GL: Are we a bigoted group of boaters?

[Kurt Reno]

All boaters are bigoted in one way or another.   In defense of LarryZ;  I have
been on this list long enough to respect Larry and understand where he comes
from on some of his posts.  Many of his posts are not borne out of zealotry
but borne out of physics.   There is a huge difference between a 35 or 40 ft
boat going 22 knots in the ICW and a 55+ foot boat doing the same from a
purely physical point of view.

There is no guarantee on the ICW of depth even in the channels.  The ICW is
also much more prone to collecting debris and shoaling than is the open waters
of large lakes and the ocean.  If your depth is say 8 to 10 feet and you are
up on plane in a 35 foot boat you are in danger of striking the bottom at say
3.5ft.  That is around 44% of the depth you are crossing.  There can be
something like a log sticking up 4 feet and you are still fine.   The 55+ foot
boat is going to weight probably three times as much and displace perhaps 4.5
feet. Now we are over 50% of the channel depth on plane.  The same 4 foot log
combined with three times the momentum suddenly causes a great amount of
damage.

Personally I think anybody planning a boat in waters shallower than three
times the draft is nuts in waters not totally familiar to them. When the draft
on my boat approaches 50% of the depth in unfamiliar waters I get nervous at 6
knots.

I think Larry was thinking more in terms of the physical end of things than
the rites and bigotry end of things.  Correct me if I am wrong.