After reading Nice N Easy's post about his 2hp dink motor tune up, I started wondering exactly what does 'No Wake' mean?
Dan
Dan
No Wake Zone
- Thread starter Dan H
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If you were building a sand castle at the water's edge and a boat passed your location and didn't make waves that ruined your work there was "No Wake" . If the boat made waves that ruined your sand castle at the waters edge it left a wake.
Basically as Ross has said... if your boat is moving fast enough to disturb a boat at rest in the area, you're going too fast. The passage of your boat should not cause boats nearby to rock. BTW, you are legally liable for damage caused by the wake your boat generates.
Totally agree
Any wake that can move or possibly damage another boat is too much. And the waker is liable for damages. What amazes me is the big power boats that slow way down, but not to an idle speed, leaving that big rolling wake, that tears hell out of things. My post was meant to raise a little chuckle, but wakes are not a laughing matter.
Any wake that can move or possibly damage another boat is too much. And the waker is liable for damages. What amazes me is the big power boats that slow way down, but not to an idle speed, leaving that big rolling wake, that tears hell out of things. My post was meant to raise a little chuckle, but wakes are not a laughing matter.
- Jul 24, 2006
- 628
Wakes
I have to chime in here. In central west Fl I have been noticing a total disregard for wakes by some. It appears to me that since the governing boddies have cut back on marine patrols, people (idiots) go whatever they want to go. So "no wake" is whatever you want -as long as you don't get caught.
I have to chime in here. In central west Fl I have been noticing a total disregard for wakes by some. It appears to me that since the governing boddies have cut back on marine patrols, people (idiots) go whatever they want to go. So "no wake" is whatever you want -as long as you don't get caught.
The functional meaning is to slow your large power yacht down from planing speed to the semi displacement squatting mode where it makes the largest waves. In heavily policed areas, it usually means chopping the throttle right at the "No Wake" buoy and dropping to bare steerage way while your waves roll on ahead to create havoc in the marina.
I was once doing observation trips on Boston Harbor commuter boats as part of a service evaluation contract. The captain of one of the converted crew boats common in the service at that time dropped back in to mega wake squat mode a couple hundred yards off the fishing pier. The boat wouldn't have sent a ripple to the docks from that distance if he had maintained full speed. I asked why he did it and he said, "If I go by at full speed, the phones will be ringing off the hook when I get to the dock and I'll have to fill out forms the MBTA sends me. If I do this, the boats bounce all over the place but I never hear a thing." That's the way the world works.
Someone please point to Nice N Easy's motor tune up thread...please.
It sounds like it must have been a good one!
Jack
It sounds like it must have been a good one!
Jack
No Wake Zone is a revenue generator ...
A few summers ago, we were out on the lake during a weekday afternoon and everything is pretty quiet and everybody behaving themselves. The Brady Bridge at the northern end of the lake has just enough clearance and width to allow powerboats to pass from the Lake Forest section to the rest of the lake and there is normally a steady stream of boats going in both directions. It's no wake for at least 300 yards at each approach.
So we're going in that direction as a State Police boat speeds past us and picks off the first boat that is creeping along coming from the bridge and just about nearing the end of the no wake zone. As the the lights start flashing and he pulls alongside the offending boat I'm wondering 'what's that all about?'. The offending boat was going perfectly slow, with 'no wake' and he was coming from the opposite direction so the cop couldn't have been witnessing something he may have been doing wrong over in Lake Forest.
The technique I use with my ski boat is to slow down to just above idle while the wake totally dissipates and then give just enough more throttle to increase speed slightly without creating a discernable wake increase (I have to admit, there is some subjectivity involved). The crossing is less tedious that way. So this is what I do and the cop yells over at me to slow down ... it was a good thing he was in the process of writing a ticket or I would have gotten one right then and there. He sat there all afternoon and picked off one boat after the next ...
A few summers ago, we were out on the lake during a weekday afternoon and everything is pretty quiet and everybody behaving themselves. The Brady Bridge at the northern end of the lake has just enough clearance and width to allow powerboats to pass from the Lake Forest section to the rest of the lake and there is normally a steady stream of boats going in both directions. It's no wake for at least 300 yards at each approach.
So we're going in that direction as a State Police boat speeds past us and picks off the first boat that is creeping along coming from the bridge and just about nearing the end of the no wake zone. As the the lights start flashing and he pulls alongside the offending boat I'm wondering 'what's that all about?'. The offending boat was going perfectly slow, with 'no wake' and he was coming from the opposite direction so the cop couldn't have been witnessing something he may have been doing wrong over in Lake Forest.
