Someone Slipped This Letter Into My Truck Today

[Carl C]

It was another beautiful day in Michigan and of course I was on the lake. When I pulled my boat out I found this letter in my truck.:( They were so damned nice about it that I suppose I will have to at least compromise. There are times when I'll have to run the exhaust opened up, like when prop testing. I do go to Lake St. Clair and Lake Huron a lot but am not always up to the 80 mile round trip drive. BTW, my boat may be the loudest and is the best looking for sure :wink:, but there is a teal one that is faster.:mad: Any thoughts?:)

[boxy]

Carl how big is the lake? It seems like a fairly calm response. It also seems like the author has some background knowledge about the area, (ie no wake zones, speed limits, decibel limits)
Seems like a simple solution, run with the exhaust diverted on this lake, run open pipes on the big water.....

[f_inscreenname]

How big is the lake?

[BUIZILLA]

I don't know how a request can be any more respectful than that... sounds very reasonable to me

[p729lws]

That's a damn polite letter! I'm suprised I haven't recieved one yet. I'll bring the dry pipe Donzi up there and you'll look (and sound) like a saint.:propeller:

Dan

[boxy]

Here's a pdf. of the lake

http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/spatialdatalibrary/pdf_maps/Inland_Lake_Maps/OAKLAND/OAKLAND_LAKE.PDF

[Carl C]

That's a damn polite letter! I'm suprised I haven't recieved one yet. I'll bring the dry pipe Donzi up there and you'll look (and sound) like a saint.:propeller:
Dan Yeah, that outta work! That looks familiar Boxy. It is 280 acres, about 2 miles long if you use it all. It's not big but has always had a lot of performance boats. The thing is that it's right across the street from my house and I have boated there for over 20 years. The season is winding down and I'll respect their request since they were so nice but there will be some loud prop testing next month. I was really impressed by the politeness of the letter but I wish I knew who left it so that I could discuss this with them.

[boxy]

Carl if the lake is just 2 miles long from tip to tip I think you are very lucky to have received this letter. If you run the entire length of the lake, you are never more than 2 minutes from this guy's house at any given time.
On average how many times would you run past one spot in a typical 2 hour cruising window?

[Jamesbon]

Nice, respectful letter. I understaned their pursuit of tranquility.

My letter to you would read;
"Nice boat, sounds incredible. What kind of exhaust / engine combo are you running? I want the same for my pontoon."

With all due respect to all parties involved....

[Trueser]

I would say next time you may have an issue.

Doesn't Michigan have a 53 MPh speed limit on all lakes?

[Carl C]

Boxy, usually I am anchored and just relaxing. I sit out there and take care of business and catch up on my mags and newspapers and swim and stuff. I don't spend that much time running and even less time running fast. I'm not complaining about this and I'm glad it wasn't a really nasty letter or flat tires.:eek!: This just really caught me off guard. My Hydrostream was faster and the exhaust was relieved. I guess the Donzi just attracts more attention.:) The speed limit is 55 and of course I never exceed that:wink:. When you live on a lake there will be loud boats. Soon there will be loud sleds running all night. Again, I'm not saying the letter writer is wrong, just that I thought this was unusual and that I'd share it here.:yes:There was a cop watching me for a while from the ramp, I don't suppose he could have left it. Someone calls the cops on me all the time but they don't bother me. They know me and that I know what I'm doing but I think they are tired of the calls. I will run in quiet mode if I get out tomorrow. Maybe I'll get a "thank you" note!:rlol: I also need to get someone to drive my boat while I'm on the dock sometime so I can hear how loud it is.:propeller:

[Beny]

Hi all
I think it’s the time we live in, people seam more sensitive!
I think it’s just more of us out here to bother or be bothered.
Noise pollution and LIGHT pollution is another.
Thats Y all the rules and regs.
Just my 2ct
Beny

[Tony]

I wish I knew who left it so that I could discuss this with them.

My guess, Carl, is that you will be meeting him (them?) sooner or later!

FWIW, as long as you have the option, I would run it muffled most of the time and straight thru when you want to.
Kind of like a compromise, something Michigan legislators need to do a bit more of regarding our budget crisis!

[MOP]

Nice letter and a very nice thread!

Phil

[gold-n-rod]

I'm ready to weigh in.

1. Yes, it's a polite letter.
2. Yes, the writer makes a point.
3. Yet, Carl's hardly running PFO (pipes fookin' open) at 7 am on a Sunday. It's during the middle of the day.
4. If I was in his shoes, I'd be conflicted. Yes the writer is polite, and I'd like to accomodate his/her wishes, but WTF, it's a public waterway for Chrisakes.

