This is a long one, but hopefully worth the read.
Last spring I was on Lake Anna, in central Va., in my pontoon boat with a buddy, who had brought his Seadoo, and his brother, who lives on the lake. We anchored in a shallow area in the center of the lake, where many people hang out and play water volleyball. I had never ridden a PWC before and when offered, I took him up on it. I got the mini instruction course and I was off. At first I was doing donuts in an area away from everyone, getting the feel of it, then I took behind a big, ~26', Baja cigarette style boat with the twin engines and the retired gentleman piloting it, and his 5 passengers. I was about 150' back, enjoying the smooth ride in his wake. We rounded a bend and I knew the lake was coming to an end so I turned around before the Baja and headed back the way I came.
As I rode, I noticed another Baja, smaller, only about 18', anchored in the middle of the lake, but out of the line of traffic. As I looked at this smaller Baja, one of the women on it began to wave at me. I rode over and found that they were disabled. They were trying to figure out how to get it started, as the owner had left them to run around while he went for more gas. They had apparently made it that far and it quit. I tried to assist and found the boat would only sputter, so the woman, who turned out to be the owners wife, asked me for a ride. She wanted to go to the big Baja, the one I had been following, because they should know how to start another Baja, right? I had my reservations, but who was I to say? She climbed on the Seadoo and I took her up to where the other Baja was now sitting. I thought, from a distance, that they had decided to stop there and hang out. I was wrong. When we got close we found that Baja number one had run aground and both of those big engines could do him no good now.
Seadoo to the rescue! I offered a tow and they threw me a rope, which was tied to a stern cleat on the port side. Leaning over my passenger, I tied it to the Seadoo tow cleat and began to pull. That thing was stuck pretty good and I ended up pulling at the wrong angle, and pulling a wheelie on the Seadoo, which promptly threw my passenger into the water and almost threw me. Fortunately it was only about 18" of water at the time and we were both wearing PFDs. She rolled with it just fine. I re-adjusted myself, and my former passenger climbed aboard the big Baja. I had everyone on the big Baja move as far forward on the bow as they could, to take weight off of the stern and began pulling again. Slowly but surely it began to move. Now, I AM churning a bit of mud, and what little I knew about PWCs, besides the minimal draft, included the fact that mud probably isn't good for the impeller, but I was moving him slowly, and there was no one else around with as little draft as that Seadoo at the time.
I pulled him for about 100 feet, then he still didn't think it was enough (probably because he was on plane when he went in there and didn't stop until he ran aground on plane), so we moved the rope to the front of the Baja and I pulled him another 200ft by his bow eye, to get him deep enough so he could go under his own power without damaging his props even more.
I then had my former passenger jump back on because her husband had now shown up at a deserted dock/boat ramp we had passed as we were towing the big Baja. Carried her to the dock and swapped passengers. Her husband got her vest and hopped on with me, and I took him back to his small Baja, where the large Baja was now attempting to render assistance. A few minutes of troubleshooting by the owner determined that the fuel pump had gone kaput and he was gonna need a tow.
Seadoo to the rescue again! I asked if he had a rope, and he did, and I then towed the small Baja back to the deserted dock where I had picked the owner up and dropped his wife. I didn't ask for anything but they gave me 20 bucks for the tow, which I took, as it wasn't my fuel I was using. I scooted on back to my pontoon boat, where my friends were wondering about me, as I had been gone over an hour, and handed my friend the 20 bucks I had made on my first PWC ride ever. I explained about the mud I had churned as I towed the big Baja, and pointed it out as it motored past us, right about that time, and told him I'd pay for damage to his jet pump if there was any. There was no damage, I later found out.
So that's how I learned to ride and tow with a PWC, all in the same one hour time period. Oh yeah, I had never towed anything on the water before, in any kind of boat. Fortunately I knew about tying knots that won't slip and can easily be untied from tree work. Came in handy that day.
Was I wrong to take the 20 bucks offered by the small Baja? The big one didn't offer and I didn't ask. Lot's of "thanks" from everyone involved. Was I wrong to turn my buddy's Seadoo into a tow boat/water taxi? I was just trying to help however I could.