The technique I use with my ski boat is to slow down to just above idle while the wake totally dissipates and then give just enough more throttle to increase speed slightly without creating a discernable wake increase (I have to admit, there is some subjectivity involved). The crossing is less tedious that way. So this is what I do and the cop yells over at me to slow down ... it was a good thing he was in the process of writing a ticket or I would have gotten one right then and there. He sat there all afternoon and picked off one boat after the next ...
In Nortport this means that you come up to mooring field as fast as you can and then slow down leaving a big enough wake to stuff the bow on my J24 when i am stepping the mast 
Ross, 6 MPH for any sizable power boat would propogate a pretty substantial wake. To really eliminate a wake from a power boat you would be less than 1 MPH which really gets tedious. I've noted that with my ski boat, which weighs less than half my sailboat, the wake at a low speed of about 5 knots is pretty substantial due to the hull design; whereas, the wake from my sailboat at 5 knots is barely noticeable. But at 30 MPH or more, the wake from the ski boat is very small (even smaller yet as you increase speed to over 40 MPH).
Tommays, when I stop my ski boat rapidly from a plane to sub-planing without changing direction, it does send a wake forward that is pretty good sized. The technique that water skiers use with a tournament style inboard ski boat (Ski Nautique, Mastercraft, Malibu Skier, etc) when a skier goes down is to make a sharp full speed turn while simultaneously reducing the throttle to idle. When you do this correctly at 36 MPH for a slalom skier or 40+ for a barefooter, the small rudder breaks loose from the water and the boat spins flat, in place like its on a turntable and comes to rest with the bow pointing in the opposite direction toward the skier. Then you simply idle over to pick him up and you've done everybody a favor by leaving no wake for anybody to contend with. You can't have anybody sitting near the stern of the boat because they could be launched into the water.
If I did this in front of the State Police, I would get a ticket for sure, and possibly be towed back to the barracks for arrest!
Tommays, when I stop my ski boat rapidly from a plane to sub-planing without changing direction, it does send a wake forward that is pretty good sized. The technique that water skiers use with a tournament style inboard ski boat (Ski Nautique, Mastercraft, Malibu Skier, etc) when a skier goes down is to make a sharp full speed turn while simultaneously reducing the throttle to idle. When you do this correctly at 36 MPH for a slalom skier or 40+ for a barefooter, the small rudder breaks loose from the water and the boat spins flat, in place like its on a turntable and comes to rest with the bow pointing in the opposite direction toward the skier. Then you simply idle over to pick him up and you've done everybody a favor by leaving no wake for anybody to contend with. You can't have anybody sitting near the stern of the boat because they could be launched into the water.
If I did this in front of the State Police, I would get a ticket for sure, and possibly be towed back to the barracks for arrest!
The real problem with NO WAKE zones is that most powerboaters don't have any clue what a problem their wakes can be, or how coming up to the no-wake zone on plane and then dropping off of plane right as they enter the zone is about the worst thing they can do. If they were forced to hold a large cup of really hot coffee on a small sailboat and suffer through a wake rocking or two, I'm pretty sure they'd figure out the relationship between wakes and damage done on boats nearby. It doesn't take a big boat to make a big wake either—some of the smaller fishing boats do a lot more damage... but that is often due to the fact that the guys on the bigger boats have more experience and knowledge.
Scott B, thanks for sending that link.
And we thought Phil was just a "Nice..'N'...Easy' going guy...now we all know he is reckless, law breakin' houligan!LOL
Phil, I enjoyed the thread, thanks!
Jack
And we thought Phil was just a "Nice..'N'...Easy' going guy...now we all know he is reckless, law breakin' houligan!LOL
Phil, I enjoyed the thread, thanks!
Jack
My BIL owns a 1977 18' Correct Craft
That's a classic 'block & chassis'! Those were built to last the years and Correct Craft/Nautique owners are a loyal breed! I'm guessing it may have a 302 Inmar (Ford) block?
Inboard ski boats will last a long time ... the hulls are built very strong and the v-8 blocks will give decades of service. My Malibu is over 20 years now ... I'm replacing the floors and upholstery to give it a facelift. The hull is still in beautiful shape.
Yeah, Phil is a trouble-maker and a reckless hooligan!
Wakes
One of the worst wakes I have ever encountered on a boat, was dished out in Norfolk a couple years ago, and from a Coast Guard Aux. boat. Rolled me bad enough to throw things all over the salon.
One of the worst wakes I have ever encountered on a boat, was dished out in Norfolk a couple years ago, and from a Coast Guard Aux. boat. Rolled me bad enough to throw things all over the salon.
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