Flags on kayaks????

I am not here to defend the Portland Spirit, but I thought it should be mentioned that the area we fish a lot for bass and Salmon just downstream from George Rogers is the area where they use the whole river to turn around.  It is one of the widest areas available for them.  In the summer you will encounter them every evening. At least I have.  Another one to watch out for in the evening is the Lake Oswego Rowing Club's women rowers.  Not because they are dangerous, but for other reasons.

Just a reminder:  Powerboaters are our friends.  There are dicks everywhere in the world.  99% of my interactions with PB'ers have been great.

-Spot-

Powerboats may be our friends, but the Captain of the Portland Spirit is a douchebag. He intentionally crowded Jammer and I earlier this week on the Willy. He had the entire river but decided the 10-15 feet from the docks where we were was where he wanted to be too. Then he had the audacity to come out of the wheelhouse and curse at us.

that's a bunch of crap. You should call their corporate office and report the guy.

Per the  martime rules of the road the Spirit captin likely (knowing that stretch of the river) had the right of way and it was actually your bad for not being the "give way" boat. The sprit definitely falls into the category of limited maneuverability and limited visibility and thus has the right away even over non motorized craft.   Learning the rules of the road is a good first step especially before accusing others of breaking them.

Sounds like you guys need this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Avoid-Huge-Ships-John-Trimmer/dp/0870334336/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

The reviews are hysterical.

Sounds like you guys need this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Avoid-Huge-Ships-John-Trimmer/dp/0870334336/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

The reviews are hysterical.

Just about broke out in uncontrollable laughter in the middle of class after reading those.   

PBrs may be our friends, but I still have a bad taste in my mouth for the weekend sailing crowd on the Columbia.   

Just a reminder:  Powerboaters are our friends.  There are dicks everywhere in the world.  99% of my interactions with PB'ers have been great.

-Spot-

Powerboats may be our friends, but the Captain of the Portland Spirit is a douchebag. He intentionally crowded Jammer and I earlier this week on the Willy. He had the entire river but decided the 10-15 feet from the docks where we were was where he wanted to be too. Then he had the audacity to come out of the wheelhouse and curse at us.

that's a bunch of crap. You should call their corporate office and report the guy.

Per the  martime rules of the road the Spirit captin likely (knowing that stretch of the river) had the right of way and it was actually your bad for not being the "give way" boat. The sprit definitely falls into the category of limited maneuverability and limited visibility and thus has the right away even over non motorized craft.   Learning the rules of the road is a good first step especially before accusing others of breaking them.

With all due respect, FUCK THAT. You weren't there Pelagic so don't lecture me on maritime law. We weren't breaking any maritime laws. In fact we were being courteous and hugging the docs as much as possible to give him room. This guy was purposely being a dick. We even had a lady from one of the houses yell down to us asking what the captains problem was and that she wishes she caught it on video to share with the media.
I don't appreciate the accusation or the lecture.

Regardless of wether he was a "richard" or not (and they can be for sure) we have to move.  Been right there and seen them spin the Spirit around many many times.  I've seen coasties ticket trollers/bouncers below the trestle and down by Milwaukee several times who wouldn't give way to the Spirit. I've also seen the Spirit run aground twice so they are by no means infallible.  Sorry to appear to lecture and step on your days of experience in the area.  I'm sure the captain with a masters license, piloting a 100ft + vessel in a narrow river on a breezy day was solely thinking "how can I mess with those kayakers" instead on considering the maneuverability of his vessel and the safety of his passengers and crew, and for that "shame on him"..  Again my apologies...

Regardless of wether he was a "richard" or not (and they can be for sure) we have to move.  Been right there and seen them spin the Spirit around many many times.  I've seen coasties ticket trollers/bouncers below the trestle and down by Milwaukee several times who wouldn't give way to the Spirit. I've also seen the Spirit run aground twice so they are by no means infallible.  Sorry to appear to lecture and step on your days of experience in the area.  I'm sure the captain with a masters license, piloting a 100ft + vessel in a narrow river on a breezy day was solely thinking "how can I mess with those kayakers" instead on considering the maneuverability of his vessel and the safety of his passengers and crew, and for that "shame on him"..  Again my apologies...

That's quite the apology. Maybe you missed the part where I said we WERE out of his way. Short of jumping up on a private dock I'm not sure where else we could have gone. We weren't even fishing, we were on our way back to the dock, rods stowed and out of the water.
I don't care to speculate on what the captain with his "masters" degree was thinking. I was stating a fact on what actually happened. You can keep your sarcasm Pelagic. I'm usually a pretty docile guy, but you're out of line accusing us of being in the wrong when you don't have all of the facts, or were there to whitness what happened. So I'll be the bigger person here and (sincerely) apologize for my comment if it was harsh. You seem like a cool guy from what I know about you, which is why your bullshit tonight surprises me.

Your right, point taken, I wasn't there.  But the big question is "how tall was your safety flag "

Now we are back on track. Thread un-hijacked.

Mine is a whip flag and is flourescent yellow. In an effort to simplify my life  I put snaps on the flag so I could just snap it on the other rod I bring out with me for tossing stuff at surface biting fish. However, I am a lazy bastard and found it to be too much work to unsnap it and reattach it to the other pole so I never switched while on the water. So, by simplifying, I made my life more complicated.

With all due respect, FUCK THAT. You weren't there Pelagic so don't lecture me on maritime law. We weren't breaking any maritime laws. In fact we were being courteous and hugging the docs as much as possible to give him room. This guy was purposely being a dick. We even had a lady from one of the houses yell down to us asking what the captains problem was and that she wishes she caught it on video to share with the media.
I don't appreciate the accusation or the lecture.

+1  Dude was obviously out of line.

I just have one of those ATV Flags, maybe 6 ft long, never really thought it did much until a couple weeks ago.

A guy i work with has a jetski and was gonna be on American lake at the same time i was fishing, he came over and said, " you know that flag really makes you a lot more visible, thats the first thing i spotted when i was looking out across the water."  that was on a flat calm day, imagine how much more so its important to have any other time.   

Yeah I was reading this thread because I'm looking at options for my setup. I think I'm going to cheap'n'tall route and just zip tie it to my crate. Anything that makes you more visible has got to be a good thing - especially in swells.

You'll see the reason why safety flags are a must at ORC. It easy to lose other kayaks in the swells. Even if the water is pretty flat, that flag is what you see first when looking out over the ocean. Probably because it is often above the horizon. In some conditions, fluorescent green is even more visible than the orange.

I had a small orange flag on my kayak. The flag was plastic and I think it was really designed for an ATV where if would easily fly at the high speeds these vehicles travel at. Last week I knew I was going to be at a mountain lake fishing where I unfortunately had to share the water with lots of water skiers and Waverunners. In preparation I replaced my flag with a rip stop nylon one I made myself. The flag is larger and it blows in even the lightest breeze. The flag sits a good 8' above the water which doesn't hurt either. There is no doubt I was more visible on the water.