This past summer I had a couple friends that were told to get off the lake and do not come back. When the Sheriff tells you that, what do you do in that situation? One was on Torch Lake and another incident was on Higgins Lake, both in MI for those that don't know. The incident on Higgins was with a 36 cig with Zul 700/565s that had some raspy exhaust. The deputy that checked his db level the first time must not have been too bright as my bud only ran one motor...thats funny chit! The next time he launched it they told him to get it off the lake, come to find out the db meter wasnt even on the lake.

On to incident #2, Nortech 36 with 5" exhaust and 850s, Sheriff at Torch told him to not come back and didnt even test his db.

What is the legality of this? And what happens when you say "write me the ticket, I am staying"?

Go piss up a rope. He can't "ban" you from the lake, he has zero authority to do that. He can right you a slew of tickets, all of which get to be handled in our justice system. Sounds like you have a dick water patrol officer who doesn't like the old scary go fast boats.

I had one at Hardy Dam hot boat weekend tell me he could impound my boat and give me a misdemeanor ticket for violating a no wake zone which I didn't understand...I laughed in his face and told him good luck...my buddy that was with me showed him his sheriff badge and told him to go do something productive....he let us go no ticket...a lot of these cops don't understand the difference between road laws and water laws...I would have to guess they cant ban you from a lake unless it has a posted speed limit that you're clearly violating and it is preceded by a slew of tickets

Stewart

Maybe the better question is how should this be handled? Not so much the legality

if it were me I would politely ask for a printed copy of the law which they have to provide from my understanding and without a bunch of tickets or warnings ahead of time I don't think they have a basis to ban you in my opinion

stewart

Been there done that - you cant win.

"Go West, young man, go West". A mile offshore in Lake Michigan, and nobody cares about speed limits or dB. Poking the bears gets costly, road bond sux, and court dates eat up vacation time.

Out of all my law enforcement issues with motorized vehicles (boats, cars, etc) that had to be handled in court, I only really 'won one' - the cop was drunk. Okay...he was wasted.

Sounds bad...and some where...ever been thrown across your car by a cop ? but I have actually ran into some really cool cops that otherwise could have made life difficult. One set of troopers (out of state) actually showed us where the local street racing scene was and when. Another set up a race. and another set up an exhibition run. All 3, different states.

Boat police here...well...never brought anything to court because they can and will find you...most lakes are only so big.

Actually the owner of the Gladiator w/Zuls did win.......he sold the boat and has a pile of cash to keep him warm all winter!

Fun fact- just about every offense on the water in Michigan is a misdemeanor, not a civil infraction. It's all fun and games until you rack up a few or pizz off a judge and end up eating green bologna sandwiches and orange flavored drink for 93 days....