I guess I'd try my best to satisfy the writer, but god damn, when it's time to run PFO, it's time to run PFO!

If the writer really needs some peace and quiet, it's time for him/her to move to a nursing home. He/she apparently has forgotten THAT HE/SHE LIVES ON A GODDAMN PUBLIC WATERWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roar on, Carl, roar on! :wink:

[gold-n-rod]

PS: (donning my flameproof suit) A pack of Harleys running the road beside the lake is always louder than a measily Donzi running PFO. And there are a lot more packs of Harleys out there than there are Donzis enjoying a nice calm lake in Oakland County in the fall.

Roar on, Carl. I've got your back!

[yeller]

FWIW Carl, I run through the prop all the time. Running through the transom nets me 0 performance increase.

I personally agree with noise limits and you've removed your mufflers so you are probably exceeding the limit. Seeing as this lake is so small, the letter writer has a valid complaint. I'd comply and run through the prop. That's a lot better than attracting more attention and being a possible contributor to further speed limits. I firmly believe it's the noise of boats that cause resulting speed limits, not so much as the actual speed of the boats.

Don't take my comment as a personal attack Carl. I consider you one of my 'online' friends. I'm just voicing a personal opinion. :)

[need for speed]

I would take the next week off and use the boat every day!! just change it up get out on the water by 6 am!!! :wink::wink:

[jl1962]

Nice letter and lots of good points raised here.

My .02 cents, gotta play ball w/ the locals, especially if you are one. 75 dBs is a little on the low side, by comparison Lake George is 90 dBs at idle, 3' from the exhaust - much more realistic. While running the boat fast won't attract anyone's attention on LG, running fast near shore or in restricted areas will!

I try to only run my boat between 9AM and 9PM, also take as many 10 year old kids for rides as you can! Gotta win 'em over early.

I half expect to get one of those letters one day - about my dog! Now she is really noisy!

JL

[VetteLT193]

This is a fortunate situation for Carl C, because he has the silent choice option, but how about the rest of us that don't have it? I am really curious what others would do if they got the letter and did not have silent choice.

I'll only call the letter 'nice' if it includes contact information. And, asking people to not use a public waterway during certain times of the week is just retarded. These people are asking you not to do X so they can do Y. If they don't like the sounds of boats, they shouldn't live on the water.

[ragbagger270]

That's no lake, that's a mud puddle! I know it may be the closet to you, but that lake way too small to run the Donzi. My idea of a small lake is 3,500 ac. and a big one 50,000 ac.

Then again, the lake I live on is 3,000 miles wide.

[BUIZILLA]

I can tell you from running Sue's 2004 HO boat on and off for 3 days at LG, that there was ZERO gain on a GPS using closed exhaust, and I mean less than 1 tenth of a mph across the board. It felt a little peppier open, especially when planing off, but that's it. Period. End of story. Cliffy can back this up. In fact, on the poker run, we ran for about 20 miles on plane before we all 4 passengers realized the exhaust was closed... So for prop testing purposes, just run it closed at every test, and the results will still have the same consistancy. BTW, the 25 Turbo we used on that boat was a flawless performer, about 1 mph slower, maybe less, than an M+, but it was an effortless drive. The Turbo prop was such a substantial ride/drive difference on that specific boat it was just amazing...

[chappy]

Better be careful Carl, I heard that fisherman are prone to throwing rocks at yellow Donzi's on that lake.:eek!: If they do, you could always wear a helmet like Jack Nicholson's in "Easy Rider".:D
Rich

[Carl C]

Wow Randy, thanks for your support and Yeller, thanks for your opinion. I think compromise is called for. BTW I'm not aware of an exhaust noise regulation in Michigan. Another thought: whoever left the note knows that I have Q&Q. Only the water deputies and a few others know that since I only use it when I need to talk to someone. It's possible that the police prepared the letter and put it there. Or it may have come from one resident who wants to live on an all sports lake but wants peace and quiet too. The writer refers to "we" but there are no signatures.:boggled: I agree the lake is small but I'm not the only performance boat out there and usually I'm anchored or going under the speed limit. I try to be respectful and give people their space and I've never been yelled at or flipped off by anyone on shore. Never in 20+ years! I'm trying to think of an appropriate note to leave on my windshield in case they come back. Another thing; this time of year the big lakes are covered in fog until afternoon and they are too rough and unpredictable for prop testing which I'll be doing in a couple of weeks. So far I see opinions from **** 'em, let 'er roar to always run quiet and under the speed limit. I think the solution is somewhere in between. Thanks for the feedback.

