Cabin Cruiser Operators - "WAKE UP!...no, WAKE DOWN"!

wildwoodfam · 07-16-2007, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silver Duck

It's not just the cruiser operators that seem to be clueless this season.

I was on vacation last week, and did a lot of cruising at a nice, easy 1200 - 1500 rpm pace; I lost count of the number of boneheads in "family bowriders" that zipped past me within 50 feet.

I even had an encounter with one of the excursion boats that zipped past me in a no wake zone and came so close that I had to reverse my engines!

Somehow, I gt the feeling that the mandatory boating safety course isn't working all that well....

Silver Duck

and I hope you filed an official complaint to the Crusie Line!

I didn't realize any of the excursion boats on Winni were capable of zipping...I know they throw big wakes - was a favorite past time of my friends and I to take our 15 hp aluminium boats and run them through the wakes of Sophie and Doris!! They were cruising with their big ole wakes - but I would not say they were zippy...

Silver Duck · 07-17-2007, 07:53 PM

wildwoodfam

I guess "zip" is kind'o relative.

Since it was flat calm, I was idling along as slowly as my boat will go (3.7 mph - I checked my GPS), which was all I needed for steerage way. I didn't so much mind him passing me as I did getting cut off!

As for filing a complaint, I did so directly with him - via both VHF and the five horn blast "bonehead seranade".

Basically, all it got me was a dirty look out the pilot house window. With no damage or injury involved, I figured there wasn't much sense in a flatlander filing a formal complaint against a local.

And, boy do you have it right about wake size from the Sophie and the Doris. When I see the Sophie going by my slip, I've learned to sit down and hang on; I can't imagine hitting that wake at speed in a small aluminum boat (and, don't want to!

)

Silver Duck

wildwoodfam · 07-17-2007, 09:27 PM

It's tough to go up against the local lakers - especially the cruise lines who believe that they "own the waves!" At any rate - a call to the MP just the same if it were to happen again - could not hurt! I once filed a complaint against a local polic officer who I saw turn on his lights and siren to get around a traffic jam. I called the police dept headquarters and reported the incident - my cousin, a captain in taht department later informed me that they had in fact reprimanded the officer in question for violations - using his sirens and lights for non-emergency situations. It was not his first time!!

By the way - jumping the wakes back in the 80's - may have been crazy - but it was SOME KINDA FUN!!!

Mee-n-Mac · 07-18-2007, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildwoodfam

By the way - jumping the wakes back in the 80's - may have been crazy - but it was SOME KINDA FUN!!!

Was fun even earlier too ! But as my Dad used to say "It's all fun until the windsheild falls off the boat".

07-17-2007, 09:27 PM	#3
wildwoodfam Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: North Andover, MA & summers up at the BIG lake Posts: 285 Thanks: 5 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: Flatlander vs. Local - I hear ya Silver! It's tough to go up against the local lakers - especially the cruise lines who believe that they "own the waves!" At any rate - a call to the MP just the same if it were to happen again - could not hurt! I once filed a complaint against a local polic officer who I saw turn on his lights and siren to get around a traffic jam. I called the police dept headquarters and reported the incident - my cousin, a captain in taht department later informed me that they had in fact reprimanded the officer in question for violations - using his sirens and lights for non-emergency situations. It was not his first time!! By the way - jumping the wakes back in the 80's - may have been crazy - but it was SOME KINDA FUN!!!

07-17-2007, 07:53 PM	#2
Silver Duck Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Billerica, MA Posts: 364 Thanks: 40 Thanked 4 Times in 3 Posts	wildwoodfam I guess "zip" is kind'o relative. Since it was flat calm, I was idling along as slowly as my boat will go (3.7 mph - I checked my GPS), which was all I needed for steerage way. I didn't so much mind him passing me as I did getting cut off! As for filing a complaint, I did so directly with him - via both VHF and the five horn blast "bonehead seranade". Basically, all it got me was a dirty look out the pilot house window. With no damage or injury involved, I figured there wasn't much sense in a flatlander filing a formal complaint against a local. And, boy do you have it right about wake size from the Sophie and the Doris. When I see the Sophie going by my slip, I've learned to sit down and hang on; I can't imagine hitting that wake at speed in a small aluminum boat (and, don't want to! ) Silver Duck