I recently got back from 10 days at Lake Powell and I thought that I should relate this experience to you. On our first day out, on our first wake surfing run, no more than two hours into our 10 day trip, we get pulled over by a "volunteer Coast Guard Auxiliary boat". They proceed to tell me that they are pulling me over to warn me about the laws at Lake Powell as they pertain to wakesurfing. They state the following:
1. You must have a 20 foot rope from the stern of the boat.
2. That even after you drop the rope that you must remain 20 feet behind the boat.
3. That in 2007 8 people died from carbon monoxide poisoning while wakesurfing.
4. That this law is exclusive to Lake Powell only.
5. That they don't have any authority to issue citations, but that they record the boat numbers and put them into a database, then if we are pulled over by a NPS ranger, they will have access to that database, see that we've been warned and issue a citation.
As I am hearing this I am questioning every statement. I told them that I've never heard that the rope has to be 20 feet from the stern of the boat. I told them that I've never heard that you have to remain 20 feet back after dropping the rope. I really challenged them on the asertion of 8 people dying. Basically asking for documentation on that. Once I found out that they had no citation authority, I started to challenge their statements more. They never could give me any statutory references or backup for their statements.
So later that day, since I had to go into Page for some parts, I decided to stop by the National Park Service headquarters and speak personally to the Chief ranger with whom I had spoken to on the phone a few weeks earlier when this issue was brought up on another thread. Since he was already gone for the weekend, I ended up speaking with his boss, the "Downlake District Supervisor" (who I had also spoken to previously) and a new person, the Head Law Enforcement Supervisor. She was very helpful and clarified all of the issues for me. She gave me a copy of the law which states that there must be a 20 foot rope. It doesn't state where the rope has to be attached to the boat. Meaning that the volunteers were wrong about having to be attached to the stern. She mentioned that once the rope is dropped, that you are not being "towed" anymore so the 20 feet after dropping the rope doesn't apply. Meaning that the volunteers were wrong on the second statement.
I asked her about 8 people dying from carbon monoxide while wakesurfing and that is when she asked me if I got the names of the volunteers, because she stated that no one has died from wakesurfing and that she needed to let these guys know the facts and have them stop spreading false information.
She told me that these men are just volunteers and sometimes get the facts mixed up and are a little overzealous in their work. Our paths crossed two more times that day, once around Antelope point marina and the second time at Wahweap marina. It was at Wahweap that I noticed that these were two older men, who had a temporary lighting fixture attached to the bow of their boat, had temporary (removable) coast guard signs attached to the sides of their boat and an American and Coast Guard flag on the back of their boat. The boat had a name written across the back called "La Vida". It became obvious to me that they were using their personal vessel as the Volunteer Coast Guard vessel. So I guess if you are out at Lake Powell, you too could be a volunteer coast guard, if you sign up, they will provide you with the lights to put across your bow, signs for the side and flags for the rear.
I never saw them again for the remaining 9 days, nor did I ever get pulled over by the NPS rangers. So the moral of this story is don't believe everything that you hear on the waters at Lake Powell.
1. You must have a 20 foot rope from the stern of the boat.
2. That even after you drop the rope that you must remain 20 feet behind the boat.
3. That in 2007 8 people died from carbon monoxide poisoning while wakesurfing.
4. That this law is exclusive to Lake Powell only.
5. That they don't have any authority to issue citations, but that they record the boat numbers and put them into a database, then if we are pulled over by a NPS ranger, they will have access to that database, see that we've been warned and issue a citation.
As I am hearing this I am questioning every statement. I told them that I've never heard that the rope has to be 20 feet from the stern of the boat. I told them that I've never heard that you have to remain 20 feet back after dropping the rope. I really challenged them on the asertion of 8 people dying. Basically asking for documentation on that. Once I found out that they had no citation authority, I started to challenge their statements more. They never could give me any statutory references or backup for their statements.
So later that day, since I had to go into Page for some parts, I decided to stop by the National Park Service headquarters and speak personally to the Chief ranger with whom I had spoken to on the phone a few weeks earlier when this issue was brought up on another thread. Since he was already gone for the weekend, I ended up speaking with his boss, the "Downlake District Supervisor" (who I had also spoken to previously) and a new person, the Head Law Enforcement Supervisor. She was very helpful and clarified all of the issues for me. She gave me a copy of the law which states that there must be a 20 foot rope. It doesn't state where the rope has to be attached to the boat. Meaning that the volunteers were wrong about having to be attached to the stern. She mentioned that once the rope is dropped, that you are not being "towed" anymore so the 20 feet after dropping the rope doesn't apply. Meaning that the volunteers were wrong on the second statement.
I asked her about 8 people dying from carbon monoxide while wakesurfing and that is when she asked me if I got the names of the volunteers, because she stated that no one has died from wakesurfing and that she needed to let these guys know the facts and have them stop spreading false information.
She told me that these men are just volunteers and sometimes get the facts mixed up and are a little overzealous in their work. Our paths crossed two more times that day, once around Antelope point marina and the second time at Wahweap marina. It was at Wahweap that I noticed that these were two older men, who had a temporary lighting fixture attached to the bow of their boat, had temporary (removable) coast guard signs attached to the sides of their boat and an American and Coast Guard flag on the back of their boat. The boat had a name written across the back called "La Vida". It became obvious to me that they were using their personal vessel as the Volunteer Coast Guard vessel. So I guess if you are out at Lake Powell, you too could be a volunteer coast guard, if you sign up, they will provide you with the lights to put across your bow, signs for the side and flags for the rear.
I never saw them again for the remaining 9 days, nor did I ever get pulled over by the NPS rangers. So the moral of this story is don't believe everything that you hear on the waters at Lake Powell.
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