Learning to Tow a Skier

Fran Skiing the River
North Fork Saint Lucie River, FL
August 2, 2023

 Our Wednesday boating day turned into a fun day of exploration and learning how to tow a waterskier. 

We headed off to the marina fairly early and were in our boat headed off to the North Fork of the Saint Lucie River about 9:30 AM. The day was beautiful. A bit hot, but mostly blue skies and white puffy clouds. The river was almost flat and our boat, Sea Bean, was purring along smoothly. 

I was very trepidatious about pulling a waterskier. Having never done it before and knowing how easily fun can turn to tragedy, I really wanted to understand what was expected of me and the boat before letting him jump off into the murky river and try to stand up behind my speeding craft. We went over the signs and after a couple miscues on the start, he successfully rose up on plane and skied! It was fun watching him, but I mostly kept my eyes forward. Fortunately, the area of the river recommended to us by the marina staff is not heavily traveled and we did not encounter any other watercraft during the time he was skiing. 

Chris served as the spotter and also took some images and a quick video.

The video is a bit choppy, but it was taken from a moving boat at about 22 mph. 

We also spent time exploring the North Fork of the river and then checked out a new sandbar, where we saw huge jellyfish. They were all around and were easy to avoid--but we had to remain vigilant. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL