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Are You Responsible for Your Wake?


Tom Sawyer

Are You Responsible for Your Wake?  

432 members have voted

  1. 1. Scenario 1 - You go to your favorite cove to find that a dock has been installed and a boat is tied up there. You continue with your activity of choice. Even though the cove is NOT a no-wake cove, and you maintain a "Safe" distance from the dock, your wake rocks the boat and damages the gel coat

    • You are responsible for the damage done to the boat.
      96
    • You are not responsible for the damage done to the boat.
      336
  2. 2. Scenario 2 - You go to your favorite cove to find two boats floating together. Once again, you continue with your activity of choice. Even though it is NOT a no-wake cove, and you stay a "Safe" distance from the other two boats, they bump together and are damaged.

    • You are responsible for damage done to either or both boats
      71
    • You are not responsible for damage done to either boat.
      361


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This is a fuzzy subject that IMO comes down to common courtesy. When we ski, we may stay closer to shore because we really don't make much of a wake at slalom speeds. When we load up for boarding or surfing, we head for deeper waters far away from people's docks. This is pretty much typical of all the skiers/boarders on our lake. Basically, don't be a jackass and you shouldn't have to worry about being liable.

Are you liable if you're out surfing and some clown on a PWC gets all drooly over your big waves and paralyzes himself jumping them?

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Around here working rivers with barge traffic typically have docks of different construction than an inland lake. They are usually up on piers vs the little floating docks used on our local lake. Most of the concern is on the smaller, much lower docks.

If a weighted wakeboard boat goes by our dock 100' away, the dock doesn't have a problem with the wake. It's when ANY boat goes by the dock slowly just a few feet away.... then we have problems. People seem to think that because their only going 10 mph that it's all good. That may be the case in a car. But just about ANY boat kicks up a nice big wave at 10 mph. And they wonder WTH is going on with a bunch of people are yelling at them from the dock.

Hopefully the new mandatory boaters license will educate people so they know these things.

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Let me ask this can I sue mother nature when an earthquake knocks my chimney over? Can I sue the god of lightning for starting a forest fire that burned down my cabin? In my eyes America needs to grow up and start taking responsibility for its own actions. If you cant tie up your boat so it doesn't get damaged then you better start sending the gel coat repair man a bottle of whiskey for Christmas. If you cant afford to fix it don't own it. The reality is that LIFE happens you can roll with it and be happy or you can fight it and be miserable. we all complain about the countless laws in this country. Well guess what those laws came from some cry baby who went and sued someone and had a better lawyer. MAN UP AMERICA!

Agreed. And you are personally responsible for actions that foreseeably damage other people's property. And you shouldn't wait for the other guy to sue you before you "man up" and take responsibility for your actions.

jackrash- maybe you didn't understand what I was trying to get across. When I said man up America I guess I should have said man up and and have some respect. If we all took a minute and walked in someone Else's shoes for a moment I bet our actions would change. In no way am I saying that your not responsible for your wake but if you had any kind of respect for people you wouldn't have the issue to begin with. I work and play with a ton of water front owners on are local lakes and I always have this conversation with them and the amazing thing is that none of them care if we wake board or surf or what ever what they do care about is the fact that most of us have very little respect for them. most of them could care less about the wake we put out until we are surfing/boarding 5 feet off the no wake buoys and cranking our tower speakers at AM with some f-bomb, slap that a**, nigga bump crap. don't get me wrong I like my loud music to and most waterfront people don't mind but keep it decent. think about your children sitting on the beach. I have to agree it is disrespectful. In retrospect I should have just posted my Mantra. YOU ARE A PRODUCT OF YOUR OWN CHOICES!

I never would have guessed that's what you're saying. How is it your "cry-baby" line isn't critical of the people attempting to hold the damage-causers (For lack of a better hyphenated word) responsible?

my cry baby line is being critical of those people who are crying about crap. you live on a lake or are tied up on a lake and a roller comes in and causes your boat damage. would the same thing have happened if a storm came in and the wind brought the waves? all I'm getting at is America has learned to whine and cry. we should all go live in a third world country for a while just so that are eyes can be open to the fact that we have it made here in America. we take so much for granted and think we still deserve more. hence my statement man up America be responsible and respectful and never forget that if your not contributing to the world than your taking away from it.

