i was reading through these archives. . . oh my gosh I about peed myself at work reading these items. Has anyone ever tried horse blinders for the driver? Would that work? LOL
i was reading through these archives. . . oh my gosh I about peed myself at work reading these items. Has anyone ever tried horse blinders for the driver? Would that work? LOL
Too hard to pull figure 8's with the blinders on... ;)
I've seen tube drivers with those on, I think. Or at least they drove like they couldn't see anyone on either side of them.Quote:
Originally Posted by SupraLaunch21V
It's been said but the alone time sessions are always the easiest to teach in without her feeling attacked. Ash is so worried about doing something dumb in front of other people that she seems to forget the easy things. Pretty much just trying too hard. With that said though, there are some things that are just hard to explain or get her comfortable with. She has yet to actually get me the handle on the passenger side of the boat when surfing (worried that she can't see me in the water) and still uncomfortable when other boats are within 50ft (last weekend surfing she made a very large loop nowhere near me because boats were coming towards me). Tried to explain I'd rather have our boat take a hit then me so please come back to me first, let them move. I'm just glad the XLV has such a high bow and freeboard because the second time she drove she nosed under and she about gave up here driving career right there cause it scared her. Then I did it and she felt a bit better. I may or may not have done it to make her feel better.
Last night i got on Claudia a bit for her driving when i was Surfing. She used to drive all the time, but the last couple summers she never wants to drive, but when its me her and 1 other i trust her to drive more then the 1 other LOL.
I was surfing, and she comes to get me just fine but then when i get the rope she will do a circle around me to get to the direction she wants to go, and then the boat over corrects and shes facing to the left of where she wants to go, then i say go and she hit the throttle and immediately turns right forcing me to the goofy side and i have to fight all the wash, and pull myself to the regular side.
The other thing she does is when she pulls me up she goes half throttle so the boat only gets to like 7 or 8mph, then after what seems like 2 minutes she pushed the throttle down enough to reach the speed control limit of 11mph lol.
By the time she does this 3 or 4 times my arms are spent from holding on fighting all the wash.
Mike, She is just trying to nicely tell you that you need to work on your upper body or she will leave you in the water. If she was mad at you she would just drop the hammer and get up to wakeboarding speeds before slowing down.
Guess mine's mad at me then.
Ahhh this post is such a gut buster! :) Like everyone lse on here I feel your pain and have expeirneced the melt odwns and frustrations of trying to teach my wife how to drive the boat, how to pull me, and how to pick me up.
Patience, patience, and yes even more patience!!!! It has paid off. My wife will pull me anywhere anytime. And that's about it. I wanted her to pull our daughter but funny thing is niether one of them wanted that! LOL
Agreed that it's tougher when your partner is not a skier or boarder, or anything other than your driver and sun tan trophy on your boat.
I am fortunate though that my wife is very good on the ramp! Something that very few other women are. I don't back the boat in or go get the truck at the end of teh day to load the boat and head for home - MY WIFE DOES!!! :) And she does this very well. We get compliments on her ramp abilities ALL THE TIME! This was accomplished easily with a couple pylons and evening sessions in mall parking lots where she had noone around and room to practice.
This summer my daughter (15) will get to learn how to drive our Nautique and eventually give dad a tug of two. My fear is the arguement that is going to blow up in the boat between her and her mom when I am waiting to be picked up in the water!!!!!! If it's anything like it is when they ar ein the car learning how to drive............dad is going to get cut up into fish bait!!!!! LOL
That one's easy. Driver's in charge. If Mom can't handle it SHE can drive.
Agree.Quote:
Originally Posted by kaneboats
I had the issue of two people trying to be in charge as I was wakeboarding and I put a stop to that real quick. Driver is in charge but I am still in charge and will give you directions even from 70 feet back.
Gotta stretch the cord for the mike about 70 feet so you can shout over the tower speakers.
I have enjoyed reading this thread. Over the years I too have experienced what many here have. It can be frustrating. My solution with a new or inexperienced driver is this: Keep the boat straight and the speed steady. I tell them 3800 rpm, and look to a point on shore and now and then glance in the mirror to see if you have any snake trails in the water. - 99 Outback LS - Go straight down the lake, do a key hole turn and come right back up the path we just made. Look in the mirror and I will adjust you a little. 99% of drivers will go too far and need a little move to the left to find the groove. I have had drivers directly in the rolling wake we just made and continue in that path with me tugging the line and pointing left. ha I also tell them to look for where my spray has hit the water and go in the middle of those. I also have new drivers ride with an experienced one and pay attention to them and then give it a go. I'm a pretty happy skier over all.
It's going to take some time to read this thread and interested. Having our MB for 4 seasons my wife has become awesome being my driver. I express to her anytime she don't feel good about anything just stop and turn around and we can discuss it. I don't do any double up's so I have got her to run the full line and just kill the throttle just like when I fall. Turn around nicely and back off in the same line we came from. I suggest to have the wife/partner drive while you're in the boat to give instant instruction and learn without the pain of riding. My poor boy got the brunt of the learning curve but I have my wife drive even when out with a group of friends that are seasoned drivers.
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I need to get my wife to get behind the wheel more with our new boat. She just didn't feel comfortable with our last boat. The old supra was so hard to plane out at 22 for boarding and the throttle was too touchy! She was so worried about submarining the bow. The steering was tough and crooked due to a sticky cable and very old rudder. The captains chair was designed for going 32mph and was too low to see over bow for her. Lastly, freaking trailer was so hard to get centered and didn't have guide posts. With GPS, new steering, better trailer system and better captains chair she should be more comfortable. Understatement! I can do a ton of the training methods with her now. I am gonna read this thread as well. Its gonna be so nice not being the only person that can drive the boat! I always felt like I couldn't let anyone drive cuz they would mess it up, like letting someone drive my hotrod, NO! Now it will be like someone driving my F250 its ok but watch until trust. I sound like a controlling a-hole but I'm not, I think... ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by DFTR Josh
Like the photo! Your dog is so interested in what you are doing. lol
My wife is an amazing driver so I am lucky there. She just recently told me she is tired of driving so much. I am hoping it was just because it was the end of the season and we spent some serious time on the water. At least she told me and I have been getting one of kids ready to take over and he is doing well.
I had another person totally "throw" the pull by doing only 300' diameter circles in a huge area even after very specific instructions. The best I could tell is that they didn't wan to drive and wanted to be in the water. Can't figure out any other explanation.
Sometimes people will do poorly to avoid doing what they don't wan to do. If that isn't the issue try patterns with just the two of you on a calm day without being pulled. That worked well with one of my boys.