Wake restrictions bill introduced in Michigan

[Slayer]

I received responses from 2 representatives, one for the bill, one against it.  The one against it is my former County Sherriff.  I responded to him directly as his position on it was garbage and baseless.  I gave him several examples of conditions in our county in which the 500' distance would adversely impact the ability to surf on most inland lakes in SE Michigan.  I provided him several other points for consideration, not the least of which being the economic impact of reduced boat sales, etc.  

I don't expect a response, but felt it necessary to voice an opinion.

[CDAWake]

Yay for more laws
 

We cannot have the freedom to do what we want without consequences for making poor choices. Freedom is the right to make bad choices, AND deal with the results. We already have laws in place regarding wakes, yet we do not enforce them and hold individuals accountable for their actions thus requiring more stringent laws. I’m sure a new law will solve the problem THIS time though. 
 

Rant complete 

[roeboat]

4 hours ago, Raimie said:

This  is my issue. Look up Lake St. Clair if you aren't familiar with it. It's the 6th great lake, but due to its average depth being about 10', this BS bill would make wakesports illegal on most of the lake.

At least on that lake you can just motor on over to the Canadian side of the lake and then that law doesn't apply.

[UWSkier]

36 minutes ago, roeboat said:

At least on that lake you can just motor on over to the Canadian side of the lake and then that law doesn't apply.

Yeah, but then you have to worry about getting thrown in jail for what you think...

[Michigan boarder]

7 hours ago, Raimie said:

This  is my issue. Look up Lake St. Clair if you aren't familiar with it. It's the 6th great lake, but due to its average depth being about 10', this BS bill would make wakesports illegal on most of the lake.

The language appears to be very clear to specify that it only applies to water less than 20ft deep.  So you would have to watch your depth guage and stay in deep water of that lake, it does not use an average depth.  I mean hopefully it dies, but I think this is pretty clear.

 

[electricjohn]

On 3/3/2024 at 12:07 AM, The Hulk said:

Seawalls and boat lifts 

Niether are allowed on my lake.

[The Hulk]

5 hours ago, Michigan boarder said:

The language appears to be very clear to specify that it only applies to water less than 20ft deep.  So you would have to watch your depth guage and stay in deep water of that lake, it does not use an average depth.  I mean hopefully it dies, but I think this is pretty clear.

 

Can't your "calibrate the depth finder"? Hahah .. sir right back there somewhere it was 20ft! 

Edited March 6 by The Hulk

[Raimie]

15 hours ago, Michigan boarder said:

The language appears to be very clear to specify that it only applies to water less than 20ft deep.  So you would have to watch your depth guage and stay in deep water of that lake, it does not use an average depth.  I mean hopefully it dies, but I think this is pretty clear.

 

The lake itself doesn't have areas much over 10', except for the man made channels, which are not 1000' across. We already have a laws in place to protect shorelines on our lake (200' from shore/dock/piling <26', 600' >26').

 

 

Edited March 6 by Raimie

[Slayer]

1 hour ago, Raimie said:

The lake itself doesn't have areas much over 10', except for the man made channels, which are not 1000' across. We already have a laws in place to protect shorelines on our lake (200' from shore/dock/piling <26', 600' >26').

 

 

Exactly.  This is why we don't need additional laws.  What should be done, IMO, is better education on boater etiquette.  That's largely missing from what I see traveling the lakes in MI.  

 

Another thing to consider is on many smaller inland lakes (sub 1,000 acres in size), the 500' law would considerably mitigate available lakes to surf on.  It would kill my home lake and I'd have no reason to own a wake boat.

[Hemmy]

47 minutes ago, Slayer said:

Exactly.  This is why we don't need additional laws.  What should be done, IMO, is better education on boater etiquette.  That's largely missing from what I see traveling the lakes in MI.  

 

Another thing to consider is on many smaller inland lakes (sub 1,000 acres in size), the 500' law would considerably mitigate available lakes to surf on.  It would kill my home lake and I'd have no reason to own a wake boat.

This would kill me also.  I think this would hurt a majority of lakes in Michigan.  Between not having the distance to shore or even another boat would eliminate most lakes.  You put a few boats out on any inland lake and you will have trouble meeting the 500' distance.  I go out in the morning, but my lake is shallow around most of it.  Most people and fishermen like to sit in the deep part of our lake to anchor and fish.  In the afternoon, the deep section is a no go for surfing regardless of this 500' law.  Some kids will surf and weave in and out of boats, which in my view is where the lack of etiquette is with these kids. 

