"Big Wakes!" What to do to stop the madness!

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Pegasus

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The impact that rude, inconsiderate, or oblivious wakeboard and wake surfing boat owners (and other boat owners, but these are the biggest offenders) are having on our family's safety and enjoyment of Lake Powell from May to September is significant. A serious question - What can be done to stop this madness?

The examples are numerous on WW posts. The problems we've personally had with 'big wakes' in the past couple of years is significant enough that it impacts every trip we take that we stay out on a beach. To the point that we consider NOT GOING. It's that significant. Last year we had our 25' Cobalt just about sunk when anchored to shore bow out by huge surf boat wakes coming over the bow (it would have sunk had we not "intervened"); we've had our large 40,000 lb. cruiser picked up and slammed onto the beach making horrible sounds more times than I can recall; we've had wake/surf boats continually and maliciously cruise behind our beach and boats making huge waves slamming swimmers into the houseboat, turning over kayakers, etc. I could go on but you get the point. This happens EVERY TRIP nowadays!

I don't have a solution as many of these problems are caused by boat drivers who really could not care less about what their wakes are doing to those on shore, even when asked nicely as WW member BKiser did last week (mentioned in another thread). We've also asked operators, many times, to be aware of and lower their wakes behind us - sometimes they have and apologized, many times they just don't care; several reactions have included harsh words or giving us the finger or flashing us/mooning us (unfortunately, we've reciprocated the bad words on occasion out of sheer frustration and as a great example to our kids and guests).

BTW-we do have friends with surf boats and they are great fun for persons of all ages! It's not the fault of the boat that these issues are occurring, it's the owners!

I call clueless people on Lake Powell "Oblivions", but many of these boat captains are not oblivions, what they do is done knowingly, maliciously and on purpose. I don't even think enforcement of existing laws regarding "being responsible for damage caused by your own wake" will stop the problem, as most of the time, known damage does not occur, it's just plain dangerous and inconsiderate.

Any thoughts to answer my question - What can be done to stop this madness?

p.s.-I just thought of one thing I/we could do. Take photos or video of the perps and post it on WW if it has enough clarity to see the perps and their boat number. My personal experience says NPS doesn't care/won't do anything about this problem, but pure public shame might be somewhat of a deterrent.
 
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I don’t have the answer for the problem but I will agree that nps doesn’t care. I’ve tried complaining to them several times about these oblivion’s running wide open through the bouy field at halls and nothing is done. The bouy field is a no wake zone and they don’t care. I have a big problem with this because my son likes to swim and play on his kayak when we are bouyed up and he should be able to safely. I’d say most of the people I’ve told to slow down didn’t know the rules but many just don’t care and give me the one finger howdy
 
I'm not sure there is much we can do. Anytime I've ever tried to intervene or inform it creates a bad situation. People instantly go on the defense, mock or just don't care. Taking a picture of some instances might help a little. However we go about it it comes down to knowledge, of the laws, of the potential harm and or damage such instances can cause. Most people just don't have a clue about any of the vicinity or passing laws on waterways. To me a real situation might be an app by the DWR that has a quick reference to simple boating laws, or even a boating drivers license received after taking a simple ten minute quiz. Education is what would help, but how do you get it out there?

PS: To clarify any of my stances... Stupidity runs the spectrum, I've seen stupidity on a fishing boat, jet ski, houseboat, cruiser, pontoon, raft, kick boat, ski, wake, etc etc... But I usually see instances of poor courtesy by the water recreation boats...
 
I had this happen to us last Thursday in Iceberg. We had already been there for 4 days with no problems all week. Then a surf boat came in our cove way to close to the back of the houseboat putting out a huge wake. I was able to hold my boat off the houseboat the first time he went thru but on his way out he came by even closer and with a bigger wake. As I was trying to hold my boat of the houseboat by myself as nobody else could get there fast enough it hit the boat and put a hole in my gelcoat all the way down to fiberglass and also has a ton of cracks I'm going to have to get fixed. I hollered at the guy and he never looked back. Pretty soon he came back in with a houseboat called "Star Gazer". Tried to get his attention a third time but no luck.

My group wanted me to go back in the cove and confront him, but since we were leaving early next morning I chose that I didn't need to cause more problems than I already had. He wasn't going to admit fault and things would have probably escalated to a new level.

99% of the people in the cove that week were great and most slowed to even no wake behind our boat...Even the jetskis slowed way down. Just this one guy that could not figure it out.

These wake boats put out such a huge wake-but that is not the problem. It's the people that just don't care. Sad part is that the majority are great, it's the very few that we seem to remember and ruin the trips for a lot of us.
 
Education is the only solution. You can post pics all day long on WW, but for the most part the people on this board are not the problem.

Wake surfing isn't going away, people need to be educated on what their wake does to other peoples property.

