I see what you mean about the Niagara River Ron...that would be helluva ride...starting at the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge and heading downstream as far as the Devils Hole State Park.

Cheers, Vince

Don't care for jet boats. We lost 3 people in one in the surf trying to retrieve a swimmer in distress. The combination of slow hole acceleration and the foam in the water restricted the cox's ability to react to asynchronous waves and the boat went end over. We only recovered one body. A solid set of outboards or I/O's is my preference. The smaller pollution response boats in my shop are powered by twin 150 Mercs except for one that has twin 115 Yamaha's. All have a left and a right hand prop combination to improve high speed performance and reduce steering fatigue.

MacD wrote:

Don't care for jet boats. We lost 3 people in one in the surf trying to retrieve a swimmer in distress. The combination of slow hole acceleration and the foam in the water restricted the cox's ability to react to asynchronous waves and the boat went end over. We only recovered one body. A solid set of outboards or I/O's is my preference. The smaller pollution response boats in my shop are powered by twin 150 Mercs except for one that has twin 115 Yamaha's. All have a left and a right hand prop combination to improve high speed performance and reduce steering fatigue.

I really have to say that I have been privileged to have taken my boat courses from guys that know their business and were willing to teach us well beyond the scope of the course that we were attending. It doesn't matter if it was Coast Guard, Navy or Police Marine units they all were great in teaching fellow officers no matter what stripe they were. On the point of the jet boats Mac, we have a Nahani jet boat for a patrol boat here in PA and it is painted battle ship grey and that old girl is FAST! It doesn't do go at slow speed or foam like you said but it is fast. I like twin opposing screw boats myself. They are so manueverable. We got complaints a couple of years ago while on patrol from people during the August long weekend that were at Diefenbaker Lake saying that our patrol boat should be well marked and visible to everyone. They couldn't see us coming. The fact that kids who were not old enough or properly licenced to operate jet skis and their parents were too dum and too wealthy to use common sense were the complaintants. As it was during that weekend on the Sunday at one of the campgrounds/docks we inspected we found two severely damaged jet skis and we were told by people there that it was teenagers/preteens that were drinking and crashed into each other. No police report and we just collected evidence and gave it to the RCMP det. We could catch up to any jetski on the lake. Unfortunately our speedo was not working and we hadn't installed the GPS/depth Sounder/radar unit yet in it.

jet skis aye... dont get me started on those noisy huas I reckon if they are making a wake within shotgun range of the shoreline they should be fair game. the usual owner/driver are very inconsiderate of others and are just a pain in the butt when trying to fish or just relax they seem to think the 5 knots within 200 yrds of shore doesnt apply to them.
rant over.

Elvis wrote:

jet skis aye... dont get me started on those noisy huas I reckon if they are making a wake within shotgun range of the shoreline they should be fair game. the usual owner/driver are very inconsiderate of others and are just a pain in the butt when trying to fish or just relax they seem to think the 5 knots within 200 yrds of shore doesnt apply to them. rant over.

Oh Sh-t! People don't think or care that the wake that they create when they are running paralell to the shore. The wave action is concentrated and causes erosion, not to mention the added stress on any structures.
I have heard of people putting marker bouys out from the shore and then putting a small sign saying submarine cable. People hit it with their boats and tear the leg off or have almost stopped dead in the water. I don't know of the truth of these stories but it does give me pause for thought.

at our local lake there is places that it goes from deep to shallow in a hurry, very amusing to see a jetski go from flatout to stopped in a matter of meters, and then the driver get out and push it back off. the first year the lake was filled and the water dropped I couldnt work out these strange "wheel marks" heading over the bank. they were round in profile and up to 6"deep going for up to 15mtrs from the edge? it wasnt till I spotted the grooves from the prop that the penny dropped.

LMAO

Well, guys and gals, I am at my new duty station at Parry Sound Coast Guard Base. It is a nice community and the base is small and friendly just the way I like it. Now to get the house sold and the family here. Joy!!!!!

Good stuff mate. Now it's time to settle in and get back to work.

Cheers, Vince

This is a really GREAT base to be stationed at! I am going to like this very much. The job is going well and as I am learning some new programs and procedures the days just fly by.

ITD. I envy you the location. For our friends who don't know where it is I am including this link.

www.townofparrysound.com/visitors

BTW we still have sub-freezing temps here while I understand Ontario is having the warmest spring on record.

Definitely a beautiful spot with the best of all seasons. Ya lucky bugger Ron.

Cheers, Vince

great to hear all is going well.

MacD wrote:

ITD. I envy you the location. For our friends who don't know where it is I am including this link. www.townofparrysound.com/visitors BTW we still have sub-freezing temps here while I understand Ontario is having the warmest spring on record.

It has been in the mid to higher 20's for over a week. Last night it got to its coolest at 11C. No wind and just simplily beautiful in the morning here.