Chris
Last spring I was on Lake Anna, in central Va., in my pontoon boat with a buddy, who had brought his Seadoo, and his brother, who lives on the lake. We anchored in a shallow area in the center of the lake, where many people hang out and play water volleyball. I had never ridden a PWC before and when offered, I took him up on it. I got the mini instruction course and I was off. At first I was doing donuts in an area away from everyone, getting the feel of it, then I took behind a big, ~26', Baja cigarette style boat with the twin engines and the retired gentleman piloting it, and his 5 passengers. I was about 150' back, enjoying the smooth ride in his wake. We rounded a bend and I knew the lake was coming to an end so I turned around before the Baja and headed back the way I came.
As I rode, I noticed another Baja, smaller, only about 18', anchored in the middle of the lake, but out of the line of traffic. As I looked at this smaller Baja, one of the women on it began to wave at me. I rode over and found that they were disabled. They were trying to figure out how to get it started, as the owner had left them to run around while he went for more gas. They had apparently made it that far and it quit. I tried to assist and found the boat would only sputter, so the woman, who turned out to be the owners wife, asked me for a ride. She wanted to go to the big Baja, the one I had been following, because they should know how to start another Baja, right? I had my reservations, but who was I to say? She climbed on the Seadoo and I took her up to where the other Baja was now sitting. I thought, from a distance, that they had decided to stop there and hang out. I was wrong. When we got close we found that Baja number one had run aground and both of those big engines could do him no good now.
Seadoo to the rescue! I offered a tow and they threw me a rope, which was tied to a stern cleat on the port side. Leaning over my passenger, I tied it to the Seadoo tow cleat and began to pull. That thing was stuck pretty good and I ended up pulling at the wrong angle, and pulling a wheelie on the Seadoo, which promptly threw my passenger into the water and almost threw me. Fortunately it was only about 18" of water at the time and we were both wearing PFDs. She rolled with it just fine. I re-adjusted myself, and my former passenger climbed aboard the big Baja. I had everyone on the big Baja move as far forward on the bow as they could, to take weight off of the stern and began pulling again. Slowly but surely it began to move. Now, I AM churning a bit of mud, and what little I knew about PWCs, besides the minimal draft, included the fact that mud probably isn't good for the impeller, but I was moving him slowly, and there was no one else around with as little draft as that Seadoo at the time.
I pulled him for about 100 feet, then he still didn't think it was enough (probably because he was on plane when he went in there and didn't stop until he ran aground on plane), so we moved the rope to the front of the Baja and I pulled him another 200ft by his bow eye, to get him deep enough so he could go under his own power without damaging his props even more.
I then had my former passenger jump back on because her husband had now shown up at a deserted dock/boat ramp we had passed as we were towing the big Baja. Carried her to the dock and swapped passengers. Her husband got her vest and hopped on with me, and I took him back to his small Baja, where the large Baja was now attempting to render assistance. A few minutes of troubleshooting by the owner determined that the fuel pump had gone kaput and he was gonna need a tow.
Seadoo to the rescue again! I asked if he had a rope, and he did, and I then towed the small Baja back to the deserted dock where I had picked the owner up and dropped his wife. I didn't ask for anything but they gave me 20 bucks for the tow, which I took, as it wasn't my fuel I was using. I scooted on back to my pontoon boat, where my friends were wondering about me, as I had been gone over an hour, and handed my friend the 20 bucks I had made on my first PWC ride ever. I explained about the mud I had churned as I towed the big Baja, and pointed it out as it motored past us, right about that time, and told him I'd pay for damage to his jet pump if there was any. There was no damage, I later found out.
So that's how I learned to ride and tow with a PWC, all in the same one hour time period. Oh yeah, I had never towed anything on the water before, in any kind of boat. Fortunately I knew about tying knots that won't slip and can easily be untied from tree work. Came in handy that day.
Was I wrong to take the 20 bucks offered by the small Baja? The big one didn't offer and I didn't ask. Lot's of "thanks" from everyone involved. Was I wrong to turn my buddy's Seadoo into a tow boat/water taxi? I was just trying to help however I could.
Chris
