[Evenstar]

Originally Posted by Woodsy

Actually Evenstar you are flat wrong on this. You cannot tell the approaching speed of a boat heading straight towards you on a Zero (0) bearing.

A boat can be approching me, without being on a zero bearing - which is what I was talking about.

Two foot waves go up and down. My visibility is just fine in waves. If my visibility is so limited, how come I NEVER have trouble spotting other kayaks even when they are a mile or more away, yet many powerboaters say that they have trouble seeing us? I think that visibility is much more of an issue as speed increases - due to many factors.

A small flag similar to that of one used on a childs bicycle will not make your craft unstable. It will allow for much greater visibility, and the more visible you are, the safer you will be, regardless of boat speed.

Well, you are "flat wrong" about this. I'd love to see someone try to roll a kayak that has a flag on a pole attached to it! Self rescues whould be nearly impossible to perform. Do you have any idea of what it's like to paddlle a 23" wide sea kayak in windy conditions? You control these boats by balance and by putting them on edge - which would be virtually impossible in any cross winds, if there was any kind of flag attached to a long pole, which is attached to the kayak. Don't you know anything about leverage? If you can't see my bright red kayak, or my 2 foot square red pfd, or the bright orange blades of my paddles, you're certainly not going to see a little flag. Even the blades of my paddles are bigger than the flag you mentioned.

Your chances of getting run over while playing in the Broads are nil. Too much room and plenty of visibility.

So collisions have never happened in open areas of a large lake? Powerboats traveling at high speeds on an open lake have run into each other. How does that happen? One would think that they could spot each other miles away - yet these kinds of accidents still happen. Maybe powerboats should have large flags on a long pole attached to them.