jetski in the way

[srud]

I thought I was a goner this past week. A jet ski rider bailed at the last minute and missed me after I had fallen. He knew he was out of line and took off in a hurry so we didn't get a chance to exchange words. This summer has been particularly bad for jet skis jumping our wakes.

[Swanee]

We actually had a small aluminum fishing boat jumping our wake the other day. After their 5th jump or so, they got a little too much air and the boat landed violently. They sat there for abot 5 minutes without moving before they proceded to take the cover off their engine. It looked like they spent about 15 minutes trying to repair something before they gave up and paddled in. I think they learned their lesson.

[MalibuTime]

We actually had a small aluminum fishing boat jumping our wake the other day. After their 5th jump or so, they got a little too much air and the boat landed violently. They sat there for abot 5 minutes without moving before they proceded to take the cover off their engine. It looked like they spent about 15 minutes trying to repair something before they gave up and paddled in. I think they learned their lesson.

And you didn't gratuitously provide some more maxed out wakes for him while he sat there trying to figure out what was wrong?

[Sixball]

I had one come within 10' of me well skiing at 41 off so he was very close. He then cut in front of our boat and the driver had to shut down. I will also say we had two spotters and nether one ever said a word or tryed to warn me a boat or jet ski was on our rear.

So as bad as the jet ski driver was our spotters were just as bad if not worse.

I don't ski with either of the spotters much any more. Just don't think our idea of safety and theres are in the same league.

We also had a jet skier hit a pontoon two years ago on our lake. the jet skier died it riped his leg off and he bleed out. It was near 12 midnight well past operating hours for jet skies. the pontoon driver had had a couple of beers and jot jail time. He was on a late night cruse with his family running less than 10mph.

[Nicvtx]

what i do down here in Aus is when jetskis start jumping your wake and such, i slow down right to idle and pull over to the side of the river, then when he passes us we power back up and get on his arse to see if he likes it,

we did this one time and got an apology out of 4 jetskiers.

but usually we dont have problems with jetskis down in australia

[MalibuTime]

I had one come within 10' of me well skiing at 41 off so he was very close. He then cut in front of our boat and the driver had to shut down. I will also say we had two spotters and nether one ever said a word or tryed to warn me a boat or jet ski was on our rear.

So as bad as the jet ski driver was our spotters were just as bad if not worse.

I don't ski with either of the spotters much any more. Just don't think our idea of safety and theres are in the same league.

We also had a jet skier hit a pontoon two years ago on our lake. the jet skier died it riped his leg off and he bleed out. It was near 12 midnight well past operating hours for jet skies. the pontoon driver had had a couple of beers and jot jail time. He was on a late night cruse with his family running less than 10mph.

That is sooooo wrong. No jetskis in Wa between sunset and sunrise.

[-BS-]

'Just throw full beers at them' That's alcohol abuse!

It's only alcohol abuse if you miss them!

(not that I've ever done it or anything )

[skyskier]

Spike strips.............like the ones on the cop shows, but with floaties. Just a random thought.

[1994echelon]

I had one come within 10' of me well skiing at 41 off so he was very close. He then cut in front of our boat and the driver had to shut down. I will also say we had two spotters and nether one ever said a word or tryed to warn me a boat or jet ski was on our rear.

So as bad as the jet ski driver was our spotters were just as bad if not worse.

I don't ski with either of the spotters much any more. Just don't think our idea of safety and theres are in the same league.

We also had a jet skier hit a pontoon two years ago on our lake. the jet skier died it riped his leg off and he bleed out. It was near 12 midnight well past operating hours for jet skies. the pontoon driver had had a couple of beers and jot jail time. He was on a late night cruse with his family running less than 10mph.

That is sooooo wrong. No jetskis in Wa between sunset and sunrise.

the driver of the ponton got put in jail cuz he had some beers and was hit by a jetskier? lol wow. thats about as bad someone waking home form a bar minding his own busines doing nothing wrong and geting public intox. but yet you can kill someone and get like what 6 years in jail and then get out. explain that one to me anyone practicing law.

whe had a guy up here driving drunk in a boat. not sure how fast he was going but he cleared the wake of a boat going 10mph to 15 and jumped over the top of a boat. the prop hit the driver of the boat as it was traveling over the boat. and landed just in front of the bow. and scufed the bow of the boat. that guy did a hit and run and he never turned him self in untill 3 days later the owner of the boat walked down to the boat and noticed that his boat had some damage and then he called the DNR to report that he let someone use his boat over the weekend. the sad thing is the person who did the hit and run aslo had a passenger in the boat and he got nothing as for as i know and then the drunk i think only got 5 years

[txwakejunkie]

what has worked for me is to pull the 9mm out and point it at the jetski and no matter how drunk they are, they will get lost real fast

that should do it!!

