"Dibs" on the water...

[lakeguy77]

So Saturday evening we were out on the water, just me and my GF and one other person. I've just got an 18' I/O, nothing special. Lake was pretty wide open, nice and calm. We went down to our favorite riding spot in a deep but narrow channel between an island and a long point. The stretch is almost a mile long, but relatively narrow, about as wide as a good size river. We were there for about half an hour, no other boats even in that end of the lake, and there are multiple good riding spots down there, when a super air nautique rolls through while I'm behind my boat. They put a rider in the water and just start driving straight at us and essentially chase us out of the spot, power turning halfway down this channel and throwing rollers everywhere.

What's the etiquette here? Shouldn't we have dibs on this spot? I hate "boat bullies" out on the water but there's really not much I can do about it. My GF is the other driver in my boat and she's relatively new to it, not comfortable driving when there's a lot of traffic on the water. I wanted to just pull in the line and go and do a bunch of "tuber turns" at the narrowest point of the channel but that just lowers me to their level, not to mention being unsafe for their rider if they decide to take a run at me.

There used to be only one or two wake boats on our whole lake, and they knew what they were doing. If you had a spot, they'd give you a wave and move along. The last two summers though, wake boats are EVERYWHERE. And 70% of the time they're pulling tubers (with no wakeboards in the empty board racks...and it's always the same boats doing this), 25% of the time they have no water manners whatsoever (my boat's bigger syndrome) and the other 5% are the ones that have some common sense and common courtesy. It's really frustrating, people with more money than brains.

/rant

[Enygma]

This is why Boat licensing should be a standard everywhere. And there should be a in boat test like a car so the instructor can decide if you have should be driving.

I don't mind tubers, for the most part they keep to their own ends at the lakes around here. But I still get the same type of people you do. I'll be in my own little area then get 1 big wake boat in there and he never knows how to drive properly. But I do stoop to their level. I just start throwing rollers everywhere till they get pissed and clear out. And I have no problem doing it. There's plenty of lake and no reason to come make someone elses day miserable intentionally.

Or instead of throwing rollers everywhere I just start blowing up the tubes, they usually leave when they see the tubes hit the water.

[lakeguy77]

Boat licensing is required in Manitoba as of this year...but there are never any cops on the water to enforce it, and we don't have in-boat testing, just a written test that covers general stuff (bouys, passing boats, etc, no real watersports etiquette in the test other than "stay clear of skiers").

[Wakebrad]

Is there literally no room for 2 boats to run? I find that situation very uncommon. Usually if one boat can run the line there's enough room for 2 to squeeze by. If your GF is uncomfortable then that may be her problem. I know in a tight line, we'll get pretty close to oncoming boats. The assumption is that everyone is aware of the situation, riders know not to cut out when a boat is coming and drivers know it's going to be close.

That said if the guy is power-turning I wouldn't trust that he is a seasoned professional and know what they are doing. I'll usually throw a few inverts and spins in front of them, then when they're changing riders, putt over and talk to them about not power-turning or whatever they're doing. Of course it helps that I'm always in a wakeboat. I/Os don't get much respect around here.

As far as "dibs" goes, there is kind of a sense of that. If you're the second boat you should usually give right of way to the first boat on the line. That said, if there are a bunch of newbs out there we're not as respectful.

You can try to force them out if they encroach on your territory. It's just a matter of who has the confidence/will. If you feel they are in the wrong, you can short turn them (U-turn before them if they're coming head-on) to prevent them from riding your section. Just depends on how big of a dick you want to be.

[GnarShredd]

It's always a pain in the butt and people deal with it in different ways. I always rode in a river and while certain areas were usually fine and people would just pass through, there were definitely a lot of jerks out from time to time (especially jet-skis). I had one guy riding next to me/trailing me within 10 ft on a ski one time with a shiteating grin on his face like 'ARENT I AWESOME?!?!?" A quick middle-finger response changed his attitude .


When it comes down to it though, a lot of people are just inconsiderate. do what you can to meet people on your lake. If the locals treat each other well then new people will likely pick-up on it and if they don't, well you simply have more people to back you up if someone's being a jackass.

[LFADAM]

Tough situation. I know where I live, there is a perfect cove just around the corner that Ive been riding at almost every day for 10 years. I consider it basically my wakeboard spot (not claiming ownership of the water but its where I like to go all the time). When I go to ride and there is already another skier/wakeboarder in this cove, its tough. Its a small cove, so I hate to jack it and start riding there, but its also oftentimes the only decent place to get good water for miles. So Ill be honest, usually Ill go in anyways and try to share the cove. I can drive a pattern well and 2 boats can make it work without too much difficulty if they are decent drivers as well.

On the other hand, I know it irritates me when someone does the same thing to me. If the other coves right next to this spot are good, then Ill always turn away and ride there instead of jacking the cove but if its all tubed out and washing machined, then Im going to come in and share the cove.

[STANG KILLA SS]

typical rich douchebags. more money than courtesy.

