BetterBoater.ca | Wake & Speed

You will frequently see speed signs in channels, rivers and harbours and legally must follow them and reduce your speed. You will also see “Low Wake” or ‘watch your wake’ signs in many places as well, generally around docks and Marina’s on shore where boat routes pass close by. Both signs are there to remind you to slow down and minimize your wake.

The amount of wake you produce depends not just on your speed but also the weight of your boat, its size and type of hull. Sometimes even at the posted speed a large boat with a displacement hull will create a large and damaging wake, so when you see one of these signs, slow down, get your bow down and look behind you to ensure that even at a slower speed you are not creating a large damaging wake.

Taking all these variables as well as the wind and/or current into consideration, it is important for you to determine what is the safest slowest speed your boat, with the bow down in the water, that you can travel while maintaining forward progress and the ability to steer.

And its more that just being a courteous, considerate boater… the wake you cause to docks, structures on shore, shorelines and other boats is your legal and financial responsibility.