Speeding power boats and their excessive wakes pose problems for others using Cleveland Harbor
Large, speeding power boats that create hazardous wakes have become a problem for other craft, big and small, that also use Cleveland’s increasingly busy harbor.
That’s the message from several members of the boating community who say they have witnessed in recent years a greater number of boaters operating their vessels in an unsafe manner in Cleveland’s outer harbor and upon entering the Cuyahoga River.
Among those dismayed at the seemingly cavalier attitude of some boaters is Cathy Newpher, director of sailing at the Foundry, a rowing and sailing center on the Cuyahoga River that offers sailing lessons near the old Coast Guard Station at the western end of Cleveland Harbor.
At various times in the summer and fall there can be anywhere from two to 20 sailing dinghies in the water between the Foundry and Cleveland Metroparks, which also offers lessons, she said. And if a large power boat comes gunning across the outer harbor, often heading for the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, the result is an excessive wake that may not capsize one of the dinghies bobbing in the water but could easily rattle the youngster learning to sail it.
Speeding boats and excessive wakes were a topic of discussion at a recent meeting of the Cuyahoga River Safety Task Force, an informal group of commercial and recreational users of the local waterway. Moderating the meeting was Lt. Jared Stevens, waterways management chief with the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Unit in Cleveland.
Stevens, who has only been in town since last July, said later that the meeting was the first time he had heard such complaints from users of the waterway.
Powerful boats are the problem
Among those at the meeting was Bill Rabatsky, a tugboat operator for a marine construction company and local lodge president of the International Shipmasters’ Association. He refers to the offending boats as super yachts that are “nice and
go fast,” he said, “which is great if they’re out in the lake.”
But sometimes when those boats come into the harbor, he said, they exceed the speed limit, “creating monstrous wakes” that can be treacherous.
“The larger the vessel and the faster it goes, the bigger the wake is,” Rabatsky said, “and a lot of people have probably no knowledge that there is a speed limit in the outer harbor, first of all, or that they are responsible for any damage their wake causes.”
While there aren’t wake restrictions in the open waters of the outer harbor, the state has designated “no wake” zones within 300 feet of certain areas such as marinas and harbor entrances. Without such laws, creating a wake is not a crime, according to the Coast Guard, although it could result in civil liability if any damage results.
Some boaters speeding across the harbor into the mouth of the Cuyahoga are either unaware that the river has a “no wake” zone or are indifferent to the fact, Newpher said. In some cases, boats are in a rush to get up the river and into the Flats before the Norfolk Southern Railway bridge over the river mouth is lowered to allow a train to cross.
As a result, “they will come
full speed into the mouth of the river and throw huge wakes,” she said.
Rules of the water
The federal speed limit is 10 mph in Cleveland’s outer harbor, which includes open waters inside the break wall, but not the Cuyahoga River. On both the Cuyahoga and the Old River, which is a section of the Cuyahoga’s original course before it was altered, the federal speed limit is 6 mph, although Cleveland has set its own limit of 4 mph, and even less in certain instances, such as the presence of fog.
Don Young, vice commander of the Greater Cleveland Boating Association and owner of a 39-foot power boat, said the 10 mph speed limit inside the break wall is never enforced and that in his opinion 90% of boaters don’t even know it exists.
“They don’t have the knowledge of the damage and harm that they’re causing by going too fast on the inside of the break wall,” he said.
While the Coast Guard can enforce the federal speed limit, “boat crews are not equipped with radar guns or speed measuring devices,” according to Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer George Degener, but they can stop and board a craft if they deem it to be operating in
an unsafe manner.
“During those interactions their primary goal is educating boaters as to what safe operation should look like,” he said in an email.
Sean Dolan, chief of waterways management for the Coast Guard’s Buffalo sector, which extends from Messina, New York, to Vermilion, said the situation in Cleveland Harbor is monitored through routine patrols.
As for what constitutes a safe speed limit, that’s somewhat subjective, he said, adding that the Coast Guard expects boaters to operate their vessels “in the safest means that you possibly can.”
Big boats get rocked
It’s not just kayaks, paddleboards and tiny sail boats that get tossed around in the harbor. Even the Goodtime III sightseeing ship encounters an excessive wake at times, said owner Rick Fryan.
“The Jet Skiers, they love (the wakes) because then they have something to jump, so to speak,” Fryan said. But for the Goodtime III, which offers dining excursions, deft maneuvering by the captain may be required to avoid an unsettling jolt that could cause an unsuspecting passenger to drop their dinner plate.
He said if a boat is approaching from the rear,
deckhands let the captain know, saying for example, “‘You’ve got a fast one coming up on your starboard side.’ “
In such cases, it’s important to position the ship so the wake hits the boat at an angle “because broadside is going to make us rock and roll side to side,” he said.
More powerful boats, more people
Rabatsky believes the problem of excessive wakes has gotten worse in part because boats have gotten bigger and more powerful, and there’s more of them.
Fryan said he thinks recklessness on the lake has become a growing problem because people bought boats during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to safely recreate and don’t know how to properly operate them.
“There’s more people out there,” he said, “and my advice is if you buy a boat, learn the rules of the road.”
The Coast Guard suggests that those wanting to learn more about the safe operation of their vessel should take a safe boating course offered by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
But the biggest change on the water, said Drew Ferguson, CEO of Phastar, which operates a safety boat that escorts large carriers up and down the Cuyahoga River, has been the growing number of kayaks, paddleboards and Jet Skis out in the harbor.
Sometimes they get knocked over by large wakes, which can also swamp small boats, he said, with most such incidents happening in the vicinity of Wendy Park or north of FirstEnergy Stadium.
“I do feel we’ve been lucky,” he said, that there haven’t been more problems.
Solution is education
Newpher said the Foundry hasn’t complained very often to the Coast Guard about the speeding boats, although the problem occurs frequently, but in some cases pictures of offending vessels have been reported to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
“I think because it’s sort of a common occurrence, and dealing with it the best that we can, we don’t file formal complaints about it very often,” she said.
Several agencies are involved with monitoring Cleveland Harbor, including the Coast Guard, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Cleveland Metroparks, Cuyahoga County Sheriff ’s Department, Rocky River Police and Cleveland Police, Ferguson said, but the resources of those various agencies have been taxed of late.
“I do know that everyone was out less than they wanted to be last year,” said Ferguson, who like others believes a public information campaign is what’s needed to improve safety on the water.
Emphasis should be on education, targeting places such as local yacht clubs and marinas, he said, adding that most boaters simply don’t know the rules.
But with the sheer number of people taking to the water and the risks involved, he said, “I think we just got to get out ahead of it.”
Young suggests signs at the three entrances to the outer harbor notifying boaters of the speed limit. He also believes in communicating the rules to boat clubs and the like.
While he’s not sure what the answer is, what he he does know is something needs to be done to make the waterfront a safer place for all.
“Everybody has a right to that lake,” he said.
“And just because you’re bigger doesn’t mean that you win.”