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Interesting Letter to Editor in Hartwell Lake News


dkscism

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Could you please post the response as well? Just posting the angry tirade masked as a question is inflammatory, and the answer may be insightful as well as provide decent feedback to those who are challenged in a marina/on land with the same view as Mr. Platt.

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2 minutes ago, Eagleboy99 said:

Yup!  We get the same sort here:  50 feet off our dock - F Bomb rap and 4 foot waves.  Nice.

While I could be considered part of the problem, we surf behind my '15 23 LSV with a massive make, I make a point of staying away from other boats and dock structures. Depending on your waterway (lake, river, etc.) there may be laws that could be enforced that will help to quell the problem. In California it is required that a boat slow to 5 MPH (no wake) within 200 ft of swimming areas, diving platforms, passenger landings, or areas where vessels are moored and within 100 feet of swimmers. See page #27 (page #3 PDF) of: https://www.boat-ed.com/abc/abc_specific_images/pdfs/ca_law.pdf

Operating within the law, or asking for assistance from local law enforcement for similar ordinances may help to address to problem without f-bombs from the dock. A decent quality camera, video or still, could provide evidence to local law enforcement to at least get them to have a conversation with the offending party even if they aren't cited. Multiple pictures that show the registration number plus clear evidence of the infraction would be necessary to get assistance from local law enforcement.

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16 minutes ago, mikeo said:

I make a point of staying away from other boats and dock structures.

Yeah, I can live with that.  There's a guy up here with a massive purple Malibu and they surf at 6 AM - but in a straight line down the middle of the lake.  We time our slalom runs around that.

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Personally, I don't surf (or typically wake up for) a 6:00am surf set. There is at least one dedicated slalom skiier in my family so I'm familiar with the etiquette, and I'll surf in the churning washing machine as well as avoid the coves when I see someone out to ski or wakeboard. The person who churns up good water when alternatives are available must be the same person who watches TV shows of people playing poker without headphones at full volume on a cross country flight.

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Responsible boating is a must.  Else risk more regulation and challenge to find a place to ride.  

Wake, music, and driver’s line are all part of that.  Go find the responsible place to ride. 

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this article is an oxymoron number one nobody in this area should be even swimming on their docks because they all have AC power.. I don't care if they have a GFCI or GFI breaker they fail and there is a whole slew of other potential risks and grounding problems that happene and numerous people die every year swimming around their floating docks I think somebody died just the other week down there.. oh I'm sorry they drowned mysteriously.. y'all can argue as much as you want but if you let yourself or kids swim around a dock that has AC power to it you're a moron.. 

wiring is being broken on these docks when they flex, and causing dangerous and deadly swimming situations unknown to dock owners, Hartwell is coming down hard on AC power on docks for these reasons, I think it's now banned on new docks in those areas.

Waves: PpL need to be smarter and be further away although 100-300ft isn't a huge difference for some of these rollers on the older docks that were not designed for this kind of wave action.. 

a lot of people however are blaming wake boats because the can but check out a 20 to 30 foot cabin cruiser strolling down the lake at 10mph .. you want to talk about a wave!! 

A few things need to change on these lakes.. 

Courtesy from all boaters number one, wake boaters are the easy one to blame but I'm willing to bet slow-moving cabin cruisers are bigger problem..

The old fashioned dock design needs to be changed to accommodate the larger wave action. Obviously that cost money that people aren't going to want to spend.. 

I think everybody on this fourm knows what the angry old people are trying to do single us out and get us banned in lakes when in reality we're probably the lesser of the problems compared to the cabin cruisers.. 

most of lakes in Indiana Wisconsin Michigan area typically have buoys out around 200 to 250 foot off of shore you cannot go fast unless you're beyond those buoys maybe they should do something similar simple fix to keep boaters further away. 

 

Edited by The Hulk
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Do I Spy an article that is also complaining about Skiing?? (Below the wake article)

 

Either way, surfing has become a big problem on our lake as well, and the local lake association has put out a similar article, as well as the state of Vermont looking to ban wake boats.......