[ahopkins22LSV]

I think, as MI boaters, a good stance when emailing our representatives is to reference the Lake St Clair distance rules. They are strictly enforced out there and they work for one. And two, they apply to similar sized boats to our boats. A 22-26' cruiser at 10-15mph is going to put a very similar wake to surfing. St Clair has those rules because of cottages and wetlands that do not have protection in the channels. Most have seawalls, but depending on the Great Lakes water height, they do nothing.

I see the depth being more impactful and I agree, 20' seems like a lot. As you can see we only surf where it is deep in our lake, however that doesn't mean the lake doesn't get torn up like crazy. The north end of our lake ranges from 2-5' mainly. Pontoons tear up the bottom cruising. Any kind of boat on plane, regardless of speed tears up the bottom. It is crazy in the spring and fall skiing up there you can see the bottom clear as day. However in the summer it is near brown during busy days.

 

Also, I guess my lake is pretty wide. I was curious so used Google and my Stava heatmap from tracking my surf sets. It would hinder us when there are a ton of boats on the lake, but have other people checked their lakes?

[Raimie]

Email I received today..

Thank you for reaching out to the Office of Speaker Pro Tempore Laurie Pohutsky. At this time, the sponsor of HB 5532 is working on the bill with the Michigan Boating Industries Association to address some of these concerns. There are no plans to move the bill within the House Committee on Natural Resources, Environment Tourism and Outdoor Recreation until that work is complete.

 

We need to keep tracking this and not lose sight of it while we are all distracted over summer having fun destroying shorelines and fish breeding grounds.

[Michigan boarder]

7 hours ago, Raimie said:

The lake itself doesn't have areas much over 10', except for the man made channels, which are not 1000' across. We already have a laws in place to protect shorelines on our lake (200' from shore/dock/piling <26', 600' >26').

 

 

What interesting also is that you would have to stay not less than 500 ft from someone who is anchored.  So even if you are surfing in the middle of the lake, 1,200 feet from shore, a fisherman can drop an anchor where you are surfing and now you have to stop your activity so that he can do his.  

[oldjeep]

I think that this whole problem is going to sort itself out without any additional laws.  The Ukrainians have shown us that inexpensive jet ski based torpedo drones are a highly effective way of controlling the issue of huge boats that are causing issues in your area

[Michigan boarder]

Bear in mind that that you can still run a "wake boat" within the 100' rule, you just can't have it in "wake sports mode" (ballast filled, or a wedge deployed, or a surfgate on the side or platform).  If you can position people appropriately and have the right boat, you can still surf. 

Or if you happen to have a 35' SeaRay that you like to pull the little kids tubing on at 15mph, you're OK too, that won't hurt anything.

If it goes through it eliminates wake enhancement on my 410 acre lake completely, none of it is over 20ft deep.

[Raimie]

Trim tabs could be considered wake-enhancing according to this. Whoever wrote this is just plain ignorant.

[Tim1]

If you are not already aware, Michigan State Representative Julie Rogers of District 41 (Kalamazoo area) introduced a bill (HB 5532) that would limit the use of any boat contributing to towed water sports. We want to make it clear that this is not exclusive to wake surf boats only. The bill uses the terminology of "Wake sport mode" which refers to the operation of a boat with any wake-enhancing equipment/features engaged. This includes but is not limited to ski boat hydrogates, microtuners, wake shapers, ballast, etc. It is important to note that if we do not fight this issue now, it is only going to hurt the boating industry as a whole down the road!

Here's the complete bill:  https://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(mj5g3hjl4ur5yjr2taquk5su))/mileg.aspx?page=getObject&objectName=2024-HB-5532

If you have not already contacted your state representative, WSIA has provided a link that will help you quickly draft an email to send in to express this concerning matter. We cannot stress how important it is to voice your concerns on this issue involving towed water sports in order to protect our boating rights! 

https://wsia.net/quorum/

The above information was from SilverSpray Sports in Michigan.  If this bill passes, I will not be able to surf on my lake.  Don't let this happen.  Contact your state rep!!!!!

[MalibuNation]

My House Rep is against it and I talked to my State Senator and he's leaning heavily against it.

[Michigan boarder]

I can picture this playing out on the highway.

