By Bob Currie, Recreational Boating Safety Specialist
U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Station Galveston Flotilla
Sometimes I forget that recreational boating is about more than fishing. This article will be about some other water sports and how to both participate in them and to boat in proximity to them. First, let’s look at the top eight accident causes for 2023, the last full year for which we have statistics. It is hard enough to operate safely just cruising on the water, but when you add water sports that include towing a person or include cutting up on a personal watercraft (aka jet ski, or just PWC), then you should have an idea of how such activities can compound the safety issues.

Top Eight Recreational Boating Accident Causes for 2023

1. Operator inattention
2. Improper lookout
3. Operator inexperience
4. Excessive speed
5. Machinery failure
6. Navigational rules violation
7. Alcohol use
8. Weather
9. Hazardous waters
10. Force of wake/wave

Tow Sports
Oh, there are so many ways one may be towed behind a boat. Tow sports are quite popular in lakes and rivers where the water is mainly calm, but people also enjoy tow sports in saltwater bays and in the Gulf of Mexico. Here is a partial list of tow sports:

1. Water skiing
2. Wake surfing
3. Wake boarding
4. Parasailing
5. Kiteboarding
6. Tubing
7. Knee boarding
8. Flyboarding

The tow sports all have in common the fact that a person who is holding onto a line is being towed at a distance behind the primary vessel, usually a boat or PWC, but in kiteboarding the primary vessel is, yes, a kite. Two important factors in tow sports are the length of the tow rope and the speed of the towing vessel. Many devices designed to be towed behind a boat list the speeds at which they may safely be towed right on the device. Lets look at how the type and length of a tow rope comes into play.

Tow Ropes
It is important to know that wakeboard tow ropes are different from ski ropes. In general, an average starter length for wakeboard tow ropes for beginners is 45 to 50 feet. Advanced wakeboarders doing tricks can have tow ropes up to 60 to 70 feet in length. Wakeboarders want a stiff rope that won’t recoil during airborne tricks. A stiff rope allows the wakeboard to lift themselves up into the air easier.

Wakeboarding picture courtesy of Urby Republic

For water skiers, most normal length ropes range from 60 to 70 feet in length. Rather than a stiff rope, water skiers, as well as tubers and knee boarders, want a rope with stretch, especially for negotiating a slalom ski course. That stretchiness also acts as a shock absorber when jumping the wake. Tubes can cause shock loading of the tow line, and for that reason tow lines should be replaced annually or when visible fraying occurs. A snapped towing line can severely injure either a passenger in the boat or a person being towed. When a tow line snaps it is as loud as a gunshot and can be just as dangerous.

Boat speed is related to the length of your tow rope. The faster your boat is going, the longer the tow ropes it can accommodate. If you get stuck in the wash of the wake, either speed up your boat or shorten the tow rope. An average tow boat speed should be about 16 to 25 mph depending on the skill level and weight of the rider. When I was doing a lot of slalom skiing, my tow line was 75 feet and my speed was 32 mph. It took a lot of trial and error to come up with that combination, but it made all the difference. Tubing and knee boarding are usually done at lower speeds than skiing due to the increased buoyance of the tube or kneeboard. An experienced rider will give the operator hand signals designed to tell the operator to speed up, slow down, stop, turn, or go straight. It’s a good idea to discuss signals before even starting the tow.

Inflatables
Towing an inflatable often involves towing multiple persons. Years ago we just got an old truck inner tube and tied a ski rope to it. Inflatables these days can haul up to 5 passengers at various speeds across the water. One key thing to keep in mind is that the person being towed, no matter the device, is required to wear a Coast Guard approved life jacket. Another key piece of information is that the person being towed counts in the maximum passenger and weight restrictions for the towing vessel. This includes PWC. If the capacity plate of the PWC says it has a maximum of 3 persons, then if two persons are on the PWC then you may only tow one person behind.

Parasailing
Parasailing involves persons attached to a large sail, with the sail attached to the tow line by a harness. Although parasail lines can be up to 500 feet in length, the average line is 200 feet with the rider being towed up to 150 feet high behind the boat. The rider starts on the rear deck of the boat. As the boat moves forward, the sail fills with air, and at a certain speed the operator will let out the tow line from a drum, slowly feeding out the line as the parasailer rises into the air. Speaking with experience, that 200 feet seems like half a mile. The average boat speed will be 15 to 30 mph, depending on whether the boat is running into the wind or with the wind. It takes less speed to keep your height up when running into the wind than it does when running with the wind.

Personal Watercraft (PWCs)
PWCs are just a variation of powerboat. All powerboat rules apply to operating a PWC. PWCs can be great fun when operated responsibly. It’s not true that you can’t jump a wake; you just can’t jump the wake of another vessel recklessly or unnecessarily close. You cannot operate a PWC at night. You can’t operate a PWC within 50 feet of another PWC, motorboat, vessel, platform, person, object or shore except at headway speed (slow or idle speed). Operators, passengers, and those being towed by a PWC must wear an approved life jacket; for PWC operators it is recommended that you wear a speed rated life jacket, rated for the maximum speed of the PWC. Those el cheapos just fly to pieces when you hit the water at 50 mph.

