No Wake Zones

[boatingny]

Is it just me or is there some confusion about no wake zones, Are we all in to much of a rush to just slow down once in a while and show a little courtesy to our fellow boaters?

 

[r.j.dawg]

Re: No Wake Zones

Unfortunately there are a few that seem to think they are more important than the rest of us. Yesterday I was going through the no wake/10 kph zone that connects Lake Simcoe with Lake Couchiching. I guess I wasn't going fast enough for the go fast boat behind me so he decided to blow past me and a couple of other boats ahead. About 10 minutes later as I was cruising up Lake Couchiching I saw him stopped by the OPP. Carma seems to have bit him in the wallet.

 

[Chris_94_Sprint_TX]

Re: No Wake Zones

I see people out here flying through no-wake zones a lot. This one yayhoo trims his outdrive all up and stands his boat straight up and stirs up the bottom less than 30 feet from the ramp. Sucks for everybody else trying to put in because now our outdrives are sucking up the crap from the bottom.

Chris

 

[boatingny]

Re: No Wake Zones

We dock in a no wake zone, a guy in about a 26' express was just plowing by yesterday, I yelled at him, he just looked said he was sorry but never pulled back on the throttle. I just shook my head

 

[chimmike]

Re: No Wake Zones

Here in FL, many of the no-wake zones are for manatee areas and authorities have NO tolerance for people doing that. On my part of the coast, very shallow areas are no-wake as well due to extreme changes in depth with tides.

 

[Chris_94_Sprint_TX]

Re: No Wake Zones

Sometimes I think we should be allowed to use paintball guns and if you see a boat that looks like the partridge family bus you know to stay away cause they are idiots.

Chris

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: No Wake Zones

It is sad the locals and state do not write them up enough. Here at the coast they do not want tourists POed.

 

[Chris_94_Sprint_TX]

Re: No Wake Zones

On the lake I go to I have only seen the laws once and that was on July 4th there were 4 cruising the lake and the area available was probably no more than 5 or 6 miles or so since we have had such a serious drought.

Chris

 

[boatingny]

Re: No Wake Zones

I just read this article on the definition of a wake No Wake Zones
I have to think that most boaters understand the meaning, and offenders just don't care.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: No Wake Zones

There are many people that think "no wake zone" means you can't make any wake, whatsoever. The laws vary by state, but in NH, where I live, no wake zones require "headway speed" which is a maximum of 6 MPH, or minimum speed to maintain steerage. This is because some boats (typically larger boats) require more than 6 MPH to maintain control. My deep-V stern drive boat wanders quite a bit at idle speed (around 4 MPH), like they all do. If I bump the speed up to 5.2 or so, the boat is much more controllable and pleasant to operate. I am generating a small wake at that speed, but am well within the law. Additionally, if there's a strong current, sometimes one has to make a substantial wake to make headway when driving against it, and go well over 6 MPH just to steer when going with it.

That said, I suspect the no wake violators mentioned in posts above are flagrantly violation the law.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: No Wake Zones

The length of the boat makes a HUGE difference. (the article dances around that, they didn't directly mention the correlation of length vs displacement speed) In a short boat (jetski) its nearly impossible to not make a wake, but the 30 ft pontoon based houseboat can cruise along at 10 mph with barely a ripple.

My current boat idles around 4.8-5.1 mph, and is fairly short and wide, so I'm throwing up a wake at idle speed. Not much I can do about it, other than constantly have the hand on the shifter.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: No Wake Zones

My brand new flat screen TV is now a broken mess due in part to a boat throwing a large wake. It was secured where the old TV was, that never fell, but I guess it was just enough to send her to the floor!

I do my best to throw little to no wake. I even back off when I'm passing a bunch of boats beached off the channel. Others motor right through, but is rather not ruin someone's day!

 

[oldjeep]

Re: No Wake Zones

My current boat idles around 4.8-5.1 mph, and is fairly short and wide, so I'm throwing up a wake at idle speed. Not much I can do about it, other than constantly have the hand on the shifter.

Jet boat? Around here the signs say minimum wake/closed throttle, so basically whatever you idle at. My FIL used to have a 454 powered jet boat that you were constantly having to jam the gate down on to get it slow enough when in traffic in the nowake. Thing didn't throw much of a wake at any speed, so it was really just a traffic issue.

Most of the violators around here seem to have brand new boats and you see it mostly on holiday weekends. The worst is when it is a narrow channel under a bridge and you are forced to hit the throttle to avoid being smacked into the bridge support when these guys pass you.

 

[southkogs]

Re: No Wake Zones

No wake rules vary some from state to state with regards to speed, idle and steerage. In TN, as long as you're not putting waves down you're pretty much okay at any speed unless a speed limit is posted. My boat will actually move along rather nicely without stirrin' up the water too much.

On Percy Priest lake here in the Nashville area, I see plenty of TWRA and Sheriff patrols keeping an eye on the "crazy." Out on a few of the bigger, nicer yet more remote lakes there isn't as much of a presence keepin' and eye on it.

I'm kinda' likin' 88_searay's paintball idea though ...

 

[agallant80]

Re: No Wake Zones

I think it depends on what a no wake zone really is. If there is a USCG marker or a NCWR marker stating so I adhere to it. If its some rich dude putting a sign on his dock stating anything around his property is a no wake zone then no I don;'t pay much attention to it. If its a business then I tend to slow down.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: No Wake Zones

Jet boat? Around here the signs say minimum wake/closed throttle, so basically whatever you idle at. My FIL used to have a 454 powered jet boat that you were constantly having to jam the gate down on to get it slow enough when in traffic in the nowake.

Yep... To go any slower I'm modulating the gate up and down constantly.

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: No Wake Zones

I think most do not care, its not like this is some sort of greek languaged law, its a NO WAKE zone, how difficult can it be?

As much as people whine about the local popo giving tickets this is one area I do not believe they can ticket enough, my local lake has a swim area that is a no boating area which seems stupid but due to the amount of boats its a dang good idea, or someone will get run over, to me I would rather the Water Cops get after it, people get hurt way too much.

 

[cannonman]

Re: No Wake Zones

I could make a pretty long list of the things that bug me about other boaters. Abusing NO Wake Zones is just one of many.
I may be getting old.:grumpy:

 

[NYBo]

Re: No Wake Zones

I could make a pretty long list of the things that bug me about other boaters. Abusing NO Wake Zones is just one of many.
I may be getting old.:grumpy:

"Get off my lawn!!!"

 

[SDSeville]

Re: No Wake Zones

A couple weeks ago, I was beached in a no wake zone way away from everyone else when some guy in a jet boat decides to teach his kid shore starts from the beach about 50 feet away from us. He was trying to start at about a 45 degree angle from shore, which took him right past us -- about 20 to 30 feet away. The worst part was that when his kid fell (every single time), he would crank it hard to the left and punch it to get back to him. The wake from 20 feet away was seriously slamming my boat against the beach. I finally threw my arms up (no screaming or cursing) after a few attempts and he begrudgingly dragged his kid (yes dragged while holding on to the ski rope, didn't pick him up) out of the no wake zone. He was shaking his head the whole time, acting like I did something wrong.