Re: Questions : Kayaking with Boats present

Rick Cortese wrote:
 >Unless you are in your own home, you may have
 >> the "duty to retreat" in your state. This means if someone is 
harassing you,
 >> you have to leave the area. I'm as serious as a broken leg about 
this, you
 >> have to leave or you will be charged with a crime.

And John Weiss replied:
 >In context, there is a serious flaw in your "duty to retreat" 
argument:  >A kayaker is ABSOLUTELY UNABLE to "retreat" from a 
powerboat!  All he >can do is <snip>

There is another possible flaw here, in some (most? all?) states your 
boat may be recognized *as* your own home when you are aboard, and some 
people live aboard their boat as a primary residence. Also, even in 
states that require you to "retreat", there are usually extenuating 
cir***stanses that may be recognized as legal allowing you to stand if 
you cannot, for one reason or another, retreat without futher 
endangering your life. You are also in most states allowed to defend the 
life of a loved one, in or out of a home, so that may add another 
dimension. Of course, all of this depends on how good your defense 
lawyer is...
In my state, if I were to defend myself inside my home from an armed 
attacker which resulted in killing the attacker, I would bury the 
slimeball somewhere and tell no one. Here it was declared some years ago 
by the state illegal to defend one's self, but the lawsuits are the 
worst part - you will lose everything even if you are declared innocent.