Let me get this straight. You live on a lake/river/whatever, you have your boat tied to your dock, a roller damages your boat, the law is that people are responsible for the damage their wakes cause (presumably from what other posters have said), you're upset that your boat is damaged, and you would call that "crying about crap"? I'll put it another way, if you park your car parallel on a road, some guy mixing his latte is distracted and hits your car, is it not his fault becuase a storm could have blown up and a tree "could" have fallen on your car causing similar damage? The latte-mixing driver is as responsible as someone whose rollers cause damage, if that violates the law. The mere argument that the property owner does not have a valid gripe because a storm could have blown up and caused similar damage is simply invalid.

John your missing the point. If people had respect and took responsabilty for there actions this would`nt be an issue. The answer to your queshtion if I lived on a lake and my boat was damaged by a wave ya I wouldnt be happy about it but I wouldnt go crying about it either. I made a choice to live on the lake.I was aware that there are big waves that come in man made or not. If im not capable of securing my boat in a safe manner than I have whats coming to me!

I am not missing your point, I am disagreeing. In my opinion, if people "had respect and took responsibility for their actions" (your words) then they would be responsible enough to know the law, be aware of any damage their wakes may cause, and refrain from causing damage. Again, I ask what is different from a shoreline property owner from being upset about his property being damaged from wakes (for which he is responsible), and someone whose car gets hit while parked? Can the negligent auto driver, with a straight face, actually claim that you should have known that people don't pay attention on the road and you should have expected someone to hit your car? That is absurd.

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Let me ask this can I sue mother nature when an earthquake knocks my chimney over? Can I sue the god of lightning for starting a forest fire that burned down my cabin? In my eyes America needs to grow up and start taking responsibility for its own actions. If you cant tie up your boat so it doesn't get damaged then you better start sending the gel coat repair man a bottle of whiskey for Christmas. If you cant afford to fix it don't own it. The reality is that LIFE happens you can roll with it and be happy or you can fight it and be miserable. we all complain about the countless laws in this country. Well guess what those laws came from some cry baby who went and sued someone and had a better lawyer. MAN UP AMERICA!

Agreed. And you are personally responsible for actions that foreseeably damage other people's property. And you shouldn't wait for the other guy to sue you before you "man up" and take responsibility for your actions.

jackrash- maybe you didn't understand what I was trying to get across. When I said man up America I guess I should have said man up and and have some respect. If we all took a minute and walked in someone Else's shoes for a moment I bet our actions would change. In no way am I saying that your not responsible for your wake but if you had any kind of respect for people you wouldn't have the issue to begin with. I work and play with a ton of water front owners on are local lakes and I always have this conversation with them and the amazing thing is that none of them care if we wake board or surf or what ever what they do care about is the fact that most of us have very little respect for them. most of them could care less about the wake we put out until we are surfing/boarding 5 feet off the no wake buoys and cranking our tower speakers at AM with some f-bomb, slap that a**, nigga bump crap. don't get me wrong I like my loud music to and most waterfront people don't mind but keep it decent. think about your children sitting on the beach. I have to agree it is disrespectful. In retrospect I should have just posted my Mantra. YOU ARE A PRODUCT OF YOUR OWN CHOICES!

I never would have guessed that's what you're saying. How is it your "cry-baby" line isn't critical of the people attempting to hold the damage-causers (For lack of a better hyphenated word) responsible?

my cry baby line is being critical of those people who are crying about crap. you live on a lake or are tied up on a lake and a roller comes in and causes your boat damage. would the same thing have happened if a storm came in and the wind brought the waves? all I'm getting at is America has learned to whine and cry. we should all go live in a third world country for a while just so that are eyes can be open to the fact that we have it made here in America. we take so much for granted and think we still deserve more. hence my statement man up America be responsible and respectful and never forget that if your not contributing to the world than your taking away from it.

Let me get this straight. You live on a lake/river/whatever, you have your boat tied to your dock, a roller damages your boat, the law is that people are responsible for the damage their wakes cause (presumably from what other posters have said), you're upset that your boat is damaged, and you would call that "crying about crap"? I'll put it another way, if you park your car parallel on a road, some guy mixing his latte is distracted and hits your car, is it not his fault becuase a storm could have blown up and a tree "could" have fallen on your car causing similar damage? The latte-mixing driver is as responsible as someone whose rollers cause damage, if that violates the law. The mere argument that the property owner does not have a valid gripe because a storm could have blown up and caused similar damage is simply invalid.

