Was this the right Decision????

Ok this happened Last year but Its stuck in my head.

Did my wife make the right decision. In the picture there were 5 Jet Skies coming at us in a Row. My wife was pulling me behind the boat. Actually I was salom skiing not two skis. Even though there was no near misses but I saw the Jet skies coming and was wondering who was going to make the right move as I was skiing. I almost threw down the rope so she would make a tight circle to get me before the jet skis came close.

As the direction of the arrows indicate the jets skies made their turns and my wife held her ground and went straight. Did she make the right decision in this situation.

Also this was a narrow part of the lake.


Were the Jet skis in the wrong for taking up so much space and not going in a line behind each other.
Comments please.

Re: Was this the right Decision????

bowling for jet skier's , awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

paint ball guns works wonders, too

Re: Was this the right Decision????

Your wife made the correct decision. In this case, the Jetski's were the most manueverable craft and your's was towing so she had the least manueverable. Your wife had the right of way. Give her an "Atta Girl"

Re: Was this the right Decision????

200 points each if you hit them.....LOL, just kidding. you had the right of way.

Re: Was this the right Decision????

She is "stand on" to port...and the fleas are "give way" to starboard...she did the right thing!

Re: Was this the right Decision????

Towing a skier she did the wrong thing, should have stopped dead in the water. Last thing you need as a skier is to make a hard cut only to realize that there is a boat/jetski barrelling towards you.

Re: Was this the right Decision????

oldjeep said:

Towing a skier she did the wrong thing, should have stopped dead in the water. Last thing you need as a skier is to make a hard cut only to realize that there is a boat/jetski barreling towards you.

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+1 on stopping and reeling you in. However, maintaining course was fine, as it caused the jets to scatter a bit. The only thing was not being certain of who sees who.

Re: Was this the right Decision????

Scott Danforth said:

200 points each if you hit them.....LOL, just kidding. you had the right of way.

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Don't forget that you earn a 1000 points bonus if you make them crash together...

Re: Was this the right Decision????

I have to go with her choice was ok but would have been my second choice. I would have just stopped. So many skiers are hurt because they swing out and hit something. You don't always know if your skier sees the obstacle. Stopping alerts your skier and forces the jet skiers to take apprpriate action.

Jmho, but most people on jet skis are iresponsible PITAs.

Re: Was this the right Decision????

I vote the Mrs. made a good move.
Five short blasts on the horn may also have been in order to get their attention.


Time to add a few hand signals to your repertoire.

Observer raises both hands straight up over their head like a TOUCHDOWN signal in Football.
This signals the skier to get directly behind the boat and stay in the wake, Don't ask, just do it! NOW!

Observer points left and right simultaneously like a SAFE signal in Baseball.
This signals the skier that it is OK to go outside of the wake to either side.

Re: Was this the right Decision????

UncleWillie said:

I vote the Mrs. made a good move.
Five short blasts on the horn may also have been in order to get their attention.


Time to add a few hand signals to your repertoire.

Observer raises both hands straight up over their head like a TOUCHDOWN signal in Football.
This signals the skier to get directly behind the boat and stay in the wake, Don't ask, just do it! NOW!

Observer points left and right simultaneously like a SAFE signal in Baseball.
This signals the skier that it is OK to go outside of the wake to either side.

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Which is fine if you are dinking around behind the boat, but when you are actually skiing you need the boat to slow or stop. You are not looking at the people in the boat when crossing the wake at 40-50MPH

Re: Was this the right Decision????

oldjeep said:

Which is fine if you are dinking around behind the boat, but when you are actually skiing you need the boat to slow or stop. You are not looking at the people in the boat when crossing the wake at 40-50MPH

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+1

75% of people on jet skis leave their brains at the dock. The guy that runs the storage yard where I keep my project boat also rents jet skis. He finds collision damage every weekend. I don't trust jet skiers. I keep my eye on them, I give them a wide berth. Why do you think jet skis are banned in so many areas?

Re: Was this the right Decision????

Don't take the suggestions so narrowly.

She sees the Jet skis coming.
Backs off the throttle while deciding what is the best course of action.
The Skier looks at boat trying to figure out why we are suddenly slowing.
The Observer signals the skier to get into the wake.
The skier is now safely behind the boat and paying attention to the crisis.

