SB

iTrader: (1)

Maybe the word confused should be used on these waves. They are all over the place.

Can any of you guys deal with seriously confused women better than one's with predictable up and down's ? Didn't think so.

baywatch

We had a blast. We had the right tool for the job and glad we waited till 5:31 to leave the 31mm so we could run the full ride to bwj's through it. Once you could get going and run level you were set. My Apache is only a 36' so it doesn't span as well as a longer boat but we managed just fine.

With that said it was an epic fail by water patrol as they only made things bumpier for a longer distance and in the end the homeowners that complained and had this put in place were the victims (ironic) of worse conditions than if they would of just left things alone.

hustlerguy

Been there many years, We left at 5:30 ish pm from Captain Rons
It was by far the worst water conditions I've seen at LOTO ever.
Every boat waited until 5pm to leave to by pass the extended no wake.
The boat and myself could handle the Huge holes and waves from every direction but it was incredibly dangerous. I would have been much happier to get going faster and get up on top of the water but Most boats were struggling to do 25 mph, you didnt dare go faster than 50-60 mph most of the times I had to go much slower because it was shoreline to shoreline boats and when dropping down into a hole there would be times I couldnt see anything in front of me for 2-4 seconds. If your going twice the speed of the average boat you are closing the gaps fast and not being able to see doesnt work well.
I think this idea of a exteded no wake was a extreme failure!
One more thing, Jet ski's in that type of water should be required to have a orange flag on the back sticking up about 5' or so like 4 wheelers need in the desert. It is extremely dangerous for everyone involved to be coming up on a jet ski you cant even tell is there until your within 50' of them. They only stick out of the water by 3-4' and if they are in 5-8' deep holes in the water they are not visible by anyone.

Saratoga Stamped

I echo your experience, I have competed in some of the most challenging conditions,,but this was a mess.
I was alone, and strapped in my OL closed canopy SV53, and tried to get on top and navigate around the large cruisers, but many times there were PWC popping out of the larger wakes searching for some "airtime"..

Historically , boaters left at varies times throughout the afternoon,,,, this year everyone left at the same time.

No major accidents reported, only property/dock damage

Cash Bar

I think the longer No Wake would be much more effective if the ending time wasn't set and announced. It should be set up as lasting until "midnight or when it's safe to remove it".

That way people will just leave when they want throughout the day Instead of doing it like a shotgun start.

rak rua

Once upon a time, some people went out in their boats and created a wake..............

Knot 4 Me

We left around 4:00ish to avoid what ended up happening. The long idle wasn't as bad as I was thinking it would be. Glad we made the call not to leave later as we were only in a 303 Formula SR-1. Would have been a kidney buster. Epic fail.

Saratoga Stamped

I respect your suggestions,,, but many of these shootout competing boats, cannot idle for 2 hours (7-9 miles) on there high performance power. Leaving there boat at the Captain Rons Bar all night............... would be additional high risk,,,,,

302Sport

I agree with Greg saying it should end at midnight and Doc saying that the high HP boats cant idle for that long. I also don't think the performance boats are the culprits creating the waves. So, the best remedy to control all of this would be a no wake period until midnight for all boats weighing 20K lbs or more. This would pretty much keep all the big cruisers from throwing those monstrous wakes.

baywatch

I hate to agree with you but rather than extend the no wake a crazy distance and time your suggestion would inconvenience the least population and would allow competitors the ability to get home. I will also agree that from a safety perspective it is surprising no one was hurt this year.

In a heavy old stand up boat it wasn't that big of a deal but if doc and others had issues with visibility in "large" sit down boats that is saying something.