A man, his buddy and their wives called to rent a pontoon boat and two jet skis to celebrate their daughters’ 16th birthdays. Two girls with close birthdays and the same friend group created a mashed-up sweet 16 party with 12+ high-schoolers and economical fathers at the helm, financing this Saturday expedition.
I was on edge, concerned with their safety, but even more with the condition the brand new Sea Doos would return in. They had been damaged before by more qualified operators.
After conversing with the two fathers leading this birthday excursion, my faith was restored. They seemed like honorable Southern men who would take pride in the watercraft they had rented by abiding by our rules and the laws of the lake. After giving my safety briefing and operational run through, I was at ease letting them out on the 100-acre lake.
Two hours before they were expected to return, our office received a call from a marina member who said his wife and their friends were out wake boarding. Renters on our jet-skis were jumping their wake in a repeated crisscross fashion.
As one would imagine, jumping the wake of a boat with a wake boarder in tow is incredibly dangerous and highly illegal. We called the contact number of the renters and got no answer.
With a description of their location on the lake from our members, I was dispatched on our employee jet ski to stop this unsafe and illegal behavior. My plan was to head immediately to the fathers of the group aboard the pontoon and let them handle their high-schoolers before I had to. However, I came across the high-schoolers on their jet skis first and let my air horn go off as I flagged them down.
The first jet skier was prompt. He stopped immediately at the horn and heeded my commands to pull alongside my ski. The second jet skier was far too concerned with ramping the nearest wake than stopping to see what this air horn was all about. When he finally realized he needed to stop, I was infuriated, but was still determined to let the fathers handle this scolding.
When the second finally pulled alongside, I told them calmly, but with a heavy and serious tone how illegal and unsafe their actions were. They undoubtably took the message in its entirety. I could see the embarrassment on their faces.