Wardens only wish they knew what a Top Gun was
 

Sunny 85 degree day, today, with a fairly strong wind, I'm running in a no wake zone in a river. Mr. Warden was on board the local water cops boat. (He must not know how to run his own boat.) Went by me, looked for a bit, turned around and flipped their fenders over. Decided to stop us in the middle of the channel (thankfully hardly any boat traffic today or we would have been run over.) Didn't have a meter on board, told us to follow them to the Coast Guard Station. Long story short, had us pull up to the staging pier @ the launch. Did a sound test against the dock (no echo there..), wanted to see silent choice, didn't believe us boat doesn't have it. Then asked what kind of boat it was (while kneeling eye level to) Cigarette Top Gun logo. I had to turn away at this point, this guy didn't have a clue. We took pictures of him testing the noise, he started to shake at this point (that was a bit gratifying). Wanted to know why the pictures "for our records". Well, ticket will be coming in the mail (we had dinner to get to), and I'm going to fight this one.

Did any of those who received tickets in Oshkosh WI fight them? If so, what was the end result? I'll keep you posted on this one.

I saw this one. He also started to shake and dropped his paperwork in the water...now he was not happy. Also wondered what those "things on the deck" were. They were wind deflectors. He was also the only guy wearing a bulletproof vest. Note, this is the Fox River in Green Bay Wisconsin. Not the Miami River!

Well, the story continues, Mr. Warden called my home # and left a message, he wants to talk to me regarding the "incident" on Sunday. This seems odd, maybe he wants a date or a boat ride....

You could get him into some SERIOUS trouble if you complained about the phone call. Thats grounds for being fired in some parts.

No pun intended?? :D

I am with all of you! I am getting really sick of the WDNR and their self righteous attitude. I heard from good sources in the area that the local fishing groups donated the decibel meters yet the DNR would not take a donation from a powerboat organization..hmmmmm. Did any of you hear what happened Thursday, August 8, 2003 in Fond du lac with Merc Marine and the race crews? DNR shut down their fundraiser for the United Way before they were done (only about 45 min to 1 hour left). I guess Merc leaders got in a tussle with the warden after they tried to be nice but DNR called Winnebago Sheriff out and citations were issued to race crews. DNR said that the boats had to be registered unless they are racing and they were too loud. This happened the day before the newspaper articles about Merc going to China came out. I also heard that Keikhaffer called Gov. Doyle and told him the way things are. DNR is also hitting Harley after the 100th. Letters have gone out. This is getting out of control!!
Shari, I have many friends who have gotten multiple tickets since this all has started.

These enviro nut cases are REALLY getting WAY WAY WAY OUT OF CONTROL! We need to remain UNITED and be MORE PERSISTANT than the enviro nuts or they will surely win!:hothead: :hothead: :hothead:

SheriTopGun,

Keep the recording off your answering machine! DO NOT delete it or tape over it. It MAY be VERY advatagous later on. Good luck and keep us posted.

I just recently attended a poker run on Winnebago. I was dismayed when I learned that they were planning on running up river. They ended the drivers meeting with the DNR officer saying that his #1 priority was safety. Somebody called BS and asked why they wern't performing safety checks during their stops.

Sure enough, I got stopped. First thing the warden said was that "They've been having some problems with noise". Guess they don't have problems with poaching or drunk boating. Checked me for noise and issued a citation. Never asked if I had life preservers or fire extinguishers. Looks like the warden was lying during the meeting.

Call him!
Just be sure to tape it. And make sure he knows it's being taped.
Gary

I agree. Call him - tape him - use it against him. What's he want to discuss? His incompetence?

This crap has to be stopped. If we do nothing, I guarantee you that we will be welcome in very few places in the near future.