"No Wake"

Just before circling up for dinner in the lodge tonight, we hear a thud out on the water. Jeff, working in Bridge Office, office heard a boat cruising up and down the river fast enough to be on plane (the river is a no wake zone). The offending craft did not have their running lights on, and it was already dark. After the thud all went quiet for a few seconds , then we could hear some cursing, some giggling, and a starter motor attempting in vain to bring an outboard back to life. No luck, the voices in the dark finally drifted to the vacant docks across from ours. With no moon above we tried in vain to figure out what was going on by scanning the darkness with binoculars. When they arrived at the vacant docks the light from our front porch spotlights finally afforded us a glimpse at the scene. A white, vee hulled power boat with a 250hp Johnson and shiney "T" top had the No Wake Zone sign wedged on its bow. Four to five people were scurring about the area. Efforts were underway to start the motor and remove the "No Wake" sign. A Collier County Sherriff Officer arrived at the scene within 30 minutes. The officer caught the group trying to escape down the dock, but his flashlight ran out of batteries. He told them, 'Stay there, and don't move' as he walked back to his car to get new batteries for his flashlight. Cornered on the dock, with the Sherriff seconds away, a second boat steathily drifted onto the scene from upriver. The second boat, also running without lights, pulled up along side the the dock, took on the addition crew, and slipping back into the night. When the Sherriff returned with his light he found only the damaged boat with the "No Wake" sign mounted in it's bow. After the scene settled, we boarded the school's ferry boat and ventured off to see the damage close up.

Later in the evening Sea Tow arrived, pryed the "No Wake" sign off the bow, and towed the offending boat out Indian Key Pass. The evenings events left us doubting we will ever hear the conclusion of the story and wondering how long it will take to replace the "No Wake" sign that so many people choose to ignore. The wakes can only get worse with our sign missing.