Holiday Cove Marina - Watch Your Wake

 

Well-intentioned boaters may not be aware of the damage their wake can make. These photos, some before higher water levels and then after water levels rose, show the effect of wake on buildings and shoreline. 

 

Canoeists, fishermen, paddle boarders and swimmers are in the lake on a daily basis during the summer. Boats swerving at high speed close to shore endanger all of them. Wake hitting shoreline causes erosion. It can flood and destroy waterfowl nests and drown their nestlings. Boat wake and prop wash can disturb sediment, releasing dormant nutrients which promote weed growth and algal blooms.

 

The Small Vessel Regulations stipulate that the legal speed limit for all motor boats is 10 km/hr within 30 metres of any shore. A wave that is 12.5 cm high (the height of a compact disc case) when it reaches shore does not cause significant shoreline damage.  What operating speeds best achieves this? Boats operating at speeds under 10 km/hr.

 

For more information, please read the Pike Lake Community Association's Watching Your Wake paper.

 

 Before Water Levels Rising:

 

 

 *Photos courtesy of Patrick Rowan