Driving a Wakeboarder

[Shoemaker Mobius]

We're new to owning a boat and wakeboarding. My 15 year old son, having wakeboarded now for approx. 3 weeks is the expert. I have pretty much gotten the hang of driving him, but now that we are seeing many more boats with wakeboarders out, I am wondering about driving etiquette and protocols. In particular when I am passing a wakeboat that has a boarder in the water preparing to get started, is it best to go slowly past them or go fast past them. My son the expert says we should go fast past them because our boat will create less wake doing so. But, it seems like I should slow down. What are the guidelines on this? Do boarders in the water want you by them quickly? I know the bass boats and cruisers just fly right by. Any tips would be much appreciated.

[medevac130]

Do you have a boarder out as well? If so maintain your present speed ..and concentrate on putting as much distance as possible between yourself and the other boats. Nothing makes me more nervous than to have a skier in the water and see someone coming up the channel right behind me no matter what their speed. Faster speeds do reduce the size of your rollers(as do very slow ones), but also reduces your ability to react suddenly if the boat you are approaching makes a sudden start. This happens a lot, a driver has a skier out and gets focused on them and not what is in front of them when the skier finally yells "go" some drivers will face forward and give it h(*l...That is one of many reasons you should never cut across the bow of a boat with a skier in the water. If you are skiing on a small body of butter go over when the other boarders are between sets and see if you and the other boats can work out some sort of rotation to keep it safe. You will find most of us out there will be receptive because that will insure their riders have a shot at some smooth water instead of fighting boat chop and dangerous conditions. There are many little things you will pick up on over time, and as long as you continue to be patient and considerate of others, and mindful of safety on the lake you be just fine. Sorry My post was so long winded, but boating safety is kind of a hot button with me. I have been boating all my life and have seen some needless bad stuff happen on the water. Nice to see someone new to the activity asking for assistance. Glad to share the water with ya
Jim

[CWS_Kahuna]

medevac130 said it perfectly. I'd also like to add about the boating etiquette this info that can be found at www.wakeworld.com in the don't be that boat article.

Stay at a steady speed. Don't juice a rider in his or her approach to the wake

Go straight. Pick a spot on the horizon and drive to it. This will ensure a consistent wake for the rider. Don't make a long continuous arc that will result in a wake that is big on one side and small on the other.

When you circle around a fallen rider, SLOW DOWN. Don't go making the power turns like you see in the James Bond movies. You send rollers across the whole lake when you make the fast turn around. Instead, bring the boat to a stop, then make a slow turn and return to your rider.

Once the handle has reached the rider, throw the boat into reverse just a little. This will keep from ripping the rider's arms out of their sockets as the rope passes them at 10 MPH. This will also reduce the chance of injury from wrapping the rope around an arm, leg, neck or other body part.

Finally, pay attention. This is simply common sense, but is still good to remind you.

The power turn part in bold lettering is a big issue typically with newer drivers. They feel they have to get back to the rider as fast as possible for their safety. Now if the rider is in any kind of danger by all means get back to them as fast as you can but most of the time it's not necessary to do a power turn to get back to the rider. The power turns ruin the nice water conditions on the lake by makeing huge rollers in all directions.

[Inliner]

I will add briefly to CWS's comments. If two boats are running the same water, by communicating you can run them both at the same time safely if you are wise. One boat will stay in the left hand corner of the other boat and far enough back to be inside their wake. Both skiers will be safe and both have smooth water.

As for the loop back around the skier/boarder, he is correct. When making the turn around to go back and get the skier, you come to a stop, allow your wake to get by the boat and then loop around. Once around you can return to the skier as fast as you want as long as you shut down about 100 feet before you get to the skier.

But I only advise this technique in water with minimal traffic. As a driver, the skier is your responsibility and their safety is your primary concern. Never leave the skier alone in the water for any length of time with traffic in the area. It is the driver's job to make an observation of what is going on around them and their skier and if necessary, put the boat between the skier and an immenent collision from careless boaters. The heck with the chop in those cases, the skiers life is more important.

Finally, if you see another boat getting ready to pull up it is usually common courtesy to give them room if possible. How would you like it if everytime you went to pull up a skier/boarder a jet skier would come ripping right by you creating an unwanted wake? Keep in mind that wakeboard boats generally use ballast and create huge wakes. Those huge wakes might be great for your rider, but they stink for those getting ready to pull up and the folks who live or are swimming on the shore.

In smaller areas, it is best to stake your claim and communicate with the other skiers. Most will cooperate if they know how to drive. If not, it will be an exercise in patience. I once had a gal who was driving a boat with a wakeboarder on the back come over to me while we were in between sets to see if she could work in a line on a smaller lake. I had no problem with it so we discussed it and off she went. The problem is, she didn't know how to drive apparently. Instead of dogboning, she would ski in a semi-circle cutting off our path constantly at both ends. The problem was, by doing that she gave her skier unbelievably choppy water at the ends thanks to the combination of her lousy turn and our dogbones at 30 mph. Her boarder finally gave up.

Ask your 15 year old son how he would like it if a boat when cruising by with the tanks loaded while he was trying to get out of the water. Odds are he won't then explain to him courtesy. Teens are always smarter than everyone else, but sometimes if you put it in perspective they will get the big picture.

