Charter boat common courtesy

Our trip out to the lake is roughly a 1/4 of a mile in a no wake channel. My question is why do the 35' size charter boats get a pass on no wake. Now I get it that they are on the clock and times money but what's the point to have a no wake zone if everyone doesn't obey it. Now where this is happening is in a wide channel where there is no docked boat but shore erosion and passing boat traffic is the reason for the no wake zone in the first place.

Nobody gets a pass on no wake areas as long as they were installed legally by a governmental entity, not just signs put up by a fussy property owner.

If t hey are getting a pass, it is because of a lack of enforcement.

That's annoying - the rules should apply to all.

Is there an exception? My home harbor has a federal channel with speeds restricted to 5 MPH. However, there was a rules carve-out that allows vessels of certain tonnage to exceed the limit. It applies essentially to vehicle ferry that runs between Long Island and Connecticut.

That said, the ferry doesn't throw much of a wake.

I think Frank nailed it.

In my area, it is lack of enforcement. We avoid going to any lake that there is a fishing tournament. We spend the weekend on the hook in idle zones. These 300hp bass boats are going through the idle zone on plane at 80-90 mph at 530am. It's a hell of a way to wake up!

Just anther run of the mill jerk. We watched a well known charter boat go by our dock throwing quite a large wake and way too close to boot. I called his phone number which was easily read on the side of his boat. He answered and then denied he was throwing the wake and never slowed down. I reported him to the Sherrif. Nothing happened of course.

Lack of enforcement is usually the problem.

The good news (I suppose), is that operators are responsible for their wakes. That includes commercial/charter vessels. So if you see an excessive wake that has the potential to damage moored vessels, get out your video camera and film the vessel causing the problem. I'm sure the afflicted boat owner would be very appreciative.

I see this behavior on the Chicago River all the time. It's incredibly congested (that part is okay), but when you have commercial vessels regularly breaking the law by making a wake and they don't get their hands slapped, it's highly frustrating because the inexperienced/misinformed boater who sees the "professional" boats making a wake think it's okay, so it becomes monkey-see-monkey-do.

Worst part is, the captains of the commercial vessels have some kind of MMC, so if they were paying attention, they know where the responsibility falls.

Try New York Harbor. Major ferry wakes from 6am-10am and 4pm-8pm. Millions of dollars damage to marina docks, boats, shoreside facilities and many injuries. No enforcement, no harbor master, and refusal of the commercial operators to make changes. Someone once said that the most dangerous thing on a boat is a schedule. Ferry boat drivers must adhere to their schedules or be penalized. Nothing will change until someone is killed by a wake. Then the media and the politicians may come through with some regulations.

Horrible , we have many police boats here through the season and they seem more interested in patrolling popular anchorages for alcohol on boats that dont have the requisite galley and head for alcohol consumption when at anchor than application and enforcement of laws in the less used anchorages within our little bay which contains 4 commercial and 1 municipal marina. Last season while drafted up to my parents boat for an afternoon meetup we were getting rocked very violently by a wake boat in an Anchorage clearly marked on charts. I paddled over to him in my kayak with my 2 year old in the bow seat and approached him kindly to ask if he would move off to an area 600 meters away where his wake wouldn't be slamming my little 268 against my folks 60 ft trawler despite the multitude of fenders we had deployed. Macho man with 3 teenage boys and trophy girl proceeded to lambaste me for having my 2 year old out in the kayak in an active channel ( ( I was not). When I put a hand out to his gunwal to hold our position he began swearing and threatening me. I moved off and told him politely that we have pictures of his boat and reg number. I live here and have the whole season to paddle every marina and find his boat while he's back in the city. By the time we got back to the trawler he had moved off .
Did I mention I despise entitled city folks who think they can do whatever they want and go home without consequence. My friends and neighbors are marine mechanics, storage facility owners, canvas fabricators and fiberglass fabrication and repair facilities . We all see the bad apples with 100k plus wake boats and their attitudes every year . Somehow folks not from here dont understand why they pay so dearly for service or just cant be fit into the schedule till oh I dont know Feb 2030 . Nothing against most city folks that cruise here and support the economy, just ask all to be respectful and not destroy what they come here to enjoy, most do

I know the feeling. US Coast Guard is not going to address the problem unless it's a serious injury/death or over $25,000 in damage. Local water enforcement does not want to get involved - they may have to spend some time in court.. I've been fighting the NY Harbor wakes for 15 years. Here's a link to some of the wakes work done in the harbor http://www.iboatnyharbor.com/Wakes-sensitive Areas.htm Hope you can use some of it.