Name:   slowtimer - Subject:   wave runners Date:   5/18/2020 9:40:53 AM

Good Lord!!!  This post is absolutely ridiculous and I hope you have calmed down a little.  The more I read this forum the more I hear constant complaining of something or another.  In my opinion, we all live or vacation on the greatest recreation lake in the country and are very blessed.   I have been on the lake since 1992 and the lake has definitly gotten more populated with more wave runners, sea doo's, and jet skis, but so has every other lake in the Southeast as the population has increased and the job market/standard of living increased.  This is a VERY GOOD thing.  Also, sea doo's, wave runners, and jet skis have gotten larger, more reliable, and much quieter over the years.  This has increased their popularity.  Yes, there are some bad actors out there that ride them but the vast majority I see riding are safe and obey the rules of the water.  When I see them doing spins, doughnuts, etc they are usually in a slough away from other boat traffic and just having fun.  Let's also be honest here, if they were to hit a boat or do something stupid and get hit then they would be the one physically suffering and not the people on the boat.  Very similar to motorcycles on the road.

The PWC's of the 90's were much worse and much more dangerous on the lake than they are now.  They were such a nuisance back then.  What is really a nuisance now is the wake board boats.  I have never seen such callous or stupidity from captains then ones driving them slowly along shorelines and docks.  These are the people that are actually harming other's property but you will not hear me call for people arming themselves against wakeboard boats!  The best thing that can be done is to video someone doing damage and provide it to the marine police.  Also, if you see someone doing something stupid it might make sense to KINDLY ask them to stop.  FYI, if you come at someone with the attitude in your post I guarentee they will not take kindly to it and they will probably continue doing what annoyed you in the first place (just much worse).

Yes, we do need more marine police to enforce the laws currently on the books and I am all for that.  I have only had one bad encounter with the marine police on the lake.  The boat I was riding on was brand new and I was trying to help the marine police tie up their boat to ours so it didn't damage the new boat while they searched to make sure we had all necessary items.  I was yelled at and treated poorly for trying to help.  Every other encounter has been excellent so I am all for a few more marine police.  FYI, I have been on much busier lakes (Lake of the Ozarks, Lake Lanier, etc) and the ratio of marine police to boaters is about the same as it is on Martin.  I think the reason this is the case is that marine police boats and equipment are much more expensive than cars so the budget does not allow for as many patrols.