Boat Rage

by Gerald L. Lacambra

Definition: Boat rage is the misuse or ignorant operation of boats.

Lonnie Baird, wrote an article entitled Water Rockets and Throttle Jockeys in The Weirs Times Online. The article recounts a personal episode of boat rage. She and Jim, her husband, were "tooting along in our[their] old boat" when they encountered another boat "traveling at warp speed bearing down on our port side." This caused Jim to yell at the offender, but he stopped short of hitting the throttle due to Baird's warnings. She states that many boaters:

a. doesn't know where the hazards are on the lake and doesn't much care. b. knows where the buoys are, but doesn't know what they're there for c. doesn't have a clue that there's a 150-foot no wake passing zone, and even if he did, doesn't know how wide 150-feet actually is.

Baird goes on to say:

Frankly, we used to get on our boat, go out on the lake and relax and enjoy ourselves. We still do...in between all the boat-dodging and praying that we'll return in one piece. For too many of these boaters, they climb into a boat and their brains atrophy. They forget that a little courtesy goes a long way. We have road rage. We have neighbor rage, and pretty soon we'll have boat rage. Expect fatalities.