Wake boats.

[davetheslave 0]

I wonder if any others on here have had any bad experiences with wake boats particularly on the river murray. By wake boats i don't mean your average everyday ski boat, but those which are specifically designed to throw up a huge wake. On my last trip to the murray i was tied up to a snag doing a bit of fishing, there were a number of ordinary ski boats going up and down the river all having a good time. The next thing i know one of these wake boats roared past me very close, the wake from this boat threw my tinny right up on top of one of the branches of the snag i was fishing and all but tipped me and all my gear out of the tinny and into the water. Later when back at the friends shack where i was staying one of the kids told me that another of these wake boats had come past and that my boat was sinking.When i went down i found my tinny 3/4 full of water and almost sitting on the bottom. While i was there bailing out the tinny this wake boat came roaring past again the wake again almost filling the tinny with water. As it went into a shack just down from where we were i went down and suggested that they stop their stupid antics otherwise they might find their precious boat sitting on the bottom come morning. Despite some abuse i had no further trouble that trip. I think that these wake boats should be banned, at least from the river murray as i believe it is only a matter of time before a tragedy occurs. Also given the recent spate of river bank collapses attributed to low river levels, i wonder how much might be due to the bank errosion caused by these boats. What do other members think.

[BigAl 0]

I concur especially for a closed and narrow waterway like a river. Besides the obvious danger to themselves and other river users what effect are they having on the quality of the river water and what environmental damage are they doing?

[Softy 2,991]

.22 and a scope....Problem solved.

[carps 1]

ALL BOATS HAVE BUNG PLUGS having said that i enjoy a ski in the river as do all my mates and yes my father in law owns a ski boat as have i in the past and believe me its not the boat that should be banned its the drivers i can assure you if driven properly they will do minimul damage and if driven curtiosuly no one else needs to be efected always slow down near other vessels weather it be bigger or smaller than yours and show some respect thats all it takes for everyone to enjoy their day.remember we only have one river to share so be nice and treat as you wish to be treated and as stated if all this fails BUNG PLUGS

[coonta kinta 1]

I'll stand corrected if need be, but......It's my understanding that the skipper of any boat is responsible for ANY damage the wake of their vessel does. THEREFORE, I would firstly be advising the fools of this fact in the first place, then I'd be taking down the details of the vessel & making a call to Marine Safety Officers with all the details Sometimes a hit to the hip pocket wakes em up, especially if its daddies toy that did the damage!

[weaver 271]

BigAl wrote:

I concur especially for a closed and narrow waterway like a river. Besides the obvious danger to themselves and other river users what effect are they having on the quality of the river water and what environmental damage are they doing?

Summertime sees the water go to poobrown through the wash of wake boarders, If you get out early saturday morning on the river you can watch the transformation of the water once they get on the river.It is unbelievable.I have a theory on cod reprodution below lock 1, they do breed ( the cod) but the eggs get hammered by wake and perish never to grow.NOt real sure why people haven't thought of this before.There was an article in the local rag about a wake board comp up here, they said the guys with these boats have $$$ and bring $$$ into the town and this is more important then the bank degradation issueAround murray bridge there are planty of sites that are marked as possible landslide areas and the event still went ahead despite the concerns.Money always wins out and thats the theme of the river .I dislike wake boarders with a passion. i have lost mobile phones, digital cameras due to there wake and passing to close that the wake comes over the stren of the tinny, they dont care, i'm sure of it.Also the safety issue they cause, IMO there should be sanctioned zones where they can go and thats it, preferably in high willow areas where bank damage will be at a minimum as they will absorb a majority of the wake.

[vb4me 1]

Comes down to common courtesy, common sense and respect. None of which MOST jet skiers wake board boats and ski boats have. As long as they are havin fun who cares. They all have a right to be on the water as do fisherman and divers but a bit of respect between different groups would go a long way. And most of all no matter what group, look after our waterways, cos when its gone we all miss out on what we enjoy.