Classifying wakesurfing as the bane of their summers, a group of Long Lake residents have banded together in an effort to get the sport banned along their stretch of the lake.
In a petition they’ve submitted for Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh to present during the Sept. 9 city council meeting, 110 area residents call on the city to initiate a ban along the lake’s populous east bay.
Two of these residents met with Sudbury.com on Thursday under promise of anonymity, as they said they feared reprisal from pro-wakesurfing neighbours and lake users.
“It’s the new rage, but the lake’s too small for it,” one of the residents said, citing the narrow lake’s widest point as being less than 395 metres, meaning that boaters are, at the very most, approximately 200 metres from shore at any given time.
“It’s not relaxing to go on the lake anymore,” the other resident shared.
Wakesurfing is a water sport which uses specially configured boats to create larger-than-usual wakes by taking on water to increase their weight.
Although similar to water skiing, wakesurfing doesn’t require participants to hold onto a rope, since the wakes are large enough for surfers to ride without being towed.
The residents Sudbury.com met with said the large waves these boats create are eroding the shoreline and creating hazardous boating conditions for other lake users. They also complained about them creating treacherous conditions on floating docks and stirring up the lake bed, which clogs up water filters more quickly than they might otherwise.
Although McIntosh agreed to submit residents’ petition during the Sept. 9 meeting, she doesn’t appear supportive of a wakesurfing ban.
“I’m empathetic to their concerns, however, banning one activity is not going to be the answer to what they’re looking for,” she said, adding that big boats would still be allowed to operate on the lake. Plus, she said, support is not unanimous among area residents, and a few residents own wakesurfing boats along the lake.
“There’s no win here or right or wrong, it’s trying to find a way forward for people to work together,” she said. “We have to share the lake.”
On Feb. 6, the city hosted a webinar and question-and-answer about boating safety and wakesurfing which featured speakers from Transport Canada and Greater Sudbury Police Service.
McIntosh followed this meeting by sending an educational newsletter to area residents urging voluntary compliance regarding such things as low wake zones along its more narrow stretches.
As explained during the webinar, the only way to get wakesurfing banned is through the imposition of Transport Canada Vessel Operation Restriction Regulations, specifically Schedule 7.1, a relatively new provision which allows for the prohibition of wakesurfing.
“Only a local authority can apply for a VORR,” Transport Canada representative Dustan Kreiser explained during the session, which in this case would be the City of Greater Sudbury.
They’d submit an application which Transport Canada would review, a public consultation period would follow and, pending the results, a ban could be in place as soon as six months.
The motion which anti-wakesurfing advocates want a city council member to table is as follows:
WHEREAS the City of Greater Sudbury city council (the “council”) wishes to ensure that the use of its freshwater lakes is conducted in a manner that safeguards the natural environment and the health and safety of its citizens;
AND WHEREAS the council has been made aware of serious threats to the natural environment and the health and safety of its citizens on the eastern portion of Long Lake resulting from the activities of wakesurfing and the operation of wake boats;
AND WHEREAS the east bay is the most heavily and densely populated portion of Long Lake, while also being one of the narrowest portions of Long Lake;
AND WHEREAS concerned citizens of Long Lake and its east bay have raised significant alarm and concern regarding wake surfing and the operation of wake boats in “ballast mode/surf mode”, including severe damage caused to Long Lake’s natural environment, as well as considerable threat to the health and safety of those in or near the east bay;
AND WHEREAS the aforementioned concerned citizens propose, as a reasonable and balanced solution for all parties to enjoy and share Long Lake while minimizing ecological and personal harms to the lake and its users, that a Transport Canada Vessel Operation Restriction Regulations (VORR) be instituted in the east bay to ensure that wake surfing take place outside of those areas where serious injury, death, and environmental degradation are most likely to take place;
AND WHEREAS the council deems it desirable to request that Transport Canada institute a VORR covering such eastern portions of Long Lake to restrict wake surfing activities that employs wake surf boats in “ballast mode/surf mode”;
NOW THEREFORE the council hereby directs City of Greater Sudbury staff to prepare a formal VORR request to Transport Canada under the Canada Shipping Act, 2001, to establish a ban on wake surfing and the operation of wake boats in “ballast mode/surf mode” in the east bay of Long Lake.
The anti-wakesurfing residents of Long Lake Sudbury.com met with recently said they would be sending this motion and a package of additional information to all 13 city council members.
If not the above-cited motion, they said they’d like to see a city council member table something beyond simply submitting their petition to city staff, as McIntosh has already pledged to do.
Anti-wakesurfing residents plan on attending the Sept. 9 city council meeting in a show of solidarity, though they will not be permitted to speak or hold signs identifying themselves as such.
Sudbury.com has reached out to the owners of Project Wake, a company which operates wakesurfing lessons in Greater Sudbury, including on Long Lake, but have been unable to line up an interview. A follow-up story will be published in the event our interview request is granted.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.