ctonez

My first post...woohooo!
I'm up here in Washington State (Seattle to be exact), and I live right near Lake Washington (a fairly large very public lake). My question is: How can I tell where it is legal/illegal to run my RC boats.
I've searched for online resources, but find no reference to model boats and local regulations.

If there are general guidelines or anybody has had experience with getting in trouble running FE Boats in public lakes (local to me or otherwise), I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences or understanding of what tolerances there may be concerning legal boat running.

I know enough to respect and give plenty of room to swimmers and wildlife and to otherwise respect others and not piss anyone off, but is there anything else I can do to find out what is allowed? (speed, size of boat, etc.?)

saleens7

well, if no one really moniters the lake for speed regulations, the only thing that'll get you in trouble is if yuo are running a loud boat, but sinc3e its electric, there should be no problems.

Welcome to the site, hope you like it here!!

another way to find out if it is legal or not to run in your lake is to run there untill a cop shows up and gives you a warning, thats how i found out the lake in my backyard is illigal to run boats.

ryan_t888

I agree


That sucks, it is so close too.

Ryan

ctonez

I am not opposed to playing until I get asked to stop. I've always gotten lots of attention running my crappy Nikko and Modded Radio Shack Caliente II, but mostly because the Caliente II goes way faster than stock.
Messing with the cheap boats got me hooked and I recently got a SV27 and I'm worried that the performance of this boat will recieve waaayy more attention...plus I've been reading this forum for awhile now and really get heaps of helpful info from it. Haven't seen many (any?) Washingtonians on here, would like find out if there's much of a local scene.

I am aware of the local legends: Fuller, The Bickfords, and others, but I'm looking for recreation at this point and not serious racing until I become a little better at driving and setup.

Hey, thanks for the speedy response!

krs_fastestmini

What park do you usaully go to? I'm in the seattle area also, but yet to have a nice boat.

jdoug

I'm in Idaho now, but I used to live in Kirkland and my buddy (before I had a boat) used to run his gasser down at Juanita park without any problems from anyone. ...but that was 6 years ago. I would just run until told not to.

ctonez

I just run my boats along the shore between Stan Sayers' Pits (where they run the full-size Unlimited Hydros every summer!) & Seward Park. I try to go where there's fewer people. Sometimes it's too weedy, and sometimes too many big boats and swimmers. I'm currently trying to figure out a retrieval system since it's too cold to wade or swim anymore. I've read about some other places near here...the ones on PSfastelectrics.com, but I'm trying to find out what I can get away with without driving.

I'll consult the guys at PSfastelectrics to see what they know about local laws/regulations as well.

thanks for the info jdoug.

Wheelnut

My Feedback: (81)

Contact the local authorities, like the park rangers.

buzzster

ctonez, I have "modified" a number of radioshack/nikko boats with limited success, but not the Caliente 2. What mods have you done to the Caliente 2 boat? I am thinking about creating a thread featuring my past results just so that people will have an idea up front about the various motor, driveline and propeller changes that really don't work well. One thing that usually does work in the geared boats, however, is adding a cell to the battery pack.

ctonez

I'm surprised to not hear more about the Caliente 2 to be honest...it's pretty fast for a Radio Shack/Nikko -Class boat. I've run and modded several Nikkos too, but the Caliente is the best of them by far, and for $40 right now, Xmas clearance price!
The boat comes with a 540 mabuchi solid shaft linked to a submerged-drive...pretty much all of the Nikko-Class boats are submerged-drive. The boat handles like crap in stock configuration and gets sloppier with time, but blows away a ReefRacer on straights! (My buddy bought a RR2 for $80 after I got my boat, but getting beat by my $40 boat embarrassed him enough that he sold me the RR2!)

Mods so far:
First I cut a bigger opening in the top for better access.

The battery holder is 1.5 inches above the floor of the hull when stock, and parallel to the transom. In other words laying across the boat 4 inches in front of the transom, but suspended up 1.5". Poor CG, so I hacked out the battery clips and cut a piece of 1/8 ply and cemented it to the floor to create a better battery platform and improve the CG. - velcro-lined the ply.

Added a 1/8" ply transom-doubler to support hardware.

I removed the stock rudder and replaced it with one for the "Sundancer" that bolts on to the transom. I then cut the steering servo box and stock rudder post and filled in the remaining hole in the bottom of the hull with CA glue and sanded smooth.

Added the radio gear from my SV27 (modded the servo mount and linkage). Radio gear is temporary.

Added a Proboat waterproof ESC. $30

Scuffed the bottom of the hull, sharpened the skeg.

