Let this be a reminder to you to always check your gear before and after you leave the water. When attending surf or other safety instruction training, we are taught to inspect our equipment prior to to use. We go over a checklist and have a hands on discussion. It is best to know beforehand if there is a problem with your gear. No one wants to enter the water and realize their drain cap isn’t tight or their leash tie is frayed.
Inspecting gear is a little different when it comes to a jet ski. The assessment of equipment is more involved and requires a more thorough review. Trailering may be involved along with proper docking and tying down watercraft.
When we sifted through the Facebook comments to determine what happened to Jorge Ocana’s PWC, we discovered that he failed to check his wooden lift before tying down his newly purchased 2014 Sea-Doo GTX iS 255.
He claims he secured his ski to the lift only to come back later to find his machine had fallen into the water and smashed against some rocks and a dock during a storm. Ocana also wrote that he tied down his ski and that the wooden lift broke.
This disaster could have easily been prevented by taking the time to look over everything. There is no need to rush when it comes to inspecting machines and tie downs. Take the extra minutes to properly secure your craft and look over the place you’re storing it.
A few simple bowlines and half hitches attached to the eyelets on the ski may have saved the day. Straps may have been key as well. However, with the weakened rotted wood, we have a different scenario; a neglected lift. It is too bad that Ocana didn’t notice his lift was bad. A costly error was made and we will never know if the Sea-Doo was properly secured.
