Jet skis and snowmobiles
are fun for the person riding them, but not for the rest of us. I grew up seeing them as being an evil that had to be tolerated, as that area is completely dependent on tourist dollars. While the vast majority will use them responsibly, it's the assholes that get noticed.

One man near my parents had a very nice garden in his yard. One day a snowmobiler decided that he wanted to be out on the frozen lake, so he cut through Jack's yard. Then over the next couple of months, every snowmobiler who came along followed the trail to get to the lake- and Jack's garden became a muddy ruin. I remember well hearing him threaten to get a piano wire and string it about four feet above the ground, right at neck level for a snowmobiler.

Another man I knew had a similar problem. He resolved it with a dozen chunks of rebar driven into the ground so they protruded about six inches- just enough to rip the bottom of a snowmobile to shreds.

Before jet skis it was water skiers. My brother in law and I were very nearly hit by one when he and his buddy decided it would be cool to zip in so close to shore that they could lean down and slap the end of a dock as they went by. Fortunately they missed hitting us- and even more fortunately I recognized the boat. One quick phone call to the sheriff resolved that quite nicely- and that family has never spoken to us since, and has stayed far away.

No, I do not have any love for snowmobiles, jet skis, powerful motorboats, four-wheelers, off-road trucks, dirt bikes or anything else that lets idiots go screaming along through the landscape. Had I my way I would ban the lot of them, other than for use by emergency rescue workers. I have far too many tales of personal experience to tell.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Thu 21 Feb 2008, 20:28, Reply)