THE HIGH SEAS Discretion beats valor for kayakers BY BRIAN C. JONES

Rhode Islanders squabble about anything — especially rights of the road. The baseball bat, for example, is standard equipment in cars: you keep one in the trunk in case you need to beat someone to death for cutting you off (it’s happened).

But on Narragansett Bay, which is turning into the state’s watery version of overcrowded Interstate 95, one group that’s not picking a fight represents 450 kayakers and canoeists. The Rhode Island Canoe/Kayak Association (RICKA) recently warned its members to keep out of the way of two of the newest and fast-moving boats on the bay — ferries running at speeds of about 30 knots.

"You do not have right of way. Do not assume the ferry captain will see you. Allow yourself plenty of time to get out of its way!" warns RICKA’s Web site. Caryl Salisbury, editor of the Paddler, the association’s newsletter, also wrote, "These aren’t hulking tankers looming in the distance that allow time for a paddler’s course correction; by the time the ferry is visible, it may be too late to get out of the way."

RICKA is eying two vessels:

The Ocean State, a 68-foot catamaran (meaning it has twin hulls), which runs five to six round trips a day for the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority between Newport and Providence. It carries 149 passengers. The Millennium is a 128-foot catamaran that operates between Quonset Point, North Kingstown, and Martha’s Vineyard, carrying up to 400 passengers at speeds in excess of 30 knots.

Safety experts say the RICKA’s approach, suggesting that members learn the ferries’ schedules and routes rather than claiming illusory "little guy" privileges, makes both common and legal sense.

In fact, canoes and kayaks don’t have special status, says Al Johnson, boating safety specials for the Coast Guard’s First District. He says paddlers are just like other "mariners." "I view them like any vessel: they are bound by rules of the road," Johnson says. "If they are operating in areas where there are ferries, they have to be aware of what’s going on."

From the ferries’ perspective, Mike Glasfeld, of New England Fast Ferry, says the skippers of RIPTA’s Newport-to-Providence boat have reported no conflicts with paddlers. He thinks kayakers here are more "professional" than in other places he’s seen. Night operations are most worrisome, Glasfeld says, because low-in-the-water canoes and kayaks are hard to spot on radar. But he says the Ocean State has two high-powered radars, one for long distance scans, and another to spot objects as close as 400 feet.

Al Wrigley, RICKA’s president, wrote to the Vineyard ferry service earlier in the summer, asking for its exact Narragansett Bay route. As of this writing, he hadn’t heard back.

In any case, the association is advising members to be on the lookout for both boats. As Wrigley says, "Our boats only travel at three-and-a-half miles-an-hour and their boats do 40 miles-an-hour."

And if you’re the one with the paddle, discretion beats protest every time.