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Lesson Learned - I guess I DO actually have a snapping point.


JeffS

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I'm really easy going. I'm old - guessing my age relative to the rest of this board is +10yrs. I live and let live. I've been around the block. I wasn't born yesterday. I've seen it all. You can't fix stupid. Everyone hates everyone if you let 'em vent long enough. I'm so NOT a newbie to boating... I'd rather stop and wait for you to be done being an idiot than participate in your event. Yada yada yada. At one point or another, I've said all these things quietly to myself, about other boaters.

Today - pulling my son. Not a small kid - full grown teenage kid. The only skiable stretch of water on the lake, lee shore on a windy-ish day. Rest of lake very chopped up. Not a lot of boats out - it just finished raining. We were catching some sets.

3 boys come on over - on 3 jetskis. No other boats in the area - so my wake was the only one to work with I guess. They criss cross behind me while my skier is 28 off. They do it once - I sit up above the windshield and shake my head signalling 'no' to them, as the 2nd and 3rd are crossing behind me.

2nd time, I cut hard left, let my skier come next to the boat and throttle down. They should get the message right?

Nope.

3rd time, my wife (spotter) yells to our son to pull hard and cut to shore as we were passing a public park area, and wait for us. He does. She pulls in the line.

I'm guessing these boys were 16 or so.

I learned that I guess I snap eventually.

What did they learn?

A DD ski boat can turn on a dime and come to a stop surprisingly fast. Nose to nose is fun when you weigh more than the little sh!t's comin' at ya'.

They also learned that unless you are on one of the hottest of new jetskis, with calm water and someplace to run to - you cannot outrun a ski boat. They were not on the hottest of new hardware. 1200's I later learned. Top speed - not fast enough. Water - not smooth enough. Lake - not big enough. Not for them anyway - I was fine.

They learned that there's no maneuver that they can do that I can't match, and they learned that I snap after three times of them not getting a basic message.

See? Lessons learned all around.

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I'm really easy going. I'm old - guessing my age relative to the rest of this board is +10yrs. I live and let live. I've been around the block. I wasn't born yesterday. I've seen it all. You can't fix stupid. Everyone hates everyone if you let 'em vent long enough. I'm so NOT a newbie to boating... I'd rather stop and wait for you to be done being an idiot than participate in your event. Yada yada yada. At one point or another, I've said all these things quietly to myself, about other boaters.

Today - pulling my son. Not a small kid - full grown teenage kid. The only skiable stretch of water on the lake, lee shore on a windy-ish day. Rest of lake very chopped up. Not a lot of boats out - it just finished raining. We were catching some sets.

3 boys come on over - on 3 jetskis. No other boats in the area - so my wake was the only one to work with I guess. They criss cross behind me while my skier is 28 off. They do it once - I sit up above the windshield and shake my head signalling 'no' to them, as the 2nd and 3rd are crossing behind me.

2nd time, I cut hard left, let my skier come next to the boat and throttle down. They should get the message right?

Nope.

3rd time, my wife (spotter) yells to our son to pull hard and cut to shore as we were passing a public park area, and wait for us. He does. She pulls in the line.

I'm guessing these boys were 16 or so.

I learned that I guess I snap eventually.

What did they learn?

A DD ski boat can turn on a dime and come to a stop surprisingly fast. Nose to nose is fun when you weigh more than the little sh!t's comin' at ya'.

They also learned that unless you are on one of the hottest of new jetskis, with calm water and someplace to run to - you cannot outrun a ski boat. They were not on the hottest of new hardware. 1200's I later learned. Top speed - not fast enough. Water - not smooth enough. Lake - not big enough. Not for them anyway - I was fine.

They learned that there's no maneuver that they can do that I can't match, and they learned that I snap after three times of them not getting a basic message.

See? Lessons learned all around.

For what it is worth I have been in the "shoot all jetskiers on site" camp since I got hit by one while in college (more than a few years back). I have no love lost for the devices or the Idiots that buy such machines. I have however seen some that ride responsibly sadly they are vastly outnumbered.

REW

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I can totally relate. Good post!

Wow I feel like I have soulmates! I had to "turn" on a jet ski Meuse wasn't even jumping my wake, he was dead zero in the middle of my wake behind me pulling up fast on an 11 yr old on the wakeboard. Man, I was not happy!