John your missing the point. If people had respect and took responsabilty for there actions this would`nt be an issue. The answer to your queshtion if I lived on a lake and my boat was damaged by a wave ya I wouldnt be happy about it but I wouldnt go crying about it either. I made a choice to live on the lake.I was aware that there are big waves that come in man made or not. If im not capable of securing my boat in a safe manner than I have whats coming to me!

I am not missing your point, I am disagreeing. In my opinion, if people "had respect and took responsibility for their actions" (your words) then they would be responsible enough to know the law, be aware of any damage their wakes may cause, and refrain from causing damage. Again, I ask what is different from a shoreline property owner from being upset about his property being damaged from wakes (for which he is responsible), and someone whose car gets hit while parked? Can the negligent auto driver, with a straight face, actually claim that you should have known that people don't pay attention on the road and you should have expected someone to hit your car? That is absurd.

Welcome to America my friend. We are entiteled to disagree. I have never said you shouldnt be held accountable for your actions. Quite the opposite actualy I`m saying you should be man enough to take responsabilty for them with out some law telling you that you need to.I am telling you that you shouldnt have to cry and go sue some one cuz your boat got scratched. Im telling you to have the same respect for people and property that you would expect to be given to you but at the same time keep in mind life happens. get over it move on and enjoy life. Enough said we agree to disagree.

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Yes on both - it's the way the laws are written... Not saying it's right, but that's the way it is.

LilJohn - America needs to grow up and start taking responsibility for its own actions.

Which actions? The action of tying up in a nice secluded cove or the action of intentionally creating waves in an enclosed area?

Kind of a double standard where they have to be responsible for their actions - tying up to each other or dock while you don't have to be responsible for your actions of creating the wakes.

Personally:

For the dock, if there's enough room for clearance, I'd still boat there.

For the two tied up boats - id go find another cove.

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It is an overwhelming majority of people who think they are not responsible 75% on one and 80% on the other.

I would bet there is case law in nearly every state showing the responsibility of the operator of the vessel REGARDLESS of negligent operation.

Its funny how the majority of you are voting your not responsible for wake damage when most local law and the USCG say you are.....

Look at Oregons law, they even point out wakeboarding boat wakes specifically <a href="http://www.oregon.gov/OSMB/safety/wakeboat.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.oregon.gov/OSMB/safety/wakeboat.shtml</a>

Bottom line, BE AWARE.

Edited by martho
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Let me ask this can I sue mother nature when an earthquake knocks my chimney over? Can I sue the god of lightning for starting a forest fire that burned down my cabin? In my eyes America needs to grow up and start taking responsibility for its own actions. If you cant tie up your boat so it doesn't get damaged then you better start sending the gel coat repair man a bottle of whiskey for Christmas. If you cant afford to fix it don't own it. The reality is that LIFE happens you can roll with it and be happy or you can fight it and be miserable. we all complain about the countless laws in this country. Well guess what those laws came from some cry baby who went and sued someone and had a better lawyer. MAN UP AMERICA!

Agreed. And you are personally responsible for actions that foreseeably damage other people's property. And you shouldn't wait for the other guy to sue you before you "man up" and take responsibility for your actions.

jackrash- maybe you didn't understand what I was trying to get across. When I said man up America I guess I should have said man up and and have some respect. If we all took a minute and walked in someone Else's shoes for a moment I bet our actions would change. In no way am I saying that your not responsible for your wake but if you had any kind of respect for people you wouldn't have the issue to begin with. I work and play with a ton of water front owners on are local lakes and I always have this conversation with them and the amazing thing is that none of them care if we wake board or surf or what ever what they do care about is the fact that most of us have very little respect for them. most of them could care less about the wake we put out until we are surfing/boarding 5 feet off the no wake buoys and cranking our tower speakers at AM with some f-bomb, slap that a**, nigga bump crap. don't get me wrong I like my loud music to and most waterfront people don't mind but keep it decent. think about your children sitting on the beach. I have to agree it is disrespectful. In retrospect I should have just posted my Mantra. YOU ARE A PRODUCT OF YOUR OWN CHOICES!

