Name:   MartiniMan - Subject:   The orange buoys Date:   5/30/2017 12:58:21 PM

A new house in the Sandy Creek area put out two very large orange balls around 30' from their new dock in a fairly narrow area that gets a lot of traffic.  I didn't really mind until we did a night cruise past this spot and realized that they are almost invisible when it is dark. They are pretty big and could possibly injure someone if they hit them at high speed (not something I recommend at night but my observation is that others don't see it that way).  I am OK with homeowners putting out floats like this as it is helpful to keep boats from coming too close to docks but common sense is needed so it does not become a hazard to boaters.  Something more visible at night would be best and while orange works great during the day it is very hard to see at night.

But this beats the heck out of the one house in Sandy Creek with a huge sign that says "No Wakeboats!"  First of all, they don't own the lake.  Second, a sign like this does zero good.  Finally, boaters are responsible for damage but anyone that owns property on a lake needs to design their pier and boat mooring to take into account wave action.  Shaking your fist at inconsiderate boaters may make you feel better but my simple strategy of designing for the worst is a much better approach.  I frankly don't go to the lake to worry, complain and get angry about stupid boaters and just assume they have always been around and will always be around.  It's a much better move to render their stupidity inconsequential.