who try to flip you with there wake.is there any thing we can do? they are real bad on lake lanier
Wakes & power boaters…
– Last Updated: Apr-28-11 10:42 PM EST –
You gain experience, learn to enjoy & play on the wakes, or you find other paddling venues.
The vast majority of power boaters have little to no concern for canoers, kayakers, or any of your concerns.
If they bother me enough; I try to lure them into the shallows, where they'll tear the hell out of the bottom of their boat. Have only been successful once so far, but it was a very memorable experience.
BOB
If they are really trying to flip you,
then you should take your cellphone in an Aquapac and get the phone numbers so you can summon the enforcement guys. Try to remember the registration number on the boat. You might also carry a waterproof camera. Note whether the powerboaters appear to have booze in their hands.
It does help to stay in the shallows. You might also investigate other parts of the lake that are farther from major marinas. For example, if you put in at the hwy 52 crossing and head upstream, few powerboats are going to be up there. You can even put in up at Belton Bridge and paddle up and downstream. Right now the lake is full, and the Chattahoochee River will have rather little current at Belton Bridge.
great advice ty you both
ps i hear they may raise fool pull of lainer 2 feet
Flare gun
Take up GOLF
Wakes are Fun
– Last Updated: May-01-11 5:28 PM EST –
I hate it when power boaters slow way down and look over at me like they're all concerned. I wave 'em on. "Go, baby, go!"
enjoy!
Learn to brace and enjoy.
Take a picture
I notice that power boaters start to behave much better once they notice I’m filming them and I have a radio.
But please do be careful as they are often distracted by drinking or others in the boat so they rarely pay attention to where they are going. Without the restrictions of lanes they feel like there is little need to control their course at all.
Most power boaters have little or no training and don’t know the COLREGS at all.
Lake George
We recently had a fatality where a power boat operator struck a kayaker who subsequently died. The PBO never saw the kayaker which raises the bigger issue of PBO just mot being aware.
I like many of the answers to this post; cell phone, video etc… my two favorites are a toss up between luring them into the shallows or flare gun… NICE!
TRY to flip you?
– Last Updated: Apr-29-11 8:04 AM EST –
You mean intentionally?
Report them to the police. I had a friend who was actually aimed right at by a lobster boat in Muscongus Bay in Maine. It's one thing to catch a wake but another to be targeted. I had it happen to me. A 23+ speed boat came very close to me at high speed and they laughed as they shot by. I couldn't get the numbers but pretty scary. I know one paddler who shot his flare gun at a similar incident. (I don't recommend that)
Generally power boaters are very respectful and considerate to people in small paddle craft.
A wee aside
kayakers don’t have the right of way over lobster boats which are actually working their strings. Usually the crew is busy and not even watching for you.
Thats not to say there is not a jerk or two captaining a lobster boat…and as all boats have a defined color buoy on the boat top thats another piece of info to report.
Just a seasonal bit of info for those coming this way this summer.
My favorite trick
Learn to roll. Let them throw a big enough wake, act very frightened, make lots of noise then rollover. Stay upside down a good long while to scare the crap out of them and then roll back up.
learn some balance?
– Last Updated: Apr-29-11 11:40 AM EST –
Sorry about the post title. I think I initially mis-read you about the wakes being a problem. Then I remembered, ah Lake Lanier where some boaters do deliberate harass kayakers.
If wakes are a bother then you might need more practice on balance. If it's boaters harrassing you then record hull#s and call them in. There are definitely some serious yahoos up there. I've been harrassed by kids on personal water craft in the middle of marathon team trials. They were circling paddlers and trying to flip them. They managed to get some water in my boat that I had to empty on the next portage. I'm glad that the course marshal ran them off before I finished my race.
Getting run over by drunks/innattentive operators is often my primary concern.
Be careful on weekends, especially anywhere on the main lake. Be visible and try to stay out of the main thoroughfares as much as possible.
It also helps to get out early. The lake is usually pretty quiet before 10AM in the summer except for a fisherman or wake boarder that is like you wanting to avoid the mad house of recreational boaters. This is especially true upstream of Clarkes Bridge.
Salty, what are the general beliefs of
powerboaters regarding what they might do to make kayakers, canoeists, etc., feel more secure? Back when I was sculling, I noticed that powerboaters did not seem to know how their individual wakes affected me. A passing ChrisCraft was going to make a big wake unless it slowed WAY down, but a good-planing speedboat might affect me much less if it went by staying at full speed.
My main solution was to stay off the Charles in summer, except in the early morning. I was in no danger from powerboats, but they disrupted workouts. Later, on the Schuylkill, the river around Boathouse Row was off limits to powerboats, except for coaches’ launches.
I don’t expect much from powerboaters, so that I’m often pleasantly surprised. If I were a powerboater, I’d want to know how to pass paddleboats with some balance of reduced impact on them versus reasonable progress for me.
often wanted to try that, but…
The occasion hasn’t really come up yet. The boaters I encounter are pretty careful and to play that little game I’d also need to have no other boats nearby so I don’t have my little joke cause another problem. If I had a chance I wondered if they would turn back to help or just high tail it out of there to avoid getting in trouble.
I’m getting the impression this sort of problem is way more common on lakes than the ocean/harbors where I play. The small harbors have strict no wake speed limits and I think on the open ocean/coast more boaters are about getting somewhere (to fish, relax, etc.) rather than just out to go fast. Or maybe I just have a lucky location.
Salty I think …
These are southern Bubbas in bass boats, fueled by beer and class hatred.
Registration Numbers
In my experience, DNR rangers on Lanier love busting idiots in boats. Get the boat registration numbers and report them. Forsyth deputies as well. Hall doesn’t have a presence on the lake.
Or, stick to back water coves that drunken morons avoid because they can’t go full throttle open. Honestly, avoid the entire southern end of Lanier. The wide open area attracts idiots like flies to crap.
im always afraid they will hit me
not sure what there deal is maybe they dislike us in kayaks around here. i am going to start bringing my cell. the main time wake affected me was when i was under some tree limbs.
Agreed, make yourself seen…then use
– Last Updated: Apr-29-11 1:20 PM EST –
the occasion(s) to improve your skills with their wakes & waves, either taking them broadside or turn to meet them at all different angles, 30deg, 45deg, 90deg...etc. It's really great practice. BOB's..."lure them into shallows.." LOL...nothing like hearing the scratching sound of metal on rocks...LOL! Back in the 90s I would visit one small lake outside of Framingham, MA to get in some paddling...at every chance. Once in a while there would be this one boat where alcohol-use was always probable...would always wonder if the Lorrs Rocket Launcher(Dirty Harry's "The Enforcer" ep.) actually existed...however I simply opted to use the time to practice confronting rough conditions...ie rock with the surf...
$.01