Protocol for Rope Tossing?

[ChumpChange]

I know there may not be too much skiing / wakeboarding with our boats but IÂ’ll ask the question anyway.
You have a buddy who is going to board behind the boat, does he:
1.Take the rope with him when he jumps in the water?
2.Jump in the water and have you throw the rope at him?
3.Jump in the water and have you throw the rope away from him
and then he swims for it?
DonÂ’t necessarily need an opinion on what you think you should do, I would like to know what the standard protocol on your boat is?

[sea2lake]

jump in, Ill throw you the rope

[Cole1313]

Take the rope with you, I dont want to have to put down my beer and get out of the seat.

[riverbound]

I have always thrown the rope to my skier once they are in the water and away from the boat.

[RAZORSHARP]

throw him the orange flag negotiate who wipes the boat down later.

[lucky]

i usually throw the rope and the other boat pulls me to shore lol

[AZKC]

I usually throw the rope out and get it behind the boat, then the skiers get in and I bring the handle to them. Its kind of hard to throw a 100 plus foot rope out without some snags getting in it. But this is behind a jetboat :crossx: you really dont want a short rope behind a jet :220v:

[Cole1313]

I usually throw the rope out and get it behind the boat, then the skiers get in and I bring the handle to them. Its kind of hard to throw a 100 plus foot rope out without some snags getting in it. But this is behind a jetboat :crossx: you really dont want a short rope behind a jet :220v:
100 foot rope??? Damn, I havent seen those in years. How big of a circle do you have to do once the skier falls. Behind my jet we used 65 and shorter depending how I felt that day.

[moneypit]

Ropes are old news... We just hang on to the transom. :220v:
.

[h2oski2fast]

I usually take the rope with me (I do so in a matter that it rarely gets tangled) either way if I jump in with the ski or toss it in. If you are talking a newbie, I suggest letting them get in the water, get the ski/s on, then toss them the rope. It's no fun fighting with putting on skis and having to worry about the rope also.

[Froggystyle]

Always in the following order...
1) Jump in water
2) Put on ski/wakeboard while boat loiters near for safety (10-20 feet away)
3) Once settled and ready, throw the rope OVER skiier by a good distance.
4) Allow skiier to grab rope, and hold rope on your end until the rope is dragged to the skiier and they have the handle.
5) Pay out the rest of the rope while you are idling off the same direction you are going to take off in.
6) Once rope is approaching taut, move to neutral and coast to taut.
7) Upon yelling "Hit it" engage the gear or put in forward and roll on throttle.
Never say I don't help... ;)

[ROZ]

Always in the following order...
1) Jump in water
2) Put on ski/wakeboard while boat loiters near for safety (10-20 feet away)
3) Once settled and ready, throw the rope OVER skiier by a good distance.
4) Allow skiier to grab rope, and hold rope on your end until the rope is dragged to the skiier and they have the handle.
5) Pay out the rest of the rope while you are idling off the same direction you are going to take off in.
6) Once rope is approaching taut, move to neutral and coast to taut.
7) Upon yelling "Hit it" engage the gear or put in forward and roll on throttle.
Never say I don't help... ;)
That's how we were brought up doing it...

[H20 Toie]

Always in the following order...
1) Jump in water
2) Put on ski/wakeboard while boat loiters near for safety (10-20 feet away)
3) Once settled and ready, throw the rope OVER skiier by a good distance.
4) Allow skiier to grab rope, and hold rope on your end until the rope is dragged to the skiier and they have the handle.
5) Pay out the rest of the rope while you are idling off the same direction you are going to take off in.
6) Once rope is approaching taut, move to neutral and coast to taut.
7) Upon yelling "Hit it" engage the gear or put in forward and roll on throttle.
Never say I don't help... ;)
6.5) finish beer or put in holder

[SOMEBEACH]

Take the rope with you, I dont want to have to put down my beer and get out of the seat.
And I thought I was the only one!! :cool:

[Cole1313]

And I thought I was the only one!! :cool:
Its the way I was taught. So I am trying to carry on the tradition.
Also, you have to tell the skiers that there is no netural, when the rope is tight we are going. Dont tell me to hit it. Just hold on. Also, I will tell you what a good speed to be pulled at is. Just hang on.

