My boat's near death experience - Thank you rude boater

[Reel Man]

Sorry to hear about your incident. Just another prime example of people who suck of which there are many.

 

[Fastwin]

Re: My boat's near death experience - UPDATE: TWRA phone number

I know, it's been an issue for years, I just don't like being a victim. Large wakes in open water are one thing, but being shoved into rocks and possibly capsizing my boat and ripping off my hard-to-replace antique engine is an entirely different issue.

I wish I could report boats with dangerous wakes and have something come of it. Next time they hit the water they might slow it down or raise their trim if it got them a ticket and court costs. It's always possible to video the boat as it passes for evidence.

What if a boat or tiny kayak capsized and someone drowned in the river currents . . . Would that be reckless homicide? These leisure boaters need to think about all the possibilities for their actions.


UPDATE: The phone number for TWRA dispatch in Region 3 is 931.484.9571 It's probably a good one to keep in your cell phone. Make sure you grab the HID if possible. The boat that passed me had a blue hull with black numbers so it was unreadable but it would have been easy to find in the gorge, you can only travel 1 of two ways. A cell phone video might help towards a filing a report if you get TWRA to meet you.

 

[clutch442]

It's a bad situation indeed, just try fishing Harrison Bay area on a weekend. None of the giant cruisers run in the channel at all. There have been several times I've been thankful for a good bilge pump as these goons swamp your boat and wave at you in the process. I have had 1 or 2 slow down and it's always a shocker. I wish they would make some kind of boater's license mandatory.

 

[blazer]

Kirk - 5/1/2011 8:27 PM Several years ago Ratman had his boat beached along side his mothers boat and several others. A cruiser came through and the wake shoved all the boats up on the bank and out of the water. At least one boat was damaged. A few minutes later a TWRA boat came by and they flagged them down. He was told that since they didn't see it happen so there was nothing he could do. There is more to the story after he got his boat back in the water that resulted in TWRA threatening to arrest him. Anyway it got good.

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what is the rest of the storyemoScratch </p>

 

[Poonjebby]

Yeah people with ocean boats need to watch their wake. But if your little boat can't handle the river maybe you should just stick to creeks and small ponds sure you could read a book there if thats your thing. Because I promise you it'll just get worse as the weather warms up. And it sounds like your little boat or dinghy is more suited for a small body of water.

 

[fish4life]

i wish they made a law,that u have to get a license if ur boat is over a certain amount of feet or something

 

[Fastwin]

Poonjebby - 5/3/2011 10:14 PM

Yeah people with ocean boats need to watch their wake. But if your little boat can't handle the river maybe you should just stick to creeks and small ponds sure you could read a book there if thats your thing. Because I promise you it'll just get worse as the weather warms up. And it sounds like your little boat or dinghy is more suited for a small body of water.

The waterways are for everyone. Should all small boats and kayaks avoid boating in the summer or should people with ocean-worthy boats be considerate of others. Your argument is weak. Small boats and kayaks are the majority, not the minority. I don't care if it's 90 degrees or 30 degrees outside. Boats creating large wakes by speeding or maxing their trim out are guilty of reckless endangerment. Kayakers stay close the bank where wakes are the worst and could easily flip and drown from entrapment or from being knocked unconscious from cranial impact. To say that small boats should stay off the water is absurd!

Maybe you should stay off the freeway and travel on side streets to give more room for speeding vehicles with V8's under the hood.

 

[SethColeman]

I have a small boat...15ft fiberglass boat w/small 50 hp engine. I have installed a rear deck and it takes forever to plane out. I get waked all the time, as long as you pay attention and take the wakes right, you should just move on. All these boats have the right to be on the water. I would consider not anchoring on main channels for this reason. If you want to anchor I would go find a shallow slough. Nothing can be done about larger boats, whether they are ski boats or cruisers. Just keep you eyes open and be safe. My little boat causes a pretty nasty wake at slow speeds, nothing I can do to control it except for me to buy a bigger boat. If a large boat were to slow down for every boat they see on the water, they would cause a bigger wake and even more traffic problems on the lake.

 

[Poonjebby]

Fastwin - 5/3/2011 10:51 PM

Poonjebby - 5/3/2011 10:14 PM

Yeah people with ocean boats need to watch their wake. But if your little boat can't handle the river maybe you should just stick to creeks and small ponds sure you could read a book there if thats your thing. Because I promise you it'll just get worse as the weather warms up. And it sounds like your little boat or dinghy is more suited for a small body of water.

