[Abandon_Shore]

We have been boaters for many years and this past weekend (Saturday) my wife was injured by some gigantic wake in the north channel. A 40+ footer was going the right speed to make the max wake possible not thinking about us little guys out there. I tried to avoid the wake as long as possible, and slowed down too late. Had i slowed too much we may have taken in water over the bow. Yes, it was my fault for not slowing down enough but those large boats have to be cognisent of the small boats around them. Ours is an 18 foot bowrider, which is small on the weekends during certain times of the day. My wife learned the hard way to NEVER sit in the front of the boat in uncertain waters. Luckily she was not seriously injured or paralyzed but very close!

 

[SKUZA]

Sorry to hear about that!

Whenever I'm drivin I avoid small boats if possible or try to minimize the wake by adjusting the trim. Even in a bigger boat there are still some pretty bad wakes from even bigger boats. It sucks. Ya just gotta ride em out the right way. Now if ya get some crazy jetskiers around ya I try to give em some big jumps!

I know they shouldn't be that close!

 

[3crabs]

sorry to hear about your wife. the section of the north channel thats out in the lake is always a trechrous section to travel. parts of it are narrow and no matter what time of day or night there is always a fishing boat or boats right in the middle. I'm not bashing fishers,I know its a hot spot to fish, but it is a marked channel. I would not mind it at all if they made it a 5mph zone, not a no wake zone but just a slower zone. they have lots of zones like that in the east like chesapeak bay area

 

[damn yankee]

Parts of the Intercoastal Waterway are the same way, 3crabs. And it does keep the idiots, whether water knat or go fast, at a bearable speed. If they don't, The tuna boats have no problem pointing them out to the coasties, and they lie-in-wait and stop them as they go by.

 

[Abandon_Shore]

Thanks for the good words. Its been 2 weeks since she was injured and tuesday night we got into a car accident (not our fault)! What luck! It's got to get better from here i hope!

 

[GaryDebs]

Bottom line...everyone is responsible for their wake!

 

[JD]

I too took a wave over my bow this summer. It washed right thru and to the bildge. Slowed to a stop for huge cruiser going South towards gull in South channel and I was heading North. I learned my lesson to slow down then repower your bow up and I would have been alright, sorry to here about injuries. I had kids onboard that thought It was pretty cool. I went up that first wave and center punched the second one. 10 to 20 gallons of water washed thru the floor and down my grate to ski locker.

 

[MooseKnuckle]

Too bad about your wife getting hurt. That's not what boating is about. Since I have a larger boat, I'll ask some questions.

How close was the other boat when passing you?

Did you see the wake coming?

Unfortunatley, waves and wakes are a huge part of boating. Each captain has to know their boat and how to operate during certain situations. On LSC, I would never advise people to sit in the bow of a bowrider on weekends. The water is always choppy.

 

[Abandon_Shore]

Yes, you are definitly correct on that. Usually i am a very good driver, but this one caught me off guard. I was clear on the other side of the channel when we hit the waves. I went around the other boat as long as i could, and the other boat was way past me by then, but in the north channel, you're gonna get it eventually. Live and learn (the hard way) in this case. This particualr boat had its bow powered up just enough to cause a HUGE wake. It was an older boat with a super wide bow (wave pusher) They, as well as i should have been more careful.