I am a windsurfer who, along with several other friends, enjoys sailing on the lakes around here. Recently, on two different occasions, I encountered a lack of courtesy and lack of knowledge of the right-of-way rules by motorboats on both Cultus and Odell lakes.

Both times I was sailing across the lake and the boats were coming at a 90-degree angle on a collision course toward me. They never attempted to slow down or go behind me, so I had to slow down and navigate across the wake they left.

It was not a problem of visibility – the mast and sail are 10 feet tall.

The recent changes requiring boat operators to complete a safety class should make everyone aware of safety and right-of-way rules.

The lakes are for everyone to enjoy – windsurfers, kayaks, canoes, sailboats and motorboats.

– Marla Melton, Bend

This article appears in Aug 5-11, 2010.

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Share the lakes

by Source Weekly, The Source - Bend, Oregon
August 4, 2010

<h1>Share the lakes</h1> <p class="byline">by Source Weekly, The Source - Bend, Oregon <br />August 4, 2010</p> <p>I am a windsurfer who, along with several other friends, enjoys sailing on the lakes around here. Recently, on two different occasions, I encountered a lack of courtesy and lack of knowledge of the right-of-way rules by motorboats on both Cultus and Odell lakes.</p> <p />Both times I was sailing across the lake and the boats were coming at a 90-degree angle on a collision course toward me. They never attempted to slow down or go behind me, so I had to slow down and navigate across the wake they left.<br /> </p> <p>It was not a problem of visibility - the mast and sail are 10 feet tall.</p> <p>The recent changes requiring boat operators to complete a safety class should make everyone aware of safety and right-of-way rules.</p> <p>The lakes are for everyone to enjoy - windsurfers, kayaks, canoes, sailboats and motorboats.</p> <p align="right"><em>- Marla Melton, Bend</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/opinion/share-the-lakes-2142190/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com&quot;&gt;The Source - Bend, Oregon&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Untitled-design-4.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=19345&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.bendsource.com/opinion/share-the-lakes-2142190/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/bendsource.com/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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