[Froggystyle]

6.5) finish beer or put in holder
My bad.

[Boatcop]

One ski-rope note....
A rope in the water with no skier is considered a hazard to navigation. Flag or no flag. At least in AZ.
Court case decision. Here's the deal:
Boat "A" stopped with the rope out, ski flag up, skier on the swim step putting on the ski.
Boat "B" drives by, catches the rope, when the rope gets taut, the pulley (remember those things?) flies off and strikes a young girl swimming off the beach nearby. Hits her in the face, causing serious injury and blinding one eye.
Parents sue both boat "A" & "B" alleging negligence.
Boat "A" says it's not their fault, they had the flag up.
Boat "B" says it's not their fault, since there was no skier in the water, and they had no reason to think there was a rope out.
The court ruled for boat "B", in that if there is no skier in the water, there is no reason to believe that a rope is out, and that the flag applies only to a skier in the water and not a rope. 100% fault was given to boat "A". (upheld to the AZ Appeals Court)
Moral of the story? No skier in the water, bring the rope in.

[h2oski2fast]

Its the way I was taught. So I am trying to carry on the tradition.
Also, you have to tell the skiers that there is no netural, when the rope is tight we are going. Dont tell me to hit it. Just hold on. Also, I will tell you what a good speed to be pulled at is. Just hang on.
You get to pull me, then I get to pull you!

[mike37]

I take it with me
but if its not me I let them jump in wait 10min wile they get their shit ready.
then trow the rope past them so I can slowly bring the handle to them
by that time 30 seconds or so they are all F up and I need to go around.
bring the rope to them again but for some reason the didn't want to wait for the rope to get back to them and now they are swimming backwards for the rope and get all F up again.
so I yell stay put and I will bring the rope to you.
now I have the rope right there for them but there not ready and the boat is drifting a little so they yell stop for a minute so I can get set I tell them
I cant stop the wind thinking to myself
WTF do they think I can just trow it in park and stay right there for them its not a dam car
so I go around again get the rope just perfect they get it and say hit it down they go.
repeat every thing from throwing the rope 3 Moor times now were skiing WHOO.
2 min later there down there tiered and dun skiing
repeat above for every one in the boat.

[YeLLowBoaT]

Always in the following order...
1) Jump in water
2) Put on ski/wakeboard while boat loiters near for safety (10-20 feet away)
3) Once settled and ready, throw the rope OVER skiier by a good distance.
4) Allow skiier to grab rope, and hold rope on your end until the rope is dragged to the skiier and they have the handle.
5) Pay out the rest of the rope while you are idling off the same direction you are going to take off in.
6) Once rope is approaching taut, move to neutral and coast to taut.
7) Upon yelling "Hit it" engage the gear or put in forward and roll on throttle.
Never say I don't help... ;)
Only thing I can add is in between 3 and 4 is Restart the boat.
I always have the motor off when I have ppl with in 20 ft of the boat.

[YeLLowBoaT]

One ski-rope note....
A rope in the water with no skier is considered a hazard to navigation. Flag or no flag. At least in AZ.
Court case decision. Here's the deal:
Boat "A" stopped with the rope out, ski flag up, skier on the swim step putting on the ski.
Boat "B" drives by, catches the rope, when the rope gets taut, the pulley (remember those things?) flies off and strikes a young girl swimming off the beach nearby. Hits her in the face, causing serious injury and blinding one eye.
Parents sue both boat "A" & "B" alleging negligence.
Boat "A" says it's not their fault, they had the flag up.
Boat "B" says it's not their fault, since there was no skier in the water, and they had no reason to think there was a rope out.
The court ruled for boat "B", in that if there is no skier in the water, there is no reason to believe that a rope is out, and that the flag applies only to a skier in the water and not a rope. 100% fault was given to boat "A". (upheld to the AZ Appeals Court)
Moral of the story? No skier in the water, bring the rope in.
I Think that ruling is complete BULL POOP.... the flag means in lay men's terms.... "STAY THE FOOK AWAY"....

