it’s insane with the boats and jet ski traffic. Almost got whacked today by 35 MPH boat about 25-30’ long.
Dodged many wakes but last guy was 8’ away. He wasn’t looking and I was swimming 150’ with my CD Expedition.
Then I come home and guy comes down canal no wake zone nearly on plane. People screaming at him at restaurant where their boats are docked. Guy started doing donuts in canal in 25’ boat as we all screamed at him. I was on my floating dock but then he took off. Got most of his registration numbers on the hull.
Yesterday guy on jet ski comes down the canal then hammers it to 40-50 mph. No respect for others or others property.
Going to police tomorrow I have video but my expectations are very low.
So I’m swimming as boats passed only one offered assistance. .Spent few hours on the beach after it all to chill. Then paddled homeward.
That’s effed up schtuff. Hope, your video and others will get some of these folks some hefty fines. (Too much to expect jail time short of some one getting hurt/killed.
Be safe out there. Hopefully, the boat traffic will die down as fall comes around the corner.
Glad you are OK! The jet skiiers can be… they got so bad in areas of Lake George that at least they used to be banned from one area near a town beach and with a fair amount of boat traffic trying to get in and out.
The most ridiculous part of that was that the motor boaters were hardly well behaved themselves there. I got to where I refused to paddle out of there between July 4 and Labor Day. But the jet skiiers were worse.
swimming with the boat was not bad. I slid it forward as I kicked. Then pulled the hull down on it’s side. The cockpit was down in the water and pulled on it using it as a scoop or I guess the entire hull as an anchor point.
Front and rear compartments were just about 100% dry. Could have picked all water up with one sheet of paper towel.
If I stay real close to shore it’s shallow but a 2-3’ wake probably gains 50-60% in height.
Can’t always see the number especially when trying to read the water and stay upright . They’re mot coming at me sideways. To bad it’s the end of the season I may mot see them again. My canal Woodcleft in Freeport has bars and restaurants and people just cruise up to be seen or just have a look. The boat is in my mind.
Last year at night with all my lights guy blows by at 35-40 by 8-10’ . He had unique lights in the transom but I sadly never found him even though I searched near by canals when paddling and boating. After he passed me he did the same to a guy fishing in a 20’ boat with a light just as close.
Last week I saw an oversized boat intentionally (IMO) harassing a kayak and a couple of SUPs by doing donuts nearby and closer to shore than allowed. The next morning I found the boat tied up at a VRBO and went in close to get the registration #, but there was none. Got pictures of the boat and the street address of the rental instead. The lack of registration ID interested the DNR more than reports of bad (or even illegal) behavior, I suppose because there could be lost revenue involved. I saw the boat being trailered out of the area two days later. Too bad, so sad.
I hope you get some traction with the police. This kind of horrible behavior is becoming normalized, and it isn’t limited to only jet skis or only wakeboats or only ATVers. It’s a sign of the continued downward slide in basic civility.
If nutzos are causing confused or big wakes, stay farther away from shore. As you noted, in shallow areas along land, the wakes get jacked up and they bounce back, colliding into the next fast-approaching “ripple” from the boat. Jet ski wakes don’t have much force, but the jerks can cause chaotic water. Unlike Ma Nature’s wild antics, there is nothing faintly predictable when it comes to mean or stupid people operating vessels that can suddenly turn around.
Dontcha just love how they go RIGHT UP TO the no-wake buoys and then shut it down hard, or do a U-turn? Sometimes it looks like they deliberately charge in toward a group of paddlers or swimmers who are nearby, after a long period in which nobody was nearby and they weren’t interested in getting close to the area. It does make me wonder how often these chumps do it on purpose rather than from poor spotting.
Big problem is how tiny and hard to read the registration numbers are. I recently saw a jerk carrying 6 people (5 of them little kids) tearing straight toward a SUPer who was sitting still. Not only did he narrowly miss her, mainly thanks to HER paddling out of his path, he never slowed down, even as he was dangerously close to slamming into the dam. He tore right past both the No Wake and the No Boats buoys, in full wake mode, before abruptly veering. I had watched him from across the lake, when he was already operating recklessly, and then after crossing over, I saw the near-disasters he caused.
I talked with the SUPer, who tried to photograph his number
but could not “because he kept moving the boat.” After I landed, I did call the park gate worker, who said with my descriptions of the boat and people, he would be able to stop the guy on his way out. The
I hadn’t thought of the stolen boat angle, but it could be so as this particular lake is only two hundred acres or so … too small for regular DNR visits and no staffing at the public launch except for an invasive species monitor a few hours per week.
Glad you’re OK PaddleDog! I just totally avoid the lakes round here in Austin on any holiday weekend (well, plus there’s a distinct lack of water right now , plus it’s too hot to even go outside). I dislike the noise as much as the wakes and idiots. There have been plenty of fatalities from collisions or swimmers being hit. Down on the Gulf coast the boats are pretty much all there for fishing and they seem much more alert and sensible. Hope that isn’t a jinx!
I’m still amazed at how power boater can avoid hittimg black or orange floats the size of a one quart mayonnaise jar tethered to crab pots, yet they have trouble navigating around a kayak. Maybe a flare at eye level across the bow in problem areas.
CO had such a big problem with stolen trailers being taken to Mexico that they instituted a major registration crackdown about 12 years ago. What they ignored was that many scofflaws were—you guessed it—just cheapskate local people who’d been getting away with not registering their trailers or never renewing them.
In that kind of lax situation, it was easy for thieves to traffic in stolen trailers.
Maryland has pretty comprehensive regulations regarding the operation of jet skis and for the most part they are vigorously enforced. I haven’t really had any problems with them in the last few years, other then the noise being annoying.
A friend of mine has taken pictures of violators and DNR followed up on them where the registration number was visible.
Another friend was deliberately capsized on open water in December by a power boat, and given the registration number and description, the operator had his boat impounded, driver’s license suspended, and was sentenced to 90 days in jail.
. They’re mot coming at me sideways. To bad it’s the end of the season I may mot see them again. My canal Woodcleft in Freeport has bars and restaurants and people just cruise up to be seen or just have a look. The boat is in my mind.
, plus it’s too hot to even go outside). I dislike the noise as much as the wakes and idiots. There have been plenty of fatalities from collisions or swimmers being hit. Down on the Gulf coast the boats are pretty much all there for fishing and they seem much more alert and sensible. Hope that isn’t a jinx!