———– Poems, Songs, Pictures, Speeches, Humor ————

Rowing On the Lake on a Summer’s Evening

Whose lake this is I think I know.
For us who fish and swim and row;
I hope you see me paddling here
On evening’s lake with golden glow.

My little boat must think it queer
To hear the buzz of wake boats near
Whose waves crash o’er the peaceful lake
The calmest evening of the year.

He gives his throttle one more shake
Oblivious to his mistake.
And now the surfer’s wake, so steep;
And soon upon the shore to break.

The lake is lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to row before I sleep,
And miles to row before I sleep.

The Safelakes Address

Twelve score and six years ago, brave Vermonters brought forth on this continent a new Republic, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all lakes are for the people.

We are now engaged in a great rulemaking process, testing whether those lakes, or any lakes so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.

We are met on a great battle-field of that process. We have come to dedicate a portion of those lakes as a clean and useful place for those who paddle and fish and swim and sail.

It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget the beauty of our lakes. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that on these honored lakes we take increased devotion to the preservation of these waters to their proper purpose—that we here highly resolve that these lakes shall not be spoiled—that these lakes, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that lakes of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Angler’s Paradise

History of Wake Boats

Wake’s Lament
It splayed a wake across the lake
Where Uncle Jake did daily take
A row with Kate to catch some hake.
“For heaven’s sake,” cried Kate, “that wake
Will make our boat both quake and shake!”
“Did God forsake us?” Jake he spake
As waves did break and overtake
Their flaky craft, their longing ache
To make escape from this their lake.
May God provide a hellish fate
To slake the taste of surfers’ wakes.

Lake of the Rising Wake

There is a wake upon our lake
Bigger than ever before.
A surfer rides inside the curl
And sends us all ashore.

Surfing on our lakes and ponds,
No matter how shallow or small,
Drives off the paddlers, sailors too, 
The anglers, the swimmers and all.

The wakes cause dangerous damage:
They spoil our docks and shore.
Capsizing, swamping, eroding:
We don’t want them here any more.

The wakes are very scary;
The prop wash makes a mess.
So stay away, that’s what we say
Don’t cause us more distress.

The ballast spreads tiny critters:
Milfoil, mussels and fleas,
Invading our lakes and our waters:
Stay off my lake, if you please.

So play your sport where it’s welcome:
Surf where the big lakes flow.
Let small craft continue to prosper;
Keep sediment down below.

Oh mother, tell your children
Not to surf upon our lake.
Don’t cause aquatic misery
From the tall and forceful wake.

Wake boats, wake boats, wake boats:
Just stay where you belong.
Don’t carve your wake upon our lake;
It’s time to say so long.

There is a wake upon our lake
Bigger than ever before.
A surfer rides inside the curl
And drives us all ashore.

Let Us Be

Well I find myself in time of trouble:
Wake boats every side of me,
Spewing waves of water:
Let us be.

I’m in my little kayak;
They are surfing right in front of me!
Throwing wakes of water
Let us be.

Let us be, let us be, let us be, let us be
Make those wakes illegal:
Let us be.

And all the lakefront small-craft people
Living in Vermont agree:
No more wakes around us:
Let us be.

They roil up the bottom and they
Spoil the lake incessantly;
Regulation is the answer:
Let us be.

Let us be, let us be, let us be, let us be
Make those wakes illegal:
Let us be

Let us be, let us be, let us be, let us be
No more wakes around us:
Let us be

Let us be, let us be, let us be, let us be
Regulation is the answer:
Let us be

And when the water’s cloudy
Full of phosphorous and green algae,
The lake is fouled forever:
Let us be.

The wake’s up, and the sound of music:
Three hundred watts cacophony;
Make those boats illegal:
Let us be.

Let us be, let us be, let us be, yeah, let us be
No more wakes around us:
Let us be.

Where have all the kayaks gone?

Where have all the kayaks gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the kayaks gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the kayaks gone?
Swamped by wake boats, every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the anglers gone
Long time passing.
Where have all the anglers gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the anglers gone?
Driven off by wakes at dawn.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Why these blue-green algae blooms?
Long time passing.
Why these blue-green algae blooms?
Long time ago.
Why these blue-green algae blooms?
Bottom phosph’rous’ been exhumed.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the swimmers gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the swimmers gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the swimmers gone?
Sent ashore by roily scum.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the sailors gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the sailors gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the sailors gone?
Capsized by the wake boats’ spawn.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Wake’s Up Little Susie

Wake’s up, little Susie, wake’s up
Wake’s up, little Susie, wake’s up
We’ve paddled from the beach
Wake’s up, little Susie so weep
They’re surfin’ hard, be on your guard
‘Cause we’re in water deep

Wake’s up, little Susie, oooh
Wake’s up, little Susie…

How we gonna get ashore?
The waves are growing more and more
My kayack’s tippin’, I’ll soon be flippin’
Not been this scared before.

Wake’s up, little Susie, oooh 
Wake’s up, little Susie

We told your mama the lake was clear and calm
But now it looks like they’ve let loose a bomb

Wake’s up, little Susie, oooh
Wake’s up, little Susie
We gotta go home

Wake’s up, little Susie, wake’s up 
Wake’s up, little Susie, wake’s up

These waves they just won’t stop
Let’s not get caught in their props
Our boats are sinkin’ and I am thinkin’
Our recreation is shot

Wake’s up, little Susie, ooh 
Wake’s up, little Susie

How we gonna get ashore?
The waves are growing more and more
My kayack’s tippin’, I’ll soon be flippin’
Not been this scared before.

