Living in the No-Wake Zone

We're spending five lovely days on the Gull Lake Narrows just outside of Nisswa, Minnesota.  You can see where we're staying if you go to www.lostlake.com.  The cabins front on the connection between Upper and Lower Gull Lake. We are staying next to a very highly traveled "No Wake Zone."

So I wondered.  What precisely does "No Wake Zone" mean?  

According to the 2008 Minnesota Statute, Subdivision 16a, "'Slow-no wake' means operation of a watercraft at the slowest possible speed necessary to maintain steerage, but in no case greater than five miles per hour."

Seems clear enough--or so I thought.  Then I began reading some boating listservs, FAQ's and blogs on the web.  "Slowest" is a matter of significant debate and confusion.

First the purposes of a no-wake zone:

• to reduce erosion on nearby shores, especially those with homes on them;
• to minimize disturbance to other watercraft, especially smaller ones;
• to protect boats and other watercraft at anchor;
• to provide safe swimming spots along the shore;
• to minimize conflicts between users of the waterway;
• to protect fish spawning areas; and
• to protect wetlands and other fragile environments.

At least half of those purposes are at play here on the Narrows.  Of course, that makes no difference to the boaters who buzz through the Narrows early in the morning when it seems that no one is looking. One of our neighbors took the opportunity to engage me in a hundred yard rant about the selfish $*/#-ers who couldn't slow down even for five minutes.

I was struck by how closely his indignation matched the waves being produced by the passing boaters. I started wishing for an emotional "no-wake zone" to match the one posted out one the water west of our cabin.

I discovered that the boat operator is responsible for the impact of the wake and any resulting damage. This is federal law, not just common courtesy.  One site suggested the golden rule of no wake zones: "leave a wake behind your boat that you would want other boats to leave for you."

This sounds like a good rule for life, not just for lakes.

"The key is to slow down all the way," wrote one newsletter author.  To leave no wake, a boat must be operating at idle speed, about 600 to 800 rpm.  So why do people go faster--besides the fact that they are frantic to get to the fish or the wake boarding or the party down the shore?  It's pretty simple.  Slow boats steer much harder.  The running idle speed of about 1300 rpm makes a boat easier to steer, especially if you have a beer in your off hand.

That running idle speed, however, produces far more wake than the true idle.  Thus the counsel to slow down all the way.  In addition, boating regulations specify that craft passing within 500 feet of one another need to slow down as well.  I have never once observed that happening out on the lake.

It is important to anticipate and slow down before getting to the no-wake zone.  That, however, rarely happens either.  Most boats roar up the marker buoys and then slam the throttle down to the bottom.  All that accomplishes is sending the wake into the channel ahead of your boat.  So much for protecting that fragile environment.

That being said, we are spending time here in the real, emotional, spiritual no-wake zone of quiet, reflection, walking, resting, reading, eating, playing and laughing.  When I return, I hope I will be a little more careful about the impact of the wake I create.  It is important to slow down for the smaller craft and the fragile shorelines around us.  It is life-giving to create no more wake than necessary in emotional as well as nautical terms.

May I seek to idle my motor at 600 rpm as often as possible.