I never would have guessed that's what you're saying. How is it your "cry-baby" line isn't critical of the people attempting to hold the damage-causers (For lack of a better hyphenated word) responsible?

my cry baby line is being critical of those people who are crying about crap. you live on a lake or are tied up on a lake and a roller comes in and causes your boat damage. would the same thing have happened if a storm came in and the wind brought the waves? all I'm getting at is America has learned to whine and cry. we should all go live in a third world country for a while just so that are eyes can be open to the fact that we have it made here in America. we take so much for granted and think we still deserve more. hence my statement man up America be responsible and respectful and never forget that if your not contributing to the world than your taking away from it.

Let me get this straight. You live on a lake/river/whatever, you have your boat tied to your dock, a roller damages your boat, the law is that people are responsible for the damage their wakes cause (presumably from what other posters have said), you're upset that your boat is damaged, and you would call that "crying about crap"? I'll put it another way, if you park your car parallel on a road, some guy mixing his latte is distracted and hits your car, is it not his fault becuase a storm could have blown up and a tree "could" have fallen on your car causing similar damage? The latte-mixing driver is as responsible as someone whose rollers cause damage, if that violates the law. The mere argument that the property owner does not have a valid gripe because a storm could have blown up and caused similar damage is simply invalid.

John your missing the point. If people had respect and took responsabilty for there actions this would`nt be an issue. The answer to your queshtion if I lived on a lake and my boat was damaged by a wave ya I wouldnt be happy about it but I wouldnt go crying about it either. I made a choice to live on the lake.I was aware that there are big waves that come in man made or not. If im not capable of securing my boat in a safe manner than I have whats coming to me!

I am not missing your point, I am disagreeing. In my opinion, if people "had respect and took responsibility for their actions" (your words) then they would be responsible enough to know the law, be aware of any damage their wakes may cause, and refrain from causing damage. Again, I ask what is different from a shoreline property owner from being upset about his property being damaged from wakes (for which he is responsible), and someone whose car gets hit while parked? Can the negligent auto driver, with a straight face, actually claim that you should have known that people don't pay attention on the road and you should have expected someone to hit your car? That is absurd.

Welcome to America my friend. We are entiteled to disagree. I have never said you shouldnt be held accountable for your actions. Quite the opposite actualy I`m saying you should be man enough to take responsabilty for them with out some law telling you that you need to.I am telling you that you shouldnt have to cry and go sue some one cuz your boat got scratched. Im telling you to have the same respect for people and property that you would expect to be given to you but at the same time keep in mind life happens. get over it move on and enjoy life. Enough said we agree to disagree.

WHAAAAAAAT?

WHAAAAAAAT?

OKAAAAAAAAY!

(sorry, I could not resist some reference to little john...) Whistling.gif

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Yes on both - it's the way the laws are written... Not saying it's right, but that's the way it is.

LilJohn - America needs to grow up and start taking responsibility for its own actions.

Which actions? The action of tying up in a nice secluded cove or the action of intentionally creating waves in an enclosed area?

Kind of a double standard where they have to be responsible for their actions - tying up to each other or dock while you don't have to be responsible for your actions of creating the wakes.

Personally:

For the dock, if there's enough room for clearance, I'd still boat there.

For the two tied up boats - id go find another cove.

ALL OF THEM! people have a chioce every day we make some kinda choice. If you chose to throw a monster wake then make the choice to take responsabilty for it. If you chose to raft up in a cove were people board and ski accept the fact that your boat is going to get rocked and possibly get damaged. why is it so hard for people to take responsability for there own actions good or bad?

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It is an overwhelming majority of people who think they are not responsible 75% on one and 80% on the other.

I would be there is case law in nearly every state showing the responsibility of the operator of the vessel REGARDLESS of negligent operation.

Its funny how the majority of you are voting your not responsible for wake damage when most local law and the USCG say you are.....

Look at Oregons law, they even point out wakeboarding boat wakes specifically <a href="http://www.oregon.gov/OSMB/safety/wakeboat.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.oregon.gov/OSMB/safety/wakeboat.shtml</a>

Bottom line, BE AWARE.

Kind of scary how ignorant some of us "experienced boaters" are.

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I have had my lake front property since 96 and have spent well over $25,000 to try and protect my frontage. I put a sea wall in over 4 feet high thinking this would in no way be jeopardized. I bought heaver docks and a more expensive lift to anticipate any problems. I will tell you I have not beat everything. It is not all wake board boats that cause the problems. Boats in general are bigger now than when we bought our property. The average boat went from a estimated 18 to 20 foot being the large boats to we see some 38 foot off shores and likely more 25 foot average. Non of which are real bad unless operated in a matter to create the large wakes. My bet is Marney of the people doing so are oblivious to what they are doing. I did not vote I think I need to see this cove and docks to make a fair decision as I do believe we need to be responsible for our wakes. I also understand you need to be responsible for our own equipment.