[jojano]

What happened to the 100ft. 5 mile an hour law. I know for sure locally it's enforced heavily. A couple of years ago word was out but nobody really understood it. Until both my brother and a friend got each $350 fines for jumping or riding a watercraft 100 feet or closer to any boat going faster then 5 miles an hour. As of now we haven't seen any jet skiers including us doing the $350 wake jump. Word out helps. And if we do within time they'll get there's.

[txwakejunkie]

This weekend we had a pleasant run in with some PWC's, we were just drifting across the lake enjoying the day. I saw some guys riding some jetskis trying to get some air off of each others wakes. It seemed that they were being respectfull to others and just having fun. I was set up for surfing so i yelled to them with the 420 and let them know that i was going to make them some waves. I drove about 13-14 mph while they stayed 150-200 ft back jumping the wave. I bet this went on for 6-7 min, they were wore out from going back and forth and gave us a big thanks and that was awesome, then went on there way. I wish more of the skiers were like them, then they wouldnt have such a bad rep.

Edited July 13, 2009 by txwakejunkie

[WakeGirl]

I had one come within 10' of me well skiing at 41 off so he was very close. He then cut in front of our boat and the driver had to shut down. I will also say we had two spotters and nether one ever said a word or tryed to warn me a boat or jet ski was on our rear.

So as bad as the jet ski driver was our spotters were just as bad if not worse.

I don't ski with either of the spotters much any more. Just don't think our idea of safety and theres are in the same league.

We also had a jet skier hit a pontoon two years ago on our lake. the jet skier died it riped his leg off and he bleed out. It was near 12 midnight well past operating hours for jet skies. the pontoon driver had had a couple of beers and jot jail time. He was on a late night cruse with his family running less than 10mph.

My opinion, but training of a spotter is almost as important as the training that one would give a potential driver. We always warn the rider if someone is following too closely behind them. A good spotter is like another set of eyes for both the driver & the rider, giving them the freedom to focus on what they're supposed to be doing. I would add that training a rider in the hand signal language that the spotter will use is an added bonus.

[jtrovato]

Here's an article from the local paper about a jet boat that hit a boat with a family on it. I was actually on the river the day of the accident and saw this family about an hour before the accident happened when I was on my way home for the day. I feel so bad for them. I've also seen the jet boat that hit them on the river before and they were driving like idiots then too.

The article tells the whole story, but a brief overview is: The family was on their 22' boat and a small jet boat, about 12' was driving recklessly around them, jumping their wake and being general idiots. The driver of the 22' boat warned the jet boat multiple times to stay away from them. The jet boat ends up hitting them and the jet boat rides up over the back of the bigger boat, hitting the father (a war vet that served 2 tours in Iraq) and knocking him unconscious as he's thrown about 20' from the boat. The father sank and his body has still not been found. The 4 bastards on the jet boat drove away, abandoned the boat and took off, police are still trying to figure out who they are and find the cowards. Imagine that, you serve two tours in Iraq only to come back and get killed by some a****** in a jet boat.

I have made a couple comments on the online news story regarding the law enforcement on this section of the river. In the past two years, budget cuts have taken the police off the river, so there is nobody patrolling the river enforcing the laws of the waterway. I really think if there were some type of police presence on the river this would not have happened.

http://www.eagletribune.com/punewsnh/local...=secondarystory

[Steve16r]

a good rule of thumb to get the skiers attention is to take the flag or your hand and hit the rope a few times they will always feel it. and it doesn't matter if they are looking away.

[fijidaniel]

We ride on a lake and really don't have alot of tolerance for PWCs jumping our wake while we're riding. There are so many other passing boats in the middle of the lake that they don't need to come to our line and jump (and screw up the water.)

While alot of jet ski owners are respectable, you get a few that for under 10 grand can have 160hp on the water and all their frineds taking turns. We were tied up near shore the other day and one person had a ski and his friends and family at the camp ground. So 20 people were taking turns on one ski. You hear him say, just hop on and give it gas, you'll get the hang of it.

[skyskier]

Tailgater story...........12' jet boat sparked a memory, but this jet boat was about 9'-10'. The driver was an old redneck with a gray beard, pot belly, farmer John overalls, and baseball cap on backwards. The guy and the boat looked like something from a comic book.

I spotted him closing in on my rider and waved him off. When he pulled outside of my wake I gave him a wave and a thank you. Then he pulled back inside my wake and closed in even tighter. I changed course, and so did he. To avoid confrontation I simply spun a 360 and headed the other way. Much to my surprise, so did he! It became obvious that he planned to follow wherever I went. Before this a$$ jackal could close any further, I dropped the rider and spun back as fast as I could. I put the boat between the rider and him. I expected him to run from the whupping he could reasonably expect, but he idled past my boat, no more than 15 ft away, looking straight ahead, seemingly completely oblivious to the best animated beratement I could muster while keeping in mind that I had a 5 yr old at my feet. He just idled away and never looked back. I briefly considered tossing a chilly, but I have a good arm and good aim and don't much like the idea of going to jail. Later, I told my story to a friend at the lake. He told me that others had the same experience and the cops were currently searching for him.

