Our Yearly Reminder – DON’T BE A DOUCHE!
Can you imagine?
It’s that time of year. The beginning of boating season, and well. new boaters. Which is great, but, there is always someone not thinking. And wakes can be hell on our boats, and more importantly, our classic boats can leave a large wake, even at slower speeds.
The No wake is real, Stan has this up there and no one pays attention.
Image from an Insurance ad in 1958
We all understand that it isnt on purpose. It’s just not being aware. I am guilty myself, and it’s a constant thing. YOUR WAKE CAN CAUSE BIG TIME DAMAGE. AND YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT WAKE. One thing is for sure, our classic boats get attention, and are unique enough to identify, you are in a sense, a celebrity out there. So your wake will get noticed and be easy to find you. So, keep it in mind, for all our our sakes. watch your wakes!
Sometimes it doesnt leave your trouble behind…
Good advice. WoodyBoaters should set a good example!
That is a great reminder! Do not always look at the other guy! Check out what you are doing and how it affects others. As for me, I will definitely not be making a wake this year, at least not on the water. The boats will still all remain in the barn all summer. Perhaps next summer!
…but, I will be going the the boat show in Algonac the weekend of June 22!
Dan, find me at the show. I want to meet you!
Greg, my wife and I plan on it!
Thanks Matt!
I was at Boathouse Marina (Palatka, FL) for the St. John’s River Cruise in March 2023 when all the classics were launching at the ramp next door. One of us came right by the marina plowing about 20 feet off the dock in a “No Wake” zone. I heard one of the other marina residents say “I have a classic boat, I can do whatever I want.”
We all make mistakes, but let’s try to keep a positive image out there.
This is definitely a conundrum in our hobby/sport. Our boats do put out bigger wakes but then you have other boaters coming closer to “get a better look” – which we can appreciate to an extent. The other issue is going through a “no-wake” zone at dead idle and having other boaters and law enforcement yelling at you to slow it down.
I kinda like “I have a classic boat, I can do whatever I want” – would look good on a t-shirt. I jokingly told the manager of a local waterfront restaurant that they should have special reserved slips for classic boats. He just laughed.
My boathouse in the North Channel (Algonac, MI) is in a FREE Wake zone so because I keep my 22 Ft 1946 Chris Craft Sportsman on a cradle type hoist, I am a hostage to the Weekend Commandos that race up and down the Channel. Rigging the hoist to move faster won’t solve the problem, the waves cause the hull to bounce violently on the cradle. The 1200-foot-wide channel is lined with steel seawalls on both sides, causing one’s wake to echo back and forth several times before being dissipated. Waiting for the seas to calm down enough to launch is like waiting at the Doctor’s office. Worst yet is trying to return, bobbing like a cork until the traffic finally subsides. My solution is to spend the entire weekend day out on the water, leaving early and returning late, before and after the river gets too choppy; that or wait until the weekdays when the Commandos are back to their work jobs.
What if you had a “wake dissapator”? a rectangular fence the width of your boat house door about 4 feet tall with slats that you drop down in the water to dissipate the wakes as they roll into your boathouse. It would be like a child proof gate used to keep a child in or out of a room. You would have to work out how to drop it down and raise it, possibly have counter weights and pulleys and a channel like a garage door rollers on each end to hold it in position. Just spit balling a solution because I understand how annoying it would be to have your boat banging around on the cradle.
Floyd: Great Idea! We should go into business together. I’ll let you handle the Corp of Engineering Permit. What do you think about our chances of success?
We rarely go out to the island on the weekends anymore for that reason. The difference between that and the weekdays is dramatic. You have the whole place to yourself. We’re on Muskamoot Bay.
As unaware as we sometimes can be, nothing we do compares with the “checkbook boaters” in their wakeboard boats…
There was a seaplane versus small pleasure boat incident over the weekend in the Coal Harbor in Vancouver BC…Two in the boat suffered injuries, Thankfully no fatalities….This happened in a documented seaplane runway…Pretty sure the seaplane has the R/W…Video available on many news outlets
Love that illustration, even with the havoc. No mention of Wake Boats? They’re the scourge of our northern lakes. The wakes and the sound systems.
This year, we rebuilt our dock 12 inches higher to handle the douche wakes of the wakeboard boats! Their wake used to come up over the dock! I was an avid water skier and we always were looking for the smallest wake possible!
Woody Boaters, please understand there is quite a difference in Wake Boarding vs WAKE SURFING and the type of boats involved. Wake Boarding is just a degree beyond Water Skiing, using boats quite similar to ski boats, just with a tower. WAKE SURFING is exponentially more energetic, requiring a uniquely configured, specialized boat……with resultant huge wakes, and a capability to damage to the lake bottom, shoreline, and everyone else on the water. Quite a bit of discussion here in SE Wisconsin on the negative effects of WAKE SURFING, The SURF boats are now defined as ‘ Wake Enhanced Watercraft’. WAKE SURFING is the real problem, not skiing or wake boarding.
By the way, when we have our Holiday Wood Boat Parade around the Lake, we do make a heck of wake, and everyone is out cheering and loving it!
John Doyle, Lauderdale Lakes, WI