Conference vicki::boats

    
      *AND* you are only allowed to have 2 skiers MAX in NH. I do not
    believe there are such restrictions in Mass. I have read the Mass
    rules carefully in this area and it mentions an observer, but there
    is no mention of two observers for two skiers and no mention of
    a MAX number of skiers.
    
    	I think it's a stupid law - but it *is* the law.
    
    					Kenny

    and the observer(s) have to be at least 13 years of age in NH. A
    permit is supposedly required to pull more than 2 skiers.
    
    ~jeff

	It may appear stupid, I agree.  But you must remember that the
	responsibilities of the observer go beyond observing.  The observer
	is also responsible for tending to the skier if she/he becomes
	injured in the water.  If two skiers become injured, it would be
	desirable to have two capable people in the boat to help out.  I
	think that this is the purpose of the law, and probably the reason
	for having someone over 13.

	-ric.

    
    Another rule with skiers that you may not think about is that you must
    be able to legally have all persons observing and all those skiing able
    to be in the boat and not have it overloaded.  I have heard of a person
    getting a  *warning* (reasonable officer) for having 4 people in a boat
    with a max. capacity of 5 and had 2 skiers in tow.  For those of you
    who start and stop skiing from a beach this may not be obvious since
    the skiiers (generally) never have to get in the boat.
    
      

    To add a little to this, it is very difficult to keep your eye on more
    than one person at a time in the water, unless they are close together
    in calm conditions. Therefore to be safe you want one person keeping
    their eye on each downed skiier, just as you would for each person that
    went overboard. I think that that might also be some of the reasoning
    for the law. It would be difficult to write the law with exclusions for
    weather and water conditions, so they make it apply all the time.
    
    john

    Wow!  These are fascinating thoughts.  When we do our 6-person pyramid,
    we sometimes have one person skiing on each flank (total of 8 skiers). 
    Yanking that many out of the water is hard enough with a Mastercraft
    Powerslot (351 Ford, 255 hp with a 14x18 prop).  I couldn't imagine
    having 9 people in the boat as well (8 observers plus the driver)! 
    Talk about overload!  :-)  Thank God for "special event" permits.
    
    But I agree with all the thoughts presented here.  It makes perfect
    sense that the rules are written the way they are.  The "worse case"
    scenario is that *all* skiers (be it 1, 2 or more) could need
    asssitance, and I can't imagine a single spotter handling the
    more-than-one-skier-down case!
    
    I assume that the NH rules state that you can't have more than 2 people
    behind the boat.  Right?  I ask this because with some of the new toys
    available (4-person ski-bobs, double tubes that can easily handle 3 or
    4 people though they're technically made for 2) you could easily be
    towing just one thing, but have more than two people back there.
    
    ...Roger...

    re-1
    
    Roger,
    
       You are correct in your last statement about toys in N.H.
    waters.  As defined in the boating laws of N.H. and I quote
    directly from the book, "The term waterskier shall mean a person
    being towed by a boat at the end of a line, regardless of the
    type of device on which the person is being towed."
    
    
    	Greg

    
    re: -1
    
    .....
    >>being towed by a boat at the end of a line, regardless of the
    >>type of device on which the person is being towed." ...
    
    I guess that this would cover barefooters, since thay are not being
    towed "on" any device?   :-)  As long as thay are wearing a USCG
    approved flotation device!  :-)
    
    The other day when we were barefooting I was holding onto the boom
    and a friend of mine was holding my feet while barefooting, IE:
    "I was the rope".  Now would we tecnically have needed two spotters
    or just one since I was a rope and not a skier. ?
    
    FYI:  If you try this be sure to have the person skiing let go before 
    the person being the rope.  I lost my grip, and let go before I could
    tell the skier to let go and was basically "run over"  It was not too
    painful but something to avoid in the future.
    
    Have a safe summer,
    Mike
    
    
                                                 

RE: before .8

That's very interesting, if not vague.  By strict interpretation (common sense
set aside for the moment) we 'footers can get away with lots of stuff 'cuz we're
not skiing on any type of "device".  Heck, when we use the barefoot boom,
there isn't even a *line* (I'm talking skiing right off the boom rather than
with the 5' leader).  Longline is the same way (not skiing on any "device").  Of
course, kicking the common sense factor into gear, we do fall into the "skier"
category, and as such should abide by the rule.

RE: .8  Hey Mike (you wild and crazy guy you)...to paraphrase Shakespeare
(warning, ample use of poetic license here):  "A line, by any other name ... is
still a line!"  So by this, you are technically *not* skiing, although I'd love
to be a fly on the wall when you try to convince the good officer of this!  :-)

So, where's the video?

...Roger...