I live in a community with a private lake with wakeboarding and waterskiing (lots of docks), our rules are simple:
1. no wake enhancing devices allowed
2. all boats either need to be in full plane or 5 mph (wakeless)
 
Chad Axelson said:
I had this happen to us last Thursday in Iceberg. We had already been there for 4 days with no problems all week. Then a surf boat came in our cove way to close to the back of the houseboat putting out a huge wake. I was able to hold my boat off the houseboat the first time he went thru but on his way out he came by even closer and with a bigger wake. As I was trying to hold my boat of the houseboat by myself as nobody else could get there fast enough it hit the boat and put a hole in my gelcoat all the way down to fiberglass and also has a ton of cracks I'm going to have to get fixed. I hollered at the guy and he never looked back. Pretty soon he came back in with a houseboat called "Star Gazer". Tried to get his attention a third time but no luck.

My group wanted me to go back in the cove and confront him, but since we were leaving early next morning I chose that I didn't need to cause more problems than I already had. He wasn't going to admit fault and things would have probably escalated to a new level.

99% of the people in the cove that week were great and most slowed to even no wake behind our boat...Even the jetskis slowed way down. Just this one guy that could not figure it out.

These wake boats put out such a huge wake-but that is not the problem. It's the people that just don't care. Sad part is that the majority are great, it's the very few that we seem to remember and ruin the trips for a lot of us.
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Chad:
I am a member of the "Star Gazer" ownership group out of Bullfrog and saw your posting. The persons on our boat last weekend are some of the most responsible boaters you could meet (and I hope you do meet them). They were not in Iceberg Canon last Thursday, nor do they own a surf boat. They kiddingly suggested that we rename our boat the Star Geezer, given that some of us are aging (and thus would not be surfing, much less doing something outside the boat). All of the persons in our group share your frustration regarding wakes and lack of responsibility and respect. It hurts to think that our boat and group would be associated with the actions you describe. We hope you never again experience the situation described above. (By the way, there is more than one Star Gazer at Lake Powell. Enough said).
 
David Tyng said:
Chad:
I am a member of the "Star Gazer" ownership group out of Bullfrog and saw your posting. The persons on our boat last weekend are some of the most responsible boaters you could meet (and I hope you do meet them). They were not in Iceberg Canon last Thursday, nor do they own a surf boat. They kiddingly suggested that we rename our boat the Star Geezer, given that some of us are aging (and thus would not be surfing, much less doing something outside the boat). All of the persons in our group share your frustration regarding wakes and lack of responsibility and respect. It hurts to think that our boat and group would be associated with the actions you describe. We hope you never again experience the situation described above. (By the way, there is more than one Star Gazer at Lake Powell. Enough said).
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Sounds like it was a different Star Gazer for sure and they are on the same page as others posting. I guess that is the problem of boat names without photos - there are duplicates on the lake. It's good David cleared his 'Star Gazer' up from the claims.
 
Thank you for starting this thread....Sometimes just venting the frustration helps even though no real results come from it.... Parents need to teach their kids rules of the "road" just like they would when teaching them to drive a car. Last fall in BF Bay we had two young girls on a jet ski run right behind our boat WAY too close. That made me mad enough but to make it worse, we were trolling. They took our lines with them and were forced to stop and pull lines off of themselves (they are lucky not to have gotten hooked) and once they were clear they just took off as if nothing happened. I was SOOOOO upset and tried to see where they were going but lost track of them. I for sure would have had a talk with mom and dad......

This last weekend, it was two ski boats and two jet skis that kept coming in and out of the canyon we were in. They should not have been on plane at any point. We had 7 boats and a houseboat (some tied together and near a rocky shore). We had paddleboards and people swimming/floating. It was very scary on several occasions. They just completely ignored any signals we were sending their way. I really wish I would have filmed them...we for sure had plenty of opportunity!! They had a houseboat at the end of the canyon and I guarantee you, if the same was happening to them, they would be just as frustrated!
 
David Tyng said:
Chad:
I am a member of the "Star Gazer" ownership group out of Bullfrog and saw your posting. The persons on our boat last weekend are some of the most responsible boaters you could meet (and I hope you do meet them). They were not in Iceberg Canon last Thursday, nor do they own a surf boat. They kiddingly suggested that we rename our boat the Star Geezer, given that some of us are aging (and thus would not be surfing, much less doing something outside the boat). All of the persons in our group share your frustration regarding wakes and lack of responsibility and respect. It hurts to think that our boat and group would be associated with the actions you describe. We hope you never again experience the situation described above. (By the way, there is more than one Star Gazer at Lake Powell. Enough said).
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I appreciate your reply...I almost didn't mention the name of the boat for that very reason. I figured there was probably more than one with that name!
 
