Inlet Accidents?

[Billfish715]

To the boat operators out there........what kinds of near misses have you had with the new breed of water sportsmen while you were trying to operate your vessel? This recent incident in the M.I. while almost a tragedy, could have been avoided.

The amount of people competing for space on our waterways is becoming more and more dangerous. We almost ran over a kyaker in the fog near the mouth of the inlet. He had no flag and the waves were 4 footers. To say he was invisible is an understatement. The wave runners get right up your propwash or the boat in front of you in the inlet. We almost hit a backseat passenger from a wave runner who fell off in the mouth of the inlet right in front of us on the bottom of the outgoing tide with tightly stacked waves. If you've ever negotiated that inlet on the bottom of the tide with a strong SE wind you can appreciate how dangerous that situation was.

Once you're inside the inlet, and think you're safe, you then come up on the stand up paddle boarders and 'yak renters and even more wave runners. I'm surprised there haven't been more accidents and I'm even more surprised at the absence of the Marine State Police.

Have any of you had any close calls with some of the new recreational morons?