Innocent or Guilty?
 

on my recent trip to havasu i got in a little trouble with the locals.

put the boat in and headed down the river under the bridge past the beaches to what i thought was the end of the no wake zone. wrongggggg :eek:

aproxiamatly 500 yards away from these well marked buoys :rolleyes: were a second set of no wake buoys that i didnt see untill it was to late. by the tiime i noticed them and shut down the man was waving me over. he informed me that if i had read the first set of buoys i would have known not to get on plane till i got past the second set. i realize ignorance of the law is no defense but they could have maintained the buoys better if they are truely concerned for safety.

whada you guys think?

other buoy

he informed me that if i had read the first set of buoys

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes

I think that is irrefutable proof that the Buoys are in fact marked..with everything but the meaning of the Buoy. I also think your pictures are enough to have the ticket dropped. They look like advertisement, not navigational tools.:eek:

Fight that!!!:rolleyes:

WTF is up with that! Those aren't buoys they're billboards. If they are worried about safety, and they should be, they would maintain those things. They should be ashamed of themselves for writing a ticket on that!

Fight the ticket..if you don't you are doing a great injustice.

FIGHT it ALL THE WAY!:hothead:

oh , im going to fight it alright via mail. its not worth making a court apperance.

you should have run the guy over and said you didn't see him either

Maybe Nort can help you out

You should have taped the ticket to the bouy! What the hell... everything else is on that useless floating cork.

You need a court date, the fine may be reduced but not likely, are there any points toward your DL? The mail thing is a scam, they just toss the expln and take the money. You think the person opening these gives a rip? Go and show them they are in direct violation of maritime law and they should be drawn and quartered:D

Take the pix to court with you and GOOD LUCK.

with those pictures I'll represent you in court for free....just pay for my airfare and take me for a ride at LOTO :D :D

Spring break at Havasu. They tag them bouy's faster than you can clean them off. :rolleyes: I have witnessed what happened to you to many times.

I got to ask though. Usually there are other boats idling through Thompson Bay, so was it empty or did you just wonder why everyone was going so slow. :rolleyes:

Good luck with your fight. :D

it happened on a tuesday afternoon around 1:00

there were a few boats in Thompson Bay that looked to be anchored close to shore. i was far away from any other boats when i got on plane. being new to havasu i was being very carefull............i thought.

Steve,
Get in touch with the prosecutor and see if they will drop it by you emailing them the pictures. If not, it's a good excuse to go back!!:D :D

By the way, What is better: Havazoo or LOTO:D :D :D :D

no comparison.

LOTO!!!!!!!!!!

Exactly where does it say "NO WAKE"? That is B.S.

Good luck with that fight!

Send them a check covered with stickers... see if they can cash it.... that would be fair... f--ing fish cops... I can remember being on Lake Powell... some fish cop noticed my boat didn't have state tags... they pull up with the k-mart blue-light special buy flashing light on... ask about not having tags... I explain to these two idiots that it has "coast guard registry"... and show them the document... one guy faintly understood what it was... the other dip-**** was telling the somewhat knowledgeable one to impound my boat... I was about to fire up the motors and swamp their little cup of a boat if they had tried to impound me... idiots.... it's about the same at Havasu... I got into an argument with one of those dip-wads at the launch ramp... tried to explain to him that my triple axle trailer would not make the turns at the launch ramp on the island... I had to launch here... I didn't need to park the trailer here... but I had to launch here... I might just as well have been speaking a foreign language to this idiot.

Stick the ticket to the bouy, that is VERY funny. Good luck.

I've never been to LOTO... but anything has to be better than Havasu on a holiday or spring break... stupid drunk college kids... too many PWC's swarming like flies.... Way too loud f---ing rap music... :hothead:

good memory ocifer :crazy:
at least i didnt get a ticket last time.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...light=illinois

lol

Not Guilty!!!%#%##*Thats not a No Wake Marker..Its an ad campaign..Show the pic in court!!:crazy:

Take the names of every company that has their stupid sticker on the bouy and send them all a bill.

i suck at writing letters :o

Dear Judge Babbitt ,

This letter is in regards to a ticket I received on 3-16-04 on Lake Havasu (complaint # 70286) for excess wake.

