1)Education is the key. The water is for everyone.I think paddleboarders and kayers and boaters should have to take boating courses or exempted for years of experience. At least this way they would have to learn some common knowledge and learn some common courtesy. 2)I think anyone that is manning a vessel on the water should carry insurance, and have to have a registration sticker and life jackets. Only boaters have that responsibilty now. My fear is that someone eventually is going to have an accident. Jet ski’s should also be included.3) Not all, but alot of these rental places don’t want any regulations, just income. Shem Creek is a nightmare. Its like a maze trying to get to the harbor. Simple red , right , return. Don’t block the channel. Born here ,lived here 55 years and I see more stupidity and lack of saftey,and coutesy on the water more and more. Thanks for the rant.
quote:</font id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”>
BLUEWAVE 18’ 90 YAMAHA
KEYWEST 17’ 90 JOHNSON
BUZZ-BOAT 16’ 20 MERCURY
“If your gonna be stupid ,you better be tough.”
So I’m a product of the charleston county public school system. Right on the money Tigerfinz, what you said and its ok if you misspelled a word here or there. Ya’ll stop being so sensitive about the word butthole, geez act like a bunch of women
Sheepherder
Sorry for miss- spelling a few words, I was typing fast. I was not posting to offend anyone. Just pointing out the same thing you did. People can be rude and self-serving, especially on the water. Also I do not care what adjectives you use. There are just too many people on the water this day that do not care about anybody else. How was the spelling?
quote:
BLUEWAVE 18’ 90 YAMAHA
KEYWEST 17’ 90 JOHNSON
BUZZ-BOAT 16’ 20 MERCURY
“If your gonna be stupid ,you better be tough.”
So - in regards to the paddleboarders, what can be done? Seriously - if there’s someone I can write a letter to, I’ll do it. Give me a phone number and I’ll make the call. There is going to be a tragic accident on Shem Creek in the very near future because of their incompetence, inexperience and overall unwillingness to pay attention. That Odyssey board shop needs to be liable for a lot of this, as they’ll walk the paddleboarders down to the ramp, give them a 2 minute demo and then leave. The people lay out all their stuff on the ramps and do their walk-throughs and safety checks - tying up the ramps continuously. But being out in the water is even more dangerous. It’s just nonsense: hanging out under the Shem Creek bridge, blocking the waterway, I got behind two of them the other day, jousting on their boards in front of Reds. I’m trying to get through and they’re fighting and poking at each other. I was scared to pass them - knowing one of them would get knocked off as soon as I tried to get through. Then the worst of it - last weekend, I’m pulling my boat out of the water - my trailer is on the ramp and I’m idling up to it - when two paddleboarders cut across in front of my boat to get to the dock. There is maybe 10’ between my trailer and my moving boat - and they decide that area is the best place to be.
I just don’t get it. It’s beyond maddening. And it’s tax dollars that support these ramps. Boat registrations, gasoline taxes, fishing licenses… All of which I spend a fortune on and all of which they contribute nothing toward.
I think they should have a kayak/paddleboard only loading area. And they should have to have a sticker on the vessel that they pay DNR for in order to use public facilities. Everyone else that uses them has too, whether fishing off the dock, or running a power boat. I think that would solve a lot of the problems.
One positive note- I heard that in connection with the new bridge over the Folly River Charleston County is going to put a new dock/ramp for kayakers and paddle boarders to use exclusively. I believe it will be the closest ramp to the new bridge.It won’t help out on the water but it should reduce congestion on the boat ramps.Now if the po-po would enforce the parking regulations concerning no vehicle only parking in the long vehicle plus trailer spaces.
Sheepherder
Sorry for miss- spelling a few words, I was typing fast. I was not posting to offend anyone. Just pointing out the same thing you did. People can be rude and self-serving, especially on the water. Also I do not care what adjectives you use. There are just too many people on the water this day that do not care about anybody else. How was the spelling?
Tigerfinz no offense taken. What you said was right on the money. Thanks for the input.
That other stuff was directed at DolphinD for being a dork about spelling and blah blah like he is perfect, its obvious what that the D probably is short for D—.
quote:
BLUEWAVE 18’ 90 YAMAHA
KEYWEST 17’ 90 JOHNSON
BUZZ-BOAT 16’ 20 MERCURY
“If your gonna be stupid ,you better be tough.”
