Audio terrorists take to the water

A calm afternoon on Jenkinson Lake, CA was ruined by a group of rich teens (or yuppies) blasting hip-hop and other junk while hundreds were trying to fish and camp in peace. Their powerboat stereo had walloping bass and was audible over most of the 2- mile long lake. Flat water propagates noise with cruel efficiency, like a bullet skipping over the surface.

Swamping the shore with wakes is no longer enough for these spoiled ingrates. Smug power-boaters now want to pollute the air with their sound waves. I don't visit semi-wilderness lakes to hear idiots cranking Devo's "Whip It" while towing brainless chicks on inner-tubes. It really taints a nice day. Loud boat engines are already too numerous.

Some fishermen were not-so-jokingly planning to sabotage the raucous vessel when it docked. Audio terrorism is bad enough in cities, let alone outdoor settings. If I was sheriff these fools would have their boat and truck impounded, with the stereo neutered.

N.C.

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Yes, a rifle shot just below the waterline would have done wonders if circumstance allowed. They spent most of their time near the middle of the lake, which tells you how loud the music was. I am not exaggerating; this was concert-level noise.

Actually, California has plenty of "rednecks" outside the major population zones. But, as the population grows, more thugs seek escape in the remaining "nature" areas which can hardly be called that anymore. Bring on the growth, the idiot businessmen tell us.

N.C.

Although I'm surprised that somebody didn't call the sheriff. Doesn't CA have some kind of statewide noise ordinance for this kind of thing?

I mean if they can restrict leaf blowers...

I sure do run into these "audio terrorists" at stoplights, though, and usually they are in tiny Pacific rim autos with $3000 worth of "stereo" installed, and almost always playing "rap" hoodlum music. Doesn't matter what color the driver is, either. It's always the same crap with the same deep bass beat.

When one pulls up next to me at a stoplight, I usually yell out the window for the jerk to "turn that crap down." Sometimes it works, sometimes I get the "bird."

Man, that music is awful. And it's not an age thing, either. I like rock, even heavy metal and some grunge, and the occasional rap.

Could it be all the anti-powerboat rhetoric?

Sailors apparently never make any noise or behave obnoxiously on the water?

In addition to the "loud music", you list creating wakes and operating boat engines among the many offenses of "smug", "idiotic" powerboaters".

Could it be that you haven't figured out how to convince one of those "brainless chicks" to let you drag her through the water behind your sloop at a blistering 5 knots?

If one group of kids with an inappropriately loud stereo ruined your afternoon that's unfortunate, but given the number of people we meet in all situations these days and the number of inconsiderate behaviors encountered, you must experience a lot of ruined days or weekends. That one group of kids doesn't typify most powerboaters, however, any more than the "smug" and "clueless" group of sailors who suffer from an unwarranted superiority complex and disdain all other types of boating typify sailors.

Do blowboaters ever crank their stereos up or sit on their bow playing 1970's folk music on their guitar in a crowded marina at night?

Tom G.