[slidin_out]

show them courtesy and hope they return the favor, putt over and talk to them a little bit every time you see them, make friends and work with them to make it better for both, on the weekends the river is full and the bass and I/O's and cabin cruisers are going to jack up the water, but when we're riding or driving through i try to be considerate, if someone is the water waiting to get up i'll drop it to idle and let them go on and get the hopefully smooth water ahead unless the boat is pulling someone, this is especially true if you know that person is learning to get up, if i'm just cruising around and see someone coming at us pulling someone i'll stop until they go by, if we come up behind someone riding i'll slow down and keep my distance instead of going around and screwing up their water, the people on our river who wakeboard generally are younger people, we all hang out on the same sand bar, i try to strike up conversation and talk to the ones doing power turns and explain they can save gas and smooth water by not doing that, i'm hoping the good karma keeps returning to me, people have started following my example some this year, now jetskis i would like to sink everyone one of them, tubers are not a problem, if they are tubing i will flag them down and warn them that the po-po's will write them a ticket for tubing in the river since it's illegal, that usually stops that mess

[jmlloyd]

So......since when did owning an I/O cause me to lose respect and take blame as the one that jacks up the water?? I think we can find idiots in all types of boats out there. To the OP --- I would try to make nice and talk to them. They may not realize that they did anything wrong. I feel your pain with the wife as I run into some of the same problems with mine on the small lake we ride. Good Luck.....and give some of us I/O guys a little credit.

[Wakebrad]

The reason I/Os don't get much respect around here is because about 5% of I/O drivers know how to drive a line and around 60% of Inboard/Wakeboats do. Generally, if people are into the sport, they have an inboard, at least around here. I know that's not necessarily the case in other parts of the country.

[jmlloyd]

I dont disagree with your reasoning, however, I know that we would appreciate the benefit of the doubt. I live in DFW also and drove a ton of boats before I decided on our SeaRay. This turned out to be the best boat for my family's needs. Sorry for making this personal, but I have been boating my entire life and I can tell you that owning the nicest boat definately does not make you the best boater. My apologies to the OP for getting sidetrack.

[hawkster0001]

i never really have much trouble wiht other boats, im ona relatively small lake and it has two main parts, and theres rarely ever more then three boats out, so we can just stick to one side and do what we want, the only bad thing is the jetskier's, ther the worst

[slidin_out]

jmlloyd chill, there are a couple of I/O's on our river that take it seriously and drive like they do, the other 100 out there don't give a chit about the water and are just out there to ride around and/or ride to a sandbar and drink, it's just the odds that an I/O doesn't care working against you

[chawk610]

I think that sucks... Boat bullies in their fancy 65k boats!!! Us guys in our 10k boats have just as much right!!!!!!!

[Wakebrad]

jmlloyd, that's cool. If an I/O shows they can drive, respect. Of course this is just in conversation with each other on the boat. The line we usually run is just a shore-line so we usually try to set a good example for others. But I haven't seen a high enough percentage to warrant the benefit of the doubt. Overall I'd say 15% of boats know how to run a good line; no one deserves the benefit of the doubt.

[Wakeboarder3780]

I think it's important for us all to remember the water belongs to no one. If you can really get that through your head it will help you not get quite so mad in those situations. Everyone abuses this idea - fisherman that get mad at every wave, jet skiers that think they're entitled to riding your tail to get some waves even if it puts your rider at risk, and of course us who will do almost anything for that smoothy smooth water and get mad at anyone else chopping it up (read tubers and jet skiers ).

*However*, there is some common courtesy and depending on the scenario (if the water truly was great everywhere else) yet they felt the need to run your line, then it's a jerk move.

Keep in mind that other driver might only be familiar with that area, maybe he lives around there and has run that area and is comfortable knowing there aren't any low water spots / stumps / etc in that area - hence s/he would feel there is a risk going elsewhere in the water (might tear up a prop or worse).

Also, it sounds like part of the problem is your girl is new to driving. No big deal. Let her learn and don't force her into uncomfortable situations. However when my wife learned it only took her getting over that uncomfort zone and then watching a few drivers really pull some dangerous moves and she was completely fine being an extremely defensive driver and getting the boat between me (rider) and the other one and making them change direction big time (make them really turn hard away).

I guess try to stick it out and realize it's not technically your spot. You are, however, entitled to protect your rider, and of course if you're like me - I'm always out a lot longer than other boats so I can outlast any of their riders and still get a good portion of the set in. Work a new trick while they're around so you're falling often and you don't get too tired (maybe just sore). Then when they leave work your magic.

If they're being completely unsafe, horrible drivers and it's a long straight channel you're riding - sit at one and and go about 10 mph to make huge rollers and keep driving perpendicular to the channel - do that over and over and you'll send a constant amount of monster rollers down the entire channel effectively making it un-rideable. Kind of a jerk move yourself but if they're unsafe it's worth it. Just read a post on the bu crew about a kid who died because of an unsafe driver.

Hope that helps...

[mucksoup]

go right in the middle of there path and drop anchor, put the flag up chack some beers and go for a swim.

[erikneufeld]

I feel you,.. im on a 2 mile long lake and with one boat its fine, two boats with common sense can share and havea good pull.

But then you get jetski's thrown into the mix....
They're the vultures of the lake, they just sit waiting doing spins sendings waves in every direction untill you pass by, then follow your waves WAAY to close to your rider, and if your rider does go down and they manage to narrowly avoid hitting them, they then proceed to speed ahead of you towards the next boat to harass them, leaving a freshly chopped spanse of water in front of your boat...
Not to mention half of the kids that get handed jetskis are about 12 and are totally clueless not to mention illegal...

[sirPARTYman]

Over these ways your local spot is your spot final (just like surfers) so if you ain't a local and your at our spot then your asking for trouble