Wake’s up, little Susie, oooh
Wake’s up, little Susie, oooh
Wake’s up, little Susie, oooh
Wake’s up, little Susie, oooh

On Golden Pond

Suppose Jane and Henry Fonda
Had retired to Lake Raponda.
Imagine their fate when swamped by a wake
From a surf boat way up yonda’ .

Said Henry to Jane, “Now what was that?”
As he treaded water and rescued his hat.
They both got a dunkin’; their boat got a-sunken;
They had little time to react. 

They spotted their savior swift a-rowing,
Steady and straight, no sign of slowing.
“My name is Jack Widness, salvation’s my business,
So hop aboard and let’s get going.”

Henry and Jane are safe and dry,
But wake boats ‘cross the lake still fly.
So bring back the Fondas to Lake Raponda:
Adopt the rule before July!

Our ponds are golden, our lakes pristine;
Let’s keep them calm and safe and clean.
One thousand feet must wakeboats keep
Away from shore, In water deep.

Surf Vermont Today

If everybody had a wake boat
Across Vermont today,
Then everybody’d be surfin’
While no one else can play.
They’d all be gunnin’ their engines,
And blasting music too.
They’d make the lakes all roily:
Surf Vermont today!

You’d catch ’em surfin’ Lake Fairlee,
(Vermont, Vermont, surf today!)
Down south on Lake Rapond’;
Vermont, Vermont, surf today!)
Shadow Lake in Glover,
(Vermont, Vermont, surf today!)
Peacham and Joe’s Pond.
(Vermont, Vermont, surf today!)
All over Lake Dunmore,
(Vermont, Vermont, surf today!)
And on Hortoni-ay
(Vermont, Vermont, surf today!)
Everybody’s gone surfin’
Surf Vermont today!

We’ll all be planning that route
We’re gonna take real soon.
Vermont’s lakes are waiting;
We’re gonna scare those loons!
We’’ll all be filling our ballast ;
They can’t keep us away.
Tell the kayaks we’re surfin’
Surf Vermont today!

Averill and Seymour, 
(Vermont, Vermont, surf today!)
Echo, Halls, Elmore.
(Vermont, Vermont, surf today!)
Bomoseen and Sunset:
(Vermont, Vermont, surf today!)
Who could ask for more!
(Vermont, Vermont, surf today!)
Holland Pond and Morey,
(Vermont, Vermont, surf today!)
And down Lake Groton way:
(Vermont, Vermont, surf today!)
Everybody’s gone surfin’
Surf Vermont today!

A Day on the Lake, or
Why an Offset of 500 Feet Won’t Work on Small Lakes
The narrated animation below illustrates a typical summer day on a small Vermont lake. It demonstrates the normal and traditional uses of the lakes people enjoy as a natural shared resource. It introduces a single wake surf boat to show how it affects these other lake activities.

Once you have viewed the animation, ask yourself these questions:
– What would be the effect of a second wake boat operating on this lake?
– What would be the effect of two or three more at the same time?
– What if instead of a half-dozen traditional users shown, we saw 25 or 50 of them? What would happen to them?
(This animation is based on the more than 100 years of science, from Lord Kelvin’s equations that describe the shape of the wake, to the more recent wake boat research of Jeff Marr and Yves Prairie and others who have measured the power of wake surfing waves at various distances from shore. The triangular wakes are drawn to scale, but the boats themselves are larger than normal. The animation is based also on the eyewitness accounts of dozens of Vermonters. For details, contact Jim Lengel at jim@lengel.net)

The Shape of Wakes

What is the shape of a wake boat’s wake,
If a wake boat rakes your lake?
A wake boat’s wake would quickly make
A wedge-shaped wake upon your lake.

Seriously, this is important question. Lord Kelvin’s equations describe wakes made by displacement vessels only; a boat on hydroplane creates a very different wake, as anyone who has waterskied knows — a low, narrow and shallow wake that dissipates quickly and does not disturb the lake bottom. See https://www.science.org/content/article/lord-kelvin-wipes-out-speed-boat-wakes.

A wake-surfing boat is not on hydroplane. It’s just the opposite: it’s a displacement boat at surfing speed, artificially shaped and powered and weighted not to move through the water as efficiently as possible, but to create the tallest possible wake. Do these wakes obey Lord Kelvin’s description? 

The shape of a wake boat wake is important to our understanding of how they affect life on our lakes. Take a look at this video to see how wake boat wakes differ…

Survey on Wake Sport Regulation
This survey collects your opinion about the wake boat regulation being drafted by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.

On the Home Lake Rule

Brimming with mussels and milfoil
Her ballast, not having been boiled,
Remained in the tank;
It’s her we can thank
For lakes that that these species have spoiled.

Even though she was fully aware
Of the rule (she thought it unfair)
That banned the transmitters
Of invasive critters;
Evidently she just didn’t care.

She launched without decontamination
And, subject to recrimination,
They purloined her boat,
(No wake if no float):
So we enjoy safe recreation.

We need this important home lake rule:
’Twill prove soon to serve as a key tool
In preventing the spread
Of species we dread
And preserving our lakes, precious jewels.

Safe Wave Height

End of page.