[Carl C]

Better be careful Carl, I heard that fisherman are prone to throwing rocks at yellow Donzi's on that lake.:eek!: If they do, you could always wear a helmet like Jack Nicholson's in "Easy Rider".:D
Rich Ah, you remember that. You know I learn things from posting here and I learned that I was the one in the wrong in that situation. Now I slow down and try to give the fishers their space. I'm sure they're not happy to see me though. They probably don't like the wake boats with the monster wakes either. I haven't had any other problems with other boats since then.

[blueliner]

I can tell you from running Sue's 2004 HO boat on and off for 3 days at LG, that there was ZERO gain on a GPS using closed exhaust, and I mean less than 1 tenth of a mph across the board. It felt a little peppier open, especially when planing off, but that's it. Period. End of story. Cliffy can back this up. In fact, on the poker run, we ran for about 20 miles on plane before we all 4 passengers realized the exhaust was closed... So for prop testing purposes, just run it closed at every test, and the results will still have the same consistancy. BTW, the 25 Turbo we used on that boat was a flawless performer, about 1 mph slower, maybe less, than an M+, but it was an effortless drive. The Turbo prop was such a substantial ride/drive difference on that specific boat it was just amazing...

i thought it wasn't good to run the q &Q over 3500 rpm's??? did i read that somewhere in a manual or something??? that's the impression i was always under... great to know if it doesn't make a difference!!!

[Rootsy]

Michigan Law for noise restrictions on water are:

MCL 324.80156

http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-324-80156

Speed limit laws

MCL 324.80146

http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-324-80146

[BigGrizzly]

I w2ill only address the q&q at above 3500 RPMs. On most boats with stock configurations it doesn't matter. as for high performance boats like supercharged or engines with large cams it does matter. there are some engines that can't use through the hub at all. There is a reversion issue.

[Carl C]

Michigan Law for noise restrictions on water are:
MCL 324.80156
http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-324-80156
Speed limit laws
MCL 324.80146
http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-324-80146 Thanks. I've never known the noise law to be enforced though. Maybe they just don't have the testers. It's looking more and more likely to me that the note was left by the Sheriff's deputy that I saw at the ramp that day. They have always been decent to me.

[Rootsy]

Thanks. I've never known the noise law to be enforced though. Maybe they just don't have the testers. It's looking more and more likely to me that the note was left by the Sheriff's deputy that I saw at the ramp that day. They have always been decent to me.

If it was the sheriff's deputy I am pretty certain he most likely wouldn't have left a typed anonymous letter and whatever note he would leave would be signed probably accompanied by his card. He also would not have entered your vehicle. Unless he is just totally unethical...

[d1mbu1b]

more 2 cents...
I would lay low for a while.

As mentioned earlier in this thread,
an overly polite letter, to me, means they are on a hair trigger to do "something" about it.
Don't know what "something" could be, don't want to find out.
The letter will be a way to say they gave you every opportunity and you refused to comply.

On the other hand, if they are truly polite and sincere, then you should return the favor.

Its just not worth the hassle.
Make sure you carry those statutes in your back pocket.
Sounds like you will be needing them sooner than later.

[Carl C]

more 2 cents...
I would lay low for a while.
As mentioned earlier in this thread,
an overly polite letter, to me, means they are on a hair trigger to do "something" about it.
Don't know what "something" could be, don't want to find out.
The letter will be a way to say they gave you every opportunity and you refused to comply.
On the other hand, if they are truly polite and sincere, then you should return the favor.
Its just not worth the hassle.
Make sure you carry those statutes in your back pocket.
Sounds like you will be needing them sooner than later. Sounds like a good plan, especially since the season is almost over.

[Sweet little 16]

i was gonna say people don't write letters about people anchored reading magazines, and usually people leave notes on the windshield under the wipers, they left it IN your truck so they were not taking a chance it would blow off or you would crumble it up and throw it away before you read it they wanted you to get the message!!!

[Carl C]

i was gonna say people don't write letters about people anchored reading magazines, and usually people leave notes on the windshield under the wipers, they left it IN your truck so they were not taking a chance it would blow off or you would crumble it up and throw it away before you read it they wanted you to get the message!!! I leave my truck locked with the windows down an inch. They slipped it in the window. It was in a large brown envelope. I usually head out and rip around a few laps then anchor for a while and relax, read and take care of phone business. Then rip around a few more laps, idle around some channels, hang out a while and head home. Sometimes I have friends on board but am usually alone during the week. Running laps around this lake for 2 hours would get boring. I do the long runs on the big lakes. I'll lay low the rest of this season and see what happens in the spring. I'll also start parking in a more visible area of the launch site. It also crossed my mind to pay some one to hide and watch my truck with a camera while I go out and make lots of noise. I'm just puzzled by this and would like to know who left the note. If it were actually more than one person offended it seems there would be signatures. Also, again, no one on shore has ever yelled at me to slow down. And people always enter Liggets bay on plane. Skiers go through there all the time. At least I go through at minimum planing speed.:confused::boggled:

