Wake Havoc

Thats a real shame, no one wants to see their boat underwater.
Freeboard in those boats is near nonexistent . Not sure i would keep it tied to open water stern out like that.
I would hate to be the owner of the "wake" boat and get that call from insurance.
At least it didn't get swamped underway with passengers aboard injuring people and hydro locking the engine. At least at the dock it is salvageable, if they were able to float it in a reasonable amount of time.

in MA you are responsible for any damage your wake causes.
hard part is someone proving it was your wake and your wake alone that caused any said damage.
so what it comes down to is who has the better lawyer.

I don't understand why most people surf while never letting go of the rope think they need a 3 foot wave. 99% of the locals here will never progress to riding the wake without the rope to hold on to. What the sport is doing to small lakes around here is terrible.

According to the above posted document
·" Make sure that your wake doesn’t rock other boats, docks, etc. Your wake is considered a part of your boat, and you are responsible for any damage or injury caused by your wake"

Hollywood wrote: Had me at "stern out". Had it coming.

I dunno.

On some shorelines it's not always feasible to put a boat bow out. On our little lake, the dock you see in my avatar, no way I could put either inboard bow out. Jet boat yes, though less convenient. In all our years there I've never seen a boat that could swamp anything I've had tied up, but then again it's only a 3 mile long lake.

I don't know the answer to this one, curious what people think - if a G23 goes by 100 ft. out, and again a 1/2 mile out, is there much difference in the wake that hits the shore?

Two sides of this one is
A, that boat was left kind of vulnerable so I put some of the responsibility of the boat owner.

B. If your body of water isn't large enough to surf then don't ballast up and surf, simple as that..   Go find a larger body of water or a new hobby. If you boat on a little puddle you should not be surfing

After I ski and my wife wakeboards I take her surfing because she enjoys it and owns half the boat, if she wants to surf we surf....when we are in an appropriate area to do so. Typically on our river you can find a place to be out of the way and not really bother anyone. That's just the way the river works, MOST everyone gets along pretty good and stays out of each others way.   Only other places we've surfed are Green lake or Lake Clinton which are large bodies of water that get so blown out you can barely go for a boat ride in the afternoon anyway so might as well do something and surf.

Alan, can you define B.? What is the size of a body of water that is too small to surf?

BTW, I'm not anti-surfing at all. I'm just wondering how to balance the new phenomenon of boats that put out wakes equivalent to 40 ft. cruisers on lakefront property and boats.

63 Skier wrote: Alan, can you define B.? What is the size of a body of water that is too small to surf?

Can't put a hard definition on it but in comparison to some lakes I do or have boated on:

Tyler Lake, CT 187 acres   NO
Deep Lake, Il 200 acres NO
Falls Pond, ma 122 acres NO

Lake Clinton, IL 4900 acres YES
Green Lake, Wi, 7920 acres YES

I also consider whether the shoreline is improved(homes) or unimproved and the impact we will have on others using the lake at that particular time. It comes down to being responsible and courteous.

I do make an exception for fisherman, if I wave and you look the other way...surfs up! That was a joke.....sort of.

81nautique wrote: 63 Skier wrote: Alan, can you define B.? What is the size of a body of water that is too small to surf? Can't put a hard definition on it but in comparison to some lakes I do or have boated on: Tyler Lake, CT 187 acres   NO Deep Lake, Il 200 acres NO Falls Pond, ma 122 acres NO Lake Clinton, IL 4900 acres YES Green Lake, Wi, 7920 acres YES I also consider whether the shoreline is improved(homes) or unimproved and the impact we will have on others using the lake at that particular time. It comes down to being responsible and courteous. I do make an exception for fisherman, if I wave and you look the other way...surfs up! That was a joke.....sort of.

Our lake is 1,149 acres. Another I've skied quite a bit on is 653 acres. I've seen G21 equivalent boats on both.

