HELP!!Lake association wants to ban wakesurfing...

todd

For starters,our private lake committe is wanting to ban wakesurfing.Not because of the "danger",but they are bitching about the wakes.They have already suggested getting rid of wakeboard boats,but they soon found out that we had too many people on our side.I have talked to most of the committe,& they all agree that banning a certain type of boat would lead banning many other types as well.
I've convinced all the wakeboarders to drive up & down the middle of the lake(small lake only 120 acres).The traffic pattern is counterclockwise.The board agreed that the middle would help dissipate(sp?) the wakes.While we were surfing the other day,we got a call from one of the board members saying the surfing has to go.This REALLY pissed me off.
Our lake is mainly consisted of a bunch of older people with pontoons.They all tie together,get falling down sloppy drunk,yelling the F-bomb etc.And they wonder why we with kids don't ever stop to say hi.It seems like a bunch of ol' bitties with nothing better to do than bitch about something new.They don't inforce the rules that we have now(100' from shore,traffic pattern etc.)
Without any smartass answers,could some of you give me some suggestions I could bring to the next board meeting to address this?Other than the obvious things...drinking,cussing etc.

Thanks a bunch,
Todd

d22 · Guest

FIGHT THE POWER!!!

jryoung · Ladies Man Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 7664 City: Man Jose

Just tell them that wakesurfing wave dissipate faster because of their slow speed (9-11mph), you already fooled them once with driving up and down the middle of the lake.

jlaws · Addict Joined: 16 Sep 2006 Posts: 832 City: NC

just ignore them, and get as many people to wakesurf as you possibly can, and if they do ban it, do it even more!

todd · Posted: Sep 28, 2006 1:37 pm Post subject:

Pacco LF · Soul Rider Joined: 13 Nov 2005 Posts: 399 City: Dallas

jlaws, wow.lets just get him kicked off his lake by bein an immature ass

jlaws · Addict Joined: 16 Sep 2006 Posts: 832 City: NC

hey, it worked with skateboarding here, we did it so much the town built us a skatepark to get us to stop...whats the point of having something if you cant use it.. once you get your one warning wakesurf at another lake i guess if you are that afraid of getting kicked out

jlaws · Addict Joined: 16 Sep 2006 Posts: 832 City: NC

edit: oops, sorry.

Robert Harp · Guest

Pump up yo' 'gangsta' rap and death metal as high as your speakers can take and continue wakesurfing...

Pacco LF · Soul Rider Joined: 13 Nov 2005 Posts: 399 City: Dallas

Robert Harp, the occupation you listed in your profile definatley fits you i must say

Natman · Addict Joined: 13 Jan 2006 Posts: 873 City: Eddy TOWN

its a stupid thing to ban. Go to the board with a good reason, say something like, wakeboarding and surfing is doing more better than harm, i get to spend time with my friends and family, getting excercise, and hey, its another few people that arnt committing a crime. ask them to why the seniors should get rights of being able to diminish a whole sport because of the fact they sit in pontoon boats, tell them you already have enough on your hands having to remeber the patterns and having to follow them. Tell them you have a family, and this is a great way to keep them together, and its what you really love doing. Dont be a smartass.

devon · Posted: Sep 28, 2006 6:23 pm Post subject:

i agree with natman
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jjaszkow · Posted: Sep 28, 2006 7:38 pm Post subject:

I agree with Natman. It doesn't hurt to become friends with one of two of the people on the committee as well. It probably doesn't hurt to talk about keeping the younger generation happy and occupied.

C4Avalanchen · Outlaw Joined: 27 Aug 2005 Posts: 189 City: Reno

Sounds like your lake is just too small for either the boarding or surfing! What would happen if you damaged others property with your wakes? Couldn't they hold you responsible? I am not against you in any way, but these are just some of the issues that could arise. I could be wrong, but I don't think communities like yours were built with wakeboats in mind. Some lakes that are 100 times the size of yours are trying to ban wakeboats because of the erosion damage they cause to the shoreline. Maybe if you're lucky, you can drive out all of the elderly and have a wakeboat only community. Good luck!