Ego, lack of respect, ignorance & in some cases youth all combine to form a bad situation.

Years ago it was the jet skier that was the most evil of all... now it is the wake boat driver.

Pounding an anchored house boat with roller wakes is unsafe and should carry huge penalty including impound.

Support every effort to make every Canyon wakeless. Push these asses to the main channel.
 
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If you were walking to your car in a parking lot, and you saw someone back into, or otherwise damage your car, what would you do? Why is your response to an inept/irresponsible/uneducated/jack wagon boater that causes damage to your boat be any different?

I know NPS enforcement of any issue at Powell is not as strong as some would like, but if anyone is running into these issues, they should be contacting them. And documenting the issue - take photos/videos.

Confront the offending boater. I'm not saying do it in an aggressive way, but start nice. "Hey friend, not sure if you are aware, but your wake is causing me these specific problems....... Did you know Utah law is wakeless within 150' of another boat?"

If someone caused damage to my boat I certainly would talk with them about it. If they don't do the right thing, I would take a photo of their registration number, file a report with NPS, and turn it into my insurance company.

And this might not be popular, but I do think those complaining need to take a little more initiative in another way - be more observant when you are picking your campsite. Growing up, my mom in particular LOVED to camp in Iceburg and Escalante. I gave that up because those canyons are just too popular. I am not saying it is right, but it is a reality that if you camp in those areas, you are going to have to deal with wakes - be it from a 40,000 pound cruiser, a bowrider, a gawd-awful wake boat, and almost certainly jet skis. If you camp there, you need to be in the very back of a canyon, and even then you probably are going to have to deal with wakes - again this isn't a matter of right so much as reality.
 
Whatever happened to being responsible for damage caused by your wake?
Are there not sheriffs there, just NPS?
 
Ryan said:
If you were walking to your car in a parking lot, and you saw someone back into, or otherwise damage your car, what would you do? Why is your response to an inept/irresponsible/uneducated/jack wagon boater that causes damage to your boat be any different?

I know NPS enforcement of any issue at Powell is not as strong as some would like, but if anyone is running into these issues, they should be contacting them. And documenting the issue - take photos/videos.

Confront the offending boater. I'm not saying do it in an aggressive way, but start nice. "Hey friend, not sure if you are aware, but your wake is causing me these specific problems....... Did you know Utah law is wakeless within 150' of another boat?"

If someone caused damage to my boat I certainly would talk with them about it. If they don't do the right thing, I would take a photo of their registration number, file a report with NPS, and turn it into my insurance company.

And this might not be popular, but I do think those complaining need to take a little more initiative in another way - be more observant when you are picking your campsite. Growing up, my mom in particular LOVED to camp in Iceburg and Escalante. I gave that up because those canyons are just too popular. I am not saying it is right, but it is a reality that if you camp in those areas, you are going to have to deal with wakes - be it from a 40,000 pound cruiser, a bowrider, a gawd-awful wake boat, and almost certainly jet skis. If you camp there, you need to be in the very back of a canyon, and even then you probably are going to have to deal with wakes - again this isn't a matter of right so much as reality.
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You couldn’t pay me to camp in Iceburg.
 
The frequency of wake monster attacks seems to drop off significantly when we are up stream of Rainbow Bridge and down stream of the Escalante. We are in cruisers with considerable range so we wander pretty far, beyond most wake boats that are tied to houseboats or Wahweap and Bullfrog/Halls. Rangers at the launch rampants with flyers reminding boaters of key safety rules (150 feet, children's life vests, riding on bow decks, etc.) might make some incremental change.
 
How many of the wave boat drivers are sucking up beers one after another? 1 out of 3 maybe?
If there are no repercussions for the bad behavior it will never stop.
The "entitled" class just doesn't care.
They need some of their own medicine.

BTW, it just isn;t here at Powell. My favorite, family history lake for trout fishing in the CA Sierras has gone to paddle boards, yoga on boards, cruising pontoon boats, yaks, sailboats , etc. I;ve given up going there. No way to fish it with all the "fun boat rentals" going by 2 or 3 boat lengths away.
 
I know this sounds a little childish and immature but I had the same kind of thing happen to us last year in halls creek with people surfing too close to us. They went back and forth for hrs one day causing waves crashing on the beach so bad you could see orange for about 30 feet from the shore !
We had been camped for 2 days when this started so noticing they were camped a little ways towards the bay and being an early riser like 6am I motored over their way and flipped my captains call exhaust on and having a 350 V8 and did laps in their cove. It wasn’t long till many heads popes up from the roof of thier house boat! I did it a few more times and even stopped so they could see my boat in case they wanted to discuss the situation later. Yea they never came back. Some times you have to fight fire with fire ! It sad to say there are more and more morons that are clueless to any decorum on operating a boat.
 
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