There is no right or wrong decision in this scenario.

Continue ahead...
Jet skis part and pass by. (Good)
Jet skis try to jump your wake and strike the skier. (Bad)

Drop Skier and Stop.
Jet skis avoid stopped boat, and pass by. (Good)
Jet skis pass by but strike skier unseen, low in the water. (Bad)

The option of dropping the skier and making it back to him before the Jet skis arrive seems a little too optimistic.
Recognizing the danger, reacting, dropping the skier, turning around, and getting back to the skier before the jet skis coming at 50-60 mph arrive would require you to recognize the danger at least a mile ahead if you believe that you can drop a skier and get back in less than 60 seconds.

If I were the skier I would opt to stay up.
I would be much more visible and still have the option of maneuverability.

As I said before, there is no correct answer here, only options.
Actually the correct answer is the response that give you the most options.
Most of the results do not rely on the boats action, but the actions of the Jet skis which you have no control over.

Signaling the skier to get back into the wake is just one more option you have if you already have agreed on the signal.

Re: Was this the right Decision????

Some really good food for thought here.

I wonder what the CG would say?

Oh wait, they have a bow gunner.

Re: Was this the right Decision????

No. the correct move was for her to move toward the ski to the right, so she can pass it port to port. Then, signal you to go outside the wake to the starboard. Then, she cuts hard to port and crosses in front of all five to the one on the far left. All five should get clothes-lines by your ski rope as they pass between you and your boat. Victory at sea!

Re: Was this the right Decision????

roscoe said:

... I wonder what the CG would say?...

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I would believe they would say that every one acted rationally.
It was a 5 way head on meeting situation.
All vessels crossed port to port and/or Starboard to starboard.
No one held any StandOn/GiveWay position in the HeadOn meeting.

The boat was slightly more privileged because of the towing situation and the higher maneuverability of the Jet Skis.
The boat also was privileged due to the unofficial "Rule of Tonnage". "He who has the greater Tonnage makes the rules!"

No Contact, No Foul!

Re: Was this the right Decision????

Home Cookin' said:

No. the correct move was for her to move toward the ski to the right, so she can pass it port to port. Then, signal you to go outside the wake to the starboard.

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This part actually makes a little sense.

But anytime you start moving around, you are likely to get the skis to move also, and who knows which way they might go.

Now, if the wife could have executed a submarine move, and placed you in the passenger seat, all would be good.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=68AOltMu768

Re: Was this the right Decision????

Thank you for the Post and some of them are very Humor LOL.

It took me months to post this question Iboats. I thought I would just forget about it and let it go.
I couldn't! this situation could very well happen again.

This happened very early in my wife sking towing experience.

While I'm sking I'm always looking for Boat Traffic ahead of me. I give my wife hand singles to turn around when I want to go the other way or she gives me hand singles when she is going to make a turn.

I saw the Jet skis coming and they made their moves guessing 200 Yards from bow. I stayed behind they boats when I saw them coming. This wasn't a close call or near miss. I was really wondering who had the right away. The skis split in two different directions. How they came to that conclusion and not hit each other I do not know.

I have told my wife if there is too much boating traffic to have me ski safely to just stop the boat and reel me in. Also I give her instructions on the boating traffic and what the pattern I want her to go when sking. Usually in a race track pattern.

OK now for Jet ski bashing. They seem not to following the same rules as for boat traffic. They are all over the place and crossing other boaters course. I'm may one day own a jet ski myself and will not be like these people.

Thanks for reading and replies.

Re: Was this the right Decision????

coastalrichard said:

She is "stand on" to port...and the fleas are "give way" to starboard...she did the right thing!

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Many different possibilities in boating scenarios but this is the official correct answer. Coast guard might not use the word fleas but this is what the coast guard would go by.

Re: Was this the right Decision????

overall, except if there is a collision imminent, the best action is for all boats to maintain their course until they are clear of each other (as the wife did here). Slowing down is always wise unless it compromises control (for example, don't slow so much you drop the skier). If a change in course is advisable, it should not be sudden, but it often should be exaggerated so the other boat will see what you are going to do (for example, if you are going to head slightly to port, make a hard swing initially so they see your bow heading that way, then correct course).