Skeet shooting and golf

I remember being able to shoot skeet off the stern of the ship. I did it on 2 cruises in the 80's one was a Carnival ship and the other was a Chandris ship. They only offered it on one sea day. It was a fun experience and I remember that shotgun had a kick.

In addition, I remember hitting golf balls off the stern on the other sea day. I assume they stopped that because of enivornmential reasons or the cost of golf balls.

In this age of terrorism, widespread stupidity, happy hours, smuggled alcohol, moving ships decks, and many cruise staff whose first language is not English, handing loaded shotguns to clueless passengers is probably not the wisest action to take.

The pollution issues also come up:

The lead shot and plastic wadding from the shotgun shells is strictly prohibited from going into the sea. The lead shot can be replaced by other materials, but this is very expensive. There is no commercially available replacement for the plastic wadding.

The "clay pigeons" are strictly prohibited from going into the sea. These can be made from fish food, but are quite expensive.

Rubber golf balls are prohibited from going into the sea.

Golf balls made from fish food are available, but are quite expensive.

We were watching an old episode of the Love Boat on DVD recently and were shocked to see them skeet shooting on board the ship. Since we have only been cruising since the year 2000 the idea of passengers shooting a gun on a ship was shocking. How times have changed.

Times sure have changed. I understand not having skeet shooting due to the "gun" factor, but they should allow the driving range with eco golf balls. They cost $10 per dozen for the average consumer, but I"m sure the cruise lines could by in bulk and lower that rate. Hell, I'd hit a couple dozen!

I remember skeet shooting from my first cruise in 1998. There was a pretty heated competition going on between two guys in different cabins to see who was the better shot!

Nowadays, I can't believe they did that. In fact, even at the time, I remember the comedian onboard joking about it.

Golf is still alive and well on some ships - just not firing the balls off the stern. Mini golf courses are on many newer Royal Caribbean and Princess ships.

Even if the balls were environmentally friendly, I doubt the lines would re-instate it - the casual observer wouldn't know that they're eco-friendly, and probably get the lines in a lot of hot water. Not worth it.

We shot skeet off the stern on Festivale in 1984. I always blamed myself for the demise of this. My dh yelled "duck"; I turned with the gun and said "what"?

...........The lead shot and plastic wadding from the shotgun shells is strictly prohibited from going into the sea. The lead shot can be replaced by other materials, but this is very expensive...........

Lead shot was outlawed and replaced in the US over twenty years ago. The waterfowl (ducks and geese for instance) suffered from lead poisoning when they ingested the spent shot.

It was replaced with steel shot... but I am sure that would not be welcomed in the ocean either.

I remember skeet shooting from my first cruise in 1998. There was a pretty heated competition going on between two guys in different cabins to see who was the better shot!.....

My brother and I did it on our 1991 cruise. Problem was they had us shooting on the port side rather than the stern. We had a strong wind which drove the clay birds on a wild arc. :mad: You had to really lead them to have any chance of hitting them.

I remember skeet shooting from my first cruise in 1998. There was a pretty heated competition going on between two guys in different cabins to see who was the better shot!.....

My brother and I did it on our 1991 cruise. Problem was they had us shooting on the port side rather than the stern. We had a strong wind which drove the clay birds on a wild arc. :mad: You had to really lead them to have any chance of hitting them.

Yes, I remember shooting skeet in the Caribbean, I hit 3 out of 5 shots, was a good thing.

I don't know if this is still done but I remember shooting skeet off some ship (might have been on board the QE2 during a world cruise) with a very realistic looking 12 gauge shotgun that fired laser light rather than lethal shot. The target pigeons were made of a biodegradable reflective material that weighed as much as clay, were launched like a standard clay peigion and flew exactly like the real deal. The shotgun was tethered to a decent sized sound system that sounded pretty real when you fired and also recorded hits if the laser reflected light back from the pigeon to a deck mounted light receiver. The shotgun also had a mechanism that provided a realistic 'kick' when you fired. The whole package was clever, environmentally friendly and safe for people to use - even those that don't know anything about weapons or get 'over served' when cruising. I think we paid $1.00 for every pigeon launched. Great fun.

Lead shot was outlawed and replaced in the US over twenty years ago. The waterfowl (ducks and geese for instance) suffered from lead poisoning when they ingested the spent shot.

 

It was replaced with steel shot... but I am sure that would not be welcomed in the ocean either.

Lead shot is outlawed WHILE HUNTING, only IN SOME STATES and even then only IN SOME SPECIFIC HUNTING AREAS. Since the ban, virtually no improvement had been found in the lead levels in the condors the bans claimed to protect... The ban hasn't worked because lead shot was not the source of lead in wildlife, and those who supported the bans know this.

Now, having said that, the idea of a biodegradable load is an interesting one... Especially since, unlike condors, fish tend to thoughtlessly eat tiny objects.

The hulls and wadding can be paper. Fast burning powder will avoid residue... But the shot itself has to be heavy, durable, and water soluble...

It's an interesting question...

I shot skeet (& won my BIL considerable $$$) off the SS Norway in 1995

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Lead shot was outlawed and replaced in the US over twenty years ago. The waterfowl (ducks and geese for instance) suffered from lead poisoning when they ingested the spent shot.

 

It was replaced with steel shot... but I am sure that would not be welcomed in the ocean either.

Truly another case of overzealous environmental concerns; there's got to be more steel sitting at the bottom of Pearl Harbor than would ever accumulate from the steel shot of skeet shooting off the stern.