Respect Your Neighbors
What does the term “No Wake” mean? Well, on a lake as small as Grand Valley Lake we should all be aware of a few “rules” and some simple common courtesy. Most regulatory documents (State, federal, and local) all contain the definition of No Wake with similar wording as follows : “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.
At GVL we should also recognize that, because of the small size of our lake that common courtesy would also dictate the speed at which you operate your vessel (boat.)
If you are operating a boat or PWC (jet ski, sea doo, wave runner, etc) and you are in a designated NO WAKE zone you should consider the following guidance. If you are in the NO WAKE zone and there is anyone on a paddle board, kayak, canoe, or float, then the wake produced by your boat should produce no more disturbance of the water than a gentle rocking motion to your neighbors enjoying the water. Anything more can be dangerous as well as annoying. Heavy wakes can also cause damage to sea walls and other property. And, just because you don’t see anyone else on the water you must still honor the NO WAKE rules.
Did you also know that a powered vessel must always give “right of way” to an unpowered vessel such as a sailboat, paddle-board, or kayak/canoe?
There are many “rules”, both universally accepted as well as local that apply at our lake in GVL. Please review the boating “Rules of the Road” that can be found on-line, (https://www.dummies.com/sports/following-right-of-way- boating-rules/) as well as the GVL “Lake Rules.”
Please understand that our Lake Rules are not intended to take away from anyone’s enjoyment of their time on the lake, but rather, to enhance the safety and security of EVERYONE else on the lake.
Please be safe and enjoy this valuable amenity but please ALWAYS respect your neighbors time on the lake.
Now that the weather has improved we might see more boats on the lake after sundown. Of course, to see a boat means that they must have their navigation lights on. Do you know what these lights mean? For starters the bow of the boat should have a green nav light on the Starboard side (right side viewing forward) and a red light on the Port side (left side looking forward.) It’s important to other boat operators to be able to see these lights to determine the direction of travel, and relative movement of each boat.
Those “headlights” are not really headlights. They are docking lights and should only be used when docking the boat. These lights actually “wash out” the view of the nav lights and can lead to confusion over the direction and trajectory of the boat. So, for safety reasons please don’t operate the boat with the docking lights on.
The lake is our greatest amenity at GVL and we all hope that everyone enjoys their time on the lake. But please review the lake rules (they’re posted on the GVL website and available at the office) so that all residents can have a great time on the lake.
Happy summer everyone!!
Jim Gehringer