On our recent trip to California to purchase a boat we decided to go boating on Lake Havasu on our way back home to Missouri. As we passed under the bridge and past the bars and restaurants at idle speed we noticed the no-wake buoys. Because the buoys were obviously unreadable we made the logical assumption that we were past the no-wake area and were free to bring the boat up on plane. There were very few boats in the area and none close enough to us to present any danger therefore we proceeded to increase speed to around 40 mph. Approximately 500 yards away we noticed the second set of buoys and immediately brought the boat back to idle speed.

I would never intentionally break any posted speed limits or violate the law. All I ask is that you take into consideration the buoys in the area have been defaced and are impossible to read.



Sincerely,

Steve xxxxxxxx

I think that will do just fine. Include the pics you posted here and I can't imagine any reasonable judge would stick it to you. Good luck.

The buoys are funny as hell, though. :)

Well written, Send it on!!;)

Steve I have a few suggestions but it will take about 10 minutes to type them out.

Dear Judge Babbitt ,

This letter is in regards to a ticket I received on 3-16-04 on Lake Havasu (complaint # 70286) for excess wake.

On our recent trip to California to retrieve a used boat I purchased my wife and I decided to take a day to visit and go boating at the well publicized Lake Havasu on our return trip to our home in Missouri. This boat is the X boat that I have owned and I have been boating for X years. (add if true) To this point I have never received a citation for violation of a maritime law. This brings me to the situation that occurred on March 16th of this year.

As we passed under the (name of the bridge here) bridge and passed several waterfront commercial establishments at idle speed and we came to what I believed to be the end of the no wake zone. I have attached a picture(s) of the buoy in question. The buoy is obviously in the shape and color of an informational buoy as is described and pictured on the US Coast Guards non-lateral aids to navigation web site. Because this type of navigation aid is used for numerous navigational restrictions and hazards such as restricted areas, swimming areas, hazards such as rocks or speed limit restrictions it is imperative that the buoy be clearly marked and readable to identify the restriction or hazard. Because the buoys were obviously unreadable and their location was such that a reasonable person familiar with the use of these navigation aides would conclude that this was the end of a no wake zone. There were few boats in the area and none operating in a manor that lead me to believe that we had not in fact left the no wake area. Therefore we proceeded to increase speed to plane the boat off. Approximately 500 yards away from the first set of buoys I observed a second set of buoys and immediately brought the boat back to an idle speed. This second set of buoys were place far enough away from the first set that it would be unreasonable for the average person to visually observe them from the first set.

When I was stopped and cited by the Officer I explained the facts as I have to you but instead of issuing a me a warning I was ticketed and told “You should have read the first set of buoys”. As you can see from the enclosed pictures it is impossible to read the buoy.

I would never intentionally break any posted speed limits or violate the law and I believe that any reasonable boater would have come to the same conclusions that I did given the facts as presented. Therefore I am asking you to set aside and dismiss this citation and would further ask that the water enforcement division at the lake immediately correct this obviously confusing navigation aid.


Sincerely,

Steve xxxxxxxx

If they say no, you need to ask for a jury trial...that is a major joke and unless someone steps up they will continue to do this.

Can you imagine if it were a speed limit sign on the road and defaced like that, then being ticked for going 50 in a 35 when there is no possible way to read the sign?

wow Mike!!!!!!!!!!
hell of a letter :cool:

ill be copying and pasting that to my letter if you dont mind :) :) :)

refreshments are on me next time i see you at the lake.

thanks for all your efforts!!!!!!!!!!!

No problem I typed it fast so you need to read it and make sure it flows and says what you want.

I accept your offer if you get it dismissed!

fight it all the way:hothead: :hothead: good luck:D

"manner" not "manor"

- dockrocker, OSO spelling and grammar police :)

got a form letter from havasu friday.
$140.00 fine if i plead guilty. they even except payment by credit card :rolleyes:
called and talked to clerk. asked if judge had received my/Von Bongo's letter. was told she (judge) was still reviewing it.
should know something by tuesday.

:hothead:

violation stands , payup or showup.
i was at least hoping the judge would reduce the fine but noooooooooo. what a bunch of crap.

any good Phknlwyr out in the havasu area that is also a boater? pm me!!!!

bummer