Narrative:

During water run for takeoff; a high speed motor boat appeared from the opposite direction. I elected to continue takeoff. Some evasive maneuvering was required by the boat and me. Incident occurred on the lower snohomish river. Prior to landing; I overflew the landing and takeoff area of river looking for logs and boats. Two jet skies were spotted; but had stopped down river. I landed up river from the jet skies and slowly taxied down river to ensure jet skies not active. They remained stationary and appeared to video my takeoff. After getting on step; a high speed motor boat appeared around the slight bend in the river headed upstream on a collision course. I elected to continue the takeoff; as we were seconds from liftoff. I maneuvered slightly to the right side of the river; but the boat maneuvered to the same side (his left). After a couple of adjustments; we were airborne before the boat reached us and he passed underneath and on our right side. The boat did not slow down; moved to the incorrect side of the river and did not give way to vessel going with the current (me). However; seaplanes must make every effort to avoid all other vessels on the water. But; standard boating rules of the road would have avoided the conflict. The decision to continue takeoff was correct. The boat appeared at the worst time since trying to stop would have taken longer than to take off. The river is 200+ ft wide; my wings 31 ft. There was plenty of room to pass if the boat had followed rules of navigation. I felt I had good visibility down river and had checked for boats; but the slight bend in the river hid the fast moving motor boat. I should have taxied further downstream for a longer view down river.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Amphibious homebuilt pilot experienced a close encounter with a speed boat.

Narrative: During water run for takeoff; a high speed motor boat appeared from the opposite direction. I elected to continue takeoff. Some evasive maneuvering was required by the boat and me. Incident occurred on the lower Snohomish River. Prior to landing; I overflew the landing and takeoff area of river looking for logs and boats. Two jet skies were spotted; but had stopped down river. I landed up river from the jet skies and slowly taxied down river to ensure jet skies not active. They remained stationary and appeared to video my takeoff. After getting on step; a high speed motor boat appeared around the slight bend in the river headed upstream on a collision course. I elected to continue the takeoff; as we were seconds from liftoff. I maneuvered slightly to the right side of the river; but the boat maneuvered to the same side (his left). After a couple of adjustments; we were airborne before the boat reached us and he passed underneath and on our right side. The boat did not slow down; moved to the incorrect side of the river and did not give way to vessel going with the current (me). However; seaplanes must make every effort to avoid all other vessels on the water. But; standard boating rules of the road would have avoided the conflict. The decision to continue takeoff was correct. The boat appeared at the worst time since trying to stop would have taken longer than to take off. The river is 200+ FT wide; my wings 31 FT. There was plenty of room to pass if the boat had followed rules of navigation. I felt I had good visibility down river and had checked for boats; but the slight bend in the river hid the fast moving motor boat. I should have taxied further downstream for a longer view down river.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.