[purplepower]

I like this thread. Some good advice here. It is funny how the lake can seem quiet and you pick your time to go out. Then all of a sudden, eveyone is on the water. If I am driving and this happens, I just let the skiier/boarder know and we find a safe place to stop. Many times it is just not worth fighting the slop from other boats just to complete the course or get back to the dock. I am always amazed to see someone being dragged all over, barely able to stand becuase the the water is so rough. Or a driver putting himeself and his skiier/boarder in an unsafe situation just to "complete" the trip. Circle back to protect the guy/gal in the water and take a time out. I in a few minutes the chaos will pass.
Inliner is spot on. Have a plan before you go out and let you skiier/boarder and spotter know what it is. Even better if you let others using the same water in on it. This is what drives me nuts about people tubing and pwcs. They are content to go out for ages and aimlessly chew up a perfectly calm lake and you have no idea where they headed next. They never seem to get tired either? Sorry to rant but it is my current pet peeve.

[Inliner]

BTW, I can't take credit for that. I am an AWSA/USAWaterski certified boat driver. I was trained by some of the best and am merely passing on that info. I highly recommend taking a USAWaterski Trained Boat Driver course if one is available in your area. If you take it and pass it, the Power Squadron Boater Safety Course is a cake walk and will reduce your insurance rates.

[Shoemaker Mobius]

Thanks for all the great advice. So far I think I'm doing OK with driving safely and considerately. I still get a little anxious when I am pulling my son and approaching multiple boats stopped ahead. Lake Austin has pretty much a two channel route for boating and it seems pretty tight when there is a stopped boat on the left, one on the right and another in the middle. But, so far everyone seems to know what they are doing and everyone seems pretty considerate. One thing that has made my driving much much easier is Perfect Pass. It took a few weeks to get in and we took the boat out several times without it. Without it, with my wife watching the wakeboarder and me driving, it still was a lot to keep the speed near constant, keep an eye in the mirror and keep two eyes ahead. Now with it, I have actually been able to take my oldest son out wakeboarding by myself without feeling overwhelmed. There is no way I would attempt just him and me without the Perfect Pass. I'll look into that driving class. Thanks again.

[Inliner]

I have Perfect Pass as well but rarely use it. The only times I use it are when I am pulling a slalom skier through the course or a wakeboarder/kneeboarder who is good and stays up for a while. I don't know how you throttle, but I will offer you a hint that was given to me by a friend who is a tournament rated show driver and you will find your throttle control much better sans Perfect Pass. Place your right forearm on the arm rest next to the throttle and use only your thumb and forefinger to operate the throttle using just the finger tips. You will find that the best way to maintain speed and be able to quickly throttle up or down as you bring the skier/boarder up. It allows me to make minute adjustments instantly when pulling up disabled skiers who sometimes need throttle variances at different points of the pull-up. It might take a little practice, but trust me, it is VERY effective.

[Inliner]

One other quick thing I thought about Shoemaker, use hand signals for your skier. If traffic is solid in the area you ski, don't go out without a spotter and make sure both your skier and spotter know the hand signals. The most common ones are the speed up/speed down (thumb up/thumb down), the cut (hand across throat) and return to shore (pat on the head). We use several others when training competition skiers. Hand in front of the eyes in line with the nose means center on the boat, hand pointing right means get right and hand pointed left means get left. A finger over your head moving in circle means a dog bone is coming. To get our skiers attention and avoid having to shout over the motor, we tap the rope in a chopping motion. Believe me when I say, that gets their attention. If all else fails, I have been known to drop the skier back in the water until they get the hadn signals right.

To give an example, we were training a skier to do a Boat-O. This involves a serious of hand communications between the driver and skier. I am anal about safety and if anything goes wrong I will immediately shutdown and drop the skier back in the water. I did this 4 times to the skier we were training while the trainer was working with him. For some reason the trainer couldn't get through to him about not shooting out across the wake before the hand signals were completed. Finally I asked the trainer to let me powwow with him. I pulled the boat up, sat on the back with my feet on the platform and explained to him exactly what he had to do to complete the Boat-O. I then made it clear to him that if there are any miscommunications that I will shut it down everytime and the Boat-O will never get done. On the 5th try he completed his Boat-O.

My point is, when you hit those tight areas, let your son know via hand signals that he is to stay in the center of the wake until you pass it. If he fails to follow commands, shut him down. It doesn't take long for them to figure it out. Safety first. You can't have fun if your carrying a skier off the lake on a back board or having them airlifted to the hospital.

[Summit_SS]

ALL OF THIS INFORMATION IS GREAT... And the only thing i never really saw reading all of these is if your lake is small like most of them hear in Colorado the marina usually will have lake directions. Most of the ones i have been to hear are counter clock wise. This is prob the one thing i hate most is when your going the right direction and another boat doesn't know the lake is going backwards...That is how people get hurt..

Have Fun boating but definitly be safe

[Inliner]

Originally posted by Summit_SS

Most of the ones i have been to hear are counter clock wise. This is prob the one thing i hate most is when your going the right direction and another boat doesn't know the lake is going backwards...That is how people get hurt..

Actually this is standard operating procedure on public lakes. The problem with circling the lake is the rollers one creates that will eventually tag your #$% on the other side, especially on a small lake. If everyone runs in circles, it creates a torrent in the center that is umanagable by anyone. If you have ever pulled barefooters, you know the problem of circling the lake. Dogboning is the best way to go unless you have too much traffic on the lake. Then you start out early before the yahoos get there and stop skiing once the boneheads arrive.