I sent that reporter this email. Maybe he'll read it, but I'm not holding my breath:
Jeff –
I saw your piece on wakesurfing on your site. As an avid surfer, it’s great to see the sport get some attention. That said, it shocks me how uneducated the authorities in your story were. If you have the right boat (an inboard) and a way to get rid of the CO, there is very little that can go wrong.
On my boat, I measured, the prop is more than 3 feet in front of the back of the swim platform. Moving at 5-10 mph, there is no way possible to get to the prop from behind the boat.
My boat also has something called a Fresh Air Exhaust system. This system directs the exhaust down into the water where it gets filtered and ejected over a greater area which reduces the CO level the rider is exposed to by a very significant amount. I would like to see the tester your one HCMC person has being held by a rider riding with one of these systems. Of course, if you measure when the boat is standing still there will be lots of CO, so you shut the motor off if you are sitting still.
That said, there are plenty of idiots out there (excuse the language) who try to surf using an I/O or an outboard (the guy who got hit by the prop on Minnetonka earlier this summer I’ll be was one). These are the people that the Sheriff should be warning and stopping. Any time I see someone surfing behind something other than an inboard, I will go over to them and tell them why they should not be doing what they are doing, and even offer to let them ride behind my boat.
Bottom line, I think your piece, while it did offer both sides, gave an overall negative outlook on the sport in general. Having a bunch of 20-somethings say it’s all good and then have a Sheriff’s deputy and a HCMC official say its dangerous is not what I would call balanced. I do say this with some amount of expertise, being a “retired” member of the media (10 years).
Anyway, thanks for your time. You are more than welcome to come out and surf on my boat any time if you like.
Jeff –
I saw your piece on wakesurfing on your site. As an avid surfer, it’s great to see the sport get some attention. That said, it shocks me how uneducated the authorities in your story were. If you have the right boat (an inboard) and a way to get rid of the CO, there is very little that can go wrong.
On my boat, I measured, the prop is more than 3 feet in front of the back of the swim platform. Moving at 5-10 mph, there is no way possible to get to the prop from behind the boat.
My boat also has something called a Fresh Air Exhaust system. This system directs the exhaust down into the water where it gets filtered and ejected over a greater area which reduces the CO level the rider is exposed to by a very significant amount. I would like to see the tester your one HCMC person has being held by a rider riding with one of these systems. Of course, if you measure when the boat is standing still there will be lots of CO, so you shut the motor off if you are sitting still.
That said, there are plenty of idiots out there (excuse the language) who try to surf using an I/O or an outboard (the guy who got hit by the prop on Minnetonka earlier this summer I’ll be was one). These are the people that the Sheriff should be warning and stopping. Any time I see someone surfing behind something other than an inboard, I will go over to them and tell them why they should not be doing what they are doing, and even offer to let them ride behind my boat.
Bottom line, I think your piece, while it did offer both sides, gave an overall negative outlook on the sport in general. Having a bunch of 20-somethings say it’s all good and then have a Sheriff’s deputy and a HCMC official say its dangerous is not what I would call balanced. I do say this with some amount of expertise, being a “retired” member of the media (10 years).
Anyway, thanks for your time. You are more than welcome to come out and surf on my boat any time if you like.
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