Narrative:

On takeoff from a local pond; my seaplane passed within 100 ft horizontal; 200 ft vertical of a man on a paddle board. The man was visibly upset. He later approached the seaplane and said he was going to report a separation violation to the FAA. From his use of the phonetic alphabet he appeared to have aviation knowledge. The episode occurred during brief operations in the menemsha pond; near the town of menemsha on martha's vineyard; ma. It was a clear day; but there were strong winds out of the north making seaplane operations outside in the bay impossible. I met a passenger on a beach on a channel leading from the pond to the bay. After picking up the passenger; I taxied back down the channel for departure. During taxi I observed a man standing on a paddle board in the channel heading north towards the town. The channel was constrained by a land on the west side and very shallow water on the east side. I slowly taxied for about 5 minutes until well into the pond where the water became increasingly rough. When I had enough distance for takeoff with clearance from the town and associated boat parking area; I turned for takeoff. Before takeoff I scanned the channel for boats or people. I did not observe the paddler and assumed he had gone to the beach. For takeoff I remained in the channel to avoid shallow water. After liftoff I observed the paddler still in the channel some distance ahead. I diverted the seaplane slightly away from him to the east and over shallow water. The seaplane was at maximum gross weight. With gusty wind conditions; I climbed at best rate (not best angle). When I passed the paddler I watched to insure adequate separation. I was more than 100 ft away and 200 ft over the water when I passed. He made an obscene gesture as I passed. When I returned the passenger to the beach; the paddler approached the airplane. He read out loud the registration number and said he was making a report to the FAA. It is my understanding of the regulations that the separation was legal for takeoff or landing. I in no way jeopardized the paddler. In fact; by operating over the shallow water; I put the airplane at greater risk. A second seaplane pilot observed the takeoff from the beach. He was present when the paddler came towards the airplane and made his threats. The second seaplane pilot told me he did not see any dangerous or unreasonable loss of separation. It was his opinion that the paddler was simply startled and angry. The situation could have been avoided if I had spotted the paddler before takeoff. Unfortunately a single person standing on a board against a background of beach dunes made spotting him difficult.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Seaplane pilot taking off from Menemsha Pond on Martha's Vineyard reports conflict with a man on a paddle board.

Narrative: On takeoff from a local pond; my seaplane passed within 100 FT horizontal; 200 FT vertical of a man on a paddle board. The man was visibly upset. He later approached the seaplane and said he was going to report a separation violation to the FAA. From his use of the phonetic alphabet he appeared to have aviation knowledge. The episode occurred during brief operations in the Menemsha Pond; near the town of Menemsha on Martha's Vineyard; MA. It was a clear day; but there were strong winds out of the north making seaplane operations outside in the bay impossible. I met a passenger on a beach on a channel leading from the pond to the bay. After picking up the passenger; I taxied back down the channel for departure. During taxi I observed a man standing on a paddle board in the channel heading north towards the town. The channel was constrained by a land on the west side and very shallow water on the east side. I slowly taxied for about 5 minutes until well into the pond where the water became increasingly rough. When I had enough distance for takeoff with clearance from the town and associated boat parking area; I turned for takeoff. Before takeoff I scanned the channel for boats or people. I did not observe the paddler and assumed he had gone to the beach. For takeoff I remained in the channel to avoid shallow water. After liftoff I observed the paddler still in the channel some distance ahead. I diverted the seaplane slightly away from him to the east and over shallow water. The seaplane was at maximum gross weight. With gusty wind conditions; I climbed at best rate (not best angle). When I passed the paddler I watched to insure adequate separation. I was more than 100 FT away and 200 FT over the water when I passed. He made an obscene gesture as I passed. When I returned the passenger to the beach; the paddler approached the airplane. He read out loud the registration number and said he was making a report to the FAA. It is my understanding of the regulations that the separation was legal for takeoff or landing. I in no way jeopardized the paddler. In fact; by operating over the shallow water; I put the airplane at greater risk. A second seaplane pilot observed the takeoff from the beach. He was present when the paddler came towards the airplane and made his threats. The second seaplane pilot told me he did not see any dangerous or unreasonable loss of separation. It was his opinion that the paddler was simply startled and angry. The situation could have been avoided if I had spotted the paddler before takeoff. Unfortunately a single person standing on a board against a background of beach dunes made spotting him difficult.

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.