boat law question
 

We ran into a unhappy boater last night on the lake who was telling us it was not legal to pull a wakeboarder in a line. we normaly run a straight line in a area that there are not to many boaters and try to keep the water as smooth as possible. This guy was pulling his kides tubing which I have no problem with it is a open lake and he can enjoy his super air any way he wants. He would come by us every 20 minutes or so because he was running a gaint loop around the lake and then he stoped and told us we could not run a line that we had to do a loop because it is not legal and he would call the cops. Is there a law I have never heard this before and I thought it would be good to know. We are in Michigan and I could not find any law on the DNR listing.

yeah thats a law...and you have to hold your feet off the floorboard when you go across a bridge.
I smell BS

Sounds absurd to me. I have never heard the such.


Me personally, I would have to the guy to F off.
(I know he had kids with him, but if you choose to be a dic in front of your kids, then face the consequences).

Michigan Boating Laws
 

He may be right- - sort of, kinda....

Small lakes have a counter-clockwise rotation in Michigan. A buddy got cited for double-ups to the right - breaking rotation. The judge threw it out. The same DNR Officer ticketed a guy who turned to the right to recover his rider (NOTE: this is the recommended method according to the USCG, PS, and M DNR in their training materials since it allows for constant eye contact between the helmsman and the fallen rider). The judge threw that one out as well.

You do not have to travel along the shoreline, however. Your counter-clockwise rotation can be in the middle of the lake with straight lines. It is perfectly legal!

Bass lake in California you have go down the lake on one side and come back on the other side. Not sure about how many lakes actually have that as a law but it was the only lake Ive seen it on. I think its because it was a long skinny lake.

ok kids lets act like adults and get along. oh thats right adults fight and cuss each other too.i guess everything is okay!

Yea the funny thing was he had the kids so we were watching our language and then he started droping the bombs. Our lake (Silver) is long and there are sand bars that come out on each side. There is also a island that seperated the lake into a small side and large side. the path around one side is clearly maked one way and we follow that sign. We do make our turns counter clock wise and we make them wide and come back down our own path this is how I have seen every one do it. I would not even have posted this if he did not insist that there is a rule that you have to go in a circle.
Thanks for all the comments

Smaller lakes make that rule because they get too busy and allow too many boats on there. If some boaters (tubers and wallys) get their way, all lakes will be that way sooner or later. Better question is why did he even care?

Depends on the state and the lake. Our lake is counterclockwise, and when busy you have to follow that. On weeknights when it's empty you can run a line on the dam.

Hes pulling tubers in a SAN??:eek:
Sounds like you should have been the one calling the authorities :D

Yea A really nice 230 with out MC numbers. It was about 8 at night and there were only a couple boats on the lake.

I got a ticket once. You have to go counter clockwise in AZ and I was at Canyon Lake pulling my bro. In the canyon it gets pretty thin and I was trying to keep as straight a line as possible. I got pulled over and the cop said I was on the left side but I was right in the middle. Whatev...

I have spent way to much time on google today trying to find any kind of law, rule or suggestion to ride counter clockwise. I have looked through the DNR handbook and looking on the Sheriff site and can not find any thing. Seems like they would make this easy to find if they can ticket you for it. Thanks again for all the help and I am planning on not changing our driving until we get a ticket. By the way those that have been ticketed or know some one how much was it?

Thanks, Nick

half way down. Interpretation of the rule, maybe you just have to turn counterclockwise like was said.... stupid rule

http://www.boat-ed.com/mi/handbook/oper.htm

On a side note, I was routed there from the State of Michigan's DNR site, when trying to get any rules it takes you to Boat-Ed. Pretty messed up imo that a third party interpret the laws of a state

on the lake my parents have a place on up north, the counterclockwise rule is listed on a sign at the launch site. it is small (300 acres) and almost everyone follows it. it's not ideal for wakeboarding but WAY safer.
the lake i live on downstate does NOT have this sign on the launch, it's a bigger lake (1000 acres), i always ride a straight line and never have any problems.
i'm sure the guys at silver spray would know the score for that lake.

Ah yes, an over-zealous boater using his own interpretation of the law for personal "gain." Honestly, I would have told him to call the cops, especially if he did not have the proper numbers on his boat.

In CO State Parks it is only a "rule" in designated ski areas, according to their website. I would assume if your not in a 'designated ski' area you are free to do what you want as long as you are boating in a safe manner.

I think it is a good thing when it is busy...but if there are only a couple boats not a big deal. Just need drivers to pay attention to driving the boat!
I have almost been hit a couple times (couple feet away)...come to think of it 3 of the 4 times were jetskiers not boaters.

Does anyone know why the rule is counter-clockwise? As other people have mentioned its just a lot safer to loop back for people turning right, I always do it because I need to see/communicate with the rider. Its not an issue for me up on Lake Washington, its so big so the cops only care about raising your rider down flag, but I'd still like to know the justification behind counter opposed to clockwise...

In answer to the question of why counter clockwise, I would assume it is because international marine regulations state that you should, when travelling in a straight line, pass any oncoming vessel port to port. If you are in a narrow stretch of water, then any traffic should have an automatic counter clockwise route.
As far as going in a straight line while riding, where I ride it is fairly narrow, so if it is safe, as far as boat numbers, I stick to the middle and turn to port at the end of each run so technically I am still going c/clockwise. Theoretically, you are OK as long as you don't travel the wrong way on the other side of the geographical centre of the ski area.

Look at the rules for the particular lake you are riding. Just because it isn't state law doesn't mean it isn't local. We have a small county lake that has the same rule.

At our local lakes we always go counter clockwise.. Most lakes will tell you this when you enter and give you a map...