Wow that's pretty crazy CaptAlan! What a nightmare, literally!!

I've been aggressed by overzealous cops kayaking at night, once also nearly run over for no good reason at all. Then I had to educate the two on board about lights on kayaks. I had a 3 foot mast (Scotty mount) on the stern with a 360 while LED conical light, visible from far away. They said that I looked like a small vessel running without the bow red/green lights. That's actually what they claimed caused them to "rush me". Kayaks aren't required to have those, although I sometimes do clip on those lil button LED lights. I always have also have a strobe strapped to my upper arm that I will activate if needed.

Of course if the operator of a vessel isn't paying attention, no amount of signaling will do any good.

I think it also a sign of the times. Most people really don't pay proper attention to what's going on around them. You can see it the way people drive with all kinds of distractions, namely their phones and gps devices. People will operate their boats the same way they drive on the highway! Cops are just people too, so it's not surprising to see them doing the same thing sometimes, although they should know better! As a kayaker I make it a point to stay away from any boating channels as much as I can, even in the daytime. I will say though that the boaters in Florida Bay are a lot nicer and seem more competent than the general boating public of South Flariduh!

Thanks for the compendium. The thing is that regulations typically only point out the things you CAN'T do, so they're not gonna spell out what you actually CAN do. The ranger we spoke with at Shark Valley was nice and said that we can paddle anywhere in the Park 24/7 as long as the area isn't posted as closed or has restricted access points. It also didn't hurt that we were talking about all of this "after the fact" on the way out!

Skinny water is your friend, REALLY skinny water can save your life.

Get out of the channel and into the shallowest water you can paddle. That's the only place that's idiot proof! The idiots run aground before they run over you. I'll take a prop scar in the grass over a bow to the head* anytime!

I hate open water crossings, especially at night. You don't know what folks (knowledgeable & drunk or sober & stupid) with motors are capable of!

*I was going to say prop scar to my ass, but I promised Keith that I wouldn't use any inappropriate language on the site and I wasn't sure if it was OK to use the word ass when not referring to a donkey..

Yes... Thanks for the compendium. It is now stored on my tablet / GPS.

Reading through it raised a question about the location of the rookeries. I know where Cutbert is and where another one between Hells Bay and Lane is... but not what that one is called. I have no idea where the third is, and I could not find this information anywhere.

I'm guessing this info is not published on purpose?