Living on a lake has opened my eyes. It is amazing how oblivious operators are too safety, and respect off others property or surroundings.

I thin the price of gas is helping this year not as many boats out on the lake.

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The difference on the Miss or other river that have barge traffic, is that the docks were usually built to take the larger waves. On the delta, which is a river, many docks are heavier built than say the docks of residents on a lake. They know the river is narrow and owners know that boats will be producing wakes so they are typically prepared. I have rocked my percentage of docks and boats with the 247. Yes.gif Heck, I even swamped one crew members boat by accident not knowing my wake would carry over the way it did Whistling.gif

The law doesn't say not to participate in wake producing activities, it just says to be aware that if you cause damage with your wake you could be liable. So be aware.

I'll throw this out there as well. When I was stationed at Block Island, RI the entrance to the Great Pond on that island was narrow and passed right by the USCG boats. There was a No Wake sign posted. And yet, many yachts went by producing a large wake. Believe me the docks and CG boats could take the wake. But what if a CG crewman was below decks working with mechanical equipment and was not aware a big wake was coming and than got caught off balance and got injured. If you produced the wake would you be responsible for his injury, or would you say that he should have been aware that there are waves and it was his fault for being there?

The answer is and was, YOU are responsible. We cited every boat that we saw rocking our boats for that very reason. It wasn't that the boats or docks couldn't take it, it was that a crewman below decks could get injured by someones negligence.....

Good flip side aspect. I think boaters need to be more educated when it comes to warning signs and following the laws.

I hate to say it but...

There should be some type of awareness course/safety course when one registers their boat.

I'm tired of having

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Scenario 3: (The true story behind Scenario 1 and Scenario 2)

What really happened is that after the successful install of your new dock you start celebrating. You got trashed drunk, fell over yourself and put a big scratch in your boat with a tequila bottle. Your plastered and don't even notice what you did. The next day you and your buddies are hung over and don't feel like doing much but sitting in a known ski cove and watch some action long enough to feel better. Some old friends see you, come over and tie up bumpers and all to chat for awhile. Next thing you see is a vlx no ballast, plowing along at 12 mph obviously teaching a new rider how to wakeboard 500 yards away. Hmmm not that interesting so you ignore them and continue telling your old friend about the new dock you just put in. A couple minutes later the vlx wake arrives and bounces you around a little. You get up and try help brace the boat and notice this huge gouge in your gel coat that was not there yesterday. Pissed off you curse, untie, and race over to cut off the vlx. There is no other boats in the cove, the wake is obviously from the vlx. Your wake rolls in on the rider causing them to fall and blow out their ACL. You yell to the driver "you're responsible for your wake, you busted up my gel coat, you're going to have to pay." The rider is screaming in agony meanwhile trying to make it back to the boat. . Who is really to blame here? You? The vlx? How about your old buddy after all if he would not have tied up, the gel coat gouge would have went unnoticed. But hey its the word of 2 boats against 1 and the officer blames the vlx. You and the rider both sue the driver of the vlx. Looks like a no win situation to me. Lots of legal battles and the only thing that comes out of it is higher insurance for every one of us who own a boat. You are an idiot and don't think about the consequences of any of your actions. You're probably the politician that passed the dumb law in the first place. Are you also the one who thought up the dumb flag laws? Not all laws are perfect I know, but some are dumb. This is why 75% of the poll results go against the law. Everyone just pictures different circumstances for these situations. I voted "not responsible" because stupidity causes more damage than my wake ever will. The focus should be on stopping stupidity. Protect your boat, tie it up good, put a good dock in. That first storm that rolls in that sends 4 foot white caps into your no wake zone dock, you will be thanking yourself. My wake could never do the damage mother nature can and will.