The following weekend I saw him again. He was following another boat at around 10 mph and about 15 ft off the stern. 15 ft!!! Unfortunately for him, I did not have a 5 yr old with me this time. As I pulled along side, I could see he was being towed. Sweet.........his boat is disabled and no one has to die today. He still had the same comic book look, and the same blank stare, looking straight ahead. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up.

[skyskier]

Oh yeah, the same friend that told me about the cops asked me to make some wakes for him to jump on his jet ski. I was happy to do so for a friend. He came in hard, hit the 1st wake and submarined into the second. Instant stop. He came up with a dazed look and his vest ripped wide open. At that moment he looked more like a jet skier than a friend and I felt strangely content.

[WakeGirl]

a good rule of thumb to get the skiers attention is to take the flag or your hand and hit the rope a few times they will always feel it. and it doesn't matter if they are looking away.

Yeah, a good tug on the rope is the best way to get the rider's attention. The point is that the spotter has to be aware that he/she can & should do that in certain situations.

[CrazyTegger]

This is why the hd camcorder is always in the boat

[Bill_AirJunky]

Good stories guys. Reminds me one that my brother had a few years back at Vasa Pk on Sammamish. We were there for a company BBQ with a ton of other people. He had a stake on the beach with an anchor out in the shallow water & the two ropes bouyed & hooked together while we were out riding. We came in & some kid on a jetski had been screwing around on the shore with the jetski & sucked the anchor line in it. Jake jumped out of the boat, flipped the jetski over & proceeded to yard out his anchor line from the jetski. I guess it wasn't watertight any more because it sank in about 3' of water.

Ooops.

[kutchi C]

Tailgater story...........12' jet boat sparked a memory, but this jet boat was about 9'-10'. The driver was an old redneck with a gray beard, pot belly, farmer John overalls, and baseball cap on backwards. The guy and the boat looked like something from a comic book.

I spotted him closing in on my rider and waved him off. When he pulled outside of my wake I gave him a wave and a thank you. Then he pulled back inside my wake and closed in even tighter. I changed course, and so did he. To avoid confrontation I simply spun a 360 and headed the other way. Much to my surprise, so did he! It became obvious that he planned to follow wherever I went. Before this a$$ jackal could close any further, I dropped the rider and spun back as fast as I could. I put the boat between the rider and him. I expected him to run from the whupping he could reasonably expect, but he idled past my boat, no more than 15 ft away, looking straight ahead, seemingly completely oblivious to the best animated beratement I could muster while keeping in mind that I had a 5 yr old at my feet. He just idled away and never looked back. I briefly considered tossing a chilly, but I have a good arm and good aim and don't much like the idea of going to jail. Later, I told my story to a friend at the lake. He told me that others had the same experience and the cops were currently searching for him.

The following weekend I saw him again. He was following another boat at around 10 mph and about 15 ft off the stern. 15 ft!!! Unfortunately for him, I did not have a 5 yr old with me this time. As I pulled along side, I could see he was being towed. Sweet.........his boat is disabled and no one has to die today. He still had the same comic book look, and the same blank stare, looking straight ahead. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up.

HAhahahahahahahahahaah!!!!!!!!!

you know what would have been really funny, if pulled up to you and said, "whats the quickest way to route 95?"

[skyskier]

My answer would have been "by ambulance".

[akro26]

When they start getting close i just let them go by and start jumping their wake...

[DUKENO1]

Maybe this is the wrong train of thought but I think jet skis are like gnats, just flying around and annoying. I try to ignore them and I never steer out of their way!!

I am with you on that one Nemire. I usually hold my ground and make them change course. Of course I would not do this if they were not paying attention and hadn't seen me.

They can be annoying. I have a waverunner but since I got my boat I hardly ever ride it. The only thing I really enjoy on mine anymore is taking it out in the ocean and jumping waves.

I tell you one thing though.... I guess since I grew up in a family that always had a boat around of some sort, I always respected other boaters when I was out on my jet-ski. (got my first one

in 91). If I was coming up on some folks fishing I always went by them as far away as possible. I also always got out of the way if a larger vessel was approaching. I NEVER followed someone being towed behind a boat. That is just common sense to me and boggles my mind when I see it. I have almost came to blows with a few of those morons and it will probably happen at some point. I absolutley refuse to be closely

followed by a jet-ski (or another boat for that matter) when I have someone in tow. I will not let someone I am towing be put in that kind of danger. Not going to happen....