[mike37]

One ski-rope note....
A rope in the water with no skier is considered a hazard to navigation. Flag or no flag. At least in AZ.
Court case decision. Here's the deal:
Boat "A" stopped with the rope out, ski flag up, skier on the swim step putting on the ski.
Boat "B" drives by, catches the rope, when the rope gets taut, the pulley (remember those things?) flies off and strikes a young girl swimming off the beach nearby. Hits her in the face, causing serious injury and blinding one eye.
Parents sue both boat "A" & "B" alleging negligence.
Boat "A" says it's not their fault, they had the flag up.
Boat "B" says it's not their fault, since there was no skier in the water, and they had no reason to think there was a rope out.
The court ruled for boat "B", in that if there is no skier in the water, there is no reason to believe that a rope is out, and that the flag applies only to a skier in the water and not a rope. 100% fault was given to boat "A". (upheld to the AZ Appeals Court)
Moral of the story? No skier in the water, bring the rope in.
my one thing on that is that boat B seeing a flag but no skier should have shut down how the hell do they know there wasn't any one in the water and just didn't see them could have ran someone over

[Ultracrazy]

Always in the following order...
1) Jump in water
2) Put on ski/wakeboard while boat loiters near for safety (10-20 feet away)
3) Once settled and ready, throw the rope OVER skiier by a good distance.
4) Allow skiier to grab rope, and hold rope on your end until the rope is dragged to the skiier and they have the handle.
5) Pay out the rest of the rope while you are idling off the same direction you are going to take off in.
6) Once rope is approaching taut, move to neutral and coast to taut.
7) Upon yelling "Hit it" engage the gear or put in forward and roll on throttle.
Never say I don't help... ;)
This procedure was in place in 1972 when I learned to ski........it works well today :cool:

[HCS]

Stand on the platform with the motor running (so you get a good wiff of carbon monoxide) Put your ski on, then jump in with the handle in your hand.
The rope is coiled on the floor board in the back of the boat, and will un-coil when you idle up.
Pull up the slack and hit it! :)

[h2oski2fast]

Stand on the platform with the motor running (so you get a good wiff of carbon monoxide) Put your ski on, then jump in with the handle in your hand.
The rope is coiled on the floor board in the back of the boat, and will un-coil when you idle up.
Pull up the slack and hit it! :)
Platform? No one said anything about diving. :) :) :)

[Froggystyle]

Only thing I can add is in between 3 and 4 is Restart the boat.
I always have the motor off when I have ppl with in 20 ft of the boat.
You need a jet boat.

[YeLLowBoaT]

I have one :)
Just from too many years of owning OB boats......

[burtandnancy]

I've never been on a boat large enough to have a rope on it, but every boat I owned had a lot of lines; dock lines, ski lines, anchor lines, etc...

[Ziggy]

Skier/boarder in the water first...readies himself and then gets the towrope tossed in the general area, hopefully within reach. When changing skiers I always pull the rope back in.

[HCS]

Platform? No one said anything about diving. :) :) :)
Swim deck then. :rollside:
The rookies I throw in the water and toss them the rope. :crossx:
I teaches them not to linger on the back of the boat. Works everytime. :D

[mickeyfinn]

Don't you love it when the newbie lets go, rope driftsforward and they yell..."BACK IT UP!!!!"

[JB in so cal]

That's how we were brought up doing it...
It figures you'd be in a thread about tossin' someones rope!

