Lake Austin Ballast Ban??

[SkiTower]

this attitude is the problem. "shouldn't have moved there". Wake size wasn't an issue until about 15 years ago when wake enhancements came to be. Probably half the lake houses have been in the family for YEARS. So the proper analogy is they built a freeway or neighborhood next to your existing house. Yeah, I'd be pissed. But like a lot have said, a little courtesy from everybody goes a LONG way.

[scottb7]

you're right...good analogy. they built a freeway next to your home. and rather then you being reasonable and dealing with the usual 70 mph. you want to have people on the freeway go 30 mph.

so you are going to blame their "attitude" and ban em. go ahead i'll move off the lake when it happens. not that i am not courteous. i do my power turns only when it won't bother people on the lake. and i try to keep safe distance or more...more shoreline get's messed up too. i just don't complain. it is what it is. there are plenty of things that happen over the years i can't predict. but i don't go with the "15 years ago" bs.

there "wasn't an issue" for mainframe programmers "15 years ago" either but you know times change. you want to ban pc's too?

[biggator]

this attitude is the problem. "shouldn't have moved there". Wake size wasn't an issue until about 15 years ago when wake enhancements came to be. Probably half the lake houses have been in the family for YEARS. So the proper analogy is they built a freeway or neighborhood next to your existing house. Yeah, I'd be pissed. But like a lot have said, a little courtesy from everybody goes a LONG way.

This would only be true if they hadn't already allowed larger boats on the lake. That 32' SeaRay cruising by throws a bigger wake than a slammed wake boat.

[swc5150]

I don't agree with the freeway analogy, unless you're simply talking noise pollution. A freeway doesn't wreck your yard, throw gravel all over your deck, or knock your little kids over when they're trying to play in the yard. Now if you get a bunch of street racers out there, with blasting stereos, and blown tire shrapnel flying into your yard, maybe you'd have a comparison. Our family bought our lake home in 1969, and there were plenty of loud boats throwing decent size wakes back then. Today's wake boats are a completely different animal. Our chain is small, so anything over 25' would be silly out there, so we don't deal have to deal with those. A 21'-25' wake boat throws a monster wake, period, and they're pissing people off. Again, I'd never vote for a ban of anykind, because then I'd be next, however, I hate dealing with the pounding rollers coming in and over our dock when these boats cruise past. We used to be able to tie up our boats to the dock, but now they need to be lifted at all times when not in use, or they will get pounded against the dock when hurricane Supra drives by.

Slalom courses are banned on many lakes, as residents don't want skiers going back and forth all day, plus some just don't want to look out over a bunch of orange balls. It sucks for me, but I can see their point. I'm amazed that some boarders cannot see the other side of the argument. The attitude of, "just move then" or the like is a sure fire way to get your sport banned.

[pokesgrad02]

Very interesting conversation. IT seems every time we go to our lake home on the weekend we have a difficult time skiing unless it is at 6am or almost dusk. I personally enjoy skiing at this time of day but have often wondered as lakes become more crowded if bans will start on different water craft. At times during the day it is border line dangerous to go for a cruise. Not only are you dodging morons who have no business at the helm but also the massive waves from large boats and weighted boats that are surfing. Just last night I was telling my wife that if we want our children to enjoy the lake during the day we may have to conform and start surfing. Personally I would love to see the day that bans large and ballasted boats. At the same time I see the attraction to surfing. I could do it anytime of day and never have to deal with the sore muscles the next day in early season.


For now I am just thankful my place is at a huge and very deep lake.

[scottb7]

I would love to see a pic of a deck that get's gravel thrown on to it that is not too close to the water...bring it on.

Bottom of my yard get's ruined. I don't blame anyone. I don't have to have pristine grass right to the water. That is my choice.

Maybe you are an elitist that should have more respect for people that cannot afford to live on the water. Or maybe you got in when it was cheap and cannot really afford to move - or don't want to move - your boat dock (or whatever it is) where it should reasonably be 44 years later (2013-1969)

[perry386]

I see the point that they are trying to make and even if they don't ban ballasted boats their word will still be out there and people will be more cautious of their wakes. And even as a wakeboarder, I can see where they are coming from. My buddy was out on his 16ft bass boat one day and we drove by with no ballast at all and he told me later that day that he almost flipped over, thankfully he managed to turn it around enough so that the bow of the boat took the wake or else he probably would have flipped. However, I don't think they should ban ballast. There are much more important things to be worrying about. Prime example: make sure people who are driving know what they are doing. If you get some moron out there in his bass boat that will go 70+ miles an hour and doesn't slow down when he hits our wake, that's his fault! But thankfully I don't have to worry about ballast being banned on my river because there are only 5 wakeboard boats on my river and we are the biggest one at 23ft.

