Lake life is changing

[swatguy]

Hats off to the 4 days of 7am and 7pm surf crews that tore up the entire lake never going ropeless on any of your boats except one rider. It’s awesome to slam your 23ft boats with 5k in ballast and blast through the morning and evening butter with the best trick being throwing your buddy a Whiteclaw( how original) Hope some people were able to find some stashes of glass somewhere in the heat to ski or ride .

[Nautiquehunter]

Its amazing to me that the same people that cried and complained about the tubers and wave runners tearing up the glass see no problem wake surfing in a ski cove or 50' from rafted boats and docks. Its a big problem across the country these 12000 pound surf ships are going to ruin it for everybody. They are already putting restrictions on some lakes. Here's a hint YOU DON'T NEED GLASS TO SURF! Take it out to the main channel where the wake will have some time to dissipate before slamming into the shoreline and it will make you a better surfer.

[scottb7]

Yep, I know how you feel.

[charlesml3]

Ha! ha! I remember when wakeboarding first started catching on in the mid 90s. Man, the slalom skiers were whining like crazy. "You're going to RUIN THE LAKE!" There were petitions (some of them successful) to ban wakeboarding on some lakes.

Same thing happened it the late 80s when snowboards started showing up on the ski slopes. More whining, hand wringing, doom and gloom... There are even a few resorts that don't allow snowboards.

Here we go again, this time it's surfing. Every time there's a new sport the fans of the current one are going to cry. It's inevitable.

-Charles

[F725]

What’s missing is common sense, courtesy and training. Daddy buys a big G for his 16 year old kid. The kid doesn’t know the first thing about boating but sure knows how to piss people off with lack of respect. I see people trying to surf 50’ from shore in 6’ of water. It would be great if the dealership would spend time with families teaching them how to drive the boats and that there is a minimum water depth for creating good wakes / waves.

Im the wakeboard owner on my lake and even tho I stay far from shore, avoid other boats and areas where people have shoreline concerns, a few of the lakeshore owners are trying to ban me from the lake. It’s becoming more of an issue every year.

I joined the lake association this year to field questions and address concerns personally. We have a picnic this Saturday. Could be fun.

[Neptune442]

Yeah, the surf crowd certainly seems like the low hanging fruit to pick on. But I grew up on a small private lake - not even large enough for a public access. I can't tell you how many times I woke up to one of the lakeshore owners setting up his slalom course. With complete disregard for anyone else that may want to enjoy the lake, he'd have his slalom course set up from dawn to dusk, blocking off the one decent driving lane straight enough to enjoy a decent run for wakeboarding, skiing, kneeboarding, etc. Whether it be surfing or skiing, it all comes down to everyone being courteous and respectful of other boaters. But I'm afraid that's way too much to ask.

[srock]

The difference now is the destructive size waves being thrown not only at all other boaters but to the landowners and environment as well. On bigger bodies of water its no big deal but on some of these mid to smaller bodies cannot handle the destructive waves. Then throw in loud tower speakers into the mix to really piss people off. I see both sides but I would not bet that this will end with the same past level of acceptance.

[functionoverfashion]

I remember an incident where we were wakeboarding with an '89 2001, not overly weighted, but we had about 6 people in the boat. Our path went in and out of a cove, but we didn't come within 500 feet of shore because there was no need.

After a bit, a guy comes out in a kayak right in our way, so we slowed down and he paddled up to us. "WHERE ARE YOU FROM" he started out very in a confrontational manner. The thing is, we all live on the lake, too. "Do you know the boating laws?" He asked. I was driving at the time, and I respectfully explained that yes, we do know the laws and we felt that we were nowhere near violating them, (I asked if he agreed, which he begrudgingly did). And that we all lived on the lake in different places, which no doubt surprised him. He explained that he was trying to teach his grandkids to swim on his beach and our waves were disturbing them. Right, it's mid-summer on a weekend, not ideal for beginner swimmers but anyway, we said we thought we were being reasonable and acting well within the law and then some, to be riding in and out of the cove. It wasn't really calm enough elsewhere due to wind or boat traffic. But we said we'd go elsewhere, because we don't like when people tube or whatever endlessly in front of our places, either.

