Launch your ski boat, not your car

This is how we roll and roll and roll.

Maybe you can guess how this situation happened or maybe it has happened to you.  This is safety tip #1.  Release your turnbuckle.

It was a bright sunny day at a water ski lake.  Bill and Jim decided to go for a ski ride.  Jim had a procedure of backing his boat down the ramp, applying the emergency brake, hopping out of the vehicle and releasing the turnbuckle lanyard that connects the boat to the trailer. 

Release your turnbuckle before launching your boat 

But on this day, Jim had a friend along, Bill, who was a little less experienced in driving a boat off a trailer.   Anxious to get their ski sets in, Jim backed slowly down the ramp as Bill was at the wheel of the boat.  Jim allows the boat to float just slightly before getting out of his SUV to release the turnbuckle.  But not this day!

In one harmonious action, Jim applies the emergency brake and opens the car door.  Bill, at the wheel of the boat, is unaware that Jim is going to release the boat from the SUV.  At that moment, Bill throws the boat into a hard reverse to pull off the trailer.

Safety tip:  Never have children in your car when launching a boat

Jim in a frenzy, jumps back into the SUV to apply more pressure to the brakes and is yelling out the window for Bill to stop the boat in reverse!  Bill quotes "Being rather short in height, I found I could not apply brake pressure and stick my head out of the window at the same time!"  In these seconds of confusion, Jim is now screaming, go forward, go forward!  But this is not what Bill is hearing and applies even more throttle in reverse, hence the pulling of the car into the lake and the sinking of the ship.

 There have been several boat ramp stories around water ski lakes and some incidents which prompt for more safety rules.  It is for this reason that having a child in a car seat or in the vehicle when backing down the ramp is not a safe procedure.  One incident of a driver trying to save the car, jumps back into the SUV and gets hit with the airbag.  Another story is of a brand new Mercedes only 3 days old that sank 100 feet because the driver forgot to put the car in park and emergency brake on.

 If you are going to venture into boat ownership for water skiing, or already do, take some time to review your emergency procedures and safe boating practices and you may consider taking a safe boating course.

For more info: Laurie Lindsey, Regional Safety Director, USA Water Ski.  Laurie@elitevenu.com