Do Mind Your Wake

It’s a law of physics. As a boat displaces water underway, it naturally creates waves astern. That’s called a wake, and it’s your responsibility.

A well-mannered wake is good seamanship. Most of us are not surfers or wake boarders, so discourteous wakes are annoying. They can be dangerous to other boaters, damaging to property and destructive to a fragile environment. For that reason, you should always slow down in confined waters and look behind you. Be considerate when passing other boats, and when you encounter wakes from other vessels, be prepared to mitigate the effects to keep your crew from getting hurt.

Depending on hull design, boat speed, vessel weight and power, a wake can produce sharp repeating waves of significant size.