Surfriding What to do when your ski dies in the waves?

[Beall425]

I never really thought about it much until it happened.

What do you do when your jet ski dies in the ocean?

My SN wouldnt start and I had no clue what to do. My friend tried to push me in but that didn't work to good. I ended up trying to hold on but the first wave pushed me away from it and I almost sunk my ski. The pole broke along with the bracket and my engine compartment was 3/4 full of water from rolling in the waves.

So what is the best thing to do? Try to stay on it and ride in the waves?

 

[BrightE's]

I carry an emergency tow rope, it weighs a fraction of a pound and can withstand 500+ pounds of pulling force. I also never ride alone if out too far to swim it.

It's also important that both my skis and the guys I ride with have tray bow eyes for towing. These are the basics of not losing your ski and the riding alone thing possibly your life.

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[shaunsteezy]

point your nose to the beach and start kicking while laying in the tray. when a wave comes, hold on like your life depends on it. it doesnt hurt to have quick tow rope set up but it usually easier to get the ski close to the beach where your can touch the bottom. also, GET A BILGE PUMP

 

[air blair]

Turn on bilge immediately, limiting rope on pole, tow rope

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[Beall425]

Turning in the bilge immediately would have helped for sure! Totally forgot.

thanks for the responses

 

[lawmaster891]

Happened to me before when I was riding with only one other person. I just held on to the bars while laying in the tray and let the waves bring me back in. In between waves I kick kick kick .

 

[air blair]

Ya, daytona last year. Same thing they were feirce. I hung on and rolled with it the few times i got gobbled up. U gotta know when to hold and know when to fold i guess. Depending on wave size too

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[Jet_jase]

It's amazing how many people ride surf without all the necessary gear. Tow rope with quick conect clips, Tow eyes , bilge pump(at least 1), a helmet, Hood straps the ratchet kind (not the plastic crappy clips).
We don't let antone ride with us without all these things.....it's a no brainer IMO.

 

[stagesrt4]

I had to tow my buddies brawler with my foot rocket when he popped off his chamber in 7-9ft rollers

We used his limiting rope as a tow rope. Tied the rope from the base of his pole to one of the mounts on my pump. He laid on the back of his ski while I laid on mine n just idled him the miles or so to get in.

We both had our bilges going the whole time...





ive also broke my negative cable on my ski after a hard wipe out. Was a calm day so wasn't too bad in that aspect. Only downfall is that I have the OCD bilge system which is integrated into the Ebox so when my negative cable broke I also lost my bilges. Due to no bilges I didn't wanna attempt towing so I just swam it the 2 miles...fun fun

 

[AtomicPunk]

Bilge on as soon as you leave the launch/beach....

 

[CRJ]

alot of guys run a bilge 24/7, i just kick it on every 5 min to check. ALWAYS carry a tow rope. always have tow points front and rear. i towed a buddies brawler in to shore, and i was standing in the tray while he surfed the wake behind me. got it going fast enough to empty the hull with the scupper.

ALWAYS have a fire extinguisher near by or on shore. on friday we had a ski go down, and then proceed to catch fire within 5 minutes.

 

[kraqus]

point your nose to the beach and start kicking while laying in the tray. when a wave comes, hold on like your life depends on it. it doesnt hurt to have quick tow rope set up but it usually easier to get the ski close to the beach where your can touch the bottom. also, GET A BILGE PUMP

THIS.
Basically BODY SURF the wave, it will push you to shore and you won't get beat up.


Plus all the gear everyone already commented on.





Benny

 

[OCD Solutions]

Having been caught in an outgoing tide on more than one occasion, I know body surfing it in is not always going to cut it. You really should ride with at least one other ski and always have tow capabilities.

Having a good hood seal, well seated hood and hood retaining system will go a long way to keeping your ski afloat long enough to get somewhere safe. Bilges are a great backup for when the above items fail or just aren't enough.

 

[naticen]

Having been caught in an outgoing tide on more than one occasion, I know body surfing it in is not always going to cut it. You really should ride with at least one other ski and always have tow capabilities.

Having a good hood seal, well seated hood and hood retaining system will go a long way to keeping your ski afloat long enough to get somewhere safe. Bilges are a great backup for when the above items fail or just aren't enough.

I agree with the bilge as a back up for hood seals and tubes that go to the bottom. Most of my friends that run bilges do it because they don't feel like finding where all their water comes from in the first place. Then comes the tow rope, extra pair of plugs, a few zip ties and then a bilge. No good reason not to have it all though.

If an outgoing tide gets you, does that mean you are in an inlet? Are there any rideable beach breaks around there?

 

[weso]

I always ride with a small cammel pack with a 13/16 wrench smallest can of wd-40 and a extra pair of plugs in the egine bay in a zip lock bag and the tow rope. A whistle can help also hooked to your lanyard. I always wonder what would I do if my friend knocks himself out how do you get a friend to safety on a standup with 5-6 foot bombs coming in? I don't ever want to find out.

 

[OCD Solutions]

With the exception of Daytona Beach, all of our ride spots involve a short ride out in a channel and that is where I have been caught every time. Once my pipe came apart, another the stator failed and then I played too long and ran out of gas about 1/2 way back in.

I know I've ve been towed in a few more times than that but they don't stick out because we all have ropes and I was hooked up and saved right away. The times I mentioned involved me not being able to hold my ski in one location or get to shore and I was swept out of the channel and into open ocean within 15 minutes.

I carry a small waterproof personal locator beacon now. It's made by ACR, is registered in my name and should bring coast Guard down on top of my dual band transmitter within minutes. Small piece of mind for me and my crew.

 

[Dunx90]

I never go out alone and i carry a small tow rope which i hook onto my dash hook where my limiting rope clips on. Also have a whistle on my lanyard.
My mate i go out with carry's a bum bag with flares.

 

[227]

point your nose to the beach and start kicking while laying in the tray. when a wave comes, hold on like your life depends on it. it doesnt hurt to have quick tow rope set up but it usually easier to get the ski close to the beach where your can touch the bottom. also, GET A BILGE PUMP

THIS x3!

 

[tipafew]

I always ride with a small cammel pack with a 13/16 wrench smallest can of wd-40 and a extra pair of plugs in the egine bay in a zip lock bag and the tow rope. A whistle can help also hooked to your lanyard. I always wonder what would I do if my friend knocks himself out how do you get a friend to safety on a standup with 5-6 foot bombs coming in? I don't ever want to find out.

I had the unpleasant experience of pulling a friend to shore this weekend. We were riding in small 3-4's. I looked over....one minute he was riding the next minute he was laying in the water. I went over and he had a MAJOR Tib/Fib break. It wasn't pretty. Fortunately I could touch bottom and was able to drag him in to shore. If we were a little deeper it would have been way worse. As it was I was exhausted after dragging him in and then swimming back out to resue two skis. One of the worst riding days of my life.

 

[Fro Diesel]

I had the unpleasant experience of pulling a friend to shore this weekend. We were riding in small 3-4's. I looked over....one minute he was riding the next minute he was laying in the water. I went over and he had a MAJOR Tib/Fib break. It wasn't pretty. Fortunately I could touch bottom and was able to drag him in to shore. If we were a little deeper it would have been way worse. As it was I was exhausted after dragging him in and then swimming back out to resue two skis. One of the worst riding days of my life.

Least you could walk it off. How did the break happen? Glad u were there to bring him to shore.