Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Used the dive knife and goggles for the first time last night


wakeboarder3780

Recommended Posts

If you don't have a pair of goggles (the kind that covers the nose too) and a locking serrated knife in your boat, I would recommend getting one in there asap. Last night a buddy and i were going to ride doubles so a buddy was driving. Ultimately i don't fault him for running over the line because when I hopped in I noticed that one of the lines dipped a little bit but didn't think it was by the prop (I was wrong). Buddy put it in gear, line snapped tight to tower, he freaked and put it in reverse and i promptly told him to put it in neutral.

Line was wrapped around the prop and shaft real good. Took me about 15 dives. to get it all straightened out. Ended up having to throw anchor as we started getting close to shore too (so if you don't have an anchor get one of those too!) I can't say enough about how happy I am the crew suggested this to me and I was prepared ahead of time. If I wouldn't have had those out with me I would have been totally screwed (although other boats were around so we could have gotten a tow).

That being said, good lord is the water quality terrible in our lake. I had to literally put my face in the prop to be able to see the cord, I'm guessing about 3 inches of visibility, it was crazy. Eventually I stopped trying to nicely unravel it and went ape with the serrated blade and hacked it all the pieces and it came off better. Ended up losing about 15' of line!

Still got to ride double though as I had a few spare sections of line in the boat :)

  • Like 2
Link to comment

...........Buddy put it in gear, line snapped tight to tower, he freaked and put it in reverse and i promptly told him to put it in neutral.

Good job on all counts.

Just a warning. A good friend of mine almost lost her hand in a similar situation. Rope had gotten tangled around one of the racks on the tower. When the rope got tangled in the prop & went tight, she tried to clear it from the tower rack. Rope looped around her hand & crushed it.... broke thru 3 knuckles, severe nerve & circulation damage, many surgeries, etc.

Don't mess around with the rope. Get clear of it if it ever comes up at you. It has to be the single most dangerous piece of equipment we all own. Breaking strength is probably over 5000 lbs.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
  • Like 2
Link to comment

Thanks for the warning Bill and I agree line is very dangerous, thin and very strong. jk13, I left the platform on which I think made my dive sessions shorter. In the beginning I didn't think it would take that long and didn't want to chance dropping the pins. In fact I have a stainless steel leader that connects my knife to a bracelet so I can't drop the knife.

If I did it all over again.. I think I'd definitely try taking the deck off. It isn't very fun running low on oxygen and trying to back swim out of the area with a knife in your hand while not cutting yourself, and not banging your head on the deck. Stupid question, the platform does float by itself right? I didn't know if fiberglass was buoyant.

Link to comment

I had my girlfriend drive once and I gave her no instructions on how to pull a wake boarder just assumed she would know to make wide turns to not hit the rope. I assumed wrong luckily she saw the rope as she made the turn and put it in neutral before she ran it over and just the boat moving and making the prop spin caught the rope. I had no goggles or knifes but took the platform off, it does float. and i was able to slowly untangle the rope and all was fine the rope did not even get hurt. so going at it with a knife isn't always the best and just cause the rope is wrapped around the prop does not mean it is junk.

Link to comment

... just cause the rope is wrapped around the prop does not mean it is junk.

And sometimes it *is* junk. My rope was frayed everywhere and even snapped before i ever took the knife to it. Just because a rope might not get destroyed doesn't mean you shouldn't be prepared, which is the message of this post. I used to have the opinion I'd never run over a rope, and I still don't think I'd personally make that mistake, but eventually, you have to hand the keys over if you're going to enjoy your toy.

Let me calm your fears and assure you, I didn't cut a rope that was perfectly fine. It was sufficiently fubar'd.

Edited by wakeboarder3780
Link to comment

Cleared rope from my prop for 1st time this year. Removed my Teak platform and used goggles and my helmet I use when foiling. Went under 1 or 2 times and was worrying about boat smacking me on the head from waves coming in. Remembered my helmet was in the boat and put it on. Makes it easy to rest head on hull of boat with life jacket holding you up against it while you work at untangling the rope.

  • Like 2
Link to comment

Yeah I guess another good tip is having someone in your boat in the back watching what you're doing. Have them spot for waves and each time you're ready to go down again they can tell you if it's clear or if you should wait. The other thing I found out half way through that I wish I would have told my "spotter". I told him, hey if I don't come back up in 15 seconds come looking for me. I could see getting knocked unconscious / getting tangled in something under the boat and getting into real trouble.

Link to comment

Ditto the good advice here. Second time out with the boat and we got a polyprop tow line for the innertube wrapped on the prop. It didn't bind too tight but it took a couple dives to get it cut off and cleared. It was my ex-wife and I out with our kids together...she backed over the line while driving and talking to her friend on her cell phone. Same way she put dents in all of our cars while we were married. Now I remember why we got divorced.

Link to comment
MalibuNation

New rule in my boat no talking on a cell phone while driving or spotting. Earlier this year on a lake near by some put a boat in reverse and cut a ladies leg off at the knee ... be very careful anytime you put your boat in reverse.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...