The waterways are for everyone. Should all small boats and kayaks avoid boating in the summer or should people with ocean-worthy boats be considerate of others. Your argument is weak. Small boats and kayaks are the majority, not the minority. I don't care if it's 90 degrees or 30 degrees outside. Boats creating large wakes by speeding or maxing their trim out are guilty of reckless endangerment. Kayakers stay close the bank where wakes are the worst and could easily flip and drown from entrapment or from being knocked unconscious from cranial impact. To say that small boats should stay off the water is absurd!

Maybe you should stay off the freeway and travel on side streets to give more room for speeding vehicles with V8's under the hood.

Well for your information I do have a V8 under my hood, and i'm not saying that all small boats should stay off the water. I hate the cruiser wakes to and wish they would ban them. I fish out of a 21 foot ranger with a 250 on it and the big cruisers rock me around too. I'm just saying don't go out there in a little jon boat and then whine about the cruiser wakes when everybody knows that they are out there. I mean do you stand out in the rain and complain about getting wet ? This just seems crazy to me.

 

[SethColeman]

I'm just saying don't go out there in a little jon boat and then whine about the cruiser wakes when everybody knows that they are out there.

I agree..Thats it in a nutshell. emoTeacher

 

[Fastwin]

On that same theory, don't move to the great plains and complain about your house being destroyed by a tornado. If you move to Florida, don't complain about hurricanes, or blizzards in Colorado, or floods in East Ridge. Humans can't control the weather but we can control our wakes and we can be held liable for the damage they cause.

There are large wakes that are expected and tolerable, but the size of wake THIS particular cruiser was throwing up was abnormally large. I'm not exaggerating when I say 4' + wakes. That would endanger any shallow water boat, a dinghy or $40,000 Ranger.

I don't expect boats to slow down for every smaller boat they see; however, when that boat sees a smaller boat anchored near the shore I expect them to extend a courtesy slow-down. I can't just power-up to maneuver. I have to run to my boat, start the engine, pull anchor, then orient myself 45 degrees to the wake. The river is so narrow that the time required to perform those operations is non existent and large boats should know that and respond to it. I never anchor near the channel, it's a dumb idea. I DO anchor near the shore but now I think I should just anchor to a down tree like a dock and leave enough slack to accept large wakes and bail water as needed.

As for "don't whine" I bet you wouldn't just stand around and watch your boat sink after a wake caused it to capsize and then say, "oh well, that's just the way it is." What if your family was on board and it dumped you all into the water? Would you still say, don't whine? Tell everyone in Japan to stop whining. They live too close to a major fault line. I mean, if you aren't willing to accept the risk don't live there, right!"? Same philosophy- different application.

 

[clutch442]

How bout some fishing reports? Time to move on.

 

[RiverCanyonBass]

Living on the main channel, what bothers us most is, we are fishing in one of the few shallow sloughs there are in the Gorge early morning, with nice clear calm water, then the first big cruiser comes through and wreaks havoc on your fishing. You can watch the bank erosion occurring and the water turn muddy and your trolling motor (and lower unit if not up) slamming the bottom from the huge waves. Longer term results are the large old trees that eventually give way and fall in from erosion and the sloughs getting slowly shallower over time from setting stirred up mud. The barges don't seem to be much problem, just the large cruisers and occasional wake board boat.

I have an 18' Stratos for many years and a few smaller bass boats before that and have never had waves come over the bow, but in the last 4 years or so it is happening several times a year, so I believe it is getting worse and it appears that some of the operators don't care.

 

[deerhunter09]

It does not matter what size boat you have people with the BIG BOATS should think about what kind of damage they could do to a smaller boat. A lot of people including myself can't afford the big boats and what we have is what we can afford and don't want it damaged by someone not paying attention. All they have to do is pay attention to their surrounding.

 

[wjay]

I installed a VHF radio in my tracker 165 for this very reason. In most cases they will answer and slow down, but not all the time. Most larger pleasure boats DO listen to the VHF. I was fishing downtown one afternoon and a 55 footer went thru town and created major damage to 4-5 pleasure boats tied up on the hard-edge. they asked on the radio if someone could run them down and get their registration #. I was happy to do it and the TVA police cauhht them in the lock. From what I understand they were made to pay all the damages. So listening to the radio really does help. I have also been on the other side of this as I have run large pleasure boats for years and I always slow for a fishing boat or any boat tied to a dock. It is just common courtesy. of which some know nothing about.

