Fatal Boat Wreck at Barkley last week

[Fishin is life]

First off I have a 70+mph boat and taking a class isn't going to help me stay out of an accident....the only thing that will keep you out of an accident is common sense and good judgement, not only on your part, but on the part of the people you're meeting.....I was on KY/Barkley the week of the accident fishing a tournament and I can guarantee you my boat was never above 50mph...when there's that many boats on the water it's not safe or sane to run any faster...proper boating knowledge shouldn't have to be taught....if you want to be on the water it's something you should take upon yourself to learn....we all know we take our life in our own hands everytime we fire up the engine, in a new bass boat with a 250, or in a johnboat with a 15....more people die playing tennis every year than die from a boating accident....no matter what the circumstances crap will happen....my thoughts and prayers go out to the man who died's family and friends

[elnutsmalljaws]

First off I have a 70+mph boat and taking a class isn't going to help me stay out of an accident....the only thing that will keep you out of an accident is common sense and good judgement, not only on your part, but on the part of the people you're meeting.....I was on KY/Barkley the week of the accident fishing a tournament and I can guarantee you my boat was never above 50mph...when there's that many boats on the water it's not safe or sane to run any faster...proper boating knowledge shouldn't have to be taught....if you want to be on the water it's something you should take upon yourself to learn....we all know we take our life in our own hands everytime we fire up the engine, in a new bass boat with a 250, or in a johnboat with a 15....more people die playing tennis every year than die from a boating accident....no matter what the circumstances crap will happen....my thoughts and prayers go out to the man who died's family and friends

I bought my 2003 Tracker Deep V with a 90 Mercury New from Bass Pro Shops in Cincinnati and picked up the boat at the end of May 2003. I was not raised around boats, had never driven a boat, and only been in a boat a couple of times in my 35 years of living at that time. I had never pulled a boat or any other trailer for that matter except the occasional flatbed with tobacco on it with a tractor at my grandfathers. I show up in Cincy on a Wednesday late afternoon. The guy literally gives me a crash course on starting the boat, walks around and shows me some features and buttons. I am overwhelmed as it is because now I have to drive back thru Cincy during rush hour pulling my boat back to Frankfort. After turning some coal into diamonds with my butt cheeks on the scary drive back to the house it is now time to back it into the driveway. Dodge the mailboxes across the street, my mail box and other stuff and it took almost 45 minutes to jack-knife the boat into the driveway and get it situated. Cussing and Fussing all the way, embarrassed as the neighbors I know are looking and laughing the whole time - looking back at it I would have laughed at me too. Thursday late afternoon and my brother in law meets my wife and I at Guist Creek for the maiden voyage. He helps me a lot in backing and operating the boat but really how much running can you do at Guist Creek. After a couple of hours we took out and headed back home for another adventurous parking ordeal. The next day my wife and I both took off work and headed back to Guist Creek by ourselves. This is the day where my wife had stored her purse and camera in the back bait livewell and as I was playing with all the buttons filled the livewell and did not know it until it was time for her to get the camera out and take some pictures. The livewell works and it holds water PERFECTLY. New camera, cell phone, purse and all the trimmings is what that cost me. The next day and my brother in law wants to take me to Cumberland night fishing for Smallies and Stripers. With the massive experience of pulling my boat from Cincy to Frankfort in rush hour and 2 trips to Guist Creek from Frankfort under my belt, now it it time to head down 127 to hit the lake. We don't launch until almost 10pm, after dark on a lake that I have NEVER been on, and I idle out past the bouys (old ramp at the dam) and he says to turn left and head for the red light tower in the distance. I am idleing because I can see hardly anything, eyes have not adjusted to the darkness, new lake, new boat, new boat owner, hardly no experience behind the wheel, and he says "hit it". I said I can't see anything and he says we have 6 miles to go and you are wide open left and right. I say ok and off we go. 38mph, can't see, driving towards a light in the distance, lake I had never been on, driving at night, basically no boating experience at all, going full tilt boogie hoping to not hit anything - WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? No state regulations or laws that I broke on any part of this story. No law that requires me to take a towing class, no law that requires me to take a boater safety course, no law that requires me to do anything to prevent me from doing everything that I did above. My boat goes 38mph and DOES NOT have any brakes on it. My Explorer goes 38mph and DOES have brakes on it. My boat does not have a roof or seat belts or anything else to keep me confined to the inside of the boat or seat as does my Explorer. 27 years ago when I wanted to operate a motor vehicle, I had to pass a written test, get a Drivers Permit which required a Liscensed Driver to be in the vehicle with me as I operated it for 30 days then pass a Driving Test before I was given a Liscense. But anyone can take $50,000 and buy a high performance boat that will travel 75mph+, pull it to the lake, launch, run and gun with no test of any kind given for any part of the equation. Something is wrong with this picture

[Grumpy]

Hey Elnut, please tell us what kind of replies you get from the Governor, your State Senatore, Representative, the KYDFW and the COE about your safety suggestions.

Grumpy

[elnutsmalljaws]

Hey Elnut, please tell us what kind of replies you get from the Governor, your State Senatore, Representative, the KYDFW and the COE about your safety suggestions.

