10:49 A.M.
Just out of the no-wake zone,
we moved toward a pon-
toon sitting in the middle of
the Osage Arm of the lake. I
couldn’t see what they were
doing wrong, so I waited while
Mosher eased up to them.
“Do you see a skier down
anywhere?” Mosher asked me.brunt of LOTO patrol duty.
The boats go through about
two every season.
Today, Trooper Max
Lawson would complete his
training as a water patrol-
man. The two chatted awhile,
exchanging their itineraries
for the day. Then we crept
through the remainder of the
lengthy no-wake zone.
10 A.M.
Our first stop came right to us
and at a high rate of speed, push-
ing a good wake. It was a pocket
cruiser about 28 feet long, and
the family on board was enjoy-
ing the breeze while increasing
the throttle. No ticket here, just
a verbal request to abide by the
no-wake-zone requirements.
Compliance was friendly; the
crew seemed relieved.
“Not a thing.”
“Need any help?” she in-
quired of them.
“No, we are just waiting for
a Jet Ski.”
“If you could take that flag
down, I would appreciate it,”
she implored.
“We were just trying to
play safe for the Jet Ski.”
“You only display the flagfor a skier or wakeboard rider,
not personal watercraft or any
other following vessel.”
Mosher inspected life
jackets, then requested the
skipper’s name and address,
which she logged along with
the violation into the laptop
mounted at the helm. She was
polite and friendly, but I could
tell it burns her up. She’s a skier.
“The purpose is very spe-
cifically to warn people that a
rider is down or coming along
behind on a rope so they don’t
cut him of,” she said. “So, if
there is a next time, he’ll get
a ticket.”
We’d barely jumped up
on plane before another boat
caught Mosher’s attention. It
was an express cruiser, maybe“I GIVE 100 WARNINGS TO A
TICKET. TRAGEDIES ON THE LAKE
HAPPEN FROM THINGS PEOPLE
NEVER SEE COMING.”
84 | BOATINGMAG.COM | MAY 2018