Lake Austin Ballast Ban??

[SkiTundra]

But I think all that ordinary high water mark stuff is bull.

I'm guessing by this comment that you do not then own a house on a lake.

[scottb7]

Wrong again. Still waiting on you to provide requested info see post #50.

[biggator]

Well this became unnecessarily confrontational.

So back to a point I've made that nobody has addressed. What about big boats that already throw big wakes with no ballast or tow sports at all? Not all of us live on little lakes filled with trailerable vessels.. my lake has plenty of 30+ boats.

[SkiTower]

Well this became unnecessarily confrontational.

So back to a point I've made that nobody has addressed. What about big boats that already throw big wakes with no ballast or tow sports at all? Not all of us live on little lakes filled with trailerable vessels.. my lake has plenty of 30+ boats.

those boats have no use anyway, so go ahead and ban them! jk (kinda) One Memorial Day was screwed due to a cigarette boat race all the way up the lake on Lake Norman. Too much money on that lake and those boats were too big For that lake. Ruined it for everybody (not even speaking of the racing part of it on one of the busiest weekends of the year). I don't like rules dictating things like this, but it's amazing how uncommon sense and courtesy are.

[pokesgrad02]

Typical grumpy old slollam guys who think they own the lake or somehow you are more entitled to your sport than others. I hope you never end up on my lake, you would get your feelings hurt from rollers and your kids would want to surf behind my boat having a blast with my boys.

You missed my point...

Everyone has the right to be on the water. If all boaters would treat it as a privilege and not a right, it would make everyone's experience more enjoyable. Including the ballasted boats and the old grumpy slalom types.

[Quinner]

I hope you never end up on my lake, you would get your feelings hurt from rollers and your kids would want to surf behind my boat having a blast with my boys.

Really, lol. Not my kids, they actually have skills and have been given the opportunity to experience the many facets of watersports as has countless family and friends we have had the priveledge to teach all while having minimal impact so as to extend that opportunity to as many as possible. Can you Imagine how hard it would be to teach a new skier in 4ft rollers??

And my description of yours is that its a dying antisocial sport that requires such pristine conditions that its quickly becoming infeasible, and already grumpy 2 guys in a boat at 6am become grumpier. by 10am you are off the water mad that someone ruined your butter wiping down your boat grumpy and mad the rest of the day. because waterways are becoming more crowded, thats somehow everyone else's fault and you as the real purist deserve something special. Because you would be a sponsored pro and famous if it werent for the tubers, wakeboarders and surfers..

My sport is watersports, slalom, barefoot, wakeboard, hydrofoil or anything you can do behind the boat, even surfing. Been involved in the sport my entire life, with family, friends, etc (anti social?). My kids love watersports, Many of my closest friends I met as a result of watersports, have introduced numerous people to the sport who have totally embraced it, have spent countless hours with my family doing watersports (anti social?). We adjust what watersport we do based on the weather/wind conditions or traffic as necessary, does that mean any condition is a "pristine" condition?

I am a curteous boater and aware of the 4ft surf wave my boat throws. I dont want to ruin anyone elses time on the water or damage property. But if you think I am going to somehow feel bad about squeezing into the few wind protected areas of my lake to surf and have a good time with my crew, you are wrong. I can surf right thru 1ft chop, 22mph sac'd wakes and other's surf wakes. Its all good and I dont feel bad about that. Sorry it ruins your plans. I dont care about your approval or thoughts of surfing, neither does anyone else..

You start by saying you are courteous then go on to say you don't care if your 4ft wake bothers, hurts or disturbs anyone?? You earlier elude to skiers prefer calm "pristine" conditions which you also acknowledge is not required for surfing yet you don't care if you throw your 4ft wake all over the butter when clearly it adds nothing to the quality of your surfing which you could easily do away from the calm water in 1ft chop??

I suggest you continue to wake up early and get your sets in before I arrive to the lake around 9-10AM on the weekends, you can have the butter back around 6-7pm or most anytime during the week. These waterways are public, for all to use. You dont have exclusive rights over it or how it should be used.... and if your sport is so delicate and fragile that you need these pristine conditions, find youself a private lake with those rules already on the books and have at it.