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Scenario 3: (The true story behind Scenario 1 and Scenario 2)

What really happened is that after the successful install of your new dock you start celebrating. You got trashed drunk, fell over yourself and put a big scratch in your boat with a tequila bottle. Your plastered and don't even notice what you did. The next day you and your buddies are hung over and don't feel like doing much but sitting in a known ski cove and watch some action long enough to feel better. Some old friends see you, come over and tie up bumpers and all to chat for awhile. Next thing you see is a vlx no ballast, plowing along at 12 mph obviously teaching a new rider how to wakeboard 500 yards away. Hmmm not that interesting so you ignore them and continue telling your old friend about the new dock you just put in. A couple minutes later the vlx wake arrives and bounces you around a little. You get up and try help brace the boat and notice this huge gouge in your gel coat that was not there yesterday. Pissed off you curse, untie, and race over to cut off the vlx. There is no other boats in the cove, the wake is obviously from the vlx. Your wake rolls in on the rider causing them to fall and blow out their ACL. You yell to the driver "you're responsible for your wake, you busted up my gel coat, you're going to have to pay." The rider is screaming in agony meanwhile trying to make it back to the boat. . Who is really to blame here? You? The vlx? How about your old buddy after all if he would not have tied up, the gel coat gouge would have went unnoticed. But hey its the word of 2 boats against 1 and the officer blames the vlx. You and the rider both sue the driver of the vlx. Looks like a no win situation to me. Lots of legal battles and the only thing that comes out of it is higher insurance for every one of us who own a boat. You are an idiot and don't think about the consequences of any of your actions. You're probably the politician that passed the dumb law in the first place. Are you also the one who thought up the dumb flag laws? Not all laws are perfect I know, but some are dumb. This is why 75% of the poll results go against the law. Everyone just pictures different circumstances for these situations. I voted "not responsible" because stupidity causes more damage than my wake ever will. The focus should be on stopping stupidity. Protect your boat, tie it up good, put a good dock in. That first storm that rolls in that sends 4 foot white caps into your no wake zone dock, you will be thanking yourself. My wake could never do the damage mother nature can and will.

Okay...this post is phenomenal! I love the scenario and potential results. Biggrin.gif Well said.

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They are fenders NOT bumpers.

We regularly raft up in a party cove that does not have no wake bouys.

Sometimes boats come thru slow but not at idle and send rollers that rock all the boats tied up in the lines.

This makes several of the boat owners yell at them and usually they get the message and learn of their evil ways.

Those that don't get sterner warnings from the more aggressive of the boat owners.

Bottom line is even though one may not be legally responsible for damage from their wakes, one should be courteous to other boaters.

The offenders in our particular scene are almost all the "inexperienced 4 weekends a summer boater" varieties and the rest are on borrowed PWCs.

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I'm kind of on the fence on this one, but not really. Both scenario 1 and 2, I see the same way.

On one hand, you have some boats tied up in an area they KNOW is not a no wake zone, so they are taking a risk.

On the other hand, you have a boater who recognizes these boats are tied up and knows the rollers he sends their way could cause the two boats to bang up against each other or the dock. Rude? Maybe, not courteous, probably. The boater COULD be courteous, but at the same time so could the two boats tied together and go into an area with no wake instead parking their dumb asses right in an area they know is a non-no wake zone. It's the risk they took which is the bottom line and why should some other boater have to and deviate from his good day of skiing in order to be "courteous" to those who are stupid enough to tie up in a traffic area and not courteous enough themselves to tie up somewhere else?

Edited by areamike
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We try to stay as far away as we can fom other boaters, but i agree that if you tie up in a KNOWN PLAY ZONE then expect some wake to rock your boat.

We were surfing out in the middle of the lake and while we had a rider down, this big @ss rinker comes right by us on the port side of the boat. He was driving like 15 mph so that he could see the people in our boat i guess. Then he makes a circle around our boat and goes back the other way, within 20 ft of the boat with us Ranting.gif at him for being so close. Well his 5 ft wake from turning comes over the bow of the boat ,cause we had no time to do anything about it, and soaks everything, including my Ipod Cry.gif . (gone forever)

If i could have found that dude i would have Guns.gif or maybe even Bash.gif .

Edited by txwakejunkie
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In NJ, by law you are responsible for damage you do to private property along a shoreline. Personally, I think if you use wake enhancement equipment you should be fined too, maybe even jailed(j/k). Part of the problem is that frontage owner put bulkheads in, which only magnify the problem with the bathtub effect. A lake I use in Jersey is nothing but bulkhead frontages and that lake is only calm at sunrise. As for boats floating together, if they don't know how to team up the right way, they got what they deserve. We tie up to 10 boats together out in the ocean and suffer no damage.

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This is my first post in a few years so go easy. In CA it is the law and one I agree with. We lose lakes when our speakers and wakes disturb people. Right or wrong it works that way.