But the complaints definitely stem from an etiquette problem. Not a wake boat problem. We are looking to have mandatory etiquette and safety courses on our lake. I welcome it. Too many brat kids with no common sense or respect running around in dads wake boat these days.

We get those guys to follow some simple guidelines, and all will be good.

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29 minutes ago, TenTwentyOne said:

Do I Spy an article that is also complaining about Skiing?? (Below the wake article)

 

Probably.  I have a couple relatives that think it is OK to be a rope length from shore because that is where the glass is.  Smaller wake, but still illegal, irritating and dangerous.

 

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There will always be people to complain about anything.  Social Media now makes it even more convenient for people to complain.  I understand the whole surfboat erosion thing which is why we're usually in the middle of the lake if we're surfing.  The main "big" lake we're on has no wake marker buoys all the way around the lake.  Most boats surfing on this lake are somewhere out in the middle of the lake.  It's more about being considerate and knowing the impact of the wake.  We also go out on Lake Michigan a few times a year to do dinner on the river in Milwaukee.  The wakes cabin cruisers throw are legitimately double the size of the best wake boats out there.  Especially since these morons are motoring along somewhere between snw speed and cruising speed.  Most of the inland lakes around here aren't big enough to support the large cabin cruiser crowd so the local residents on smaller lakes don't see the impact from their wakes.  

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16 hours ago, The Hulk said:

 I think everybody on this fourm knows what the angry old people are trying to do single us out and get us banned in lakes when in reality we're probably the lesser of the problems compared to the cabin cruisers.. 

IMHO, those of us with wake boats must "help" other wake boaters who either don't know any better, or choose to not care. Failing that, it wont be long before regulations will cripple or ban our water sports.  I do believe there are some new boat owners who just havent thought about the impact of their wakes yet as they sort out new to them boats.   

At my home lake, there are docks/moorings right on the main channel.   I think its a crappy idea, but they are there.  On a weekend day, you clearly can see the boats that are tied up getting slammed.   No matter how stupid I might think those tie ups are, I steer WELL clear of them every time we go by... No skin off my back, and if it protects someone else's boat, then its worth the 2 calories it takes me to steer left a bit.   We are fortunate that our home lake shores are steep, and rocky - which means there isnt a lot of erosion damage to worry about, but the downside is that those reflect waves right back into the main channel, which means on a weekend day, by 9-10 AM it is VERY rough, and just random chop.  I dont know what can be done about that - really nothing. 

Actually, to me the even bigger challenge is those who are ignorant of safety concerns.  I have had jet skiers jumping my wake 50 yards or less behind me with an active surfer.    I have had an IO following me halfway up to plane within 50 yards of me and my surfer.   I have seen countless boats going the wrong way wide open, or water sporting, while not paying attention.   I have seen lots of behaviors that can only be explained by a drunk driver.    Because of these, I have started trying to get my time in more and more on weekdays.    I know it is probably an unpopular opinion, but candidly, I would be fine if we licensed boat drivers.   If it did nothing more than force an understanding of the basic rules, seems like it would be a good thing...   Trust me, I am a guy that wants the government in my life FAR FAR FAR less, but Ive seen a lot of stuff that will gray my hair (oh wait... my hair is already gray).   So @The Hulk  ... Careful... I AM one of those old guys.  :lol:   Im just not angry (at least when I am on a lake).    And BTW, I couldn't agree more that the big cabin cruisers are far worse than a wake boat.   When I had my old boat, and was more of a slalom skier, I dreaded nothing more than the 42' cruiser going by me while I was in the water.   Way way worse than the wake surfer or wake boarder.

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Like Dad used to say "There's crazy people out there!"  I've tried to reason with the  miscreants, but am tired of being told to MYOB and PO; so now, I only shirt front them when my family or boat are in danger.

