Teak Surfing

[Eastern shore wake]

Hi, I have a 22V on which I installed a Fresh Air Exhaust. We had some kids on our boat from Florida this past week (friends of friends) who showed our kids how to teak surf. Now, all I have seen about this has been bad. These kids swear, though, that with the Frsh air Exhaust and an inboard that it is perfectly safe to do. I am thinking otherwise even with the fresh air exhaust. Do any of you with the Fresh Air exhaust actually do this and feel safe?

thanks!!!

[xpjim1]

Will not allow it on my boat. It is also illegal out here in CA,AZ

[da.bell]

Eastern,

I wouldn't even think about doing it on my boat let alone someone elses boat.

[mtnsmith]

Wouldn't do it on my boat. I live in Florida too (Tampa Bay Area) and as far as I know it will soon be illegal here too. The governor is trying to adopt California's law to be signed in Oct to ban teak surfing. I guess if you were on a private lake it would be really easy to get away with it.

[dogbert]

As others have pointed out, it's illegal in most states. Also, you're much closer to the exhaust even with the FAE. But, worse, I'd be worried about getting washed into the prop if you stopped. At least if you're surfing, you'd end up on the platform, not under it. I won't allow it.

[Surfdad]

The NASBLA model law is designed to make teak surfing illegal. As has been pointed out, it's illegal in many states and the agency responsible for promulgating the language of said laws wants it outlawed everywhere.

Now for the truth...I had to try it after we installed FAE, did it just for a few minutes and at 5 or so MPH there seems to be very little detecable CO. It doesn't eleminate CO, it just scrubs it through the water and redirects with the prop wash. It's still possible to ride behind the exhaust for an extended period and, if I am not mistaken, CO poisioning during exposure, is cumulative. I've talked with Larry about this and My guess is that the risk of CO poisioning while teak surfing with an FAE are probably pretty minor.

However, the OTHER risks remain. As pointed out, the prop is still very present and without a swimdeck between yourself and the prop, the risk of injury increases. I won't even get into the discussion of doing anything behind the boat without a PFD.

In a very odd incident, while I was surfing, my lovely wife hit a submerged object and thought she was running aground. In her panic she threw it into reverse. Not for very long, just enough for me to slam into the transom and I rolled up on the sunpad. (Hi honey, I'm home! )

I am sure that had I been teak surfing at that moment, I'd have suffered life threatening injuries.

So...IMO, teak surfing still poses a significant risk, even thought FAE reduces the exposure to CO to managable levels, CO is not the ONLY risk associated with teak surfing.

[wannabewakeboarder]

What is Teak surfing?

Never heard of it????

[da.bell]

Here is a picture of teak surfing.

[da.bell]

Here is another thread on Wake World.

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/m...919/68977.html

[dogbert]

My real fear is that teak surfing will be generalized into all surfing is bad. I got a letter from Tige shortly after I purchased my boat back in 1999 stating that Tige did not recommend it for a variety of reasons. My initial reaction was "What dumba$$ would actually try it? Duh!"

Sorry, no offense to Eastern Shore Wake.

[Domsz06]

um, it's why all the new teaks don't have the slots in the teak so you can't teak surf, um maybe they were elimated on purpose

[Eastern shore wake]

Thank you all for your responses. They have definitely confirmed that there will be no teak surfing on my boat from here on. The risks clearly are too great even with an FAE.