I know you and I are responsible and courteous, but I think what Quinner says is true. Just like we've at times been aggravated with jet skis or tubers, there will be irresponsible and not at all courteous people throwing giant wakes and causing changes in water sports laws.

63 Skier wrote: 81nautique wrote: [QUOTE=63 Skier] Alan, can you define B.? What is the size of a body of water that is too small to surf? I know you and I are responsible and courteous, but I think what Quinner says is true. Just like we've at times been aggravated with jet skis or tubers, there will be irresponsible and not at all courteous people throwing giant wakes and causing changes in water sports laws.

Sad but true, FYI Quinner lives on the Deep Lake reference above and no one belongs surfing there.

As for your lake at 1149 fully developed I would suspect you couldn't get far enough away from shore to surf it.

Also unfortunatley I don't see any point in trying educate people either because the majority of the boating public has gotten so ignorant to common sense, etiquette, courtesy that it borders on dangerous to approach someone on the water to try to explain anything to them.   Case in point a few weeks ago we were searching for a shoreline to ski and came upon one of our typical spots so I idled down. As we got closer I realized that there was already another boat tucked in to shore using the lane.   They were still on the platform getting geared up and were not even close to getting started so I powered up and ran straight down their line at slalom speed to leave the smallest trace I could. It would have taken me 15 minutes to idle out of their way so running at speed is exactly what I would have expected them to do to me. Well I got fingers and arms up like WTF are you doing to OUR water.    I almost turned around to explain and decided they weren't worth getting me any more upset than I was. I've resigned to the fact that Dumb asses are dumb asses and it's best to leave them alone. Shame really because we will see them again and I'll be that *************** that screwed up their water. Whatever DUDE.

No surfin on our 250 acre lake.



The non factory ballast line is stupid. A fully ballasted G23 would be legal on our lake. That language got put in by a guy involved in the rules committee with a boat with tanks for wakeboarding and he justified it by saying some sailboats have ballast tanks so we cant prohibit those.

(Notice the addition of "Larry's Law" in that language.)

After reading Larry's 8.4.5.8 rule, Wondering what any of you may know about putting random markers out in the lake with regard to state law. On my lake starting to see more and more lakefront owners placing "balls" along their lot lines, problem is they just seem to be putting them further and further out. The wicked witch of the lake put hers about 200 feet from shore this year, she uses those big bouncy balls with a handle.

Read your IL rule book. Laws vary greatly from state to state. ME has few laws. NH is heavily regulated. My belief is the last thing you want to do is call in the law when there's a problem. Try to work it out with the people on the lake, otherwise they start passing laws.

Riley wrote: You guys are heavily regulated, like a country club neighborhood.

And your point is....?





Yeah, there are a lot of rules, some of which are a pain, but they are all worth it to not have jet skis around.

81nautique wrote: 63 Skier wrote: [QUOTE=81nautique] [QUOTE=63 Skier] Alan, can you define B.? What is the size of a body of water that is too small to surf? Also unfortunatley I don't see any point in trying educate people either because the majority of the boating public has gotten so ignorant to common sense, etiquette, courtesy that it borders on dangerous to approach someone on the water to try to explain anything to them.   Case in point a few weeks ago we were searching for a shoreline to ski and came upon one of our typical spots so I idled down. As we got closer I realized that there was already another boat tucked in to shore using the lane.   They were still on the platform getting geared up and were not even close to getting started so I powered up and ran straight down their line at slalom speed to leave the smallest trace I could. It would have taken me 15 minutes to idle out of their way so running at speed is exactly what I would have expected them to do to me. Well I got fingers and arms up like WTF are you doing to OUR water.    I almost turned around to explain and decided they weren't worth getting me any more upset than I was. I've resigned to the fact that Dumb asses are dumb asses and it's best to leave them alone. Shame really because we will see them again and I'll be that *************** that screwed up their water. Whatever DUDE.

So true. Although the only place I don't care about getting into it with someone is at the ramp.