I'v seen it all now - PWC's

Went out of Howth Thursday evening to give the boat a run after getting a new part for the engine. On our way back into harbour at around 1945hrs we were amazed to see a jetski (PWC) heading out towards Irelands Eye with 3 people on board.
This you might say is nothing unusual except for the fact that of the three people aboard only the driver had a floatation device on, the other 2 (one was a boy aged about 7 years and the other was a large male) were wearing their everyday clothes - runners, tracksuit top, T shirt, trousers etc.
We carried on towards the slip and had to wait while a rib was being taken out of the water, this was taking a long time so we grabbed hold of a mooring bouy and cut the engine.
While we waited the PWC returned (all still aboard) and messed about between the slip and ourselves. I'd like to point out at this stage that low water had been at 1830hrs and the tide was starting to rise in the harbour. All of a sudden as the PWC was passing us , she flipped over and threw all three people into the water.
The driver (I refuse to call him a skipper) managed to clamber back aboard, I rushed for a pole I had aboard in order to give help to the boy but he also managed to climb back aboard. This left the rather large male splashing about in the water, luckly for him, he had fallen in on a bit of a sand bank and was able to stand up with the water level above his waist. Little did he know that there was a deep channel between him and the slipway, and the water level was rising fairly quickly.
The PWC was unable to go to his help and as he tried to wade towards shore he kept going into deeper water. The only solution left was for us to get over to him and get him to hold onto the side rail of our boat (he was far too heavy to try and get aboard). This he done and we were able to drag him towards the slip where he disappeared quickly into the distance.
This has to be one of the most stupid things I have seen in a long time, and I'd hate to think what would have been the outcome if that had happened outside the harbour.

[url=http://www.darwinawards.com/]Darwin Award[/url] candidates seem to have a liking for jetskis.

where you see a jetski on the water a plonker wont be far away.

I never thought I'd say this, but it appears that you have found a situation where catch and release should not have been considered. :lol:

Fair play to you for landing the twit, though. I hope he appreciates it.

I hope you had a good laugh at their expense. Idiots.

As a shore angler I get really upset at the antics of jet ski users and, it has to be said, some other power boat users.

Most fishing boats will slow down as they pass anglers to avoid fuss, but you'll always get the weekend warriors who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the water.

I got some satisfaction a couple of years ago when an idiot in a speed boat ran onto the "button" near Cahore -- a rock about 200 yards out to sea that's submerged at high tide. It was a twin engine and he spend about 2 hours getting back to the pier by going around in circles :lol: :lol:

Yeh some people never learn.

Just a few other points that happened.

1) There is a speed limit when you enter Howth Harbour (as there is in all other Harbours), we were doing 4.4 knots coming in, he had to be doing somewhere between 15 and 20 knots when he was leaving the harbour.

2) They tried to make out that the flip was planned - no way was it, the driver and the other person were just trying to save face in front of ourselves and those on shore.

3) After a short while, this chap in the water was starting to show signs of 'Hypothermia' and was starting to shake a lot. All he was able to do was hold on to one of the marker poles until we got him out of there.

4) The driver was not the owner, because as we were getting the boat onto the trailer there was an argument going on beside us, between the driver and another person about a new hole that had appeared on the underside of the PWC.

I hope they learned their lesson and if not, there might not be someone there to help if it was to happen again.

Where do these clowns materialise from? Slowing down as you pass another boat, which is fairly basic seamanship, seems to have become a thing of the past..in the last few years i've lost count of the amount of times i've had idiots come blasting past me at full pelt

There is a guy operating in Wexford harbour who seems to have no courtesy towards those within the inner harbour. One guy who was fishing beside me was nearly thrown from a punt because of the wake produced the this guy. Apparently he was "en pointe" (ballet) during the resulting discussion ;) :)

I hate jet skiers. If any of you out there are Jet skiers then tuff! I hate you all. They are a menace and any time you are near a slip they seem to have no concept of manners at all. They try to launch when you are retreiving your boat or else they try to squeeze in and retreive while you are obviously in their way. I mean here are people trying to use a slip with a boat that may be worth between 8 - 25 grand and they are taking stupid risks with launching trolleys and jet skis!. I have had them tailing me when in the sea in my boat trying to jump my wake etc. A couple of years ago there was an incident with one colliding with a boat and people were killed! Only a couple of weeks ago i was in Westport and seen the RNLI rib being towed through the town to be launched to save two jet skiers who had flipped in Clew bay in a bad sea. One of them was sadly drowned!

I am sure there are nice genuine jet ski users out there who take it seriously but most of the ones i've encountered are either scumbags or chancers with no concept of how to navigate through harbours, boats and more importantly yachts! Its always the same types. They are even worse when you ar shore fishing. Completely oblivious to other people buzzing around in front of you and ruining any chance of catching a fish. I've seen them stupidly run out of fuel too. :roll: Going around on those things without a life jacket or a radio is just begging to die. Run out of fuel aor have trouble on a boat is one thing. Have it happen on a Jet Ski is something different all together :!: