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Ran out of luck


Sixball

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Is the spotter law really about having someone to notify the driver when the rider falls, or is it more about having someone able to put of the orange flag?? Just curious.

I miss Texas where you didn't need a spotter. A competent driver and a mirror and the boat will be slowing down long before a spotter says anything.

...that said, I have plenty of stories of my dad going another half a mile after I fell before realizing it.

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In Ohio, you must have a spotter that is at least 10 years old. In Tennessee where we now do all our boating, no spotter is required if the boat has a mirror. There is also no spotter required for a PWC in TN as long as it has two mirrors.

Sweet. I thought the wife and I would be just breaking the law when we rent a lake house on Norris in September.

Edited by Nitrousbird
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Looking at the MIchigan rules, I need to have a coast guard approved jacket available for the person being towed. Do they count against my people capacity? I.e. only 9 riders in the boat if I have one behind and a 10 person nameplate.

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Looking at the MIchigan rules, I need to have a coast guard approved jacket available for the person being towed. Do they count against my people capacity? I.e. only 9 riders in the boat if I have one behind and a 10 person nameplate.

Can't be 100% for MI but yes in WI. Can only tow with a 3 person jet ski because spotter is required and space for rider is required. Found that out a while ago.

Side note my brother pulled his friend on a slalom ski behind his 750 stand up. No cutting or anything they just wanted to see if they could do it. Strange to see two guys standing up 60 feet apart scooting across the lake. We had a chase boat ready.

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1. Get yourself a mannequin torso and put a wig and clothes on it.

Inflatable spotter...that's weird.

So if your mannequin looks female people think your strange. If it looks male people with think your creepy.

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Sorry to hear that.

I learned something new this week...we got pulled over for having the docking light on while in motion and not in the act of docking. Was told it interferes with the bow navigational light and being able to see the colors. I explained to him that I had turned them on as the lake was pitch dark and thought I had seen something in the water. He said makes sense, them proceeded to conduct a safety inspection.

SR, what lake was this?

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We still ski a lot without an observer. It's a habit we picked up in Vermont back in the 60's and 70's where it was not required. Always had a mirror and keep one eye in it all the time.

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Looking at the MIchigan rules, I need to have a coast guard approved jacket available for the person being towed. Do they count against my people capacity? I.e. only 9 riders in the boat if I have one behind and a 10 person nameplate.

Every opinion I have seen on this inculding asking a DNR officer is that the 10 person capacity counts everyone including any and all riders.

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Is the spotter law really about having someone to notify the driver when the rider falls, or is it more about having someone able to put of the orange flag?? Just curious.

I miss Texas where you didn't need a spotter. A competent driver and a mirror and the boat will be slowing down long before a spotter says anything.

...that said, I have plenty of stories of my dad going another half a mile after I fell before realizing it.

Same thing happens when the spotter is spacing out, or blabbing to the driver. That has happened to me with a spotter on board. I think a well tuned-in driver is sufficient, but unfortunately you need to watch for the revenuers (In Washington and many other states unfortnate to not allow personal responsibility)

Edited by MalibuTime
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Found out that California age limit for a spotter is 13. I let him know that my 8 year old is more compitent than most of my 40 year old (I left the drunk part out) friends. Got off with a warning. Been doing doubles trips for years with no problem but we only do doubles when there is no traffic. Winter, weekday mornings and such. Id like to know what the California fine is so I could be certian of the risk vs. reward.

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I was hoping the gov't furloughs would cut down on the boat cops. All the articles were about these cuts in parks and recreation (which I thought was a weird thing to focus on). I've never seen, not once in the 4+ years boating on this small body of water, a single time that the Ranger has done anything useful.

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I think I have found my get out of jail card! The ticket was written as a misdemeanor. Michigan law is written clearly, its a civil infraction. I know some other tickets written but have not looked at them but the people were fined more the $100. The state law is written as it will be assessed no more then $100.bucks as a civil infraction.

I am thinking as a misdemeanor the fine is open to a wide range for fines. I would think you can not over charge! I will be going to the court house next week. :dontknow:

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A good morning of skiing and no tickets. just two of us. :whistle:

Yeah, you made it all of two days! That's hilarious.

We have to stay away from the main road when we only have two, in case of Sheriff driving by. My ski buddy got pinched that way a few years ago, where the cop called him over to shore, after stating he had his registration numbers noted.

It just shortens up our run by a couple hundred yards.

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Sheriff told my son to sit down yesterday. "that is a sunpad, not a seat" His feet were in the boat, but his butt was on the pad to catch the rope and cheer (jeer) his brother who was surfing. "stupid" said the boy after we were back on cruise control. Had to smile.

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Can't be 100% for MI but yes in WI. Can only tow with a 3 person jet ski because spotter is required and space for rider is required. Found that out a while ago.

Side note my brother pulled his friend on a slalom ski behind his 750 stand up. No cutting or anything they just wanted to see if they could do it. Strange to see two guys standing up 60 feet apart scooting across the lake. We had a chase boat ready.

The WI reg used to say that a 3 person jet ski was required but there was no limit to the number of skiers.... Always make be laugh.

We had a 1 acre pond in our back yard growing up. Spent many hours skiing behind a standup. good times. Watch out for the rope between your legs ;)

Edited by barefootpaul
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  • 2 weeks later...

Had the ticket changed to a civil infraction and pleaded guilty with comment. In the end Fine $54.00 Court and fees $96.00

Yes we have been out without spotter more.

Had 4 this morning Air temp @ 51deg water at 74deg. with light rain BUT GLASS!!!!!

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Good to hear you got the ticket reduced.

Glass. Nice. As of today its the 5th weekend of no glass for barefooting. Nice weather lots of sun, just no glass.

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In NC you can plead for mercy, the ticket gets vaporized, you still pay the court costs.... Your family gets one plea every two years, so everyone is on a behavior modification plan once someone uses it.

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That stinks about the ticket, but pretty cheap all things considered.

Colorado regs say that when towing for watersport, there must be another person in the boat that is in a position to observe the rider, and this person must be capable of relaying messages to the driver. No mention of age. The only thing keeping me from giving a flag to a 5 year old, with no other spotter, is: Do I really want to burden a 5yr old with that much responsibilty? What if something happens? And what if nothing did happen, except you ran a half mile with a dropped skier because the 5yr old didnt notice. I think thst would make the kid feel pretty bad and isnt fair to them. Somewhere around 10 is where I think you could give a kid that responsibility, but even then Im not sure. Depends on the kid.

The rangers are pretty aggressive around here, they pull you over if you sneeze witout covering your mouth, but never give tickets as far as I can tell. But there is no doubt they would nail you for this. Doesnt mean I wont do it.

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In NC you can plead for mercy, the ticket gets vaporized, you still pay the court costs.... Your family gets one plea every two years, so everyone is on a behavior modification plan once someone uses it.

In NC we don't need spotters.

"The vessel towing the skier shall be equipped with a rear vision mirror or carry an observer (not the boat operator), or the person being towed is wearing a PFD."

http://www.ncwaterways.com/boating/regulations.htm

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