How many hours did you out on your boat this year?

[BensonWdby]

Well,

Lake house owners have lower hours for two main reasons. First, lots of friends with boats that want to drive. Second, lots of work to do on the lake house. My 05 LSV just went in to be winterized, a sad day. I spent 6 hours at the lake house doing chores. Still beats being home. I have a dry suit. I wish I had gotten one more set in - oh well.

It is a weekend gig. I added up last year, 36-40 days at the lake depending on how you count. Is a day of work "a day at the lake." (yes, yes it is). Total boat hours this year about 80 but we usually have 2-4 boats on any given weekens.

So here is my take on low hours on my boat - which is on a lift at lake 65 minutes away.
1. Boat is on lift - weekends only, but normally weekends are Thursday night to Monday night for me so I should get more time - but not...
2. I used to have a boat load of people to ski with. For a variety of reasons it is now down to me most of the time.
3. When I go - I slalom. Slalom runs are a lot more intense than wakebaord or tubing runs. I would be very surprised if the total time above water slalom skiing in any set exceeds 15 minutes, probably closer to 10. At 34 mph a pass through the course is about 18 seconds. When I was in training this summer (somone elses boat) 6 passes was about max in a set. That included coaching after each pass. That takes about 20-30 minutes max and the boat is only running half that. Almost impossible to get 3 sets a day - conditions, people, scheduling, physcial conditioning, wear and tear on your hands..
4. About 50% of my time is behind someone elses boat, and although I try to reciprocate, they prefer their boat.
5. We have ample opportunity but my driver refuses to pull me without a spotter, so the boat sits unless I can round up someone. That would be OK if the spotter was a skier, but despite lots of friendly offers, it is just wierd going door to door pandering for help.

[zabooda]

I'm with ya there Benson. Skiing doesn't take long and I'm amazed how little time is put on the engine. My buddy and I share the rides with his Prostar and my Moomba. We agreed to split the fines if we get caught without a spotter but we go out early morning or evening and we are done in an hour. We get glass every time we go out and no boats. I can't imagine what it would be with boat traffic and waves to contend with. I did more skiing this year than the last two years.

[deafgoose]

I'm with ya there Benson. Skiing doesn't take long and I'm amazed how little time is put on the engine. My buddy and I share the rides with his Prostar and my Moomba. We agreed to split the fines if we get caught without a spotter but we go out early morning or evening and we are done in an hour. We get glass every time we go out and no boats. I can't imagine what it would be with boat traffic and waves to contend with. I did more skiing this year than the last two years.

I wish.

In Canada, its not only a fine but a criminal offense because you are endangering the life of the person you are pulling without a spotter.

I am proud to not have a criminal record. The risk to reward ratio is pretty nuts on this one.

[zabooda]

They take that spotter business more serious up there. I like Oregon's law and some other states with either a spotter or a mirror. Washington law sucks. The flag and spotter is a good thing when there are other boats but when we're the only one around it's like using a turn signal on a vacant road.

[BobP]

About 42 hours for us. We do the lake house thing on a small lake so no need to travel far to get a ride in...just float off lift and go. Our lake house is 3 hrs away but we try to get up every weekend June thru September. The way I see it I'm paying a mortgage and taxes on it, we are going to use it. There are always chores, but most don't take long. Any major work we try to do in the off season. The spotter thing affects us too every so often as well. The neighbors have boats too so that also limits hours on ours. Next door neighbor is in the process of purchasing a Centurion Avalanche with a Switchblade...can't wait to surf behind that thing.

[lewisb13]

You guys need to move to bama where all you need is a tiny little mirror.

[gus 08 mobius lsv]

put on 71 hours this year so in a year and a half i have 102 hours on the boat.
went out sunday water temp was 64 and air temp was 65. and struggled to find a spotter. its funny when its nice out you have all kinds of friends that wanna go on the boat when it starts getting chilly all of sudden everyone you call is busy! but hours spent on the boat this year was twice that... spend a lot of hours anchored out relaxing.

[cab13367]

They take that spotter business more serious up there. I like Oregon's law and some other states with either a spotter or a mirror. Washington law sucks. The flag and spotter is a good thing when there are other boats but when we're the only one around it's like using a turn signal on a vacant road.

Actually, Oregon requires a spotter as well.

[bzubke1]

I doubt I would have the hours we do if we had to have a spotter everytime we go out. It's usually just me and my brother.

honestly I don't see a safety issue with having just a mirror over a spotter. If you're a good driver you know when you're rider is gonna fall and most of the time you can feel a tug or something on the boat. I think the more people in the boat the more distractions you have. On the other hand having an extra person would be helpful in those situations where someone has a major injury like a broken leg, gets knocked out, torn acl.

[thesack]

They take that spotter business more serious up there. I like Oregon's law and some other states with either a spotter or a mirror. Washington law sucks. The flag and spotter is a good thing when there are other boats but when we're the only one around it's like using a turn signal on a vacant road.

Having a spotter is a good thing. Yes it is annoying at times, but it saves lives. And you never know when another boat might be out on the water when you thought that you were the only one. We were the only boat in the stretch of water I was in, when a boat turned the corner and hit us.