Courtesy asked of watercraft operators

Perhaps you read the story last week about the incident in North Haven’s Pulpit Harbor where a coastal schooner captain fired an antique pistol to scare off the operator of a personal watercraft, whom the captain said was being stereotypically obnoxious. (You know the type. You’ve seen him on just about every lake, pond and puddle in Maine.)

According to the story filed by Leanne Robicheau of our Rockland bureau, the captain and owner of the 67-foot coastal schooner was aboard while moored in Pulpit Harbor when a 20-year-old male personal watercraft operator came buzzing into the small harbor at about 6 p.m. He “flew into Pulpit Harbor and under a low bridge where six to eight children were swimming … did a bunch of doughnuts and then did the same maneuvers in the direction of the [schooner],” the story said.

The captain’s version of the story is that when the operator buzzed at a high rate of speed around several anchored boats, “I gave him a very polite signal to please slow it down. … He was frightening my guests.”

According to the captain, the operator slowed his craft and began swearing at him, telling him in no uncertain terms that it was not his (expletive deleted) harbor, “this is my harbor, I live here.”

The angry young man then “started to charge at us wide open,” the captain said, describing how the jet-powered craft was bearing down on the schooner.

Not knowing whether the operator would turn away or whether he was under the influence of intoxicants, the captain sent a deckhand for a signal gun, which resembles “an old pirate toy,” he said. The pistol was loaded with a cap – not black powder or a live round, he said. The captain discharged the old gun. The annoying little craft took off.

“All I was doing was protecting the passengers I have been charged to protect,” said the captain.

“If I had a real handgun I could have used it,” he said, referring to the navigation rules. “The fact that what I did made him stop … it probably saved lives.”

It’s probably a good thing that someone less concerned wasn’t captain, because I think some would have let the young man hit the side of the schooner to see how far he’d bounce, sort of a “Hit your head, give yourself a headache, see if I care, Chummy.”

There’s an investigation under way by the Coast Guard and Marine Patrol to see whether anyone did anything illegal, so stay tuned to see what happens.

Regardless of the legal outcome, there are probably thousands of people around these parts who are rooting for the captain. I’ll bet a large majority of them wish the good captain had a live round in the chamber and that it was aimed right between the cylinders of the little craft. More than a few people would be happy if it and others wound up as aquarium decorations at the sea bottom.

While I wish the operator no physical harm, I would hope that this incident would be a wakeup call to all powerboat operators who think the waters of this state are theirs to burn up.

The fact is that we all have a right to be out there – powerboaters, rowers, paddlers, swimmers and sailors. It’s too bad that a few boat operators armed with too many horsepower and too little common sense can make it unsafe for others.

There are rules for safe boat operation. We all need to follow them.

And then there’s common sense, which unfortunately falls waste to the testosterone-induced high experienced by young (and some not-so-young) males aboard personal watercraft. While in this state of disorientation, their personal compass sends them in circles, they begin to hop up and down, their faces adopt a dopey-looking grin and their right hand develops an uncontrollable urge to mash the throttle wide open.

I’ve watched this phenomenon many times, the most horrific being at the end of the Kenduskeag Stream canoe race several years ago. Two blokes decided that they’d buzz upstream to the finish line. That meant they were buzzing between the concrete walls of Kenduskeag Plaza, throwing up a wake and threatening the safety of canoeists just finishing a long, hard paddle. I think if I’d had a pirate’s pistol handy, there’d have been a couple fewer personal watercraft for the world to contend with.

Maybe the responsible operators of personal watercraft could organize classes to teach sane and safe operation of them. It would be the same as teaching youngsters safe gun handling before sending them out to hunt, or teaching teen-agers how to drive safely, or would-be pilots how to fly.

Whatever the solution, education and responsible operation sure beat an open season on these small craft and their operators.

Looking for a day trip to do with the family? L.L. Bean is holding a free Summer Adventure Day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 11, in Freeport. You’ll get a chance to try a portable rock-climbing wall and Tyrolean Traverse ropes course and a tent city set up in Discovery Park, and there’ll be entertainment and discounts. Details are available at the store.

Another fun time is promised in Rangeley Aug. 14-15 for the fifth annual Outdoor Sporting Heritage Day held by the Region Guides and Sportsmen’s Association at their clubhouse on Old Skyway Road, Oquossoc. There’ll be fly-casting contests and demonstrations to help focus your attention on the region’s rich outdoor sporting heritage. Demonstrations will include tomahawk and knife throwing, black powder rifle shooting, survival skills, foraging, food preparation and numerous historic displays and lectures. Kids will have a chance to fish in a stocked trout pond. Call the Chamber of Commerce at 864-5571 or Don Palmer at 864-5647 for more information.

Jeff Strout’s column is published on Thursdays. He can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.