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Our marina and most of the marinas I have visited in the PNW have signs
calling out the maximum speed in the marina. For the most part this
tends to be 4 knots. While this is partly to help reduce the potential
for boat and dock-damaging waves, I think the speed limits are also set
to reduce the potential for collisions and other maneuvering accidents.
In the San Juan and Gulf Islands there are zones posted with buoys
simply stating "no wake." While this is somewhat ambiguous--- as Wayne
says you can't move something through the water without leaving some
sort of wake--- it seems to be well understood by everyone who obeys
these directives that "no wake" means no waves that could set moored or
docked boats to rocking or pitching excessively. The real problem is
not whether boaters go through an area at 3 knots or 4 knots or 6 knots,
but boaters who don't pay attention to the signs and buoys at all and
run through the area at cruise speed. Where this is particularly bad is
when the boat in question is a "plowing" boat, for want of a better
term.
Common sense would seem to be the answer in "no wake" zones since hull
shape, displacement, and trim all contribute to the nature of the wake.
So it's just a matter of looking back at the wake and judging what it
might do when it reaches shore or nearby boats. It's not rocket science
but I continue to be surprised by how many boaters never bother to look
aft or to anticipate what their passage might do to moored and docked
boats, fishermen in small open boats, etc. While it's not much of a
problem out here I can understand the frustration boaters express at the
notion of slowing down for long distances--- along the ICW for
example--- to accommodate vast numbers of fishermen spread out for
miles. There doesn't seem to be an easy answer to that one--- at what
point does inconvenience justify shoving up the power and letting the
fishermen or the owners of nearby moored and docked boats take their
chances?
______________________________
C. Marin Faure
GB36-403 "La Perouse"
Bellingham, Washington
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