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Hopefully the kids got the message and will be more responsible on their machines in the future. Sorry you had to do that but you did what you neede to protect your family. I certainly wouldn't be upset if pwc's were banned or more tightly restricted under some circumstances.

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I too have come around 180 degrees to be head-on with lake lice. They get the point real fast when it doesn’t appear I’m slowing down and we’re nose-to-nose.

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BRAVO JeffS!!! :yahoo: You are the last guy I would envision running down a jetskier. I am as easy going as you until a jet skier pushes my button and then it's game on. Today I had my closest encounter to date. My girlfriend crashed as the jacka$$ was lining up for another run at my wake. Just like a few weeks ago, I spun around and put my boat on a collision course with him, only because he was on a collision course with her. He saw me at the last second and turned away and ran like hell. If I did not have a rider in the water to worry about, we would have seen who would run out of gas first.

Earlier in the day a lady on a jet ski passed 12-14 feet away from my boat and rider while staring at a beautiful new waterfront house. She never looked forward. Not once.

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Just a little head's up. I don't like the idiots anymore than you guys do. Remember one thing if you head them up head on you better be ready to turn fast. They loose all steering if they back of the throttle. Some of those sleds run 70 MPH plus.

I hate them and deal with them also I do not want to be the cause a accident.

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Hopefully the kids got the message and will be more responsible on their machines in the future. Sorry you had to do that but you did what you neede to protect your family. I certainly wouldn't be upset if pwc's were banned or more tightly restricted under some circumstances.

:plus1:

Our lake is over crowded with them on the weekends. I don't even dare go out on the lake then. I save my skiing for the weekdays.

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I'm really easy going. I'm old - guessing my age relative to the rest of this board is +10yrs. I live and let live. I've been around the block. I wasn't born yesterday. I've seen it all. You can't fix stupid. Everyone hates everyone if you let 'em vent long enough. I'm so NOT a newbie to boating... I'd rather stop and wait for you to be done being an idiot than participate in your event. Yada yada yada. At one point or another, I've said all these things quietly to myself, about other boaters.

Today - pulling my son. Not a small kid - full grown teenage kid. The only skiable stretch of water on the lake, lee shore on a windy-ish day. Rest of lake very chopped up. Not a lot of boats out - it just finished raining. We were catching some sets.

3 boys come on over - on 3 jetskis. No other boats in the area - so my wake was the only one to work with I guess. They criss cross behind me while my skier is 28 off. They do it once - I sit up above the windshield and shake my head signalling 'no' to them, as the 2nd and 3rd are crossing behind me.

2nd time, I cut hard left, let my skier come next to the boat and throttle down. They should get the message right?

Nope.

3rd time, my wife (spotter) yells to our son to pull hard and cut to shore as we were passing a public park area, and wait for us. He does. She pulls in the line.

I'm guessing these boys were 16 or so.

I learned that I guess I snap eventually.

What did they learn?

A DD ski boat can turn on a dime and come to a stop surprisingly fast. Nose to nose is fun when you weigh more than the little sh!t's comin' at ya'.

They also learned that unless you are on one of the hottest of new jetskis, with calm water and someplace to run to - you cannot outrun a ski boat. They were not on the hottest of new hardware. 1200's I later learned. Top speed - not fast enough. Water - not smooth enough. Lake - not big enough. Not for them anyway - I was fine.

They learned that there's no maneuver that they can do that I can't match, and they learned that I snap after three times of them not getting a basic message.

See? Lessons learned all around.

I can relate. Boating used to be a lot more fun before someone invented the jet ski. I will say that some are very respectable and understand how to control their machine and what to do and not do but there are some that give the rest a bad reputation and a very bad reputation. We have a major lake that we go to most weekends and the jet skiiers seem to like to hang around the boat launch and rip it up. Why hand around the most conjested area I will never understand but they come very close to hitting not only other boats but also themselves as they try to see how close they can get to each other, then turn and try to spray the other rider. Hopefully natural selection will soon run its course when it comes to jet skiiers and that is my rant for the day.

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ok ,I have to admit that I used to own a standup jetski and a seadoo.

I never even thought of owning a boat, the skis were way too much fun at the time. Boats were for older, out of shape, beer drinking guys (in my 20 yr old mind).

