Boat Driving 101

Geist reservoir is a public waterway; and like it or not we all have to share the open waters with other boats. Over the course of running a ski school for five years I have seen a huge increase in the number people discovering the joys wakeboarding and skiing. This also means that there are a lot of new boat drivers out there. If you are planning on coming out at the crack of dawn and joining the ever growing “crowd” of wakeboarders, slalom skiers, and barefooters this summer, here are three basic rules of boating etiquette you should live by:

1. NO POWER TURNS. This is when your skier falls and the driver “guns” or powers the boat all of the way back to pick up the fallen skier. This action pushes a huge circular wake that echoes all across Geist and is the main cause of rough water. The proper way to pick up your skier is to: Stop the boat, put it in idle, and idle back to your skier. Trust me on this one…every boat on the lake at 6:00am is watching to see if this rule is obeyed or not.
2. STAY IN A STRAIGHT LINE. This rule is similar to the no power turn rule. When pulling a skier or boarder is very important keep all of the wakes on Geist running the same direction and not “criss-crossing” and really roughing up the lake. When you pass another boat, your skier will only have one set of wakes to deal with and then back to smooth water. When you pull your skier to the end of their run, like the dam for example, then turn the boat around and follow your exact same path that you came from.
3. TUBERS HAVE ALL DAY. Geist is only calm for a few hours early in the morning and skiers, wakeboarders, and barefooters, need glassy water for their sport. Tubers on the other hand are the exact opposite, they crave rough water for their excitement. Drivers who pull tubers weave back and forth, do dough-nuts, and generally wreak havoc on the calm conditions on Geist. While no one can stop you from taking your kids out tubing at 7:00am on Saturday morning, those hand gestures that you are getting from the other boaters are not waves of hello! If you are going to go out and tube, please, please, please do it after 11:00am.