Grumpy

Hey Grumpy, YOUR UNBELIEVABLE, the post asked for opinions not smart a## comments. But as Super Moderator with all the power you think you have, it is ok for you to post what you want and delete what you want.

[apb]

Hey Grumpy, YOUR UNBELIEVABLE, the post asked for opinions not smart a## comments. But as Super Moderator with all the power you think you have, it is ok for you to post what you want and delete what you want.

I didn't take his post as a smart ass comment. Read that one in conjunction with his other post in this thread and it makes sense. He is right, nothing will change if people do not contact their representatives to express their opinion on the matter. Threads like this are useful in developing one's opinion of a topic, but will not create any change if no one takes the next step and makes those opinions heard by their representatives.

Andrew

[offdtop]

Can I ask a question? with the buzz being generated can a petition be started? If so then wouldn't a converstion such as this help generate interest? I would sign and/or start one but really don't know how too..... just a thought.

[peter]

I could post a poll on here. Don't know what the questions would be though.
You can put the email addresses here that could be copied and pasted into an email and some sample letters on here that could be pasted into the email and bombard them with emails. Honestly I have not read the whole thread so I don't know what is being suggested/proposed so I am not endorsing anything. Safety sounds good though!

I am always on the lookout for clueless people and especially people that go flying around at night and in the fog with relyng on their gps not to hit anything. GPS is not Radar.

[offdtop]

I could post a poll on here. Don't know what the questions would be though.
You can put the email addresses here that could be copied and pasted into an email and some sample letters on here that could be pasted into the email and bombard them with emails. Honestly I have not read the whole thread so I don't know what is being suggested/proposed so I am not endorsing anything. Safety sounds good though!

I am always on the lookout for clueless people and especially people that go flying around at night and in the fog with relyng on their gps not to hit anything. GPS is not Radar.

I think there has been questions on whether someone might gladly pay for a boaters safety class if it was made mandatory? the other has been should it be mandatory? Should we continue to police ourselves and leave government out.

I for one was almost in two horrific accidents this year because someone didn't know the meanings of the lights on a boat I stopped him to chew him out after following the rules as they are supposed to be followed and he responded that he didn't know about how you should read navigation lights - this man was at least 50 yrs old! And since the adoption of the hunter safety course and having to pay $25.00 ONE TIME, I still remember the words the instructor said "a safety is a mechanical device that can and will fail".

[Tim_T]

I didn't take his post as a smart ass comment.
Andrew

I did, but I am not suprised by it.

[TR21Bassin]

I give up. People now are all wondering why this country is going to pot and its because of too much government intervention. And now some of you want more government intervention in the form of mandatory safety classes and boater driving licenses.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people want the government or someone else to rule all aspects of their lives instead of being responsible for their own actions.

In the previous post about the new boat from Bass Pro Shop. It was your decision to buy that boat and pull it home and take it to the lake with no idea how to operate the boat or pull a trailer. It should not be someone else's responsibility to teach you these things, you should have done it yourself prior to purchasing the boat.

There are all types of classes out there that people can take if they so choose to do. I don't think we need someone telling us we have too.

Charlie

[elnutsmalljaws]

I give up. People now are all wondering why this country is going to pot and its because of too much government intervention. And now some of you want more government intervention in the form of mandatory safety classes and boater driving licenses.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people want the government or someone else to rule all aspects of their lives instead of being responsible for their own actions.

In the previous post about the new boat from Bass Pro Shop. It was your decision to buy that boat and pull it home and take it to the lake with no idea how to operate the boat or pull a trailer. It should not be someone else's responsibility to teach you these things, you should have done it yourself prior to purchasing the boat.

There are all types of classes out there that people can take if they so choose to do. I don't think we need someone telling us we have too.

Charlie

My point about the post was just to show the laws that govern the operation of a motor vehicle versus the laws that govern the operation of a boat. A 35 yr old that has never held a drivers liscense still has to go thru the process of getting one to learn how to drive safely on the road. There is no difference in doing 70mph in a Bass Boat versus 70mph in the truck pulling the bass boat to the ramp versus 70mph in a car with no boat in tow. What I was trying to point out was here I was a NEW boat owner with no experience at all and I was legally able to pull the boat thru Cincinnati at rush hour and drive the boat down Lake Cumberland at night all within the first 4 days of being a boat owner and there was no law or other regulation that could stop me from doing so.

[dc chopper]

My point about the post was just to show the laws that govern the operation of a motor vehicle versus the laws that govern the operation of a boat. A 35 yr old that has never held a drivers liscense still has to go thru the process of getting one to learn how to drive safely on the road. There is no difference in doing 70mph in a Bass Boat versus 70mph in the truck pulling the bass boat to the ramp versus 70mph in a car with no boat in tow. What I was trying to point out was here I was a NEW boat owner with no experience at all and I was legally able to pull the boat thru Cincinnati at rush hour and drive the boat down Lake Cumberland at night all within the first 4 days of being a boat owner and there was no law or other regulation that could stop me from doing so.

Throw in the 80 yr old and the 50 ft camper trailer too.