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Spirit of the law vs letter of the law : NO WAKE!

warrior999

warrior999

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Standing on the balcony Sunday evening, my daughter and I watched a massive storm blow in from the west across Lake Hamilton. It was moving extremely fast as we watched the mountain across the way disappear rapidly. We noticed a fisherman slowly exiting our inlet to head home, obviously unaware of the impending doom. He glanced over his shoulder, looked ahead and then snapped his head back to the west. From idle to full throttle in an instant. He must have been doing 50mph by the time he reached the edge of the no wake buoy; and rightfully so. His wake was minimal compared to the swells from the wind that instantly hit and rocked the docks.
I'm not sure if he made it back to shelter before being overtaken by the storm but I sure hope he did. It was beyond treacherous on the water. Stay alert and wishing everyone a safe boating season.
 
The ONLY time my wife has said....... Can this thing go any faster?!? ...... Is when we were trying to outrun a storm to get back home. We beat it but got soaked putting the cover on.
 
In Michigan you’d see storm coming on the radar and could typically judge their arrival. Down here in Florida the skies will change in an instant. Hopefully he made it home safely.
 
lakeliving said:
In Michigan you’d see storm coming on the radar and could typically judge their arrival. Down here in Florida the skies will change in an instant. Hopefully he made it home safely.
Click to expand...
I hadn’t had my boat more than a month and the sky opened up right over me! Had both biminis up but still got soaked from the sideways rain. I made it back to my lift in about 15 minutes and while I wasn’t at wide open throttle I was making a wake in the no wake zone. Of course the sky’s cleared up to beautiful and sunny as soon as I pulled into my lift. FML.

I will say, and someone else said it in a different post, the way the zipper flap is designed on the double Bimini catches the water and it drips through the zipper which is just forward of the helm. This blows more water in your face when you’re underway.

The good thing is I never once felt unsafe in my Benny on the open water.
 
This is why when you boat on waterways that are very large you need to be able to get moving.
Some people don’t see the reasoning in the high horse power motors but some times a quick 4 or 5 mile run is all it takes to avoid a storm. Or you can be 30+ miles away like we do sometimes and Just want to get back.
When I was fishing regular I have been back in bays and not seen storms coming in on me (especially before smart phones) and know that
I didn’t have long and go on through some no wake zones at 70 if it was where I could see other boats coming.
 
On a related note...

Idle speed is truly no wake, BUT when I pass fishing boats out on the lake, I speed up, because my wake at higher speeds is about 1/3rd the size of my wake at around 10 mph, or just before the boat climbs up on plane. Passing fishing boats that are anchored and fishing at higher speed is much less disruptive to them than it would be if I slowed down.

Again, idle speed is truly "no wake" but surprisingly, faster speeds are generally "less wake" than slower speeds. Try it sometime.
 
kaydano said:
On a related note...

Idle speed is truly no wake, BUT when I pass fishing boats out on the lake, I speed up, because my wake at higher speeds is about 1/3rd the size of my wake at around 10 mph, or just before the boat climbs up on plane. Passing fishing boats that are anchored and fishing at higher speed is much less disruptive to them than it would be if I slowed down.

Again, idle speed is truly "no wake" but surprisingly, faster speeds are generally "less wake" than slower speeds. Try it sometime.
Click to expand...

You sir "get it"
Rock on!
 
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