AWARE Stay Wake

Boat wakes are essential for popular towed watersports, like wakesurfing, but they can also be disruptive to other boats, smaller craft and shorelines. A new task force aims to educate everyone on staying safe and cordial while out on the water.

by JASON DUNOVANT

smi T h m o U n Tain l a K e visitors and longtime residents may have noticed a renewed effort on boater education this summer. a new task force is working to make sure everyone is safe and responsible while enjoying some of the lake’s more popular activities.

a newly formed Wake education Task Force is finding fresh ways to reach the public with its campaign to keep people safe and cordial to others while wakesurfing or doing other towed watersports. marinas, short-term rentals and a variety of lake businesses are providing etiquette guides and maps showing the best places to play safely.

“i think we’ve gotten a lot more done than most of us expected,” said Josh mc c lure, president of the task force, about the group’s accomplishments. 

The task force’s education effort centers on four major points:

1. minimize repetitive passes.

2. stay away from docks and shorelines.

3. avoid coves and congested areas.

4. avoid driving unpredictably and erratically. The points are printed on pamphlets available at boat-centric locations and on billboards visible from lake-area roads. people renting boats, boat key floaties, life jacket whistles and kill switch armbands will find Qr codes. scan a code with a phone and it will direct to the task force’s website, which provides information on how to boat safely when participating in towed watersports and wakesurfing. The site also provides videos on water sport safety.

Website visitors can provide feedback to help the task force improve its message methods. Find the website at tricountylakes.org, under the Wake education Task Force tab.

Joy manning, the task force’s secretary, said this most recent effort will likely take time to get momentum. she expects some people will not pay attention at first, but she is optimistic that people will eventually see it as a positive.

“Be courteous to others, that is all we are asking,” manning said.

The task force is the most recent effort by the Tricounty lakes administrative commission to curb bad behavior that sometimes comes with wakesurfing and other towed watersports. The activities can create massive wakes that damage docks and shorelines — and endanger anyone nearby.

Tlac and other lake organizations have been working for at least the past decade to improve wake education at sml . The effort stems from wakesurfing’s growing popularity and concerns about the large wakes. anyone that has spent time on smith mountain lake in recent years has likely seen people wakesurfing behind specialized boats. such craft use ballast tanks filled with water to weigh them down and generate big waves. surfers towed just a few feet behind the boat can catch that wave and let go of the tow line, essentially surfing. concerns about larger wakes and the damage they can cause led to a 2017 campaign asking boaters to wake responsibly. Four years later, a bill was introduced in the Virginia house of Delegates to restrict wakesurfing within 150 feet of a dock, pier, boat house, boat ramp or other person in the water. The bill ultimately failed, for lack of legislative support. a few months after the house bill failed, Tlac began looking into creating no-wakesurfing zones in sections of the lake. The first no-wakesurfing zone application last year for a section of merriman run created a firestorm of debate, which culminated at a public hearing on July 19. most speakers in the two-hour public hearing urged Tlac to consider giving education efforts a second chance before creating no-wakesurfing zones. about a dozen lake residents came together to form the Wake education Task Force last fall. it included several wakesurfers, who urged Tlac for more wake education, and some lake residents who have called for more regulation, due to the damage that wakes can cause. putting wakesurfing supporters and critics together on the task force helped create a bridge of understanding. mcclure said once the two sides starting talking, they agreed that they wanted the same thing — a safe lake for everyone to enjoy.

The Virginia Department of Wildlife resources ultimately decided against the no-wakesurfing zone, but Tlac took notice of calls for more education and created a task force that included some of the people who spoke at the July meeting.

“We are not against each other in this,” mcclure said. “We all have the same goal.” if this renewed education effort is successful, manning is optimistic that it will prevent future nowakesurfing zones or even legislation that could inhibit wakesurfers from fully enjoying the activity. That is why she is pushing to get the information to as many people as possible this summer. randy stow, a longtime lake safety proponent, is on the education task force. he has also participated in previous education efforts intended to curb dangerous and damaging wakes. he said he is more optimistic about this group, due to its broad reach. signs and pamphlets can reach an older audience while Qr codes are intended to reach younger individuals. stow agrees the effort will likely take time to reach everyone. even then, he said it would only take a small amount of people curbing their behavior to make a noticeable difference. he believes that some wakesurfers are beginning to understand that a change in bad behavior is necessary, lest efforts resume to legislate the sport.

Tlac announced earlier this year that it would halt any new applications for no-wakesurfing zones at smith mountain lake to allow time for the new education effort to reach the community. The commission will be watching closely to see if this new task force can make the lake a bit safer and more courteous for everyone.

People renting boats, boat key floaties, life jacket whistles and kill switch armbands will find QR codes. Scan a code with a phone and it will direct to the task force’s website, which provides information on how to boat safely when participating in towed watersports and wakesurfing. The site also provides videos on water sport safety.