This is a stretch but if you were to throw a cigarette butt out the window and it starts a fire. Are you responsible? It is against the law. Property is damaged. People can die. Remember some of the big CA fires? Some have been caused by a cigarette butts. I know it is a bit of a leap.

Kelly

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This is my first post in a few years so go easy. In CA it is the law and one I agree with. We lose lakes when our speakers and wakes disturb people. Right or wrong it works that way.

This is a stretch but if you were to throw a cigarette butt out the window and it starts a fire. Are you responsible? It is against the law. Property is damaged. People can die. Remember some of the big CA fires? Some have been caused by a cigarette butts. I know it is a bit of a leap.

Kelly

Its not a stretch, haven't you ever seen the signs that say "Unlawful to throw burning objects"?

Edited by LS-One
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Okay, I will say what most are probably afraid of saying / admitting...

Most lakes I have heard of closing are a result of the either a fisherman vs Skier or a Skier vs the Wakeboarder which is much akin to the Skier vs Snowboarder. Culture clash, pure and simple. The general attitude is that the skier's are elitists and expect to be respected while the snow/wakeboarders are just punk kids causing trouble with no regard for their actions. I even just heard of a lake trying to ban Boat Towers... rediculous. Ultimately this is a direct result of a generational gap in that wakeboarders are a young population which has just starting evolving where as skier's have been around for years, generally sitting on HOA boards and hold the majority of the power over the water (since money creates power and money is typically derived over time resulting in the older generations having more money = more power).

IMHO I think the fisherman and skiers are looking out for numero uno and want "their water". I dont blame them, wakeboarders would probably do the same if they were in power. Something like "no speeds in excess of 27mph" would be in place at a wakeboard lake.

Ultimately none of this really matters as the groups we are concerned about are the hippy sierra club nature loving people in locations like San Francisco who have never enjoyed a lake, yet they view what we are doing as a destruction of nature. If fisherman, skier's and wakeboarders could work out their differences they would be a much stronger voice against these types of activists. I doubt this will happen.

Everyone wants a little bit of respect, thats really it. You see some boats sitting in the cove floating around, go say "hey man, I know you were floating here first, but this is the only good place to ride right now that isnt blown out. Since it looks like you are a watersports enthusiast yourself I would imagine you understand how hard it can be to find good water. Here are a couple beers on me for crashing your floatilla to ride the only good water around right now. Sorry. If your looking for a pull, let me know I am always up to hang, ride with new people.

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Regardless of whether or not they are in a no wake area or not, there is still a 100' rule.

regardless of 100' or more your wake is gone rock their boats.

Yea, but at least it's 100'!! Like electricjohn just pointed out, half the time we don't even get THAT!

With 100' between me & the other boat, I have time to prepare for the wake & the wake has time to dissipate a bit.

But when they go by 30' away, we have no time & the wake hasn't even curled over yet, which was a huge part of why our docks broke.

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WHAAAAAAAT?

WHAAAAAAAT?

OKAAAAAAAAY!

(sorry, I could not resist some reference to little john...) Whistling.gif

i was waiting for someone to do that! Thumbup.gif

trying to sue someone for damage that another wake causes (in the severity that the original question asks) would be laughed at here in aus. you would be told to harden the fruitcake up! You guys have to put up with too much BS sometimes. Scratching of gelcoat and general cosmetic damage could be caused by many reasons, not just someones wake. if your boat is not properly secured to withstand various water conditions that could be caused by a wake or sudden freak storm etc that is your problem. but if my actions while underway were not considered safe by driving too close to docks, or in a way that was inappropriate for the waterway then the story is different. i do have a problem with fully loaded wake boats on one of my regular waterways because the width of the river is inappropriate and not enough clearance is allowable with other boats. but when i am in an area where i have a concern about possible damage to my boat caused by others wakes i am responsible to take preventative measures to reduce the chances. These vessels are permitted to be on the waterway (for the time being) so fellow users need to accommodate them for normal use.

In the case of that poor bloke who had his 03 blue RLXi swamped and sunk to the tower on a houseboat trip at powell or mead? a few years back by a 40ft cruiser would have every right IMO to sue because that boater was not acting in a safe manner by driving too close to other craft given the size of his vessel and the surrounding craft.

good to see some serious discussion Thumbup.gif

Edited by Toby
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