 

[Poonjebby]

Fastwin - 5/3/2011 11:30 PM

On that same theory, don't move to the great plains and complain about your house being destroyed by a tornado. If you move to Florida, don't complain about hurricanes, or blizzards in Colorado, or floods in East Ridge. Humans can't control the weather but we can control our wakes and we can be held liable for the damage they cause.

There are large wakes that are expected and tolerable, but the size of wake THIS particular cruiser was throwing up was abnormally large. I'm not exaggerating when I say 4' + wakes. That would endanger any shallow water boat, a dinghy or $40,000 Ranger.

I don't expect boats to slow down for every smaller boat they see; however, when that boat sees a smaller boat anchored near the shore I expect them to extend a courtesy slow-down. I can't just power-up to maneuver. I have to run to my boat, start the engine, pull anchor, then orient myself 45 degrees to the wake. The river is so narrow that the time required to perform those operations is non existent and large boats should know that and respond to it. I never anchor near the channel, it's a dumb idea. I DO anchor near the shore but now I think I should just anchor to a down tree like a dock and leave enough slack to accept large wakes and bail water as needed.

As for "don't whine" I bet you wouldn't just stand around and watch your boat sink after a wake caused it to capsize and then say, "oh well, that's just the way it is." What if your family was on board and it dumped you all into the water? Would you still say, don't whine? Tell everyone in Japan to stop whining. They live too close to a major fault line. I mean, if you aren't willing to accept the risk don't live there, right!"? Same philosophy- different application.[/QUOTE

I wasn't intending on opening a huge debate but thats obviously all that you want to get on here for. And as for comparing getting rocked by a cruiser wake to a tornado, hurricane or other natural disaster I think you're being a bit dramatic. All I was trying to get across to you is that if you're gonna be on the water this time of year expect the pleasure boaters to be tearing the water up. I'm in no way defending them I hate their big wakes as much as anybody but I expect to encounter them everytime I go out. SO GET USED TO IT !! I believe in everyones right to use our public waterways but if you try to go out there in something that can't handle it you're just putting yourself in a dangerous situation. So use a little common sense if you've got it. Like moma always said stupid is as stupid does!

 

[Fastwin]

wjay - 5/4/2011 11:18 AM
the TVA police caught them in the lock. From what I understand they were made to pay all the damages.

WJAY, did you call the TVA police or lock master? What damage was caused to the boats that were docked? Did they just slam up against the dock and damage the hull?

 

[wjay]

I ran the boat down as he was slowing down to lock through. I got their attention and asked why they had no registration numbers on their hull. He wanted to know why I wanted this info, so I informed him that he had damaged a number of vessels down in town. He told me he wasn't giving me any info, so I radio'd back to the boats in town and passed this info on to them. They had called the TVA police to make a report, so I radio'd the lock operator and he was aware of what was going on as he had monitored all the radio traffic on trying to get this guy stopped. TVA police phoned the lock operator and told him to keep this boat in the lock until they arrived to interview him. I went back to town and looked at some of the boats that were damaged. One had his swim platform get hung under the black rubber bumper on the hardedge, which in turn made it break in two! Another boat had their cleats pulled out. Supposedly the TVA police gave this guy's insurance info to these boaters, so they could get paid. That is the last I had heard about it. Hope this helps.

 

[Kirk]

blazer - 5/3/2011 10:13 PM

Kirk - 5/1/2011 8:27 PM Several years ago Ratman had his boat beached along side his mothers boat and several others. A cruiser came through and the wake shoved all the boats up on the bank and out of the water. At least one boat was damaged. A few minutes later a TWRA boat came by and they flagged them down. He was told that since they didn't see it happen so there was nothing he could do. There is more to the story after he got his boat back in the water that resulted in TWRA threatening to arrest him. Anyway it got good.

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what is the rest of the storyemoScratch </p>

Apparently, if you chase down the boat, find it anchored and board it, threaten the guy driving it, TWRA frowns on such behavior.

 

[wrechin2]

Not sure what you were asking... Sorry for you experience. I have been in my larger boats and still have trouble with some of the wake that these cruisers put off. That is why I like going to Marion county park when I have a boat that I need to run at high speeds so I don't get surprised by big wake from cruisers. Been there, done that and almost got hurt.