Kayak Cut in Half in Meredith
 

A guy at Shep Brown's told me a kayak was cut in half last night at 1:30 am by a power boat. The kayak was supposedly out with no lights. The powerboat didn't stop. No one was injured, the kayak couple was over at Shep's this morning looking for the boat. I'm thinking they should be renamed to Mr and Mrs Bonehead if they were out on a kayak at night with no light, lucky to be alive.

I agree!!!
 

I agree whole heartedly! No common sense

Ummmmmm
 

So this "couple" was over at Browns looking for the boat that hit them?!?! FOR WHAT? To tell them "hey we're the IDIOTS who were Kayaking at NIGHT with no lights, that you hit."

I have no experience in this but my guess is that hitting a Kayak at night might feel like hitting a large wake or debris in the water. Who's to say the power boat operators didn't think they hit a log or cruiser wake.

Well I am glad no one was hurt...
 

But What possesses someone to go out with no lights at night? Beyond that a kayak is so low in the water that they are hard to see in the daylight! Again I am glad no one was injured, but I find fault with the operator of the kayak plain and simple!

share the blame...
 

While I certainly agree with the posts written here, let's not excuse the power boat captain completely. There is never an excuse that makes it "OK" for a boater to hit something in the water. Even at night, you need to watch what is in front of you.

That bolded, underlined word is a very large word. It could also say the kayak supposedly had lights on it. :rolleye1:

do you really think they had a legal stern light? i think it's at least safe to say they didn't have "legal" lights. red/green and stern light 3' (?) above
the largest occupants head? probably not.


if you look at all the accidents and deaths this year, canoes and kayaks certainly top the list in "most dangerous/unsafe boating vessel".

It was cut in half by a powerboat.....with no injuries? Was it occupied or adrift?

Great point!
 

This story dosn't seem right. Dosn't pass "it could be possible" test

1) " A guy at Shep Brown's told me a kayak was cut in half last night at 1:30 am by a power boat." What guy...?

2) " Noone was injured, the kayak couple was over at Shep's this morning looking for the boat. I'm thinking they should be renamed to Mr and Mrs Bonehead if they were out on a kayak at night with no light, lucky to be alive."

If their kayak was "cut in half" ... how did noone get injured, how did they get to shore? And.... after that drama... why did they decide to go to Shep Browns looking for the villian..instead of the MP or Police?

3) Who in their right mind is on the lake.. power boat or kayak at 1.30 am..?

Story sounds fishy to me. No offense intended ITD This one misses the smell test..

I just looked at the Citizen website.. ( and they report "cat up a tree") no mention of a kayak cut in half.

This is a question and no I do not know the answer being the reason for asking. Do small craft such as a row boat, kayak need lights or can the operator just us a flash lite? I have on many occasions gone fishing with a row boat and a electric motor and used just the small lite on the motor as my lites. That is not saying I was in the right, that is the reason for the question. And before you ask, no you did not need to register the boat with an electric motor at the time. That tells ya how long ago it was.

A canoe, kayak or rowboat (no motor) would only need to display a white light, visible 360° around the horizon for a distance of two miles.

Wouldn't try to fool ya Steve, just telling what the guy at Shep's told me, I didn't see it, I wasn't there, hence the supposedly, we'll see, if it did happen some crack reporter will eventually find the story.

As for who would be on the lake at 1:30 am , you're kidding right?

Sad to say... I'm not kidding
 

LOL :) :) :) :)

Guess it's been too long for me to be on the lake that late.... sigh.. stinks getting old! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

If we wait for crack reporters here in the LR... you'll be too old to be on the lake @ 1.30AM :D :D :D :D :D

Kayak
 

One went by our house about 10:30. No lights. Bright moon allowed us to see it going by. They are out there.

A very odd tale, this one...
 

I don't think so. The last time a kayaker was reported struck on this lake, it rated only a brief blurb on a Boston radio station.

If the kayak is valued at less than $2000, and no injuries resulted, a report to the Marine Patrol isn't required either.

Not just bright, the moon would have been directly overhead at that hour and would have been a full moon.

With or without a handheld lamp, there should have been enough danger heard and sighted to have enabled a kayaker to paddle out of harm's way: been there, done that.

A spice of life
 

Going kayaking in the moonlight is one of the special moments you can have on the lake. While you should take a light with you, turning it on ruins the mood and visibility. Taking risks is one of the spices of life.

I agree with Steve that the story is a little fishy.Things get exaggerated when the story gets retold.I'd want a first hand account before I would buy into a boat being cut in half while no one was injured.
Unless,of course it was a 1000HP Baja doing 90 mph.....we'd all believe that for sure.

Not turning it on breaks the law and could result in shattered lives.

I am all for the spice of life and taking the big risks, good for you to voice your opinion and say to hell with playing it safe. Having said that my spice of life is riding around the lake in a rather good size power boat. Should our paths cross enjoying what we both agree is a zest for life, I hope we will be able not occupy the same space at the same time, and we will both continue to enjoy the lake at special times in our own seperate ways.

Even in daylight people hit debris. I think your statement is over-broad and not realistic. Unless you run with dock lights, on or continously using a spot light you are not going to able to see much in the water at night, probably not even at headway speed. If you meant it's "never ok to ram another boat" I'd have to agree with that.

An unlighted kayak blends in with the water unless it's silhouetted by another light. I've almost hit one myself coming into a private dock. I believe you dont have to have a light turned on when operating a muscle powerred vessel at night but it does have to be accessibe so you can make your presence known.