Titan Monster 23T motor $6 (I'll eventually get something that will be legal in N1 Mono[sm=lol.gif])

Purple plastic prop from miss Bud $1 (it appears under-propped with this prop)

Trim tabs and right-side turn fin from SV27 (looks really cool with these on)

I'll make a build-thread soon with some pics.

saleens7

so, you find out wether its lehal to run at your lake or not??

ill check out the caliente 2....im looking for a cheap build so it doesent decrease the amount i can spend on my other build too much..

ctonez

Funny story...I never followed-up since the thread sort of died:

So after my post on 10/13 I went to the lake for a test, and there was a brand new sign that read, "The operation of radio controlled aircraft or watercraft within the park is prohibited by the Superintendent of Parks blah, blah, blah..."

Couldn't believe it! posted right where I'd been playing. The weird thing is that I don't believe I was in "the Park". I was so P.O.ed that I made up my mind to go to a local club race...at which I got totally sucked in...and now I intend to race my SV for a season with them (...and maybe my Caliente 2!).

Anyway, day before yesterday I just went to a little parking lot next to the lake that is .5 miles north of where I was...no sign there (...yet!) and definitely not "in the Park".
I still haven't run my SV27 at the lake...attracts too much attention and goes twice as fast as my submerged-drive fleet.

I must warn you about the weaknesses of the Caliente Saleens7...it's still pretty much a POS. I intended to GPS it the other day and get some real data, but I flipped it while testing the new rudder system before I sealed it up and therefore flooded it, ending my tests for the day.
The ABS is a little thin and will crack under some stress, however, I've hit some rocks/beached it a few times, and let my dog chew on it a bit, and it has handled it well. I do think this boat is pretty light, though.
The hull is not a very fast or stable design...very shallow V and submerged-drive - I may do a surface-drive in the future. It can be reinforced even more than I have...my pics will help you understand better. Most N1's will spank this boat mightily. I just don't want you thinking this boat is race worthy...it probably isn't, but I am not afraid to lose races in the spirit of having fun and making others laugh...as cheaply as possible.

Pics/build soon I promise.

CadillacDTS2001

Take it down in the night.
I have nuns beside where i run my boats. and they don't complain.
a couple asked about it and were interested
they are loud. louder then nitro because of the BL motor scream

Wheelnut

My Feedback: (81)

Someone always has to ruin the fun[:'(]

CadillacDTS2001

Also . I got in shiznat for run my rc boat in the narrows because it was to fast !.
I was in my little run about boat running my rc around it and playing.

saleens7

yeah, i got the pirst look at it and i knew it would suck....i did have that one with a flame job though....it went 8-10mph and was OK....but i sold it...i got to thank nikko though, thats the boat that got me in this hobby.

Wheelnut

My Feedback: (81)

Yes some people buy a toy and get more interested and buy a hobby grade rc model but alot of people get into this hobby with a mistake purchase.
Till this day I still won't shop at Hobbytownusa because of the HPI Dash they sold me. Total piece of crap. I told the guy that I was new and wanted something for a beginner that could be upgraded later. He sold me that piece of crap that could not be upgraded. I have avoided them like the plague.

Aussierules

My Feedback: (8)

Considering the fact that we have the highest boat ownership rate of any metro area in America, it is pretty amazing that there aren't more people into the hobby. That's actually a good thing when it comes to places to run your boats though. A guy from Bellevue and myself run our gassers a few days a week over at Greenlake all through the spring and summer and have never encountered a problem. We run them from the shore on the south end of the lake during daytime hours and we take my inflatable raft out to the middle of the lake and run them from there on weekends and after 3pm on weekdays (since there are just far to many folks about curiously asking questions during the sunny afternoons - You've seen Greenlake on a sunny day, so you can imagine just how much attention we attract! lol There are 3 SPD officers who will usually stop by to watch us run (and eagerly take the controls when we offer) so there really isn't an issue with law enforcement (which is we're realistic, there's pretty much a zero chance of a Seattle cop giving you a ticket in any event. You'd receive a warning if there was a problem. Now Eastside cops in Kirkland or Bellevue on Lake Washington? That could be another story since giving a ticket of any type seems to be a favourite pastime for em) .

There use to be a permanent model boat race area @ Greenlake, but they stopped maintaining it as such back in the early 90's. Considering that there are "wake zones" over on Lake Washington and Lake union, I consider Greenlake a preferred alternative. Also, the calmness of the water makes it quite a bit better to run RC's that does Lake Washington with all the chop from the high volume of fullsize craft in the area.

ctonez

Cool that you can run at Greenlake...I Pm'ed you about that.[sm=wink_smile.gif]
I do find it very strange that more locals aren't into the sport/hobby. Especially where I live, which is within 3 blocks of Stan Sayre's Pits. I can hear the turbine Unlimiteds testing from my house and the neighborhood goes Hydro-Crazy for the first week of August (Seafair Hydro weekend) and still I've never seen another serious RC boater other than at the races. ...and why can't I find a hobby store that carries bare hulls, or a good selection of props??? (actually I found a place for props...30 min. away in Auburn, selection is decent, but not the greatest.)
One thing to note though, is that we do have one of the largest club memberships (PSFEMBC) in the nation. That surprises me too though, as it is only 35 members.