Overloading Ticket

[BlunderDownUnder]

Just curious... Has anyone ever been issued a ticket for overloading your boat? If so, how much did Uncle Same bang you for?

[gt9118]

Never been hit with one but we have people call the police on us all of the time to report over loading a boat. The police always ask "how many people does that boat hold" I say 13 and they leave us alone. Twice we have had 7 people in the boat when they came up. Do people have nothing better to do?

[Wolf-]

Never been hit with one but we have people call the police on us all of the time to report over loading a boat. The police always ask "how many people does that boat hold" I say 13 and they leave us alone. Twice we have had 7 people in the boat when they came up. Do people have nothing better to do?

"I bought my craft because it holds 10. I know, your little Bayliner only holds eight, sorry, but I didnt pay $9899 for my boat w/ trailer, and I am allowed to carry 2 more people than you."

DNR on West Point Lake know my craft and they know me.
My first outing with the new boat last spring, I was at the marina, and two state DNR officers and 1 fed Ranger were there. The two state officers I've known for about 3 years. I had them inspect, look at the ratings.

Couple weeks ago, I'm at the marina, and one of the staters came over and said, "we had a call about a grey moomba that had 'a ton of people' on it" . "I asked them if it had a tower and was the driver bald?", he continued. When they said yes, he told em if a ton was less than 10 they should stop causing problems. I laughed the rest of the day about that.

My only real worry is overall weight. You divide 1200 by 10, thats 120 per body. I'm roughly 200, so I take up a person and a half. When running riders, I'm honest about weight, tend to ask the riders their weight so I have an idea their speed, etc.

[deeluk]

I got hassled at Glendo Res in Wyoming a few weeks ago. We had 5 adults and 7 kids. Kids were in the 3-9 range. Heaviest -might- weigh 85 lbs. My boat is only rated for 10 people or 1350 lbs. Rangers made us leave two people at the dock which was about a 10 minute boat ride from our campsite and a 30 minute drive from there back to the marina. Luckily we had another group of friends with a boat that came and picked them up (after unloading 2 of their crew).

This happened on the last day right before we were leaving. I didn't get a ticket, just a warning. Kinda bad ending to a good weekend. That morning, we boarded with the same group of folks onboard plus 1200 lbs of ballast. Somehow we managed not to sink....

[BensonWdby]

I have often wondered about the integrity of the wakeboard boats. I have a 99 Mobius and, although I don't recall the sticker rating, I doubt I would feel comfortable putting 800 gallons of water plus ten people in it. I would not trust the construction to support that weight over time.

Just curious - does the ballast capacity of the new wakeboard boats exceed the weight rating for the boats? Figure 8 pounds per gallon.

[BlunderDownUnder]

I'm taking my boat on vacation to NC with me, so I won't be at my home lake.... just wondering what they'd say when they realize my ballast alone exceeds my capacity plate... then add in my girlfriend and goofy relatives. Could be a major bummer in the middle of a well needed vacation.


Benson: I have a '00 mobius, my plate says 1155 lbs. I'm not worried about the structural integrety of the boat. As long as your not doing the long jump off waves in the ocean. The only real issue i can think of with respect to structure failure would be the deck cracking. Alot of weight over a small surface area combined with the jarring force of hitting some rogue waves... I don't think I'd sink though.

If i'm incorrect, somebody let me know!!

[dtlaine]

Do the capacaties even apply to a Moomba?

http://www.boatus.org/onlinecourse/ReviewPages/BoatUSF/PDF_files/info1a.pdf

According to this, and what I've heard in the past, the capacties only apply to boats less than 20'.

I think all our boats are at least 20' long.

[deeluk]

The rangers that pulled us over saw the sticker and that's how they decided we were overloaded. They said because the boat has the sticker, they have to enforce it. That boatus link implies that it's not illegal to remove the sticker. So, if your boat didn't have one, they wouldn't be able to enforce any maximum on you. Seems like year to year, the capacities continually increase. My '04 LSV was 10/1350. Buddy's 05 Outback is 10/1450. Not sure what the new Outback V is (same hull), but I'd guess it's around 10/1600.

P.S. They never even pulled us over on purpose. I pulled over to them to ask about gas at the marina. After we talked for a bit how strange it was that the marina didn't have and wouldn't have gas anymore, they decided "Well, we might as well do a boat inspection while we're here."

[Yellowmobius]

It may not be the right thing to do but I removed all the warning stickers, I like a clean looking boat! I have never been stopped for overloading. If anything it would be for a lifejacket check.

At any rate make sure you ask if the ticket is good for all day - they like that!
( I was stopped on a jetski (non-licensed) and I ask that question - to my surprise he said YES!

Yes I am a bit of a rebel!