That was 2005. Just yesterday, my kids (4 and 6) are practicing their beginner swimming technique in shallow water by our house. I look up and there's a 23' boat pulling a wakesurfer back and forth in our cove. Watching the huge rollers coming in I said "boy that's going to get old if they do that all day" and my wife, who was with me that time in 2005, said "Remember that guy who came out because his grandkids were learning to swim?" I had to admit it was nearly the same, but I also said I wasn't going to paddle out there and confront them. Surfing makes a bigger wake (and I know the boat isn't local) but still, she's right, it's not that different. It turns out they went elsewhere on the lake after a couple minutes - and so did we, in the end - but it was an interesting moment.

[Shockthis]

I find a lot of the new surfers are new to boating. They take a cruise of the lake looking at houses while surfing. The other day I almost hit the guy with a tennis ball from the shore, I hope they read this and they should stay at least 100ft from shore, I would prefer the middle of the lake but I will start with 100 ft.I had to move the bouys out so the kids don't get run over swimming off the dock.

In Switzerland , the first part of the shore is for paddle boards and kayaks and swimmers etc. The middle if for boaters. I would love to see the first 250 ft for swimmers, paddle boards etc. This would really help us all from getting the sport banned.

[functionoverfashion]

In Switzerland , the first part of the shore is for paddle boards and kayaks and swimmers etc. The middle if for boaters. I would love to see the first 250 ft for swimmers, paddle boards etc. This would really help us all from getting the sport banned.

The rule in NH is headway speed within 150' of pretty much anything. As far as bans, I certainly hope it doesn't go that way on my lake. I like to surf sometimes, too, it really comes down to being respectful as others have said.

Already on my lake, some residents have gotten skiing banned from their coves - granted, if you're following the 150' rule it's hard to legally ski there and/or impossible for more than one boat to do it. It's unfortunate such a ban has to exist because it's only a problem for a handful of days a year.

[xxrb2010]

I am not sure about the wave size from Surfing boat being way bigger than a runabout. After looking at wave size and shape coming to my dock for the last 3 years, I am not yet sure which one is the most destructive. I am often surprise by how runabout waves break at the top while surf boat waves do not. I also wonder how far each wave need to travel to loose the same amount of power.

[Kenv]

Xxrb....Come on...seriously ......which one is more destructive?? ANY boat with ballast....is bigger and more destructive technically than 90% of any runabout I/o or outboard. Not sure what kind of boats you have on your lake...but the difference is easy to spot.

[hal2814]

To me it’s more a matter of being inconsiderate than anything else. It’s a shared resource and we all have a right to the water but it is annoying when one boat chops up the water so nobody else can use it. My family surfs now. It’s fine I guess. I do notice that we don’t need glass but we do need wind cover sometimes. So sometimes I’m in the cove. But if I am then the wakeboarding water would’ve been garbage anyway. I’m lucky enough to have several lakes to choose from. They all have their own personality and the two I frequent most often have the most considerate boaters. They’re not the closest to me. I also avoid the lakes with the more expensive boats. In my experience they are typically the less considerate boaters.

[72Miles]

Like I tell my wife when she complains about fishermen pulling up to our dock to fish around our pier - we didn't buy the whole lake. For as many inconsiderate wakesurfers as there are, there are just as many or more jetskis and pontoons that think it's a great idea to follow my rider and cut back and forth across my wake.

On my lake, my experience is that the wake boat drivers are the safest and most considerate group, by far.

[Conwayfl]

Like I tell my wife when she complains about fishermen pulling up to our dock to fish around our pier - we didn't buy the whole lake. For as many inconsiderate wakesurfers as there are, there are just as many or more jetskis and pontoons that think it's a great idea to follow my rider and cut back and forth across my wake.

On my lake, my experience is that the wake boat drivers are the safest and most considerate group, by far.

+1 on the jet skiers