Harbor etiquette

Andy S.

Andy S.

New Member
Jul 19, 2019
25
Boat Info
1999 Sea Ray 210BR Signature
260 hp
Operates in Lake Erie
Engines
350 mercruiser 260 hp bravo ll drive
I’ve noticed an increasing number of boaters, wave runners and even captains of larger crafts on the waterways this year on the Black River in Lorain, Ohio.
A lot of them show little to no etiquette in the harbors and rivers. They don’t follow the proper speed limits and travel up and down the river causing wakes in “no wake” zones and around the docked boats.
I even see some larger crafts cruising past my slip throwing large wakes into parked boats.
We have local city patrols, harbor patrols and a coast guard station on the river but I haven’t seen anyone stopped. In the past they’ve been out there patrolling but not this year.
How are the observations on other waterways?
 
Same as yours. On my part of the upper Chesapeake its widely known they cut off the marine police and transferred them to who got shot patrol. There is 1 fkn 1 cop in a rubber boat. Barney Fife. He dont do shit and all know it. Its the wild west on my part of the Bay/ river. No cops do anything, and nobody cares.
 
I wrote on here in May about how some prick kept coming straight at us. Like he was playing chicken. I had right of way, I finally veered off and he flipped me the bird. Ignorant hicks.
 
I got yelled at this past weekend for doing 4.8 kts at dead idle in a no wake zone... I bit my lip and told him to have a nice day.
 
369963BC-0791-48CA-A95D-E33BCB5A517A.jpeg

The no wake ordinance on Spring Lake is violated every day with no meaningful enforcement. I have seen the Sheriff violate it on occasion. It is sort of like the speed limit on freeways. If you set your cruise at the limit you run the risk of being rear ended, and are likely flipped off. Pontoon rentals on the lake have contributed to an increase in violations as many renters are ignorant of the laws.
 
Honestly not much of an issue here in northern Illinois. People are courteous in the harbor, the only people I see throwing any wake are jet skis heading in and out at idle speed, which is typically a little higher than no wake speed, bbut the wake they throw is tiny.

Right outside our harbor mouth the fishing charters tend to come in fast right up to the harbor mouth, but dial it down quickly when they enter.

My only annoyance is that some boats will pass within about 100 feet of you when you are anchored, even though they literally have miles of empty water to the east. But that is minor and rare. Guess I should consider.myself fortunate.
 
Nater Potater said:
Interesting! My wife was talking about a 50 cal...
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Nater, what you need is a spud gun. I have one that I built and kept on the boat for use for AH's that behaved like what was described above. Loud as all get out, launches a spud about 50 yards or more but is not classified as a firearm. Works like a champ.
 
Gofirstclass said:
Nater, what you need is a spud gun. I have one that I built and kept on the boat for use for AH's that behaved like what was described above. Loud as all get out, launches a spud about 50 yards or more but is not classified as a firearm. Works like a champ.
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Going to need drawings on this
 
Sheesh...this thread escalated quickly. I hope you fellas have some good lawyer buddies. Firearm or not, you launch a potato at a passing boat and you're certainly not going to be on the right side of the law.

In a bayou on one of the lakes we frequent there is an older couple that sits out on their lawn near the water and lets off a very loud and official sounding siren when people go by too fast. You can't see the siren, it's cleverly mounted someplace, but it's quite effective from what I've seen. Perhaps too passive for some of you guys though :)
 
Gofirstclass said:
Nater, what you need is a spud gun. I have one that I built and kept on the boat for use for AH's that behaved like what was described above. Loud as all get out, launches a spud about 50 yards or more but is not classified as a firearm. Works like a champ.
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Buddy of mine installed a lantern igniter in the gas fill tube and I believe he used Right Guard as opposed to hair spray so things didn’t get sticky. Friggin’ Blast!! Pun intended.
 
OllieC said:
Buddy of mine installed a lantern igniter in the gas fill tube and I believe he used Right Guard as opposed to hair spray so things didn’t get sticky. Friggin’ Blast!! Pun intended.
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Butane refill can. No sticky mess, but arguably a bit dangerous. The canned air blaster for electronics dusting works too but is expensive. Bad idea to shoot a spud gun at a person. They have enough power to do serious injury or maybe worse. Hell of a lot of fun though. I think the LEO's might find a law other than firearm laws to take issue with you shooting at a boat.
 
Holy crap. I’m going to mount this thing on my porch and launch potato’s at my neighbor’s pickleball court!

“Officer, there was no one on the court and where else am I supposed to land them?”
 
jmauld said:
Holy crap. I’m going to mount this thing on my porch and launch potato’s at my neighbor’s pickleball court!

“Officer, there was no one on the court and where else am I supposed to land them?”
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And it’s biodegradable
Plausible deniability
“But officer it’s just a potato…I was sending it over for a snack”
 
“Officer, he said it was open for anyone in the community…”
 
sbw1 said:
View attachment 109157
The no wake ordinance on Spring Lake is violated every day with no meaningful enforcement. I have seen the Sheriff violate it on occasion. It is sort of like the speed limit on freeways. If you set your cruise at the limit you run the risk of being rear ended, and are likely flipped off. Pontoon rentals on the lake have contributed to an increase in violations as many renters are ignorant of the laws.
Click to expand...
I recently re-read the ordinances for my local harbor. Law enforcement watercraft are specifically exempted from speed limits. Perhaps there is something similar in your area.

I don't mind of they are exempted in case of emergency or when necessary to perform their law-enforcement duties. But the local ordinance doesn't state that; LE has carte-blanch to go as fast as they want where ever they want - and I've seen that abused on a number of occasions.
 
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