[MAXUM]

Originally Posted by ApS

Since a 40-foot Tri-Toon would definitely make my "approved ApS list, so "oversized" obviously/intentionally doesn't apply to all boats. Note that even the largest—and most heavily loaded—pontoon boat can't compare with most powerboats half that length in damaging shorelines.

Actually, I have had a number of TriToons come by my place early morning and they put up as much wake as a typically sized 20-23 foot conventional boat. It is easier to see the waves when the water is flat so that is a completely bogus argument. The old school putt putt barges with two logs and a mouse motor I agree throw very little wake but the new ones not so much. However even if everyone on planet APS were to trade in their “oversized” boats for TriToons of an APS “approved” size, you still won’t be happy because according to you the number of boats so bad people are experiencing breathing problems.

Originally Posted by ApS

The "bent" tree you refer to had some environmental "upset"; most likely, it lost its soil base as a young tree, then continued growing normally. Most deciduous trees are capable of growing so as to appear contorted.
Most coniferous trees will grow straight; but if their trunks appear bent, it's because of shifting soil or rocks.

So how old would you estimate that bent tree in that photo to be? I’d say 50+ years, let’s go with 50 shall we? So according to your logic, and I’ll stipulate (even though there is 0 proof of this but I digress) for the purposes of this discussion to say this happened in years 0-5 years of its life, after all you said it happened when it was young. This would have happened in 1973 long before there was the large population of APS non approved “oversized” boats as there is today and for all these years it has managed to live a happy and content life. Hmm…. I’d in 50+ years that tree would have been a gonner by now.

Originally Posted by ApS

There's been a confusion of "waves" and "wakes" here.
But as a proponent of "common sense", wouldn't waves and wakes compound one-another, regardless of their direction? Southbound wakes should be expected to add their "throw-weight" to a wave driven by a North wind. Especially a strong wind capable of the erosion suggested here by others.

Yes this does confuse me… wakes are waves. Just man made.
Your “common sense” assumption about compounding waves, either naturally occurring or man made is wrong. Waves on water display similar characteristics of energy or RF waves. They operate at a specific frequency, which varies as to when, where and by what created them, therefore when they cross they continue on. In fact if you look closely on a typical light breeze day you can see the smaller wind driven waves continuing on their path unimpeded by man made waves, and may be travelling in a completely different direction. Furthermore once man made waves are created they are not subject to any kind of amplification. So in time they dissipate lacking a means of amplification. This differs in the case of wind driven waves where the wind acts as a means of amplification to the point where the wave size is a direct match to the amount of amplification they are exposed to, hence when the wind dies down so do the waves. I’m sure there are others on here much smarter than me that can explain the physics of this far better than I can.

BTW here is a photo of a sapling growing at an angle off the shore, one of several. They are growing that way not because of shifting soils, but because they are growing towards the light and where they will not be crowded by other trees. I can tell you for a FACT this soil has not moved in the past 3-4 years which is about the age of that sapling. Just out of the shot here are large hemlock and pine trees that block the sun for the better part of the day.