[SHIFTY]

Always in the following order...
1) Jump in water
2) Put on ski/wakeboard while boat loiters near for safety (10-20 feet away)
3) Once settled and ready, throw the rope OVER skiier by a good distance.
4) Allow skiier to grab rope, and hold rope on your end until the rope is dragged to the skiier and they have the handle.
5) Pay out the rest of the rope while you are idling off the same direction you are going to take off in.
6) Once rope is approaching taut, move to neutral and coast to taut.
7) Upon yelling "LET IT HAPPEN, CAP'N" engage the gear or put in forward and roll on throttle.
Never say I don't help... ;)
:)

[beyondhelpin]

You get to pull me, then I get to pull you!
You two need to get a room. :220v: :)

[jbtrailerjim]

Always in the following order...
1) Jump in water
2) Put on ski/wakeboard while boat loiters near for safety (10-20 feet away)
3) Once settled and ready, throw the rope OVER skiier by a good distance.
4) Allow skiier to grab rope, and hold rope on your end until the rope is dragged to the skiier and they have the handle.
5) Pay out the rest of the rope while you are idling off the same direction you are going to take off in.
6) Once rope is approaching taut, move to neutral and coast to taut.
7) Upon yelling "Hit it" engage the gear or put in forward and roll on throttle.
Never say I don't help... ;)
This is the exact way my dad taught me years ago and it is the way I do it everytime.

[Sleek-Jet]

Only thing I can add is in between 3 and 4 is Restart the boat.
I always have the motor off when I have ppl with in 20 ft of the boat.
I second this. Even in a jet boat.
I'll throw the rope to the skier, if they can't get to it easily, I'll idle around and bring it to them.
Newbies, I'll put someone in the water with them to help the out so they don't have to worry about the rope. Yes, close to shore so the helper can swim over and not have to worry about getting run over.

[Sleek-Jet]

I've never been on a boat large enough to have a rope on it, but every boat I owned had a lot of lines; dock lines, ski lines, anchor lines, etc...
Man... there is one in every crowd... :D :D :D

[termiteguy]

I take it with me
but if its not me I let them jump in wait 10min wile they get their shit ready.
then trow the rope past them so I can slowly bring the handle to them
by that time 30 seconds or so they are all F up and I need to go around.
bring the rope to them again but for some reason the didn't want to wait for the rope to get back to them and now they are swimming backwards for the rope and get all F up again.
so I yell stay put and I will bring the rope to you.
now I have the rope right there for them but there not ready and the boat is drifting a little so they yell stop for a minute so I can get set I tell them
I cant stop the wind thinking to myself
WTF do they think I can just trow it in park and stay right there for them its not a dam car
so I go around again get the rope just perfect they get it and say hit it down they go.
repeat every thing from throwing the rope 3 Moor times now were skiing WHOO.
2 min later there down there tiered and dun skiing
repeat above for every one in the boat.
you must have learned that by watching my crew in morning i dont ski but its my boat that gets used all the time :argue:

[Havasu Hangin']

I award myself extra points for cracking the skier in the head while he's messing with his boots...

[burtandnancy]

Sleek, you gotta know I was just being a smart ass with a newbie. Maybe not in this case, but there are a lot of new boaters out there who don't know the pointy end of a boat from the flat end. I'm sure you've rescued many of them...

[Sleek-Jet]

Sleek, you gotta know I was just being a smart ass with a newbie. Maybe not in this case, but there are a lot of new boaters out there who don't know the pointy end of a boat from the flat end. I'm sure you've rescued many of them...
I knew you were kidding... notice the :D in the post. :D :D :D

[Froggystyle]

Sleek, you gotta know I was just being a smart ass with a newbie. Maybe not in this case, but there are a lot of new boaters out there who don't know the pointy end of a boat from the flat end. I'm sure you've rescued many of them...
I personally let it slide... I figured nobody would get it if I talked about casting the hauser aft...

[NuckinFutz]

Depends on who's throwing the rope. Not to brag, but I usually get the rope close enough to the skier they don't have to swim, but the wife is of the opionion you make the skier tired from swimming before they get up! I guess that is why I like leaving it on the boat coiled and drag off the slack when I ski.

[ChumpChange]

Sleek, you gotta know I was just being a smart ass with a newbie.
Wow! I'm still a newbie? What's somebody around here have to do to get out of this status. I like the word rope. Don't most people call tow lines, tow ropes? Just because a rope is on a boat, does that automatically transform it into a line? That's the only word I've ever used in all my years of boating.