Made it this far without your suggestions thank you, and I don't recall myself or anyone else not on your side of the discussion telling you how or what you should do, more so simply giving you an alternative perspective and opinion. You mention lakes are public for all to use yet you have no problem throwing a 4ft wave all over the place, which essentially will make the water non navigable for any 20' or less straight inboard boat, who is dictating others rights now?

I certainly could be wrong however would imagine you may be somewhat new to watersports and perhaps never learned or spent time to experience all it has to offer. One thing that is obvious, you have a very selfish entitled attitude which is very unfortunate when it relates to a sport which is very much about social interaction as well as respect for others with common courtesy. That type of selfish attitude is exactly what leads to restriction, bans, etc., more then likely coming to a lake near you.

[surroundsound64]

Ok, so most people here generally agree they don't want a ban.
But, at what point will there be a tipping point. What if someone has a boat weighing over 10K(with ballast) and produces a 10 foot high wake?
I realize we already have that with big cruisers, but I'm talking about a boat that can be trailered. The use of that boat would render a small to medium sized lake unusable for many potential users.
As some have said, just saying its public waters and I can do what I want will not ultimately win.
Something will happen and we're already seeing it.

Dealer told me the other day the dry weight of a G25 is 5000 lbs. Add that to its 3000 of ballast, 80 gal gas (6lb/gal) tank and 19 people (170lbs ea) and you get 11,710. That's before gear. There was one at a local lake demo here. The wake was higher than the 13yr old girl surfing.

I'm not a surfer, but I think that's sick!!!

[SkiTower]

Dealer told me the other day the dry weight of a G25 is 5000 lbs. Add that to its 3000 of ballast, 80 gal gas (6lb/gal) tank and 19 people (170lbs ea) and you get 11,710. That's before gear. There was one at a local lake demo here. The wake was higher than the 13yr old girl surfing.

I'm not a surfer, but I think that's sick!!!

This is a prime example: Anybody that adds extra ballast to a G23 is simply looking for bragging rights or to annoy other lake occupants. The wake on that boat is definitely big enough.

[Nautiquehunter]

Ouinner = Antisocial You nailed him . Chris is the most antisocial guy I ever met. LMAO.

[ers906]

skitower,
I vehemently disagree. Adding more weight etc to a G series boat has nothing to do with ego or bragging rights. That mentality is as bad as the mentality that skiers are all old grumpy old men. I am getting a G, and will be adding more weight to get the wave and wake that I feel is the best for the skill and fun level of myself and my crew. I also ski behind a 1984 ski nautigue. I remove as much weight as possible to make that wake as small as possible. Anyone telling me that a wake is too small or too big needs to reassess their own ego. I do my best to remove myself from crowds, heading to the areas of my lake which are the least crowded, and if possible, we are the only people past the no hazard marker bouys etc so we will not be disturbing anyone. There are no houses on our lakes, so that does change things a bit, but you definition of what is big enough is the same as your parents telling you that 50 mph is fast enough for you to drive. To each their own. If a boat owner wants to modify their boat to suits their needs best that is thier right, however, for every decision their is the potential for consequences. Accepting those consequences is the flip side of the freedom allowing those personal boat modifications.

[nyryan2001]

Nice, making this too easy.

curteous boater: someone who takes wide turns around others to give them plenty of room. doesnt crowd in on others unecessarily... doesnt rage like a tough guy at the docks, ramps or on the lake when you have to slow down some or someone inconvieniences you, or if you have to bump it in reverse getting around folks in the marina to get gas. doesnt give tough guy prison stares across the lake like because he is a "purist". family and friends enjoy being with him at the lake because he isnt OCD about everything on the boat and furious about everyone else on the lake. Big wakeboat owner completely avoids or idles past the 2 guys fishing on the 10ft john boat powered by a trolling motor. doesnt blast Rev10s at 0630 in the morning to wakeup property owners, or unecessarily buzz by or swamp their docks with waves. doesnt follow too closely behind when you have someone on tow and completely avoids your downed skier. knows how to anchor his boat at the beach and sandbar so it doesnt drift into others and cause problems. Helps the stranger boat owner who cant get his boat started because the clip wasnt on his safety switch. Doesnt laugh, stare and make fun of, but offers and helps the guy on the ramp who cant figure out how to load properly or is about to drag his I/O up the ramp, or screaming at wife because she cant back the trailer. Funny, all 4 of these this last weekend.

