Rant: Water slobs.

[harringtondav]

This is a complaint w/o a solution. AKA a whine. Thinking about the next boating season and my largest gripe: water slobs. Our summer place is on a Miss river slough 200 meters above the end of a no-wake marker. The slough is maybe 75 yards wide With a 40 yard channel. We constantly see boaters violating the 100' on-plane clearance law, approaching fast, or exiting in a hurry. With kids on tubes, etc. The DNR and Sheriff both slip at the marina mid no-wake. This should be happy hunting grounds for them, but I've only seen them nab someone once in 7 yrs. Cruisers blast through close, ignoring my neighbor's docks and boats lurching in their 2' wake.

...And that continual flow of beer cans and plastic bottles. All a blatant disrespect for laws and common courtesy.

OK, end of rant. Sorry.

 

[alldodge]

Understand and feel your pain, but not sure staying 100 off would help a lot. I use to boat on the Ohio in Louisville a lot. We would see a big cruiser go by on the other side and 10 minutes or so later there would be one heck of a large wake come in. Same thing goes in the lake I boat now, I see them pass and a bit later here comes the wake

 

[harringtondav]

AllDodge IA & IL DNR don't have a shoreline distance limit. But "operators are responsible for their wake" is enforceable. But it takes a damaged shoreline property owner to prove the damage and the offending boat. So not much happens.

No wake restrictions in open water though. So I spend a lot of time in my 'lil 17' BR doing low speed wheelies over cruiser wakes. Just part of the program. Occasionally I'll hear a barge pilot chewing out a cruiser for a big wake. Ironic, since a 15 fully loaded barge consist moving 5 kts up river will leave mean rollers for 2 miles.