New HPX-V 17 horsepower limit

[Wanaflatsfish]

10 hours ago, Marshfly said:

Gators move out of the way much faster than manatees. I've been running boats since I was 12 or so and so has most of Terrebonne Parish and I can honestly say that I can't remember ever hearing of someone hitting a gator. 

Logs occasionally but not so much to keep the bass boat guys from running 60+ everywhere. Honestly, I think because we have a ton of commercial oilfield boats running around our canals and bayous constantly it keeps a lot of stuff cleaned out. That, plus stuff getting stuck in the shallow soft mud and not really moving since our tides are small keeps most woody debris out of the main waterways. Or since we have a lot of water lilies they will get caught in downed trees and make them easy to see.

I hit a gator / croc coming out of Wood Key in my Pathy back in 2009.  I was running out of the back cove and it was sitting on a large mud bank...it jumped off in front of the boat as I was spinning up in about 2 foot of water...I hit it and shot about 10 feet into the air....it was tragic...there was nothing I could have done to prevent it......but, my JP was up on 5 and I fired up across the mud flat....the crabs dined well that evening.....anytime i see a manatee I always slow down...I would hate to hit one of the gentle creatures....they have such a funny and playful face....here's one that came to visit DonH and I one day up near Joe Kemp Key.....

 

choko don reds day small-6 by Dino Cardelli, on Flickr

I run my skinny mini (Pathy 17t) with a max speed of about 26mph and cruise at 23-24 and to be honest..it's a nice speed to see the sights and be "safe"...I run the bights and the shallows on the regular basis and I find that at this speed...I can react....not saying everyone needs to go slow...but, I"m with Conocean....when you are run WOT in a flats boat...bad things can happen.....just running aground at 40mph can eject a passenger......just saying....

 

dc

 

[conocean]

My fellow MBC forum members.....let's remember that we are all on the same team. It doesn't matter where we run our boats.....there is always, and I mean ALWAYS, a chance of hitting sealife, birds, trees, logs, downed markers, etc, etc, etc regardless if we're in bayous, bays, deep channels, shallow channels, flats, rivers or the ocean. I think we can ALL agree that it's naïve to believe there is nothing to hit where we run our boats.

Boat insurance claim stats clearly show that most bad things happen anytime a boat runs more than 40mph. That's just a fact which cannot be argued. Again, running slower is simply safer no matter where we are.

Sorry for derailing this post!  

p.s. I love the word "pedantic" and I'm going to make it my new word of choice for 2017. Thanks, Marshfly!  

[jason p]

OK, what does pedantic mean?

[Moderator]

I had to look it up too, Jason..

From the Urban Dictionary:

 

 

pedantic

A state of mind which is about caring a lot about formalities, often more than necessary. One may be called pedantic when he/she points out corrections in unimportant details.

[Marshfly]

10 hours ago, jason p said:

OK, what does pedantic mean?

I was referring to the discussion turning from a simple misprint on the Maverick Website about a HP limitation to nitpicking about the safety of running around at 45 mph on the water. Slightly out of the strike definition of pedantic but definitely right in there.

Glad I could add a new word to peoples rotation for 2017. 

 

In somewhat related news, last week the local wildlife agents towed a dead whale to one of there remote facilities and tied it up so it wouldn't be a navigation hazard!