Too close to boat

The drowning thread reminded me of what happened a few summers ago.I thought i should share in hopes it might help somebody avoid same mistake i made.With board on i get up to the swim platform to hand something to my wife.We board in a lake not a river.So i feel my board start pulling me under the boat.I wasn't thinking about currents but quickly realized there was one.It took my wife and 2 other's to hold me up and undo my bindings.The board was acting like a sail underwater.I never get too near the boat with board on anymore.A stupid mistake almost cost me my life.Anyway i hope this helps someone avoid that happening.Even if your're in a calm lake there are currents.

Weird, was the boat in reverse with prop spinning? I've never had anything like that happen, although I guess we always take the board off before the boat comes around.

That's why I don't understand people that wakeboard up here on the Fraser River in BC. There's a pretty strong current and undertoe's in places. Even if you have a life jacket on your could get pulled under. The only other reason I hesitate is logs and the fact that the sewage treatment plant is up river.

No boat was actually off.Scared the $##t outa me. I thought iwas on my way under the boat.Never crossed my mind that there would be a current or that it could catch my board like a sail underwater.On top of that someone drowned in that same bay the week before trying to retrieve a windlass that fell off their sailboat in 3 foot waves.No lifejacket!

Strange - I would think boat would be moving with the same current, unless it was anchored

Thats pretty crazy. I've never seen a current at our lake.

Originally Posted by pprior

Strange - I would think boat would be moving with the same current, unless it was anchored

Yeah, I board in a river and with at least a 2mph current and have never experienced anything like the op. I will be wary of it now though. Thanks op.

currents are funny. My limited experience with them has taught me the surface current is less than the under current. When we do river rescue or even white water rafting, you can "catch up" to someone down river if you put your feet deeper under the surface, as opposed to laying as flat an near to the surface like you are supposed to. So a boat, which is very heavy, is only in the water a foot or so, but a wakeboarder with a huge "sail" wakeboard is under a few feet with a lot of surface area and very little weight.

i could see what mike went through happening on a river very easily and often if you are not really careful.

Glad you are okay

Originally Posted by johnny_defacto

currents are funny. My limited experience with them has taught me the surface current is less than the under current. When we do river rescue or even white water rafting, you can "catch up" to someone down river if you put your feet deeper under the surface, as opposed to laying as flat an near to the surface like you are supposed to. So a boat, which is very heavy, is only in the water a foot or so, but a wakeboarder with a huge "sail" wakeboard is under a few feet with a lot of surface area and very little weight.

i could see what mike went through happening on a river very easily and often if you are not really careful.

Glad you are okay

Generally speaking, the highest velocity flow is just below the surface with a the speed decreasing as you near the channel bottom and edges (as seen in the image below.)

one time i forgot to zip the dry suit up, and instantly started sinking. My buddy had to grab me, and it took all his effort and mine to get me back on the swimstep. We then had to get me turned upside down to drain it. That scared the living crap out of me! I now check the zipper twice each time, LOL

Originally Posted by tonyv420

one time i forgot to zip the dry suit up, and instantly started sinking. My buddy had to grab me, and it took all his effort and mine to get me back on the swimstep. We then had to get me turned upside down to drain it. That scared the living crap out of me! I now check the zipper twice each time, LOL

Filling a drysuit with water does not cause you to sink.... It's the exact same water inside that you'd be neutrally bouyant in without the drysuit on....

it sure felt like it was gonna take me down, : ) haha, thanks, I'll remember that if I ever pull a bone head move like that again

@Johnny,thanks,yup there was no discernible current on surface actually it was a butter day.BUT a few feet down there was a strong current.Not a fast current but strong and i was on my way under boat if not for 3 people pulling my legs up to get bindings off while i hung onto swimplatform for dear life.Anyway i just hope this helps bring awareness to the possibility of it happening to someone else.It certainly had never crossed my mind before that incident!

Mike, you really should wear a life jacket when you wakeboard!

I can see where that would have been scary as hell but hopefully if you had been pulled under you would have surfaced on the other end of the boat in just a short amount of time if the current was moving that fast. Of course the prop and running gear might have hung you up. Glad it worked out ok....I have much respect for water.

True story. Very scary.

I was not on the boat but I was told this from a friend who was riding the delta. He was in the water getting ready to ride. His friend was in the drivers seat getting ready to pull him up. My friend paddled up to the back of the boat with his board under him to adjust the audio through the wired control on the back of the boat. The current of the water started pushing his legs under the boat such that he could no longer balance on top of the board. His board floated up under the boat with the prop between his feet. His friend driving the boat put the boat in gear to move away from the rider. My buddy shouted bloody murder. My buddy's board was thrashed by the prop between his feet. My buddy got a small cut on one toe and a few nicks in his bindings. Yet, he could have easly lost a leg or two or worse.

:>(

Had a life jacket on,current was too strong.Let me put it this way,you know the feeling you get when you know you're dealing with a force much greater than you are?Force of current pulling my board was stronger than any life jacket could resist.I was going down.

Guys... come on. You all know that it was really just the Loch Ness Monster.