Harassed on Newnan's?

I wasn't even going to write about this outing. I had done it before and this trip was blissfully uneventful. I did finally notice that Red-winged Blackbirds love bullrush, but that wasn't going to be enough of the good stuff for a blog entry.


That is, until the very end. I had drifted about a quarter of mile offshore and was turning around to locate the canal and head back to the truck. From far off I heard an airboat--the only one on the lake this morning (alligator season is over)--and eventually I saw it. It seemed to be headed right for me, but it was too far away to tell. As I got closer to the canal, the boat corrected its trajectory to where I was paddling. Now in the sunlight, you can pick up Big Blue from a long way off, so there was no doubt he saw me.


Before I knew it he was right up on me. Hyacinth stands line this part of the shore and you have to head between them to get to the canal. The airboat cut through the back of these and was about 25 feet from my port side as I entered the canal. Airboaters wear ear protection for a reason, and I had none. I decided I would not hurry in the least to get back to my truck, so I paddled a few strokes here and there, would drift, look up into the trees, and then paddle again. For the entire length of the canal, this guy stayed about 10 to 15 feet off my stern, juicing his boat just enough to stay that distance back. He followed me all the way up to the dock and then turned around and headed back out to the lake.

Since he had no discernible reason for entering the canal, I can only conclude that he did so to harass me, however "subtly." I am sure he had me pegged as a Quiet Lakes supporter--and I unabashedly am. But I have interacted with numerous airboaters on this lake and others and none of them have behaved like this.


The more I thought about it, the more pissed I got and the more I wanted to let him know that I knew what he was doing. There's still some testosterone rocking around this body after all. So I racked my boat and headed over to the only other place airboats can put in...and there he was pulling up to the dock. I drove up far enough so that he could see my blue boat atop my truck, sat awhile, took some pictures, and eventually left. I have a standing policy never to confront armed men.


I've been paranoid before, as anyone who knows me will attest, but in this case I think I may have a good argument. Nevertheless, I think next week will be a Newnan's week for me and my boat. I plan to be a prominent presence there for a long time, airboats or no airboats.


Update: See comments below from John MacLaren. I'm glad to be wrong about this.