We did a lot of the things people hate (jumping wakes, racing and splashing other jet skiers we rode with, etc) and I didn't think twice about it. We even setup buoys and made a race course. I never once thought i was bothering a boater or anyone else and I'm a very considerate person by the way. I never once hurt myself or anyone else or even came close to it.

Also, I never followed a wakerboarder or skier and jumped their wake. It was always a boat that went flying by and left a wake, I'd go over there and jump it and on a standup ski its fun as hell.

Anyway, here's my point, these skiers most likely have no idea they are doing anything wrong. I'm sure if you asked them nicely and explained why its not a good idea they would stop doing it because people in general are reasonable. 99% of the time they are not heavy drinkers with attitudes like a lot of boaters. If someone told me what I was doing wrong I would've been embarrassed and thought about it & stopped doing it. (assuming I did something wrong)

On a related note, I'm sure things we do, as wakeboard boaters, annoy others. Like creating a massive surf wake just destroying the water for anyone else in the area or sending big waves to people relaxing on shore with their boat tied up.

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Deep Creak Maryland restricts jet skies between certain hours on the weekends because of the traffic.

The Pa Fish and Game Commission is starting bust on them pretty hard. In Pa and most other states I think that you need a PWC license to drive them.

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My biggest knock on the PWCs would be that they seem to regualry violate the age limit rules. In MN you are supposed to be 16 to drive one. There is no way that some of these kids are 16. One fourth of July with the boat full of family, one passed from my right out of my blind spot so close in front of me that my mom who was riding in the bow yelled "Watch where you are going". To say they flinched, would be an understatement. They didn't see us at all. She was easily within spitting distance, but hey, she's my mom. I would guess that they were maybe 13 max.

The speed to age seems to be way out of whack.

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InvisibleMask makes a good point. To add to that, doing stand up jumps on a Seado XP for an hour is a brutal leg work out. So a lot of those guys are sober and fit, but there are also knuckle heads.

On a guys weekend a couple of years ago we had 7 of us in the Bu. It's pretty late in the day, we are all spent on boarding and are on a booze cruise. A little nervous when we saw the Po po off in the distance. We casually headed the other way, got on plane, and then they started heading our way. Uh oh. Then, out of nowhere, a big waverrunner with 3 young(er) girls on it comes flying up beside us, waving, smiling, ready to party/race, whatever. Cops are right on them, as they came up way to close to us. We just kept going, trying not to laugh while they have the "oh snap" look on their faces. So we went back to the cottage and appreciated their sacrifice, and drank to that. The perfect diversion.

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Look at my avatar. I had a waverunner with two people on it, going the wrong way, come in between the trampoline and my sea wall. They had to jump off and put their heels in the sand to keep from hitting the pier. I was sitting on the lawn with one of my sons. "Can I help you?" Took me a moment, out of disbelief, to realize that they weren't coming there to talk to me, that they ended up there by mistake. Any other day I've got a beach full of kids and a bad accident. They had no training, and no clue.

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ok ,I have to admit that I used to own a standup jetski and a seadoo.

I never even thought of owning a boat, the skis were way too much fun at the time. Boats were for older, out of shape, beer drinking guys (in my 20 yr old mind).

All true - I'm old, out of shape and I drink beer. Whistling.gif

We did a lot of the things people hate (jumping wakes, racing and splashing other jet skiers we rode with, etc) and I didn't think twice about it. We even setup buoys and made a race course. I never once thought i was bothering a boater or anyone else and I'm a very considerate person by the way. I never once hurt myself or anyone else or even came close to it.

Didn't hurt anyone else, or come close...that you know of...

Also, I never followed a wakerboarder or skier and jumped their wake. It was always a boat that went flying by and left a wake, I'd go over there and jump it and on a standup ski its fun as hell.

Truth-be-told, I love the stand-up jetskis and their riders. That's a class bunch if you ask me. They have skill and time behind the handle bars if they are at all capable. If they are total noobies, they are destined to spend the day within 100' of the beach doing barrel rolls and trying to figure out how to keep it upside-right.

Anyway, here's my point, these skiers most likely have no idea they are doing anything wrong.