As for hitting something major and not stopping, I think that was defintly wrong-doing on the part of the motor-boat operator. I'm sure it would be more noticible than a large wake. If they simply didnt realise at that time there was another craft involved it would have been prudent to inspect for damage to their own boat and drive. I hope they find the operator. Someone defintly needs some clarification on how to behave on the water.

No word of it in any news outlet, no one at sheps herd such a story, I call bs.
Bear Island resident maybe???

It's True
 

Just watched news nine and they talked about it happening last night

Sorry, the light must be displayed and visible for 360° around the horizon for a distance of 2 miles.

AP confirmation of kayak incident....
 

As stated above, the AP has reported the story but with very few initial details.

Once again you can peruse the short article HERE on today's on-line edition of the Union Leader.

By the way, love or hate the editorial slant of the Union Leader they are by far the best and most accurate source of breaking news here in New Hampshire!

IMHO ;)

Ah vindicated, I didn't think the Shep's guy was BSing. Apologies accepted:D :D :D

http://boat-ed.com/nh/handbook/lights.htm

You are correct. I have a mental picture of a rowboater waving a lantern that must have come from a safety course I took many many years ago. The current rule is smarter.

Administrative Rule regarding lights & human powered vessels
 

As Nightwing correctly stated, the vessel in question should have been displaying a single white light visible for two miles in all directions.

Here is the applicable Administrative Rule:

Saf-C 403.16 Lights on Non-Power Boats.

(a) Boats propelled by oars, paddles or other human or natural device except sails, operated on any public water, shall, between sunset and sunrise, display one white light in a conspicuous position, so placed as to show all around the horizon.

The two mile requirement is found in a subsection of the preceding rule that basically states white lights shall be visible for two miles and all other colored navigation lights (if required) visible for one mile.

The 1:30 AM timing is not surprising; I've seen boats going in and out of the town docks at all hours of the night and in all kinds of weather (even thunder storms :eek: ).

Actually, I can't wait for the MP to start enforcing the 25 mph night time limit on Wednesday. From what I've seen over the years, it should be easy pickings for them.

As for the bonehead in the kayak, I'm glad he wasn't injured, but I hope the MP wrote him a jumbo ticket for his idiocy.

Silver Duck

I'll tell ya what else "ruins the mood"
 

Having a BIGGER boat cut your kayak in half - and - seriously injuring and/or killing its occupants.

THAT - well - yeah - it'd be a buzz kill for sure and would ruin the mood.

THINK Geezer - C'MON!!!!!!

News report says it was a 27 foot powerboat...
 

do they KNOW that for sure? It would suggest that they have the powerboat(er) in question. I am quite sure the kayaker wasn't counting feet as they sliced his kayak!

I am amazed that nobody was injured!:eek:

Harkens back to mey earlier post - PAY ATTENTION!!!!:rolleye2:

Behaving on the water means maintaining a proper watch. Suppose the kayak was within 150 feet of shore, he wouldn't be earning a ticket to my thinking.

Kamper, you would be right in coast guard controlled waters but NH has a stricter rule.

Rule 25 in part:
...
A vessel under oars may exhibit the lights prescribed in this rule for sailing vessels, but if she does not, she shall have ready at hand an electric torch or lighted lantern showing a white light which shall be exhibited in sufficient time to prevent collision.
...

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/navru...r_Rule25d2.gif

Gavia, there is no provision to allow dark running near shore, two wrongs...

Clearing up some info.
 

They will only be enforcing that 25 mph at night in the specified zones. Also there is a lot of people that are misinformed telling boaters that there is in fact already a speed limit. Which is not true at all. I have heard from two different individuals that were at establishments in Meredith and Wolfeboro.

The kayak in your scenario is still a boat covered by boat regs any time it's in the water. The MP might ignore a pool toy in daylight, close to shore but if you take an inner tube that far out you can expect negative attention if you don't have a PFD. A kayak, canoe, rowboat, or any boat without adequate lights, might as well be a mine. Just another hazard to navigation.

Not all factory installed lights are adequate either (imo). Boaters should leave their lights on at the dock some night and walk off a bit. Those little dime-size green/red lights aren't the attention getters you might want them to be.

Also, it looks like I implied there was only one person needing a talking to but I'm not overly sympathetic to the kayaker either. I'm glad no one got hurt but that was luck. He might as well have been playing Russian Roulette.

As I remembered it, the woman was rowing and the guy was smiling as he waved the lantern!

Can't agree more. I was following a white light last night, not quite knowing which direction he was going because he appeared to have no bow lights. Only when I got pretty close did I see a faint green light. I've always assumed my own were sufficient but now I will check. Can you have brighter bow lights retrofitted?

The visibility requirement for red/green bow lights is 1 mile.

Reporters...
 

From the article:
Does the reporter know if the kayak wasn't equipped with lights, or that Spitzer didn't have a light displayed?

Dang reporters....:confused:

My Bad!
 

I will never question you again! :)

You probably don't want to be out where boats are zipping by without having the proper illumination available. Staying in protected coves or within 150 from shore should keep you fairly safe with enough time to reach shore if you see Captain Bonehead or the MP coming. Yes, it is an infraction, but then so is going 75 on route 93.

Alrighty then - you stay close to the shore...
 

and I promise I won't go 75 on 93!:rolleye2: At least when we are goin in the southbound direction (that's headed for home) - :laugh: