Am I allowed to water ski here??

[amanphoto]

Am I allowed to water ski under bridges? Its got a 40' clearance.

How about threw channels?

 

[HAV2FISH]

Re: Am I allowed to water ski here??

The places i boat at all the bridges are no wake zones. Even if they weren't i would slow down as a courtesy to the people fishing there. Same thing goes for narrow channels.

 

[Blk-n-Blu]

Re: Am I allowed to water ski here??

You might want to consider a safe boating course and get the certificate. I believe NY requires them. You defininately do not want to water ski under bridges unless you have lots of cash to pay the citations.

 

[amanphoto]

Re: Am I allowed to water ski here??

FYI - I took the NY Boating course. I've been boating all my life. I'm boating in a new area.

The bridge spans the bay. Its several miles long and is 4 lanes wide on top. It is marked with lights only so you don't hit it. It is deep under all the whole span and boats go threw there a full speed all the time. The channel is also marked 25 mph. Boats are going thew there at speed also.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Am I allowed to water ski here??

check your local regulations... it certainly isn't a nation wide rule that you can't. I personally have wakeboarded through bridges many, many times. If it is a low traffic time and I'm not pulling someone, I'll slow down for the fishermen, otherwise, my feeling is they are anchored in a known high traffic/main channel area, and get to deal with it.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Am I allowed to water ski here??

As long as you are shorter than 40' it sounds safe to me.

I personally wouldn't do it but we do have bridges here that bass boats whip thru at WOT.

It does seems like a big enough bridge to be reasonably safe.

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: Am I allowed to water ski here??

I assume you are talking about Irondequoit bridge. If so, watch your speed. I see boaters getting tickets often there. As for skiing, would be worth a call to Sodus Pt. USCG station - though, I think they will toll you it's not allowed. The bottom of the bay has lots of room for skiing. Hope that helps.

 

[amanphoto]

Re: Am I allowed to water ski here??

Yep. They bay bridge.

I usually like going down the the little by by Bay-side, but offly shallow in there. My skier can stand up and touch the bottom with a life jacket on.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Am I allowed to water ski here??

All it takes is a little wake to throw the skier off-balance and end up going into one of the bridge supports at 25-30mph. I would advise against it.

 

[DBreskin]

Re: Am I allowed to water ski here??

It's probably legal to waterski anywhere you can go fast enough, e.g. not in no-wake zones.

Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's sensible. If your skier gets close to a bridge support and hits it at 25+MPH you can imagine the result.

 

[Shife]

Re: Am I allowed to water ski here??

check your local regulations... it certainly isn't a nation wide rule that you can't. I personally have wakeboarded through bridges many, many times. If it is a low traffic time and I'm not pulling someone, I'll slow down for the fishermen, otherwise, my feeling is they are anchored in a known high traffic/main channel area, and get to deal with it.

You are legally responsible for the effects of your wake at all times and you are the burdened vessel when approaching a vessel at anchor/not in command.

If you pass close enough to an anchored vessel that your wake causes damage or injures someone, you are the one that will get prosecuted, no matter if you think they had it coming or not.

 

[H8tank]

Re: Am I allowed to water ski here??

I think you should do it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7wp6n5cvpA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLhKy7w9IBc&NR=1

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Am I allowed to water ski here??

You are legally responsible for the effects of your wake at all times and you are the burdened vessel when approaching a vessel at anchor/not in command.

If you pass close enough to an anchored vessel that your wake causes damage or injures someone, you are the one that will get prosecuted, no matter if you think they had it coming or not.

like every rule, there are exceptions and room for common sense. In one particular instance on a busy river, there channel is 40 feet wide at best. Anchors generally don't hold well, so most fisherman have a trolling motor/kicker to hold their position. (so they are NOT at anchor, they are under command)

Anyway, it isn't uncommon to have this area clogged up enough that it is tough to even get through. The fishermen tend to forget there are other boaters and do this intentionally... At that point, it just escalates the situation and nobody bothers slowing down anymore. (including other fishermen!)

So no, i'm not saying they had it coming, and I still do everything to minimize my wake. There is no danger to anyone involved other than a couple drops of their beer spilled, and I maintain as much separation as possible.

 

[Shife]

Re: Am I allowed to water ski here??

like every rule, there are exceptions and room for common sense. In one particular instance on a busy river, there channel is 40 feet wide at best. Anchors generally don't hold well, so most fisherman have a trolling motor/kicker to hold their position. (so they are NOT at anchor, they are under command)

Anyway, it isn't uncommon to have this area clogged up enough that it is tough to even get through. The fishermen tend to forget there are other boaters and do this intentionally... At that point, it just escalates the situation and nobody bothers slowing down anymore. (including other fishermen!)

So no, i'm not saying they had it coming, and I still do everything to minimize my wake. There is no danger to anyone involved other than a couple drops of their beer spilled, and I maintain as much separation as possible.

If they are using a kicker then they are not anchored. The situation becomes more complicated but you will still most likely end up the burdened vessel if on plane as they are not making headway. If they are anchored and have the proper day shape/light signal, you will lose in court guaranteed unless they are anchored in a designated "no anchor" zone. Call the CG if they are clogging the waterway and preventing proper flow of traffic. If you use their inconsiderateness to justify your bending the rules you will still be the one paying the price.