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Today we had friends in town, so we went on a toon cruise around the lake. After having lunch at Harbor Docks (which was very good), we decided to enjoy a slow cruise of the shoreline and look at houses and cabins. As we were putting along north of Real Island at about 2 MPH, we passed landside of a buoy that was placed well out from a dock.....I didn't see the buoy until I was about 30 feet away because it was off shore starboard and I was watching mostly front and port (at people and houses). There were folks on the dock port side and also one lady swimming, but I was at least 50 feet away. When I saw the buoy I started to turn starboard, but passed between it and the dock. If I had seen the buoy earlier I would have passed outside of it, even though I was at idle and it was far off shore. As I began to wave, a girl on the dock yelled at me that I needed to stay outside the buoys; she was not kind in this "suggestion". I have no problem with folks trying to make sure they can swim safely, but she was quite arrogant and more or less told me that area of the lake was off limits to anyone but them. Basically, I was told it was their property and that I was rude for passing within the area they had marked. Knowing the rules, I couldn't help myself from asking if this was their lake. Her response was "do you live here?".....to which I said yes, but what is the difference? It is a public lake! Anyway, I couldn't help myself from turning around and going out the same way I came in. By doing such, I was bombarded by threats from her, another gal, and a young guy who wanted to beat my @ss.
I'm posting this because it made me think about a few points that have been argued here on this forum many times; There can be a fine line in the balance of what is rude and improper. In this case, I thought (and still do think) that these folks were rude and improper in their actions ( and they made it known they feel the same way about me). The point is, there really isn't a good definition of such in a case like this, and everyone should look at both sides of the situation. This is a public lake, but given the length and width of the slough we were in I'm sure these folks have had their dock buzzed many times at a high rate of speed....I think they were probably frustrated from such events. That said, they don't own the lake and had no right to chew my @ss and make threats for passing within an area they had determined was theirs ( and isn't).
This is a big lake. There are many people that use it and enjoy it, but it belongs to none of us. We must all be vigilant in protecting ourselves and our property, but we must also realize that Lake Martin is a public area that requires tolerance of others. If you're a home owner, accept the fact that you only own the land that touches the lake. If you are a boater, try and respect the property of others around and on the lake. If you are both, realize you're damn lucky and look at the big picture. Nuff said.
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