Tow Sport Safety Issues: Operator Inattention and Improper Lookout
Operator inattention is the top recreational boating accident cause. This applies to both the operator of the towing vessel as well as to the operator of a vessel near a towing vessel. The regulations require that the operator of a boat towing a person either use a parabolic ski mirror or a rear facing observer. If the tow boat operator is turning around in the seat to observe the person being towed, then they aren’t paying attention to what is in front of them. Such inattention has led to several collisions when the tow boat operator was either distracted or not watching forward. On the flip side, recreational vessels have run over tow lines causing injury and death. They may have noticed the vessel but not the person being towed.

Tow Sport Safety Issue: Operator Inexperience and Excessive Speed
Operator inexperience and excessive speed go hand in hand. The inexperienced tow boat operator is more likely to go too fast for the situation. Unfortunately, the two accident causes often involve a third accident cause: alcohol use. Most towed inflatables come with maximum safe speed recommendations. I was once towed on a kneeboard across Lake Conroe with a friend whose wife was at the throttle of his 455 hp jet boat. We thought she understood that we wanted to run about 20 mph, but we soon found us skimming the surface at 55 mph. We produced so much spray she couldn’t possibly have seen our hand signals, and that big Oldsmobile engine was running straight exhaust so she couldn’t hear our screams. Turning loose would have sent us tumbling across the water like bouncing on concrete. We could only hold on until she decided to stop. That was operator inexperience as well as excessive speed. She hadn’t been drinking though.

Tow Sport Safety Issue: Sharp Turn
Why do tow sport boat operators make sharp turns? So they can go back and pick up the person being towed when they fall or turn loose of the tow rope. They don’t look. They just turn. Keep that in mind when operating near an operator that is towing someone. As the tow boat operator, your safest bet is to ease off the throttle, come to a stop, survey the situation for vessels nearby, and then return to your downed rider. Don’t run over the tow rope! Chances are it will wrap around your propeller and cause damage. While you are trying to remove that tow rope from your propeller your rider will be exposed to being run over by another boat. Skiers should be reminded to hold their ski up as a warning to approaching boats. Just grab the boot and put the tip of the ski high out of the water. If you were riding an inflatable, swim to it as quickly as possible.

Tow Sport Safety Issue: Restricted Vision
I see this situation a lot. A powerboat operator is trying to tow a skier who is having trouble getting up. The boat bow is aimed toward the sky as the inexperienced skier digs in with the ski. I found out that if I dug my ski in I could keep that 455 hp Oldsmobile from making any headway, at lease briefly until the ski handle was ripped from my hands. As this happens, the boat operator is blind to what is in front of the boat. This can be exacerbated by additional passengers riding in the bow. Give that tow boat a wide berth when you see that they have a skier struggling to get up. He doesn’t see you.

Flyboarding Safety Issues
Flyboarding is one of the latest crazes in water sports. There are three main pieces of equipment used in flyboarding: a PWC, a large diameter hose connecting the PWC with the flyboard, and the flyboard itself, which has two control nozzles. The hose is usually about 50 feet in length and allows the flyboarder to reach that height above the water. Flyboarders should operate outside the main channels and in an area free of rocks and other obstructions. Other vessel operators should give the flyboarder a wide berth, as the flyboards are capable of very quick changes in direction, and they tow the PWC behind them. Flyboarders are fun to watch, but don’t get too close to them or their PWC. Flyboarders who notice that other vessels are to close to them should shut down until the vessel moves away from them.

Flyboarder; picture courtesy of Urby Republic

Tow Sport Safety Issue: Navigation Rule Violation
There are several navigation rules violations that led to making the top 8 accident cause list. Here are six rules briefly summarized that appear most frequently in accident investigations:

1. Rule 5: Post a Lookout- Designate someone to watch for dangers that may come from any direction.
2. Rule 6: Safe Speed- You must judge safe speed for yourself, taking into account visibility, vessel traffic, your boat’s ability to maneuver, and other conditions named in the rule.
3. Rule 8: Actions to Avoid a Collision- Any action shall be positive, made in ample time and with due regard to the observance of good seamanship. Alteration of course alone may be the most effective action to avoid a close-quarter situation.
4. Rule 13: Overtaking- Any vessel overtaking any other vessel shall keep out of the way of the vessel being overtaken.
5. Rule 14: Passing Head-On- Unless otherwise agree when two power-driven vessels are meeting on reciprocal or nearly reciprocal courses (head-on) so as to involve a risk of collision each shall alter her course to starboard so that each shall pass on the port side of the other.
6. Rule 15: Crossing Situations- When two power-driven vessels are crossing so as to involve a risk of collision, the vessel which has the other on her own starboard side shall keep out of the way and shall avoid crossing ahead of the other vessel.

Special Flags
Some bodies of water have special regulations regarding the use of flags whenever a person is being towed. Be sure to inquire about such when you boat in a new place.

Summary
A great deal of being a recreational boater involves water sports. Jumping out there on the water to participate in one of the many different water sports is not intuitive; you need special training related to to each sport. In addition, those of you who are operating in proximity to water sport activity need to know how to operate so as to not cause an accident or become an accident victim. You can find classes and instruction on safely participating in any water sport. Learn the safe speeds that go with each water sport and you will enjoy recreational boating much more.

[BC: Aug-6-2024]