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@JeffCIn Indiana we had a program in the past you could drive a boat before you were 16 and had a driver's license if you took the boater safety course, are you sure you all the 14 -15 year olds that took this we're way better drivers than the majority of adults we see on the lake today! Haha. Education is key, maybe a simple flyer distributed to the people on the lake however I'm willing to bet that the majority of these complaints are towards people that trailer in for the day and don't give two rats about those that live on the lake.. 

@JeffC

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20 minutes ago, The Hulk said:

I'm willing to bet that the majority of these complaints are towards people that trailer in for the day and don't give two rats about those that live on the lake

Sadly up here, on my lake, it is probably 60/40 lake owners to visitors.  The stunts that some lakefront owner pull is astounding.  Like the goof that takes his fully sacked out Malibu at 7 AM and runs HUGE circles while blasting F-bomb rap.  Or runs it sacked 50 feet offshore weaving around the moored boats.

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The thoughtless, inconsiderate behavior exhibited on the water is no different than what can be witnesses most days on the road, at the gym, in the supermarket, etc. 

 

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1 hour ago, Eagleboy99 said:

Sadly up here, on my lake, it is probably 60/40 lake owners to visitors.  The stunts that some lakefront owner pull is astounding.  Like the goof that takes his fully sacked out Malibu at 7 AM and runs HUGE circles while blasting F-bomb rap.  Or runs it sacked 50 feet offshore weaving around the moored boats.

Same here.  There are a lot of new people on our lake with huge wake boats who have no clue how to use them around docks, fishermen, or in a manner which doesn't completely wreck the water for everyone else.  Most of them bulldozed 60 year old tiny shacks in the woods you never knew were there and built crazy big vacation homes.  Very few are transients.

BUT it's not just the surf crowd (though they're the majority).  There's a guy with a weighted Sanger Barefooter who takes off parallel to shore from his dock all the time.  He once took off and went right between my ski buddy's kids and my ski buddy's dock.  They weren't swimming more than 50 feet off the dock.  Was pretty sure my bud was going to jail that day.

Edited by UWSkier
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ahopkins22LSV

We had an older gentleman in a four Winn’s go between us and docks as we were idling around the lake, no less then 20-30’ from the docks at about 20mph yesterday. Our lake is very high right now and the waves went right over the docks. Saw him fishing later and I’d bet a cold one that he complains about people going to close to him when he’s fishing. 

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In regard to the wakes, I don't dispute that the big cruisers have larger wakes, but the HUGE difference is number of boats.  Everywhere I go you would see 10 (actually probably 20 +) wake boats for every 30' + cruiser.

And I agree that it is about education, but I don't think that a licensing system would work.  Most states already have laws about how close to another boat/mooring/dock/shore you can be, or that you "are responsible for your own wake".  Why aren't they enforced?

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12 hours ago, RyanB said:

In regard to the wakes, I don't dispute that the big cruisers have larger wakes, but the HUGE difference is number of boats.  Everywhere I go you would see 10 (actually probably 20 +) wake boats for every 30' + cruiser.

And I agree that it is about education, but I don't think that a licensing system would work.  Most states already have laws about how close to another boat/mooring/dock/shore you can be, or that you "are responsible for your own wake".  Why aren't they enforced?

ding ding ding ding...  :-)

Sometimes (infrequently unfortunately) it is.   Last year one of the jet skiers that was jumping my wake close to my surfer did get lit up by the Horsetooth ranger.   The last thing I saw as I was leaving the area was the jet skier standing on the ranger boat, while one of the two rangers was tieing off the jet ski and the other one was in an intense looking conversation with the offending jet skier.     I have seen the rangers at Horsetooth enforcing the no wake zone in south bay (in fact, once with me in offense because I came off plane too late (distracted by one of my crew - I deserved it).    No ticket thankfully, but I clearly and openly told him what happened.   I think he was looking for a drunk as much as he was messing with me about the wake.  I was NOT drunk... 

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