[burtandnancy]

Sorry Chump, didn't recognize you. The only thing I ever threw a rope around was my horsies neck...

[BADAXE]

I've never been on a boat large enough to have a rope on it, but every boat I owned had a lot of lines; dock lines, ski lines, anchor lines, etc...
Come on now......have you even ever towed a skier before? :D ;)
Wait.......I just remembered how you do it. You make the skier strap their ski on on the bow of your boat. Then you make them jump off with the handle while you start doing 20mph. Then just before the rope gets tight you accelerate hard until you hit a hundred. Then after about an hour you let off and swing around and make them crawl in over the back of the boat while they burn themselves on your exhaust. Did I forget anything? :D

[AZKC]

100 foot rope??? Damn, I havent seen those in years. How big of a circle do you have to do once the skier falls. Behind my jet we used 65 and shorter depending how I felt that day.
I'd like to see somebody cross wakes behind my boat at 30-35mph on a 65 foot rope. :220v: :skull: :) I'm am one of the unfortunate guys with a 20ft boat and a Panther Jet. I could see doing it with a pump and a diverter of some kind in a smaller boat. I think the wakes about 18 inches high at about 60 feet behind my boat :rollside: Oh and wear a cup :crossx: the roost should be about crotch high :skull:
Its all good though :)

[Boatcop]

I personally let it slide... I figured nobody would get it if I talked about casting the hauser aft...
First of all it's "hawser". Usually meaning a heavier line, used strictly for towing other ships or boats
And second, it's "rope" when it's coiled in a bulk roll. When it's removed, sized, spliced, whipped, and placed into service it becomes a "Line".
I was Engineering Officer on a USCG harbor tug (http://www.cg-tugs.org/wytl_fleet.htm) whose class of tugs were named for items associated with ship deck equipment. There was:
Cleat (the one I was on)
Catenary (who can tell me what this is?)
Line (see above)
Hawser (see above)
Bollard (a large fitting for affixing the tow rope)
Wire (Wound steel rope, used to make a bridle)
Capstan (horizontal, powered deck fitting to assist in mooring)
Shackle (used to attach lines, hawsers and wire together)
Bridle (used to spread the load of a tow evenly)
Pendant (used to weight a towline)
Swivel (keeps line from twisting)
Towline (self explanatory)
Tackle (refers to all towing, mooring equipment)
Chock (an opening in the deck or rail that mooring lines pass through)
Bitt (large fitting that mooring or tow lines attach to)
Nope. Not a "rope" in the bunch.

[Kachina26]

Catenary (who can tell me what this is?)
Some kind of a weight to help the anchor set better?

[Boatcop]

Some kind of a weight to help the anchor set better?
Anyone else?

[Kachina26]

Anyone else?
Was I close? Something to do with the curverature in the anchor rode. I know the word has to do with curve.

[Captain Dan]

It's a line or cable that sags in the middle because of it's own weight

[Captain Dan]

Oh yeah, must be supported by both ends, derived from the Latin word for chain, blah blah blah.

[Boatcop]

It's a line or cable that sags in the middle because of it's own weight
Captain Dan got it closest. Technically, its the dip in the line or cable, as opposed to the line itself. When towing it acts as a natural "shock absorber" to prevent strain on the fittings it's attached to.

[Captain Dan]

Yes, but what is the geometrical shape the catenary forms? :)

[burtandnancy]

See, now this is more fun, and educational...

[HCS]

Way to technical.
Just go for a tow. You guys are passing way to many laws. :argue:

[HYPNAUTIC]

thanks for the edumacation...
one thing i do for new skiers/borders on my boat is i make them jump in without the rope or the ski. last thing i need to do is untangle the line or have the ski float up and come back and hit my boat.
when i ski i usually take the rope, ski and beer with me, i cant rely on anyone onboard to throw the line straight, give me the right ski and not shake the sh*t out of my beer.

[acatitude]

Take the rope with you, I dont want to have to put down my beer and get out of the seat.
of all the suggestions ive read on here, this one makes the most sense