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Do you turn your boat on and off when picking up a rider


Roush611

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Do you turn the boat off when you are picking up a rider or let it idle?  What about when the rider is getting in the water?  Is your boat idling or off? I have never been a fan of turning the bot on and off all the time.  Whats your process/thoughts?

 

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If it's just picking someone up for another go I leave the boat running. I usually turn it off when changing riders as a common courtesy to the riders. If I get out of the drivers seat especially, that is when the engine gets turned off cause we often have little kids on board...if we're going to swim or float I'll often pull the keys and throw in the glove box. When I was 3 years old I started the boat up and (according to the story) was trying to put it in gear. So I don't take that chance with my kids.

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Every time when a set is done.  Whip skier out, idle up to them, hit reverse to put the platform about 18 inches away from them, and kill engine.  No sense idling while they're getting their ski off, climbing up, changing skiers, changing handles/ropes.

Dropping in is always done at idle with boat in gear.  Boat glides away as skier settles in to the water.

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Mine runs 24/7 when its in the water. That is why I have 1200 hours on a 2013. LOL... I only turn off if we drop anchor to rest which is seldom. Usually put 8 to 10 and sometimes 12 hours a day wakeboarding and surfing each Saturday and Sunday during our extended boating season.  We have 6 heater tubes for the colder days in November December sometimes February and often in March each year since January 2013 when we took delivery.  You will get lots of differing opinions. If you have CATS, there is little issue other than safety or a lack of if you or someone accidentally engages in reverse when a rider is climbing aboard the swim platform.

Edited by BlackBluMalibu
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We turn off the engine whenever someone is entering or exiting the boat. (end of a run or beginning of a run)  Like JSP, I also pull the keys when floating/swimming. Carryover from when the kids were little, many years ago.

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Thanks for the responses. It is interesting how everyone varies slightly. The reason I was asking is someone that we ride with insists the boat is off when he gets out and off when he jumps into the water. 

I always worry about the constant on/off and not being able to maneuver quickly if need be. 

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Typically leave it running when picking up someone from the water.  When dropping in skiers we leave it running, when dropping in boarders I turn it off since it takes them so long to get their boards on and I don't want to gas them out.

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martinarcher

If people are getting in or out of the boat we kill it.  

 

As far as getting gout of the way with the boat off, my boat starts quick enough to bump someone that is standing on the platform into the water before they can grab the grab handle on the transom......might have happened once or twice.   :lol:   Our regular crew is pretty sharp now. :) 

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Everyone I ride with shuts down when riders are at the platform getting in and out or gearing up.  BTW, the wakeview camera is nice to see the rider is clear before starting up and moving. 

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I wait for the rider to be ready and in the process of getting in the water. Then fire it up and I will put it in gear as they slide in and boat will just get out of the way real quick.  When the rider is done, i just pull up along side and pop it in reverse to get close to the rider and stop. Then shut down until they are in and everyone is all settled in.

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Fumes can be an issue, but I'm more concerned about prop rotation. Take a look at your driveshaft (or put some goggles on and look at the prop underwater); if the prop moves when the engine is out of gear then you should turn off the engine just in case someone manages to get a toe/arm/rope up there. Depending on the age age of the boat/engine/transmission if the drive shaft is rotating when out of gear you might want to have it checked out. My '93 would always have some rotation on the driveshaft even when out of gear, my '02 was fairly stable, and my '15 doesn't move unless it's in gear.

Fumes are bad, prop rotation is worse. With kids on the boat both can be killers. Better safe by turning it off vs. leaving it running.

Oh, and I always pick up the rider on the drivers side where I can see them; I don't understand why some people pick up a rider on the "blind side", it just scares me that I can't see where someone is the water is.

Edited by mikeo
added more context; fixed typo
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Rider side is the way to go, you want to have a line of sight on your rider at all time.

Big waves can move/push the boat really quickly while the same waves do not have the same effect on the rider. Same for the wind.

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10 hours ago, TallRedRider said:

I don't quite understand the fear of shutting down the engine.  Despite having all of the newest exhaust system cleansing devices, I really don't have that much faith in them.  Besides, all that it does is take out the carbon monoxide in favor of carbon dioxide, not poisonous, but engine exhaust is still not something anyone should be eager to breathe.  

As a rider in the water, I really can't tell the difference when someone still has the boat in reverse vs. neutral.  So I am never eager to snuggle up to the swim platform when the motor is running.  

I do not understand the reasoning at all for not shutting the engine down.  I shut it down whenever we change riders.  

Just a point of note, the reason we have catalysts now is for environmental issues, not reduction of carbon monoxide for surfers.  Nitrous Oxides are the intended recipient of conversion.  Furthermore, I have read recently that at idle the converters do not stay hot enough to even convert normally, so don't let the presence of converters lull any of us into thinking that air is safe, its not.

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