September 22, 2006

Lake Associations and Us

Bypassing fact checking & editorial processes, the Muskoka Lake Association published this hilarious article detailing Wakeboard & Wakesurf Boats, and it recently surfaced in the wakeboarding community. In essence, it illustrates what happens when someone with very little information and a Web connection gets misinformation out to the masses. Kind of like - what we do here at The Wakeboard Report.

It would be fun but ultimately pointless for me to try and guess the type of person who wrote this article. At first I simply wanted to cover it from the viewpoint of the author, who in my mind was either the president of the Barefoot Association, or the Anti-Motorboat League. But the thing is, I barefoot, I like taking passes through the slalom course so I can't make fun of other water skiing activities. Also I can fully understand why some bodies of water have rules against powered boats - so those endeavors are safe from ridicule here. Not every body of water should be a bee hive of activity every weekend, but we all have a right to enjoy the water where power boating activities are deemed legal.

I have a feeling that the sentiments expressed in the referenced article are far too common, so - let's have a "sit down" regarding the written and implied rules for wakeboard boats. Let's talk though this. Let's sort this out. Let's stop being little sissy kids about this issue, and most importantly let's deal with a few facts.

Wake Size
Yes, wakeboarders weight their boats. We can no longer hide that fact and the sooner everyone accepts that and deals with the real issues, the sooner we'll all be getting along with each other again. You weight your boat too. If you are in a 21 foot open bow Larson with 8 of your closest friends, guess what? You are running heavy and are displacing as much water my Super Air Nautique is.

There is a family on my lake that owns one of those 24 foot fiberglass-hull deck boats - it is apportioned like a pontoon boat, but has a solid hull, steep dead rise and overall hulking mass. It even happens to have a radar swoop - the boat is enormous. The wake dwarfs that of our boat. One day we found out that they were not happy with the wake that my Ski Nautique 2001 was putting out. Hypocrite much?

There is a speed at which a boat can travel that I refer to as "annoying speed". I do not allow my boat to be driven at this speed. "Annoying speed" is approximately 10mph, and is generally characterized as being just shy of allowing the boat to plane, and is normally loud enough to drown out all conversation and stereo noise. It is marginally faster than forward headway speed, yet far slower than planning speed, and the engine has to work pretty hard to maintain the speed. It is a lose lose lose lose (hang on, 1, 2, 3, 4... oh... one more) lose situation. But look around on a busy Sunday on your favorite body of water. It is one of the most common operating speeds and creates a larger wake than a boat can at any other speed. The boat is quite literally plowing its way through the water and it is also an extremely common sight - everyone is doing it (except us of course). I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that a 19foot Bayliner Capri 1950 makes a bigger wake at that speed than my Super Air Nautique does at 23mph, loaded down with ballast. It wouldn't be the kind I would be interested in practicing my tournament pass on, but as felt by the shore - it is bigger. Which leads me right to...

Erosion & Shore Damage
Settle down. All boats erode the shoreline. If you really want to make that argument, ban ALL boats from the lake, tear down every million-plus dollar home, give back the tax money that people pay to live on a vibrant fun lake, and enjoy the quiet sanctuary by yourself. All runabouts and inboards can operate at speeds that make large wakes. Both waves and wakes dissipate over distances, and the argument that my wake boat erodes the shoreline more than an average boat is without merit. There is some argument to the distance issue but most lakes already have laws about this sort of thing. And if there are marinas and other sensitive areas, then those areas should be marked with bouys to let people know the rule in that area. Oh wait - that too is already a law and works well.

Tower Speakers
We're with you on this one actually. Tower speakers are a PR nightmare waiting to happen. We at The Wakeboard Report don't support tower speakers, as we value a good relationship with the people who live where we ride and to be honest, our stereo is quite loud enough thank you very much. In general, I have not had to deal with this issue yet. On my lake there is only one boat equipped with tower speakers, and the people that own the boat are usually too busy tubing and power-turning, running speed passes and in general using their wake boat for just about everything BUT wakeboarding. Tower speakers were intended to let the rider hear the music while they are riding. These people aren't riding. But we can hear their music records blasting from shore and it is obnoxious.

We, wakeboarders, are not against you the residents of Lake Everwhere, Anyplace North Somewhere. Wakeboarders don't deserve to be at the receiving end of a biased article like this, on a site that is supposed to inform and educate people about boating safety. People who participate in this sport hold down real jobs; they pay their bills and their taxes and you'll find almost all wake boat owners are responsible adults. The financial barrier to entry for the sport helps support this assertion. In the cases where there are "kids" breaking laws, parents should be taking the keys away.

Posted by erik