State Police Response

Subject: State Police Response to "waking" boater

Good Morning,

I just wanted to relate a story that may be of interest to any of the rowers who were waked, or in my case, completely swamped, by the white cabin cruiser heading upstream this morning.  

I first encountered the boat between the BU bridge and Riverside as we were both heading upstream.  He was a bit slower than I but put out a very substantial wake, which I was in and out of through the powerhouse and Weeks.  I courteously hailed the captain several times, got his and his passenger's attention, and politely asked him to slow and reduce his wake, to no avail.  I managed to get in front of his wake between Weeks and Anderson, at which time, he sped up and completely swamped my single, which I was luckily able to bail out with my water bottle and safely row back to the dock.  When I got back to my car, I called the State Police, gave as much of a description as I could of the boat, and as I had the time, offered to go to the boat ramp to ID the boat.  By the time I drove to CRI, three Troopers were waiting to intercept the boat at the ramp.  I ID'd the boat as it pulled in, and the police took my statement.  As I left, they were giving both boat and passengers a very thorough going-over.  

So in case you wondered what would happen if you report a reckless boater, the Police do take it very seriously.