat was on autopilot; the skipper was inattentive. The angler miraculously survived unhurt. He bailed just before the strike, and fully expected the props to chew him into chum.

Until recently, this was the most disturbing kayak photo I'd ever seen.

In this case, a brighter colored 'yak or a flag would have done no good. I suspect the Adamopolous incident is the same. On Lake George, maybe. I recall Peltier's boat as a larger one. He couldn't see the kayakers under his bow.

The vast majority of boaters are competent and respectful.

I respectfully disagree, a FEW boat owners are competent and fewer are respectful.  This is from 30 years around boats and boaters.  Many Many boat owners see the water as the last great unregulated place to play with their power toys or fish the way they want to.  What they don't want is to have to change course, slow down or acknowledge anyone else in their playground.  I have had a few good experiences with boaters, but the majority have been of the "dont bother me with your piss-ant presence" or worse.  When I used to fish Bass lake near Fresno I would carry a flare and wave it threateningly when the harassment started (curcling jet ski's, wake-ing from wakeboard boats, Power stops from wakeboard/ski/cruiser boats...).  I had so many negative encounters there one summer I had called in half a dozen boats for harassment and even had one guy wading through the shallows to fight me screaming about the fa**ot in the kayak fishing to close to his boat while fishing a cove (I was 50 feet away).  Simply I was in their space in a plastic toy threatening their manliness.

In more recent years as kayaks have become more common I have gotten more gruff on shore from guys with $nice$ boats and more interest from the tin can crowd...  so I just avoid the big lakes during penis display ski/party season. 

As much as the low lake levels suck for the water and river situation, I will enjoy the lake this summer.

And truth be told, as Henry gets a little older I may even buy a party barge to fish and mothership from.  But I wont treat kayakers like second class citizens either way.