How to tow with a PWC or jetski

Jeff McNiven: Hello, it's Jeff here from Club Marine TV. JSW Power Sports here, we're the local Sea-Doo dealer on the Gold Coast. Today we're out on the new 2018 Sea-Doo, RXTX 300. Using a Sea-Doo for towing kids around on tubes, wakeboards, water skis, it's cheap, it's easy, it's an economical way to get out on the water. With the younger kids, starting off nice and slow, and then they just cannot get enough of it. As they get older, you can go faster. The great thing about the Sea-Doo product is there is a whole bunch of options exactly for tow sports.

Back here, we've got the ski pole. It's retractable. It's removable. If you're not going to use it, we can pull it off the watercraft, leave it at home, leave it out in the front storage bucket. A couple of different tie rope connections on the Sea-Doo, one on the top of the ski pylon, very easy, simple, slipknot on, another one, a stronger one down on the back of the ski, the ski pylon does have a weight restriction on it, so if you're going to load a tube up with two or three adults and give it a hard time, you really want to be towing from the lower, stronger point. Kids, a lighter application from the ski pole. Wakeboarding, water skiing, no problems at all.

If you're going to run lighter children on tubes, shorten the rope up a little bit. It brings it in. You don't have to have the speed then to get them out on the whip. When choosing a ski ripe or a tube rope, brighter colour. It's better. You can see it, if it is floating in the water. It's not going to disappear from your sight. A bright colour rope is a far better option if available.

The rope, very important to keep an eye on that, keep it out floating beside or straight behind. Have your observer pull that rope in, so when I have slack rope in the water. Everyone's done it, and if you haven't done it, you're probably going to do it. Keep that rope out of the jet unit. That is a sure-fire way to end the day in a real hurry.

Signals are very important. That's your communication between your skiers and back to your navigator, and then to your driver. Your observer telling the driver when you got people in the water, the observer is also telling other boats around when you've got people in the water. Hand up, hopefully you should receive a hand up from the driver of the other vessel to say that yes, they have seen you, and they will avoid you when you go around.

Now there are some hazards to think about when you're out on the water, and at the end of the day, it is the driver's responsibility to look after everyone on board. You've got to be worried about any other boats, keeping an eye on where they're going. They should give way to you while you're towing, but at the end of the day, it is always, it's every skipper's responsibility to avoid an accident.

Now, the stuff above the water. We've got mooring buoys, boats, logs, sandbanks. There's trees, whether they're out in the water or up against the bank. You need to keep your whoever's being towed well away from the bank. With a tube, that tube's only going to go where the driver sends it. And then you've got hazards below the water. We've got depth to worry about. We've got rocks, any sort of underwater obstructions. If someone falls off, you need to know that there's enough water under them that they're not going to get hurt.

You need to know your local rules because every state has got different rules. Everyone likes having a great time on the water, but it's all about having fun and being safe. So, you've got everything to do it with here. Have a great time. Always be courteous to everyone else on the water. But we're out there to have fun and be safe.