SeaLyon · Posted: Sep 29, 2006 5:54 am Post subject:

I don't know about private lakes, but you are resposable for your wake , and can be sued for any physical, or property damage.
I know it's a small lake,but I would try to get them to desinate part of the lake for wake sports only and the other part for the traditional boater.
Good luck

Robert Harp · Guest

Pacco LF, I love you too. Colorful

SeaLyon · Posted: Sep 29, 2006 6:02 am Post subject:

One more thought... If all else fails you might try to go with boarding during certain hours or on certain days.

LakeIolaLuke · Posted: Sep 29, 2006 6:11 am Post subject:

Robert Harp · Guest

LakeIolaLuke, it was MUCH bigger and retarded, but I cut it out before I clicked 'submit' just because.... Laughing

25Lsv · Posted: Sep 29, 2006 7:11 am Post subject:

I believe the right approach would be to really get the people with the complaint to express to the board what their real issue is FIRST. Let them paint themselves into a corner with the issue. I suspect that they will list.. Dock damage due to the wake or maybe it's they just don't like being bounced around while they have their "tea Party" in the middle of the lake. Once they express the Issue, it's a lot easier to shoot down with facts. Let's face it.. the request for ban is an emotional issue. The best thing to do is get it presented as a factual discussion.

I would argue.. which is worse... waves created by High speed boat travel or waves by slow speed travel? If you ban wakesurfing, then you are banning any boat from traveling less than 10 mph on the lake. This mean all boat traffic will be at a higher speed, thus endangering all people that use the lake. It is a known fact that speed is the leading cause of boating accidents.. that and drinking...

I would let the board decide how they want to prepare their speech to the press.. We demanded all boats travel at a higher speed so that the waves wouldn't bother our Beer tea party.... Thanks for coming... Good luck with that...

Loppy · Posted: Sep 29, 2006 8:21 am Post subject:

This is also a concern on my Aunts lake up in WA. Same kind of small lake, every inch of shoreline with a dock. The HOA sited dock damage. Some docks pilings were even popping up. It is a real problem, and if it were my dock, I woiuld not be happy either.

So,

appeal to solutions, not problems. Agreed with above, find out what their real gripe is. Are thier patio boats banging on their docks? Or are the rollers just spilling their martinis?

There are several dock systems out there now which tender the boat away from the dock, and can protect the boat regardless of roller size. Reasearch this, and the cost, and install price. Get your boarding buds together and offer "hey, you buy the kit, and we'll install it for free".

the point being, give them options! Options! Options! They will kill you if you show up and simply go "uhhh... it's not fair...". If you guys proactively offer options to be a part of the SOLUTION, you stand a helluva good chance of prevailing.

Also, as said above. Befriend some of these old farts. Show up with a bottle of brandy and get hammered with em. Listen, nod and smile. Offer to help them with things. You would be AMAZED how well received it would be with old people. You're right, they just want to bitch about something. the more they see you as a "friend", they are way less likely to bother you.

Thats my $.02

Jensen · Posted: Sep 29, 2006 1:15 pm Post subject:

all i can say is if they ban wakesurfing, its only a matter of time before they ban all wakeboard boats.

Same thing happened at the private lake I moved to.
They wouldn't let any boat over 21 feet go in, or any boat that had any kind of electronic ballast/wedge, such as my malibu. so we lived on lakefront property, but couldn't put our boat on, it was ridiculous. Finally moved away from that shizhole.

and they created quite time, no boats on the lake at all after 6 pm!!! thats even bad for skiiers.

Rex789 · Posted: Sep 29, 2006 1:18 pm Post subject:

my lake is small and private and like that too... I just ignore them, who cares its your boat, you have lake ownership rights, do what you want. they are just jelous cuz they see us having a great time cuz we are young and they are old and fat and wish they could do stuff like we do so they try to take the fun out of everything. just keep on doing it... do it right in their faces... rub it in. F#$% them

arof · Posted: Sep 29, 2006 3:30 pm Post subject:

brew · Posted: Sep 29, 2006 3:44 pm Post subject:

Rex789 · Posted: Sep 29, 2006 4:34 pm Post subject:

yo brew why dont u see how you like it when you got people on your lake who get together and tell you that you cant do somethin.. see how happy it makes you when you arent doing anything wrong.. and the people that tell you dont even use the lake

brew · Posted: Sep 29, 2006 5:28 pm Post subject:

I have a place on the lake and I work with the people there to keep it open to everyone. If someone has problems with what I'm doing, I generally try and listen to what they have to say.