[Sweet little 16]

ok this might be a perception thing , and things might be a little different in the heartland of america but here in NJ someone slips a note "INTO" your car saying you have a beautiful boat but can you please not go so fast and make so much noise we don't like that it actually means if you want to keep that ^%$*((&%(&!!! boat pretty stay the &$#*&%*)^)( !!!off our lake or you'll need someone to @&%#^ start this truck next time of course back here they would attach a fish head to make sure the note doesn't blow away

my point carl was you have obiviously gotten the attention do you want to get their ire too?

[Carl C]

ok this might be a perception thing , and things might be a little different in the heartland of america but here in NJ someone slips a note "INTO" your car saying you have a beautiful boat but can you please not go so fast and make so much noise we don't like that it actually means if you want to keep that ^%$*((&%(&!!! boat pretty stay the &$#*&%*)^)( !!!off our lake or you'll need someone to @&%#^ start this truck next time of course back here they would attach a fish head to make sure the note doesn't blow away
my point carl was you have obiviously gotten the attention do you want to get their ire too? No, absolutely not and I don't want to be a bad neighbor either. I've decided to be quiet the rest of the season. The weather finally cooled off here anyway and I won't be out as much. Maybe I'll do my prop testing next month on Maceday Lake, which is actually smaller! If the letter is a veiled threat though, I'd love to catch the person vandalizing my truck. They can't get to my boat because it stays in an alarmed garage. If the letter is sincere I'd be willing to compromise. What's bugging me is that I have a mystery on my hands and I like to solve mysteries!!:)

[Last Tango]

I think that the nice letter approach should be honored. Wouldn't it be nice if nice letters were received by all of us and all of us complied to the best of our ability, instead of taking the "This is America, and I'll do as I Da**-well please" attitude?
A 2-mile lake is probably quite the echo chamber. Does one really need to scratch the last possible erg out of the boat on such a small lake? A great V8 sounds just as lovely through a nice set of (glaspak) mufflers on a car. Perhaps it is the softer throaty roar and not the WOE that thrills them the most.

I have Q & Q II on my Donzi. Works real nice. Still sounds great when I want it to, and also keeps the gendarmes off my butt when I need it to.

Just my opinion. I could be wrong.

[BUIZILLA]

I'd love to catch the person vandalizing my truck. Carl, tell us how the truck was vandalized, if you intentionally left the window down, and they politely, without damage and without opening a door or forcing a window, slipped the courtesy letter envelope thru the opening?? I'm confused...

Your intentionally disturbing the peace, your intentionally breaking posted municipal and State Statute speed limit laws, and you want to know who's being nice to you to confront them, and then you expect compromise from the courteous intentioned public on your blatant lawbreaking/annoying stunts?? I'm even more confused..

[smbarcelow]

Hmm...this thread has taken some interesting turns.

I grew up on a 1 1/2 mile long lake riding in and later driving an 18' Checkmate with a 455 exhausting through wet logs (through hull) and powering a Jacuzzi pump. I never thought of that lake as too small for that boat. Ours wasn't the only loud, fast boat out there. I'm conflicted about this one, because I do try to respect other boaters and homeowners on the lake. To be honest, I think the sound of jet skiis and wave runners is annoying, but to each his own. I love the sound of a nice V8 on the water.

[Carl C]

Just my opinion. I could be wrong. No you are not wrong and I already said that I was going to honor the request.

Carl, tell us how the truck was vandalized, if you intentionally left the window down, and they politely, without damage and without opening a door or forcing a window, slipped the courtesy letter envelope thru the opening?? I'm confused...
Your intentionally disturbing the peace, your intentionally breaking posted municipal and State Statute speed limit laws, and you want to know who's being nice to you to confront them, and then you expect compromise from the courteous intentioned public on your blatant lawbreaking/annoying stunts?? I'm even more confused.. Buiz, please calm down! That's not what I said. Sweet little 16 and I were discussing the possibility that this could be a veiled threat. I did not say that my truck was vandalized or that I want to confront the person. If I were going to write a note like that I would have the guts to sign it. By compromise I meant that there will be times I uncap the exhaust and exceed 55 mph but not for the rest of this season on this lake. Smbarcelow, I agree and the time I spend running on this lake is a small fraction of the total activity on it. Anyway, this thread should have ended when I said I was going to honor the request and lay low at least for the rest of this season. I'm going to close it for the sake of keeping the peace here.:)