Wake Destroying Shoreline? HELP!

I have a meeting tomorrow with our County about some issues re-guarding the shoreline and wakeboarding boats erosion. Does anyone know of any articles or information about this? Right now the local "skiers" are telling use that we are not allowed to fill more than ONE Balest! Hard to get much out of that! This is a county lake and for public use, but the Ski Club are the ones in charge of this lake.

I thought/was told that there was a study out, showing that wake boats have NO more erosion than any other boat. Any help would be great. Thanks!!

Contact Dave Briscoe he had a bout with the county a while back on the same issue.
www.thewakeboardcoach.com

contact USA Wakeboard they have info on this

God I hate SKqueers I mean Skiers. OOPS did i say that out loud?

how can they know how many ballast you have filled up when you saw them you puch the empty button ??

That is the stupidest rule I have ever heard. You can not run 2 50lb ballsast tanks but 1 5,000 lb. bag is allowed.

Unforutunately many private lakes are following this trend. I'd fight like hell on this because once it's accepted as having been in place, it will be much tougher to have it removed. Given that it's a public lake, I'd check out the authority of the ski-club to make the rules. It's possible they don't really have the right to make let alone enforce the rules. If they do in fact have authority, it will be granted to them by a state agency. If you can get a number of people to sign a petition or letter, fire one off to that agency or the governor. I'd be interested to hear what their justification is because I hardly see how non landowners would have a significant interest in maintaining the shore. I know, there are some erosion and water clarity issues, but it's not the same as a person losing his yard. Good luck with this.

For those with a direct drive, you could get around it by having one bage wrap the rear and sides of the engine cover. Any other boats and it would be tough. Sucks to see that happening.

Any wake is going to provide wear and tear on an unprotected shoreline, no matter the size. If it's bigger, it may affect a higher level of sediment, but it's not technically increasing the damage, as that sediment would eventually end up in the water anyways, since wake tends to carve out the sides of hills that act as shoreline. At least that's what it has done on my lake. Instead of limiting boat ballast, your local government/ski club should be trying to pass legislation that limits the removal of trees on the shoreline, promotes the use of rip rap, and stuff like that. In the long run, those big 30 foot cabin cruisers are going to be doing more damage to the shores than a wakeboarder, I don't care what anyone says. If I'm on the jetski, and I want some big wake, I follow the cruisers, not the wakeboard boats.

If these complaints get any worse and start gain any ground in the future there might be a bit more acceptance to the WAKE KITE ... 10 ft+ airs with NO ballast system! OHhhh Yea!!!
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... but i am being serious too...

see the little itty bitty boat wakes = ^
and see how happy the face is getting tons of air and landing/ floating way out into the flats

(DISCLAIMER: I HAVE NEVER TRIED A WAKE KITE YET)

i wouldnt fret. it wont be too long before the skiing generation will have died off. they are an older generation of people and there are less and less newbies every year. unfortuantely we will have to deal with it now. so fight fight fight fight.

Westsidarider, I hope you're right, but unfortunately, I think these complaints are going to get nothing but more frequent. The generation that owns/can afford a high percentage of the waterfront property is older. When they quit skiing, they'll decide they dont' like their docks, pontoon boats, or fishing boats getting rocked by the waves. I'd think there is some room here for the boat manufacturers to respond. If the ballast is hidden well enough, no one will be able to prove anything. The next complaint that I expect to hear is fuel consumption. They already tax new cars that don't meet certain standards under the "gas guzzler tax." I wonder when they'll turn to our big V8 boats we all plan to weight the sh#t out of. If anyone has a report out there showing that wakeboats don't in fact cause more erosion, I'd love a copy bc I'd pass it along to the board at my lake...

Hey thanks everyone I couldn't agree more!! We are going to get this done, but what you dont understand is that this lake is/was made for sking 20+ years ago and the ski club was created to maintain and basically rule over the lake which is not fair, the county srewed up and wrote some bad rules into place, which are getting changed. This lake is not open to the public, you need to register your boat with the county to use it.

Well here is the lake http://www.okeeski.com/scpb_home.html

You may recognize it from back in the day when Shapiro killed it out there. They think they own it and call that back lake a wakeboard lake, but they have a slalom course in it and a jump. We have gotten those removed but we are working on half for use and half for them, right now it is 4 for them 1 barely for use. I wish I could write everything about this situation, maybe you will read about it in the paper! HA! We started the SFWA (South Florida Wakeboard Association, sfwake.com) to help petition like you said and that has helped, but it is going to take more. I will post and let you know how it turns out tomorrow.

There is alot more to come and it is great to see such a great group like this out there helping the wake community. We hope we can do the same and help people learn etiquette and riding essentials.

i hate to say it but honestly, your on a private ski lake, which was built for skiing and more than likely a place like that will always be in favor of skiiers. your probably better off finding a new place to ride. plus if its like most private lakes its not that deep so there is only soo much weight that will affect the size of the wake

good luck to you though

It looks like this may have missed your meeting, but I have covered this issue, and the article has been cited/referenced before in instances such as the one you're describing. In surprisingly formal settings actually...

Perhaps you will find it useful; that was my goal. This is not a blatant plug. When we've covered an issue or topic like this at The Wakeboard Report - I like to link it.

http://www.wakeboardreport.com/archives/2006/09/lake_associations.html

When I moved to the WPB area I lived right next to that park, and hung out with the ski club a little, but never actually ended up putting my boat in the water there.

These ski club folks are an interesting bunch. They all show up with their own boats and park them at a set of docks. They take turns skiing and driving, but they are constantly switching boats, because they all insist on skiing behind their own boat, instead of agreeing ahead of time to just bring one boat. Some of them are really nice, but as a whole they just don't have that laid back social vibe that wakeboarders typically have.

After it was all said and done, I moved closer to the beach and now keep my boat at a friend's lakehouse over 3 hours away. I also haven't been to Okeeheelee in well over 3 years.

It does sound to me like they are using ballast restrictions due to "shoreline erosion" as an excuse to discourage wakeboarders from using the lake. It definately worked on me! It is definately a shame though, as it is a really nice park.

Our lake committee went to a seminar for just such a thing.I was surprised to hear what they came back with.We were dealing with the same complaints.One committee member told me that they learned in this seminar that it would take 10,000 passes of a boat to equal the damage caused by the wind to shorelines.Since then the complaints about wakeboats have been for the most part ignored,unless some moron decides to wakesurf right along someones dock.

Before anyone says B.S.,I'm just telling you what I was Told by a committee member.I Can try to reach someone on the committee to get some more info,but can't guarantee anything.Good luck with your fight though.