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Hello all.  I am a newbie boat...

KWIK
Guest Contributor

Hello all.  I am a newbie boat owner.  I got lucky and found a '93 180 Bowrider with a 90 merc ob in near mint condition.  I think this thing has been covered it's whole life.  Had it on the water all weekend and got a lot of long stares.  Hope it was admiration and not something I was doing out of inexperience.  

 

Here is my question:  We picked up a never used towable for on facebook marketplace.  We put it out on the water and I was floating while the wife drug me through the idle zone.  As soon as she got close to open water, I saw her turn and give me a mischievous grin.  So, I got prepped.  Hands on the grips, propped up on my elbows and torso as far back as possible.  As soon as she throttled the boat, the nose of the tube dove.  The towable went submarine.  When we went to jump back on, we noticed the torque of being underwater had ripped the tube at attachment points.  I have ridden several tubes and never had this happen before.  Any other bowrider owners have this happen?  Is there a better way to hook towables other than at the stern trailer anchor points?  I don't want to pay full price for a tube and have this happen again or just give up on towables with our shiny new boat.

1 REPLY 1

Jordan_G_
Guest Contributor
Hello! The thing about tubes is that they are not meant to be pulled up out of the water quickly, like a water skier. You have to ease into the throttle when pulling a tube at first. If the boat operator slams down the throttle, it can destroy the tube. Since the tube can’t float on top of the water, the weight of the rider makes the tube drag. The other thing to think about - if you purchased a tube that sat unused for a long time, the rubber and sewn-in points may have just given out from age. I purchased a two-in-one anchor point system for my outboard boat and it works well.