The courteous tuber?

I thought I would start a new thread on the subject and get it out Brian's that was simply asking some boat and boat handling questions.

I really hate to stereotype anyone or anything but 9 out of 10 times here is the scenario. My lake house is on a 1000 acre lake on a chain of 20 in northern Wisconsin. It is on a quite bay with plenty of room for great skiing. The wind will be out of the south making the bay calm and being mid week there might be 6 boats on the lake (3 are fishing). I will want to take my wife or one of the kids out to ski (I haven't in quite a few years) and we have tubers in the bay chopping up the water!!! Here's the non courteous behavior. Why can't they go tube on the windy and rough end of the lake?? The rough water doesn't bother them but they always seem to migrate to the calm water. Then to make things worse, they and several friends will raft up their boats and day "camp" right in the path of a ski run we want to make. I'm not the only one who feels this way. I've heard it time and again from fellow skiers.

CQ emailed me and stated he was surprised that we didn't own a tube as part of our lake toys. To be completely honest, it has never crossed my mind to buy one. From the early days of tubing, I've always thought of it being a no brain and no talent activity. I feel there are plenty of skiers who feel this way. If I wanted to have my brains beat out, I would have become a professional boxer! Bantam weight of coarse!!

Also, in general, these individuals have no idea they are doing wrong. In my pre-inboard days we ruined plenty of good water for plenty of serious skiers in the old Sea Ray. We weren't tubing, but we were driving around the lake in circles, swinging the boat around with tons of throttle to pick up downed skiers, etc. We had no idea what we were doing.

I've had several "chats" with offending boaters & fishermen, just letting them know that we'd be skiing in this area or that, and that we should share the good water. I've never had one of these chats go sour- they always end up netting good water for both parties. One of our lakes has two general halves, so two boats could go completely nuts on each side and not affect each other. I'll typically say something like, "We're going to set up this course on this side, so we'll stay here and not bug you over there" or something to that degree.

Tubes are not attached to my boats under any circumstances. I'm on a huge lake and there's room for everyone. But, the one thing I hate about tubers though is the unpredictable way that they drive. They drive standing up, looking back at the tuber and going in all different directions. They seem oblivious to boaters around them.

To all you haters...............




Makes you want to vomit for sure !!

There were a couple of fun boys playing grab ass on jet skis in the bay on the lake last weekend where we planned on doing some footing. Johnny politely told them to "take their little game" to the other side of the lake and they actually did w/o any resistance.

wrote: I only go 20 if there are 3 200 pounders on the tube. I have only been towing tubers for 32 years.

I have to laugh, I am on a 425 acre private lake. No public access at all! I can watch the the glassy lake for hours and there will not be a living soul on the water. But just let me grab a slalom and head for the dock. Before I can cross the back yard there will be six lake mosquitoes (wave runners) buzzin all over every square foot of MY LAKE chopping up all the water. Where are my RPG's?

Those damn dogs are trouble Reid. I hope you don't leave the keys in the boat when your not home.

I think that RainDog sums it up for most of the fools out there. When I was a kid and didn't know how to ski, we'd beg my uncle to take us. Back then we just rented a place for a week a summer, and so we focused out skills (or apparently lack thereof) on what we could do. When I got older and learned to ski, and then later when my family got a place and a boat, it's a whole different story. It does seem that everytime I'm slipping into my binding, ten more four winns with ten person tubes doing figure-8s show up. I always get mad, but am somewhat placated by the fact that someone just like me was cursing me ten years ago just like I curse them. Not to justify it, just to say I understand. That being said, I think if more parents encouraged their kids to learn to ski, fewer would want to tube in the first place, and those that did would figure out when to let nice water be for others.

Feelgood M.D. wrote: And fishermen that park in the ski pattern get the complimentary 40+mph barefoot fly by.

At what range?!!?   LOL

Mike: Where have you been? Hope all has been good for you and that it is just that your biz has been so busy.

BTW: Ever see JEFF KOSTIS across the lake from you? He has been lost from here for awhile.

john

quinner wrote: This time of year always brings on a new challenge on our lake, the bird season is now open so we have to contend with a couple hunting blinds on the lake. A couple years ago Booby and I where out rippin it up right in front of the blind as that was the best water, the next day got a call from my buddy who is in the hunting group, appearantly there where a couple guy's in the blind ready to shoot us every time we made another pass, my response being we really didn't know they where even in there, which we didn't, his response being, now that's the point of the blind now isn't it! The topper was when we finished up for the day we jammed all our empty beer cans on the bills of the decoy's, lucky thing they had already given up the hunt that day or Booby and I would still be pulling bird shot out of our backsides!

I can't stand duck hunters. I don't have any problem with them hunting, it is the mess they leave behind! They never take their blinds out, just leave them to rot and float out when it floods.

There is a proverb that goes like this...
'and tubers shall inherit the earth' or something to that effect..

It doesn't take much for those happy kids to clonk heads and then be face down...something the typical tuber would call and accident, but us here would call an eventuality.

Even my girl at 7 years old figured out that tubing is gai.

phatsat67 wrote
They dont understand that slalom skiing takes wayyy smother water than any other water sport.

Just think how some of us feel when we try to foot. We would like even smoother water. Not saying footing can not be done on chop, but it's much more enjoyable when it's smooth.

BuffaloBFN wrote: Feelgood M.D. wrote: And fishermen that park in the ski pattern get the complimentary 40+mph barefoot fly by. At what range?!!?   LOL

Just outside casting range.

phatsat67
come to GL or one of the various CCFan tour events planned for next year and I am sure you will have the basics by the end of the event. My brother and I learned at GL.