River Riding

Alright guys time for some input from those of you who commonly ride on rivers. So last night we are out riding on the White River here in Indianapolis. We were minding our own business riding up and down the area where it is deep enough to ride. I go to drop someone off at the dock and I was confronted by a calm, but irritated fisherman. It seems as we were going by our wake almost swamped one boat loading on a trailer, and pushed this guys boat off the trailer. I obviously felt bad and apologized. He asked me to please slow down when passing the ramp because it is the curteous thing to do when boat in small areas. My issue is that this place is pretty small. DO any of you actually slow down and drag your rider at idle past the ramps along a river and then start back up again once your past? I realize my X30 is a little different that a 17' aluminum fishing boat, but no one ever stops of slows down for me when I am loading. Just wondering your thoughts.....

common sense.
You are responsible for your wake.
How about a small boat on the ramp loading coolers and kids?
What if Lon comes by in his sacked out X80 while you are loading and scratches your pretty ski boat? I bet you would be angry with Lon.
Please don't ride past ramps. Sooner or later the MAN will put up a no wake zone in the whole area if enough complaints are made and then where will you ride?. Police yourself or be policed.

I completely understand where you are coming from. I am also aware of the hazards of riding in a congested area and the potential for damage of my boat. My issue is this; The area we ride on is very small, and for years it has been nothing but an understood part of using the river. On Wednesdays there is a fishing tourney every week and it is not common to see people driving wake boats right through the middle of the line to pull a boat out at the ramp, and usually the fisherman are understanding and we try to avoid getting too close. With that being said, the river is 250' wide at max, and the ride-able distance is probably 1/4 to a half mile where it is actually deep enough to get a wake. Obviously, I am going to be more careful. I was just wondering how these situations are treated on other small bodies of water.

Matt,

I understand your situation and have dealt with it many times. Most ramps are marked with a no wake zone, but a lot are not. If a smaller boat is loading/unloading, I will turn short of the ramp or just go to idle. HOPEFULLY, they are not extremely slow and you only have to deal with it on one pass. I also try to be mindful of where the smaller boats are out on the river and not have my wake ram them into shore, but it can be a huge challenge. Is the ramp you are talking about pretty busy all the time, or just periodically have people with smaller crafts using it? Best of luck and stay safe out there!

We generally just stick to the river just up stream or down stream from the ramp and everyone out there does the same. I don't care if you're in a 12' or 32' boat, loading/unloading while waves are coming into a ramp sucks.

I don't know the sittuation but I would guess that if you keep it up, and others for that matter the controlling authority will eventually come put up no wake buoys or put a HP restriction or boat length restriction on the body of water. To keep that from happening it's up to you and the others in the area to keep peace with the smaller boats.

Ya- I agree with you guys. I have been going out to this spot for about 3 years now. I sort of just adopted what all the other riders/skiers do in the area. Maybe its time for some reform!

Originally Posted by Texan

We generally just stick to the river just up stream or down stream from the ramp and everyone out there does the same. I don't care if you're in a 12' or 32' boat, loading/unloading while waves are coming into a ramp sucks.

I don't know the sittuation but I would guess that if you keep it up, and others for that matter the controlling authority will eventually come put up no wake buoys or put a HP restriction or boat length restriction on the body of water. To keep that from happening it's up to you and the others in the area to keep peace with the smaller boats.

I agree with you that launching/loading with waves isn't ideal, but when there are 15 - 20 boats going up & down the river in the same general area, I would have to get rudely close to the people with the trailer to go idle speed & pull my rider into harm's way. Otherwise, we would get run over. I try to be courteous when the activity around me allows me to do so safely.

I always try to be cool even if there is not a now wake zone. Anytime I have washed someone out--I have not done it on purpose.

On another point, I have been told, "You are responsible for your own wakes" many times by Game Wardens, but that is really BS. If you do a crappy job tying up your boat in a free for all area, you should be responsible. Heck, you should know that wakeboats are going to cruise by. Put your boat in a lift or anchor it on a bungee line to your dock or spend $40 on some whips. If your boat's metal flake gets scratched because you thought you could rope it to the dock with little orange vests, you are an idiot. Sorry, it is a pet-peeve of mine.

There are rivers in Texas where the local idiots effectively create no wake zones by building crappy docks and not properly securing their boats. The problem is that most GWs are fishermen--few are wakeboards. (Except for on my river. Thanks Sheriff Jim! :-)

Hey Justin! How are you?? Still ride any @ LOK? Sorry, hijack over....

Ditto on your pet peeve & similar situation here on the Pedernales with jankety docks. If we EVER get rain, there will be a parade of them float down the river; many with boats in the lift.

wouldnt slowing down just throw a larger wake?? if anything speed up???

brian. great point. there are several drivers out there who do that very thing, attempting to be curtious but in truth making it worse. if you are going to slow down, it has to be down to idle.

If I pass a ramp on a narrower section and not in a no wake, if someone is using it I'll treat is as a no wake. If ramp is not in use I'll do as I please.

Just because others don't slow should not influence your decision to not swamp others. Maybe you will start the trend of respect. If people get tired of fighting wakes at the ramp, you may one day find the area around the ramp as no wake and the decision will be made for you. This will kill it altogether.

Hey Kat, Are you in Austin now?? Maria and I are still in Houston, but have moved to the East-side on the lower San Jacinto river. I don't make it out to LOK much anymore. When we are on that side of town it is usually to visit my parents. I still run into the LOK crew out and about. If you are ever back in town on business we are only about 20min from downtown.

Back to the topic, I don't swamp people, but what takes so long at the ramp?? I could care less if someone cruises by wakeboarding or surfing as we load or unload. Wait for their waves to pass and then slide her in or load her up. I bet our boat is never on the trailer and in the water for more than 10 seconds and that includes me hoping from the driver seat to operate the winch.

I slow down, when approaching another boats wake, but just to prevent the boat from going airborn, then go back up to speed