[swc5150]

The comparison was a dock to a deck...water over a dock, gravel over a deck. A great example of what I'm talking about. You can't see, or won't see, the other side of the equation. I'm not trying to start a pissing contest here, just trying to point out both sides. I experienced first hand losing our slalom course, as I had the attitude of "screw off, if you don't like it, move!" when I was young. Guess what, we lost the course. I don't want to see any more towed sports banned, but the that screw off attitude will gurantee it happens for you. Heck, open water skiing would vastly improve on our lake, if slammed boats were banned, and I'm still against it. I just ask for courtesy...stay as far away from docks and shorelines as possible.

[chris196]

There are no new developments with regard to the Lake Austin ban that I know of.

I always have mixed feelings on this. It is a public lake and I really hate when property owners think they can dictate what happens on public waters.

But, the wakes are getting ridiculous out of these boats and kind of make the lake unusable after a certain time of day. It's an arms race of wakes out there now. We did have a slalom course on Lake Austin, it's not there any more. It was maintained by a couple of old school guys who were both Texas slalom champs back in the day. Neither really skis any more, so there's no one to maintain it. (Both of those guys live on the lake, so much easier for them).
Some common sense courtesy could solve a lot of issues, but it's really hard to teach. We've had a case where 2 boats are trying to merge their wakes and running right along side the slalom course. It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out. But what can you do. They eventually moved off after we motioned to the course, but it definitely ruined the day. And this was at 7am on a weekday, plenty of open water just a bit in either direction.
The other big issue on Lake Austin is retaining walls and the massive wave reflection that results. The lake gets quite choppy with very confused waves. It doesn't take a surfer to have this happen, but obviously gets worse with a surfing boat going by.
So, in my perfect world wakes would be smaller and there would be no retaining walls or if you have a retaining wall, also have some type of reflection mitigation. I have some ideas on that, but of course they cost money.

[nyryan2001]

Personally I would love to see the day that bans large and ballasted boats.

^^^^ lame.

Typical grumpy old slollam guys who think they own the lake or somehow you are more entitled to your sport than others. I hope you never end up on my lake, you would get your feelings hurt from rollers and your kids would want to surf behind my boat having a blast with my boys.

Cheers.

[skiswm]

It's not that they are towing with a full ballast but they are not draining it all the way down. So that in turn enhances the chances of taking "a friend" from the lake/river along for a ride to the next location they go. In many lakes (including Lake Tahoe) they will search the entire boat and every place that contains water (ballast, fishing wells etc) need to be fully cleaned and dried before they can enter the lake.

I am not saying I am for or against these rules just pointing out what has been told to me by people that are manning some of these boat inspections.

[swc5150]

^^^^ lame.

Typical grumpy old slollam guys who think they own the lake or somehow you are more entitled to your sport than others. I hope you never end up on my lake, you would get your feelings hurt from rollers and your kids would want to surf behind my boat having a blast with my boys.

Cheers.

Hmm, I didn't really get that impression from his post, but that's JMHO. I hardly think it's the slalom guys who think they own the lakes these days. Back in the late 80's, I think you'd have a point though. I was guilty of being an inconsiderate a-hole back then. Back then it was "us" versus the fisherman.

[Quinner]

^^^^ lame.

That would be my description of surfing, it is right there with tubing and ballasting beyond your skill level, greatest impact requiring the least amount of skill.

Bans are already happening so don't kid yourself that this is about selfish skiers or old slalom guy's, we have been doing our thing for 50 or 100 years, have felt resistance and have worked towards minimizing the impact we leave to help preserve all watersports. There are so many other great pulled events out there that are great fun and much more rewarding while leaving far less impact on your neighbors, fellow boaters and the environment.

[swc5150]

Maybe you are an elitist that should have more respect for people that cannot afford to live on the water. Or maybe you got in when it was cheap and cannot really afford to move - or don't want to move - your boat dock (or whatever it is) where it should reasonably be 44 years later (2013-1969)

Or maybe you're jealous of those who have a lake home, and think they deserve to pay for and clean up the mess you make with your wake? Maybe you should have more "respect" for the property tax payer? Our dock is right where it should be, not very old, and built like a tank. And trust me, the property tax bill is more than keeping pace with the increasing value of the property from 1969.

Again, I'm not the one calling for any bans. Courtesy for all who want to enjoy the lakes is all I ask for.

[scottb7]

Maybe you don't know how to read. I mentioned I do live on the lake. I do pay high taxes. And I still dont' complain like you do. I challenge you to show the picture proving your junk is not too close or low to the water. 2nd time: bring it on. You are a cheap lake property owner. You just don't want to admit. And you think whatever you do is right.

Show the picture proving your stuff is not too close to the water and let everyone be the judge!