Rope under boat

[lucky7t]

Just wanted to address an issue I had this last weekend. I have had nautiques for years but this never has happened.

We dropped a boarder and I turned around I noticed the wind picking up and watched the rope float right under the boat. I immediately stopped the prop and noticed it was hung. After 20 minutes of swimming under the boat of which was scary I untangled it from the prop.

I will be much more observant from now on

[luckee37]

Hate when things like this creep into your day. We now carry a set of goggles and a dive knife on the boat for this very reason. We haven't had to use them for a long time, but it's nice to know that they're there.

[djmekinac]

Do you carry a mask (scuba) and a knife?

I learned that a few years back, that usually happens because we try to cover everything from driving to retrieving the rope, moving people around to get the best wake, etc....

I now have someone onboard dedicated to rope management so I can be the dedicated driver.

[HS]

Yep, mask and a couple good knives are on board following a tied up tow rope under my buddy's old 'Bu.

[DealsGapCobra]

Same here, mask and knife on the boat but haven't had to use them in well over 10 years.

[HS]

Same here, mask and knife on the boat but haven't had to use them in well over 10 years.

Kinda like an umbrella

[AirTool]

After the first ruined trip, I took a new box cutter and vacuum packed it using my game save and tossed it in the glove box.

Vac packed it to keep it from rusting while not in use...and the little kids from messing with it.

[TxJole]

Brother wrapped a trotline around his last year. Picked the weight up off the bottom which happened to be a brick and after about a dozen bangs against the hull at 3000 rpm and 3k worth of damage, he learn to give those markers a wide birth.

[AirTool]

After the first ruined trip, I took a new box cutter and vacuum packed it using my game save and tossed it in the glove box.

Vac packed it to keep it from rusting while not in use...and the little kids from messing with it.

Oh, and I put some 1/8" cord on it also. Box cutters don't float.

[lucky7t]

At lake Eufaula the water is not so clear. I have to admit that swimming under the boat with no jacket, no goggles was a bit scary. I appreciate the advise and will purchase a knife today.

[AirTool]

At lake Eufaula the water is not so clear. I have to admit that swimming under the boat with no jacket, no goggles was a bit scary. I appreciate the advise and will purchase a knife today.

I found on my 206 (light draft) I can have the peeps go to the bow or port side or get out....and I can get under the platform and lay on my back and get my face out of the water to breath under the platform. In that position, I can still reach the space between the prop and the strut with my right hand.

Probably can't do that on a v drive especially weighted down.

The first time I did it I wore a ski vest for safety and learned you're just going to wear yourself out fighting the floatation.

[migs]

dive knife, snorkle set & a nice pair of adjustable fins. You never know when youre going to have to dive deep for something - the fins make it possible.

[TxJole]

I G25's will come with this as an option;

[Chexi]

dive knife, snorkle set & a nice pair of adjustable fins. You never know when youre going to have to dive deep for something - the fins make it possible.

With the brown water here in Texas that you can't see more than 2 feet in, I know that I will never be diving deep for anything here.

[DanielC]

Most people worry about the current, but is is the wind that will get you. The wind blows the boat around, and the rope sitting on the water stays pretty much in the same spot, and the boat drifts over it.
With experienced riders, or skiers you can usually get to them and get back up before it is a problem. With new people, try to go down wind (with the wind). That keeps the rope behind you.

If you get a rope in the propeller, do not give more throttle, trying to figure out what is binding. It will just turn the rope in to a solid plastic bushing between the propeller and strut. Try to remember what gear (forward or reverse) you were in when the rope got caught. Turn the propeller the opposite way, and many times it will loosen the caught rope a lot.
If you have a new Acme propeller on your boat, be very careful, the edges in it are very sharp and the coolness of the water makes it hard to realize you have already cut yourself.

I went to a summer camp with a church for several years. There was one driver who we could count on running over his rope every year.