Mt Pleasant and Charleston County need to build some new access points for the kayakers and paddle-boarders. That would help spread the traffic out some and alleviate some of the congestion at boat ramps.
It amazes me how so many who participate in that activity are crunchy whole foods shoppers with electric cars, gym memberships, and yoga mats. But when it’s time to be “one with nature” they choose the most polluted, crowded, developed commercial creek in the state. To me that would be like having a picnic in a pretty spot in the median of I-95
wow i live in wnc and love to fish the charleston area 3 or 4 times a year in my kayaks.i trailer them back down ramps and have always tried to be quick and courteous.but now reading a group of fishermen argue and bash each other makes me not feel welcome to fish there.sad.one thing i have learned over the years is you can’t change anything until a group stands together and speaks as one.
Don’t let this thread scare you away. I think the real focus of this post was ignorant and/or inconsiderate boaters. I certainly don’t think anyone has a problem with boaters/yakers that practice considerate boating, i.e., not blocking ramps, paddling away from people fishing etc…
This kind of thing is pretty typical, spend enough time here you’ll figure out who to listen to and who to ignore. Some folks just get their panties in a wad.
“Apathy is the Glove into Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”.
Bassy we are speaking together and we agree most people are jerks!!!
Speaking of, me and a buddy went fishing last Friday behind Goat Island by the docks. I know it’s not a secret hole by any means but where he wanted to go (he’s a noobie) and its his boat. Anyway we set up and within 10 I get a small red. Within 20 minutes there are 3 other boats parked within 80 yards of us fishing… ALLL of that water out there and they had to fish right next to us. A stretch of bank that’s nothing special going from 2 fishermen/80 yards to ~14/80 yards is nuts. Luckily nobody caught anything and I convinced my buddy to move up the creek a bit and we did much better at the spot I wanted to go.
To all of you that don’t know, yes there are spots out there that are better than others but there are little to no spots that are so good they can produce for 14 anglers at one time. To my knowledge fish cannot teleport and literally anything that holds water has potential to catch fish as they are likely to swim by at some point. I would rather fish some random spot I’ve never been but looks decent then my best spot with 6 other fishermen.
But seriously if we all just keep calm and try to be considerate of others it will all work out. If waiting on somebody at the ramp or in the channel for 15 minutes ruins your day you probably didn’t plan it right.
So - in regards to the paddleboarders, what can be done? There is going to be a tragic accident on Shem Creek in the very near future because of their incompetence, inexperience and overall unwillingness to pay attention. That Odyssey board shop needs to be liable for a lot of this, as they’ll walk the paddleboarders down to the ramp, give them a 2 minute demo and then leave.
end of rant.
The other day we saw 3 girls on paddle boards that had drifted under the Shem Creek Bridge and were all into the bridge pilings. One was in the water and one was moments from falling off her board. All we could do was yell to the girl that was about to fall off the board and probably against a piling was to yell at her SIT DOWN…SIT DOWN NOW!!! and told the girl in the water to not stand up and avoid the oysters.
My friend’s boat would have made things worse because of it’s size. I didn’t hear anything about them on the news, so I guess they managed to go see the dolphins.
That board operator really does need to hire some guides to see that the people can at least manage to paddle past Reds without being a menace to themselves.
“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad
Equipment:
190cc Sea Pro w/130 Johnson
1- 20 year old (boy of leisure)
1 - 17 year old (fishing maniac)
1 - wife (The Warden)
Went to Pitt Street bridge. Got held up since family is in town and ended up there at dead low tide (almost no water at all)… anyway as soon as the tide started coming up and the fish started moving in for the 15 or so fishermen and 10 crabbers that had been waiting an hour or so. Then 8 kayaks, 2 paddleboarders, and an eager black lab came plowing through the only water there was to fish. They opted not to turn towards the harbor and take the exit that would not go through most of the fishing lines. The 180# girl with the 60# dog couldn’t keep him in the boat (~10’ yak) so he’ll likely return home with cut feet.
I do think they all had their lifejackets though some were the crap orange ones…
On a side note we there were a lot of flounder there, many small, and a black drum.