Nope - not my job. Learn, then ride. If not - I'm now past the point where I'm tolerant. I'll chase 'em down and find out where they live, and call the lake police if I can.

I'm sure if you asked them nicely and explained why its not a good idea they would stop doing it because people in general are reasonable.

Nope - not after yesterday. The definition of reasonable (to me) is now "Learn...then ride".

99% of the time they are not heavy drinkers with attitudes like a lot of boaters. If someone told me what I was doing wrong I would've been embarrassed and thought about it & stopped doing it. (assuming I did something wrong)

Bottom line - you are totally right in most of what you say. I'm just was no longer in the mood to negotiate with jetskiers. And for this, I apologize for being hazardous in my own way. You are right about most boaters. You are right that most kids just don't know. It's the negotiation of what's right and wrong. I put it out there to everyone, when we ski at 6:30am, in the midst of fishermen who are all over the lake going everywhich way with trolling motors...I have to be 75' away. They are not anchored. That's the law - 75'. They don't like me that close. But in that case, there's no place else to be because I need a straight line, and as a group - fishermen don't let me have a straight line to run back and forth. So, I have to get close. In their opinion, I'm wrong. I know it. I deal with it. I'm not unsafe near them, just irritating. And they don't chase me. Right and wrong on the lake is a negotiation. I wasn't in the mood to negotiate. Rockon.gif

Cheers everyone and thanks for the support!!! I'm going to go back to being a passive easy-going guy now. Smile.gif

On a related note, I'm sure things we do, as wakeboard boaters, annoy others. Like creating a massive surf wake just destroying the water for anyone else in the area or sending big waves to people relaxing on shore with their boat tied up.

So true. So very, very true.

Edited by JeffS
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InvisibleMask makes the point that they don't know what they are doing.

Thats the problem - we have a bunch riding dangerous machines that don't know or understand the rules and laws of the water.

Many of them that we see don't even own the vessel - they borrowed it from somebody or rented it - either way they have very little stake in it and that relates to how much they care about learning the rules.

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The crazy thing about when you rent one is you do not need a license and all you get is a 5 minute vedio on the rules and regulations. That makes most of them experts.

I had 2 Sea Doo's 255 HP sleds and they were rockets 74 Mph with me at 220lbs on them. I was letting my kids run them off and on. Till one day a boater told me how they were acting on them I sold them a few months ago. They are to fast and mistakes will happen before they know it. Our lifes are to short to just say (they are just kids) or (they were just having fun).

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The crazy thing about when you rent one is you do not need a license and all you get is a 5 minute vedio on the rules and regulations. That makes most of them experts.

I had 2 Sea Doo's 255 HP sleds and they were rockets 74 Mph with me at 220lbs on them. I was letting my kids run them off and on. Till one day a boater told me how they were acting on them I sold them a few months ago. They are to fast and mistakes will happen before they know it. Our lifes are to short to just say (they are just kids) or (they were just having fun).

you can substitute one word in both places in bold there in most cases that I see....

What one constitutes as fun is not always the case.

Edited by areamike
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any one ever thought of carring a paintball gun on the boat. i had a jet skier jump the wave between me and my fallen wakeboarder weeks back. this dumb a@# jumped my orginal wake and i did a power turn b/c of the jet skier and the guy has the guts to jump that wake too! i was pissed to say the least. this kid had his mom on the back of the jetski. i couldnt believe she didnt say anything to her son. i wanted to get my rider up b/c it was busy that weekend. i wish i had a paintball gun on board for this reason.

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I think the best idea is to have a camera or video camera on the boat at all times(most phones have decent cameras anymore). Record or take pictures, chase them down to their dock or where you can get a clear shot of their license numbers and then report them.

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Right on Areamike you know all they need is to put what is called the learner key in. With that key in that mode they will not run any faster than 35 Mph. Will keep some of them out of our way.

Here is what happens they get board flying up down the lake, or river. The big horse power sleds are over $13000.00. Some of us on here do not have that kind of money in our ski boats with equipment.

It gets very boring flying up and down to get some more thrills they start jumping wakes. In Pittsburgh we have a lot of barge traffic and they can get all the air they can handle. Now here we come throwing all kinds of crazy wakes behind our boats. What do you think hey want to do get behind us and get some air. I do not mind them as long as they respect my distance.

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