Cop: I see your compact truck is loaded with ball bearings.  You know that it's illegal to load that many ball bearings into any truck and drive on the road, it causes undue wear to the highway.  The law is very specific about ball bearings, so I'm writing you a ticket.

Me: But the guy in the other lane had two pianos in his full size truck.  Why aren't you pulling him over?

Cop: Well that's different, obviously those are pianos and not ball bearings.  Not even close to the same thing.  Therefore his load has no impact on the road.  

[shawndoggy]

On 3/6/2024 at 7:26 AM, ahopkins22LSV said:

I think, as MI boaters, a good stance when emailing our representatives is to reference the Lake St Clair distance rules. They are strictly enforced out there and they work for one. And two, they apply to similar sized boats to our boats. A 22-26' cruiser at 10-15mph is going to put a very similar wake to surfing. St Clair has those rules because of cottages and wetlands that do not have protection in the channels. Most have seawalls, but depending on the Great Lakes water height, they do nothing.

I see the depth being more impactful and I agree, 20' seems like a lot. As you can see we only surf where it is deep in our lake, however that doesn't mean the lake doesn't get torn up like crazy. The north end of our lake ranges from 2-5' mainly. Pontoons tear up the bottom cruising. Any kind of boat on plane, regardless of speed tears up the bottom. It is crazy in the spring and fall skiing up there you can see the bottom clear as day. However in the summer it is near brown during busy days.

 

Also, I guess my lake is pretty wide. I was curious so used Google and my Stava heatmap from tracking my surf sets. It would hinder us when there are a ton of boats on the lake, but have other people checked their lakes?

haha you made me look @ahopkins22LSV

(15-30 min surf or wakefoiling sets)

[hunter77ah]

On 3/6/2024 at 10:26 AM, ahopkins22LSV said:

I think, as MI boaters, a good stance when emailing our representatives is to reference the Lake St Clair distance rules. They are strictly enforced out there and they work for one. And two, they apply to similar sized boats to our boats. A 22-26' cruiser at 10-15mph is going to put a very similar wake to surfing. St Clair has those rules because of cottages and wetlands that do not have protection in the channels. Most have seawalls, but depending on the Great Lakes water height, they do nothing.

I see the depth being more impactful and I agree, 20' seems like a lot. As you can see we only surf where it is deep in our lake, however that doesn't mean the lake doesn't get torn up like crazy. The north end of our lake ranges from 2-5' mainly. Pontoons tear up the bottom cruising. Any kind of boat on plane, regardless of speed tears up the bottom. It is crazy in the spring and fall skiing up there you can see the bottom clear as day. However in the summer it is near brown during busy days.

 

Also, I guess my lake is pretty wide. I was curious so used Google and my Stava heatmap from tracking my surf sets. It would hinder us when there are a ton of boats on the lake, but have other people checked their lakes?

My biggest concern is when a pontoon (or two) sets an anchor right in the middle of the lake to swim. At that point, everyone is done for the day despite the fact that the wake sport boat might have been there first. 

[dizzygti]

22 minutes ago, hunter77ah said:

My biggest concern is when a pontoon (or two) sets an anchor right in the middle of the lake to swim. At that point, everyone is done for the day despite the fact that the wake sport boat might have been there first. 

The pontoons near me don't even anchor, they just sit in the middle of the finger, assuming that's the best place to watch the sunset.   After a few passes (observing the 200 ft rule even if they aren't anchored), they usually leave though.    This bill scares me, blanket rules coming to every lake near you....

[hunter77ah]

24 minutes ago, dizzygti said:

The pontoons near me don't even anchor, they just sit in the middle of the finger, assuming that's the best place to watch the sunset.   After a few passes (observing the 200 ft rule even if they aren't anchored), they usually leave though.    This bill scares me, blanket rules coming to every lake near you....

I understand what you are saying, but as soon as the new “pontoon life hack” (using this law) comes out on the socials, a quick anchor and a call to the local officials gives them priority. 

[dizzygti]

1 minute ago, hunter77ah said:

I understand what you are saying, but as soon as the new “pontoon life hack” (using this law) comes out on the socials, a quick anchor and a call to the local officials gives them priority. 

Oh I get it and know, it's a slippery slope.   

[Tim1]

I won't even surf in anything less than 20' as there's no push.  One corner of my small 54 acre lake is shallow and is useless.  What'll kill me is the 500' rule.  My lake is an all sports lake, not a pseudo-all sports lake.