Wakeboard Safety
On a hot summer’s day, it’s hard to beat thrill chasing out on the open water. It’s no wonder activities like wakeboarding are so popular! While these water sports bring the fun, they also bring with them some safety risks. With a little preparation, you can prevent or reduce these risks. Here at Active Water Sports, we aim to make things as easy as possible for you. That’s why we created this beginner’s guide to wakeboard safety below. If you have any questions, or want to shop for a wake boat, visit our store! We proudly serve those in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington.
Safety Gear
You should never head out behind a wake boat without wearing the right safety gear. Step one is a proper life vest. Yes, even strong swimmers need a life jacket. When you wake board and hit the water at high speeds, it’s easy to get disoriented. The force of impact can force you below the surface so far that it becomes a struggle to find your bearings. A life jacket helps push you towards the surface with ease. Another possible scenario is getting knocked unconscious upon impact. You will need the flotation the life vest offers to keep you afloat.
The second key piece of gear is a helmet. If you are wakeboarding at a high speed and fall, your head undergoes a hard hit. This is especially dangerous when you are on the water since a hit to the head interferes with your ability to swim to safety.
A third piece of safety equipment is a swimmer in the water flag. These can be found at nearly any store. The bright orange flag signals to other boaters that they need to be on guard for a swimmer in the water. This helps them know to slow down and stay away.
Swimming Skills
Before you step on a wake boat, you need to possess basic swimming skills. It’s uncommon, but people have fallen overboard before. If that ever happened, you would need to swim long enough for the life ring to get thrown to you.
Before you wakeboard, you need to possess strong swimming skills. Wakeboarding falls can pack the punch, so you need to be strong enough of a swimmer to overcome those hard hits to the water. You may need to swim out of the way of an oncoming boat. You may need to swim to shore if the boat encounters an issue. There are plenty of scenarios requiring strong swimming skills for wakeboard riders.
Other Boaters
Odds are, you won’t be the only individuals out on the water. It’s important that you do your part to build a safe atmosphere. If you spot a wake boat, give them plenty of space. At any moment, their rider could fall into the water and need plenty of room. Be aware of the other motorists on the water and practice defensive driving tactics.
Work Up to the Tricks
It’s pretty exciting watching someone behind a wake boat pull off a perfect flip, jump, or spin. But those are best left to those who have worked up to that! If you aim to pull of tricks, make sure to do the legwork required to execute them safely and effectively. Start small and build up to those epic moves.
For all your wakeboard needs, visit Active Water Sports. We proudly serve those in Portland, Salem, and Eugene, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. If you are in the Central Oregon area, stop by to check out our selection of wake boat models for all boating lifestyles and budgets. Come visit today!