Also, for the record it's not your lake. If it was your lake, you could do whatever you wanted. However, since it is not your lake you probably should play it a little smarter and learn to work with other people on the lake. As far as doing anything wrong, judging by your educated posts I'm sure they would disagree about you doing anything wrong.

todd · Posted: Sep 29, 2006 6:24 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the "SOME" of the posts guys.Good suggestions.I've always been one of the first to go help any boaters with problems.Another wakeboat friend of mine that lives there,helps me with trying to promote boating safety around there.With a lake that small,there are obvious dangers.I'm really surprised that we don't have a skier down flag rule.
All of the residents there have told us how much they enjoy watching us wakeboarding.We've also had a lot of "man that's cool" comments about the surfing.The main gripe with the small group that is griping is about the wake washing over their seawalls.Which are all very low seawalls.A bass boat could send rollers over them.
I agree that talking civilized & trying to offer more options is the way to go.If all else fails..I'll mount a .50 cal on my tower and let Robert Harp come down & sink 'em all! Laughing

Thanks a bunch!

Rex789 · Posted: Sep 30, 2006 5:02 am Post subject:

alrite brew i get wat your saying about reasoning eveything out but im judt the kinda person who doesnt care. they will set up rules n ban things but a year later thye wont care n it blow over. its not big deal, those things dont last long anyways... and ive tried reasoning things out but they they care bout wat teenagers have to say and abouy my "educated posts" ? ive only posed 33 posts and they r all questions, notrhing to do with arguments and tryign to prove a point so ur out on that one... as for the people that think they own the lake and they really dont, they dont care bout us and ive trired. trust me the pres. lives next door to me. ive tried, cept its not big of a deal at our lake since they r only up on weekends then we jsut go to the other end away from the people that btich

brew · Posted: Sep 30, 2006 5:20 am Post subject:

Maybe you and your friends should try getting your parents to talk to the lake association. They would likely make more headway than a group of teenagers.

brew · Posted: Sep 30, 2006 5:21 am Post subject:

SeaLyon · Posted: Sep 30, 2006 6:03 am Post subject:

One thing to keep in mind.There are 2 sides to every fence,and one day we are going to be the old farts griping about the younger kids. It's got to be a comprmise,or the old people with the money will win period.

Brew noticed your from Jackson. We are at Pickwick Lake, stop in and see us sometimes. We have SeaLyon Marine Hut on hwy 57 Smile

Loppy · Posted: Sep 30, 2006 8:57 am Post subject:

ccameselle · Criminal Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 63 City: Miami

Well the way that I will do it is to make them understand that drinking and driving is ilegal and that is they do not allow me to wakesurf I will call the police everytime that I see them drinking and driving the boat. That will be the nasty way of doing things.

Now

Another thing that you can do is the following:
If you see that you are going to lose the battle try to get them to allow you to do it at a specific time of the day. Also the you have to make your argument with all the points that you got here not only the best ones.

Rex789 · Posted: Oct 01, 2006 6:59 am Post subject:

we r not really tenneagers but we are people that are respectable to others on the lake... put it this way there r not a lot of boats on our lake at all. thye never go out. its 2 mils long. we r the onyl ones that use it... seriousyl... therers no cops... its private... and some town in the midlle of upstate NY.. that happened 2 years a go and we havnt changed wat we alwasy do and they jsut forgot about it.... things that dont make that big of a deal pass over really quickly beacuse theres more people that dont care than actually do... theres no harm involved... so to the kid whos dealing with this now... wait it out a little while and it will eventually blow over. they r pricks and alwasy will be, people always talk and that thnik the lake is theirs cuz theyve been there for so long. i talk to them and thye bring out all this rule BS bout the association and park policiy. so watvere who cares. jsut keep wat ur doin lay off on the wakesurfin till u guys r the only people out in the lake.. then itll all wok out.... just hopefully there r no cops on your lake, that would suck

t our for a lil while, see wat happens..