First Time Wakeboarding, Almost Hit by Another Boat

[wTheOnew]

Me and the wife were finally able to get out with a few friends for the first time in a long time. Monday early afternoon it was super calm, only a couple other boats out on the lake. Perfect conditions.

Able to get up on the board. Made a couple successful runs for a noob.



I ate it shortly after this picture was taken. The channel is over 4000ft wide at this point and we're staying off to one side of it. Notice the boat in the background? No other boats around except the two in the picture. He passed within 20ft of me down in the water. I'm waving my arms and the people in my boat nearby are yelling that we have a skier down. His exact words to the arm waving and yelling, "Are you kidding me? I saw him. F*ck you".

Just wanted to complain to someone that understands. Almost everyone we've met on the lake are super friendly happy people. I mean, how can you be mad on a boat? But this guy, whew... Be safe out there.

 

[anmut]

WI law says "slow no wake" within 100 feet of any dock, marked area, towing boat, swimmer, or down skier/etc. I go by yards, personally, and tell my wife stay 50 yards away which gives enough buffer. Even then though, sometimes 50 yards seems a lot closer than comfortable for both us on our boat and a person/boat recovering a down rider. Sounds like this guy was a real arse and probably had some stupid excuse for passing you that close. I tell riders to wave your board (even if you have to get out of it) if there's lots of traffic. Resetting in the water for a few more minutes is a lot better than resetting in a hospital for a few weeks.

 

[sunbyrned]

Just another yahoo only concerned about himself. Even if he saw you, he should have taken any concern you had away so you had some peace of mind. Sorry that happened.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Man..... some people are F'in Nuts. I have had several close calls now with boats while either swimming or person down.

 

[2kwik4u]

Sucks that happened for certain.

Because of crap like this, as soon as a ride is down we cut power and turn broadside to any oncoming or nearby boats. Then hustle back to the downed skier. Usually gets their attention when a boat that was on plane drops off and turns into and then stops in front of them.

 

[Scottintexas]

it stinks when the whole lake is available, another good lesson for a boat driver,

our area can become congested and sometimes we throw in the towel and go anchor because of traffic,

we also have a signal, a closed hand/fist, "hold what you have", if we get somebody coming behind us, as driver I usually try to maneuver us out of their way while the boarder knows not to try any tricks and just stay up, in some cases I have cut power to drop the boarder and then quickly U-turn back to put our boat in between them,

the worst in when we're tubing (usually when we call it off) when one rider falls off and then the 2nd or 3rd drops off on the way back and now I've got people floating all over, then I have to go over the safety rules again,

 

[Miitch]

Thats scary stuff man.. especially for a first time out. Would probably deter most people away. we tried wakeboarding fir the first time on Sunday too! got a good taste of lake water, thats for sure. Fortunately, no close calls. I make everyone that tubes/skis/boards behind my boat tie a whistle on their life jacket, so if they seriously injure themselves during a fall, we can all take action and hopefully grab the attention of some bystanders...

After hearing your story, maybe the whistle serves a dual purpose... though im not sure how much of it would be heard by an asshole driver going WOT not paying a cent of attention...

 

[wTheOnew]

Our driver cut power and got back to me way faster than normal. Heard our boat rev up instead of just idling to get back to me quick. Can't really have asked them to do any better. He got up on me quick. In the year or so we've had the boat I've never seen anyone come this close to someone in the water. Shoot, I don't like idling by people I don't know that close.

On Saturday we were surfing in a circuit with several other boats, too busy to wakeboard. Everyone had it down. Stupid busy lake and nothing even remotely resembling a close call. Guess the one other boat on the lake on Monday within a half mile of this guy was just too much to brain out.

On a positive side of thing, got some ballast so I was able to surf ropeless super easily, got up on a wakeboard for the first time, and had had a blast on the tube.

 

[anmut]

Thats scary stuff man.. especially for a first time out. Would probably deter most people away. we tried wakeboarding fir the first time on Sunday too! got a good taste of lake water, thats for sure. Fortunately, no close calls. I make everyone that tubes/skis/boards behind my boat tie a whistle on their life jacket, so if they seriously injure themselves during a fall, we can all take action and hopefully grab the attention of some bystanders...

After hearing your story, maybe the whistle serves a dual purpose... though im not sure how much of it would be heard by an asshole driver going WOT not paying a cent of attention...

Whistle is a good idea - what did you buy?

 

[2kwik4u]

I like that whistle idea @Miitch . Might implement that on the tube for the kids.

@wTheOnew Glad to hear it remained a positive experience. Kudos to the driver as well for getting back to you in a hurry.

 

[Miitch]

Whistle is a good idea - what did you buy?

I like that whistle idea @Miitch . Might implement that on the tube for the kids.

I bought 6 of these - one for each life jacket. Fortunately, they have seen no use. Seemed like a good idea as i was learning the ins and outs of picking fallen riders, and taking my time. Was only going to be temporary but decided on just keeping them.

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/fox-40-classic-marine-whistle-lanyard-0798596p.html

 

[Super6]

A whistle or even an air horn may be a good idea. Unfortunately from some folks they are simply oblivious which means we all need to stay more vigilant. Glad you are okay.

 

[Diybrad]

Luckily so far most boats have seem to keep their distance. Only thing we have to watch out for is all the crab pot bouys in our area.

 

[gallobg]

Man that sucks. If you’ve never been towed behind a boat before, it’s hard to appreciate how scary it can be in the water on a busy lake. For us, whenever we are towing anything, we keep a long “skier down” flag at the ready. Something like this Airhead flag, its bright orange and 4ft long so it’s noticeable. It took a few times out to make it routine, but now the flag is at the ready before anyone gets towed.

I like the whistle idea mentioned above but I don’t know how loud it would be on the water over the sound of a high-revving engine.

Airhead Amazon.com: Watersports Flag, 48" deluxe: Sports & Outdoors

 

[ysidive]

Me and the wife were finally able to get out with a few friends for the first time in a long time. Monday early afternoon it was super calm, only a couple other boats out on the lake. Perfect conditions.

Able to get up on the board. Made a couple successful runs for a noob.

View attachment 124466

I ate it shortly after this picture was taken. The channel is over 4000ft wide at this point and we're staying off to one side of it. Notice the boat in the background? No other boats around except the two in the picture. He passed within 20ft of me down in the water. I'm waving my arms and the people in my boat nearby are yelling that we have a skier down. His exact words to the arm waving and yelling, "Are you kidding me? I saw him. F*ck you".

Just wanted to complain to someone that understands. Almost everyone we've met on the lake are super friendly happy people. I mean, how can you be mad on a boat? But this guy, whew... Be safe out there.

I am also on Lanier and find the occasional idiot... Some just do not know the rules, do not have common sense, or just do not care.... YOU CANT FIX STUPID>>>>