Wakesurfing article - Good to see some headway on this

In a stolen moment, under twilight's gleam,
Shelby and Erik drift as in a dream.
Their boat whispers secrets on forbidden waters,
Where love's reflection dances, as time falters.

Hand in hand, hearts beat a daring tune,
As they paddle through the hush of the moon.
Trespassing boundaries, yet bound by desire,
Their spirits entwine, a passionate fire.

Stars above witness their clandestine affair,
As they navigate currents, without a care.
Whispers of adventure in every stroke,
Their love's journey blossoms, never to revoke.

In this stolen haven, they find their own shore,
Where love's embrace is what they adore.
Forbidden but free, their hearts entwine,
Shelby and Erik, in this moment divine.
 
celine Dions my heart will go on is blasting full volume, rj and buzz are both holding onto a yeti cooler that's floating in the wreckage of their canoe.
there's ice sickles hanging off of their faces even though its July.
"promise me you'll never stop arguing rj"
"I promise ill never stop arguing buzz!"
buzz lets go and slips under 18" of water less than 100 yards from shore.
 
I’m not easily creeped out, but this shits gettin weird.
Vermont is much stricter than that now. 500 feet from shore, at least 20 feet deep, and a minimum of 50 contiguous acres in a lake that satisfies these requirements. They are also working on implementing a home lake rule to reduce the spread of invasive species. I’d imagine other states will follow Vermont’s example in the near future.

https://dec.vermont.gov/press-release/vermonts-new-wakeboat-rule-goes-effect-2024-boating-season#:~:text=As of April 15, 2024,over 500 feet from shore.
These rules would pretty much negate wake surfing here in Iowa.

Can you tell us more about the home lake rule? Does that mean you can only use one body of water?
 
I’m not easily creeped out, but this shits gettin weird.

These rules would pretty much negate wake surfing here in Iowa.

Can you tell us more about the home lake rule? Does that mean you can only use one body of water?
It's not been finalized but in the link below it appears the idea is to declare a home lake for each calendar year. A decal will be used to indicate your home lake.

Also in the same link are lake maps that highlight the areas where wakesurfing is permitted.

Vermont's rules do make it impossible to wakesurf on many smaller lakes although there are still a handful of lakes less than 300 acres where wakesurfing is allowed.

https://dec.vermont.gov/watershed/lakes-ponds/vermont-use-public-waters-rules/wakeboats#Home Lake Rule
 
I spend 5-6 days a week on the water... here's my observations.



No one likes wakesurfers other than wakesurfers.

They're creating 3-4ft waves that are not only incredibly annoying, but also dangerous to those in smaller watercraft, kayaks, or paddleboards. My first boat was a 12 ft duck boat that I rowed around at 10 years old. It wouldn't be safe to be out there these days with those boats.

They're destroying shallow weed flats. Lakes that usually have big cabbage weed flats in 6-10ft of water are getting absolutely abused by these huge waves that are consistently pulling weeds out of the bottom creating lots of floating weeds.

The waves are eating up shorelines. Especially on narrow lakes or rivers. With this, they're wrecking docks.

Half of these boats feel the need to play their music (usually shitty) at levels that are so high, you can hear it from 400 yards away on a calm day.

They suck, and I hope they get banned or limited to the point where most people get rid of them. Wakeboarding, tubing, skiing, and other things like that are just fine. They throw small wakes like any boat does. They're within reason.

Buddy’s family has lived on a western MT lake for 40 years. In the last 5 they have lost 15 feet off the peninsula on their shoreline in the lake. They had lost essentially none the previous 35, and are certain its the wake boats.Really dry and arid shore. Not scientific I know but I believe em.
 
Buddy’s family has lived on a western MT lake for 40 years. In the last 5 they have lost 15 feet off the peninsula on their shoreline in the lake. They had lost essentially none the previous 35, and are certain its the wake boats.Really dry and arid shore. Not scientific I know but I believe em.
I believe it. The guy I work for has two of them. Seen them in action. Not surprising they cause problems. mtmuley
 
I just got to see these boats in action for the first time at Newlan Reservoir in Montana. Wow those things are destructive. This body of water is not large. In an hours time I watched almost a foot of shoreline get washed away. The shore here is mostly clay, and they have dumped stone to try to stabilize it. The water going out 30 yards or so was chocolate milk from the clay washed away from the shore. This was done by only two boats. Impressive stuff. I thought jet skis sucked. This is a whole new level of shoreline deterioration. We were there setting crayfish traps. Needless to say it was a bust.
 
I was up at a buddy’s cabin last weekend on a lake that is probably pretty appropriate for wake boats. Good sized and deep. The dads got up early to take the kids fishing so the moms could enjoy a peaceful cup of coffee. We were anchored in a pontoon on a shallow weed flat 6-7 feet deep. Only one or two other boats on that section of lake. Of course, a wake-boat comes cruising by 100’ away, blasting music that was not at all appropriate for children, and right over the top of the weed flat. Waves came over the front of the pontoon. All we could do is shake our heads. Makes me that much more excited to go up to Canada in a few weeks to fish with my kids on a lake that inboards can’t be used on.
 
Well now it's time for serious action. I'm headed to big green to help search for the likely remains of a kayaker that was swamped by a wave boater. 911 was called because a witness saw a wake boater that they believed caused a kayaker to capsized and was calling for help. The kayak was retrieved but no human and now it's all hands on deck to see what we can do.

$*)Q!#@$ wake boaters...
 
Search is suspended until the am. Looks like a whole bunch more divers coming in the morning with all efforts focused on the bottom. :(
 
Well now it's time for serious action. I'm headed to big green to help search for the likely remains of a kayaker that was swamped by a wave boater. 911 was called because a witness saw a wake boater that they believed caused a kayaker to capsized and was calling for help. The kayak was retrieved but no human and now it's all hands on deck to see what we can do.

$*)Q!#@$ wake boaters...
I don’t want to be that guy, but that’s a good reason to wear a life jacket when you’re kayaking.
 

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