Yep I guess I am new to boating relatively, maybe 500hrs behind the wheel in the last 6-7yrs. Family didnt have money to do anything like this growing up, and not untill after my 3rd yr in Iraq did I get to a point where i could afford or had time. About the same time injuries to lower back so most of the time the 20mph+ sports are out for me, as I plan to be walking vertical into my 60s. Ive been wakesurfing longer than most, 7yrs now, had my son wakesurfing with me at 18 months and he is ropelss loving it at 8yrs old. I roll to the lake with friends and family and we have a blast laughing at fairly terrible falls, a few beers and some music.

These are the same guys when they are pulling out and I am putting in on Saturday AM, their famlies and friends, kids, grandkids walk over and ask me to help THEM sac out their DD boat to surf because they are not part of the ultra elite from the 80s Slollam World Championship and want to have some fun. Gladly will, I'll even loan you a sac and a pump and a board and show you what you are doing wrong so you can expeience it and have as much fun with it as we do. let me know when you need help surfing your boat, i'll be here.



My name is Ryan and I am unapoligetically a curteous G23 owner that adds weight, surfs huge waves and has a tube on board for the younger kids.

[DanielC]

This thread has degraded to a lot of name calling, and a skiers VS Wakesurfers mentality.

Both of you groups fighting each other are making it easier for bans to happen. BOTH GROUPS!

Here is the real problem. There are skilled political groups with words like "riverkeepers" in their name. They know how to lobby legislators. They know how to split groups, using a "divide and conquer" strategy. They know how to motivate fishermen, lake front homeowners, and paddle craft people to gain a political advantage.

The restrictions, and bans are already happening. In Oregon, where I live, they have already put "wake enhancing devices" bans on part of the Willamette river. They have also closed another part of that river to ALL towed boat sports in a section near down town Portland.

An uncourteous PWC driver can give us all a bad name, but reality is if you have a sacked out boat throwing "epic surf quality wakes", you are leaving effects in the water long after you are gone. These huge wakes do provide ammunition to political groups who want to see all towed water sports banned. You may think this idea is ridiculous, but I have attended public information meetings where this had been the testimony people have used, to get the Oregon State Marine Board, an agency that was formed to promote safe boating to actually rule that parts of rivers are closed to towed water sports.

Know the enemy. It is not the G-23 surfing. It is not the old dog "bouy boy" It is not the "Weekend Wally" towing a tube, or a jet skier.

[SkiTundra]

Daniel, agree & disagree. You are absolutely correct about the political skill of a number of groups. However, they do not have to do anything to motivate fishermen, lake front homeowners, and paddle craft people - they get motivated routinely by the waves (and some sound systems) of wakeboats (yes, and PWC's).

I do not believe it is a skiers vs wakesurfers. It is considerate boaters vs inconsiderate. There are many wakesurfers, and seemingly the majority on the lakes we frequent, who try to be as courteous as possible and I don't believe they cause a problem for the politically motivated groups above. Similarly, I've seen skiers who were inconsiderate of others and who cause others to become more politically motivated against all watersports.

If we don't want to see all watersports banned on a lot of lakes we need to reign in the sport ourselves, similar to what snowmobilers and motocross/enduro folk have been doing. Our local sheriff have begun experimenting with gauges on the lakes to see if they can measure the waves put off by various boats. They're saying that this is the best option to pinpoint offenders rather than bans but so far don't think they'll be able to get accurate enough to hold up in court.

[SkiTundra]

So back to a point I've made that nobody has addressed. What about big boats that already throw big wakes with no ballast or tow sports at all? Not all of us live on little lakes filled with trailerable vessels.. my lake has plenty of 30+ boats.

Three issues: I think that most of the lakes people use for watersports are too small for the kind of boats you're referring to so they've never been and issue, lakes large enough for larger boats that naturally have a big wake are also large enough that wind causes similar wave action so property owners and lake users are more use to the more robust waves, and finally, even my buddies 52' Hatteras doesn't put out the kind of wakes that many wakeboats do.

[Quinner]

Nice, making this too easy.


My name is Ryan and I am unapoligetically a curteous G23 owner that adds weight, surfs huge waves and has a tube on board for the younger kids.

It's the huge waves that "make this too easy" .....for the local regulators to ban/restrict watersports, another example

http://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum...t-again#393569