Jet-Yak Gear
Jet-Yak Gear Offshore PWC field card

Go / No-Go any single no-go ends the trip

Wave height (return window)Go ≤ 2 ft · No-go > 3 ft
Wave periodGo ≥ 6 sec · No-go < 5 sec at any height
Sustained wind (return)Go ≤ 12 kt · No-go > 18 kt
Wind vs. currentGo aligned · No-go opposed
Convective activityGo none · No-go any organised cells
VisibilityGo > 5 mi · No-go < 2 mi or fog
Trend through your windowGo flat or improving · No-go worsening
Exposure gear vs. water tempProtected for 3× expected immersion
Crew conditionAll rested, fed, hydrated
Ski conditionNo unresolved mechanical doubt
Answer the gatesCheck two sources: NWS coastal forecast + NDBC buoy. Believe the period over the height.

Turnaround calculator 1/3 out · clock, not gauge

gal
gph
mph
—Min outbound
—Mile radius
—Turn around at

Uses one third of tank for the outbound leg. Enter your worst recorded burn, not your average — rough water raises burn and cuts speed at the same time.

Flat31 mi
Light chop21 mi
Moderate14 mi
Rough8 mi

Pre-launch 8 minutes

Hull & drive
Engine
Required by law
Recovery
Navigation
On your body — not in a hatch
Ashore

Float plan send this before you launch

A float plan without a trigger time is not a float plan.

Inlet transit

  • Ebb tide against onshore swell = breaking bar. Time it for slack or flood.
  • Stop outside and watch a full set before committing
  • Follow the marked channel, not the short line
  • Never turn broadside. In doubt, wait or divert — waiting is free.

The five rules

  1. Stay with the ski. It drifts faster than you swim, and it is what searchers can see.
  2. Lanyard on. Every start. No exceptions for repositioning.
  3. Plan fuel on the hard leg — home, into the afternoon breeze.
  4. Two skis, or shorten the trip.
  5. The forecast that matters is for your return, not your launch.

Turnaround discipline

When the alarm goes, you turn. Not after this drift, not after this fish.

  • Conditions building faster than forecast
  • Any mechanical anomaly
  • Any injury, or anyone feeling unwell
  • The first genuine doubt about fuel

Any one of these forces an immediate turn regardless of the clock.

Around structure

  • Never tie off. Current and marine growth will hurt you and the hull.
  • Engine dies near structure → drogue immediately, prepare to fend off
  • Position up-current, drift through, bail out early
  • Monitor VHF 16. If platform crew waves you off, comply at once.

Fishing at water level

  • Bleed fish into a container, not over the side. You are at waist height in the water.
  • Taxed twice by sharks → leave the spot
  • Hooks capped, gaff sheathed, nothing loose on the deck
  • Never wrap line on your hand or on the ski
  • Anchor from the bow only — never the stern
  • Lanyard stays attached during the fight

Back at the ramp

Engine failure first actions, in order

  1. Drogue out first. Stop the drift before anything else.
  2. Check you are not taking water
  3. Fix and write down your position and the time
  4. Restart: lanyard seated, fuel, jump pack
  5. Communicate before the battery dies. Do not crank it flat first.
  6. VHF 16 / DSC distress, or satellite message
  7. Stay with the ski. Stay visible. Ration water.

“PWC, [n] aboard, engine failure, [taking water / dry],
drifting, position ___, drogue deployed.”

MAYDAY = grave and imminent danger. PAN-PAN = urgent but not life-threatening. In doubt, call early and downgrade later — rescuers would far rather stand down than start late.

Separated from the ski

Do not chase past the first few seconds. If it is clearly gaining: stop, float, activate the PLB, conserve energy. Swimming to exhaustion after an unreachable ski is a known fatal sequence.

Swamping · capsize · weather · fog

  • Swamping: slow down, head for shallow or a lee, bail if safe, call it in early
  • Capsize: right it in your hull's decal direction — the wrong way hydrolocks the engine. Right it fast, then run it.
  • Weather building: turn now, nearest lee rather than the ramp, controlled quartering speed
  • Fog: slow right down, GPS to refuge, sound signal, stay out of channels

Medical these end the trip

  • Heat exhaustion: headache, nausea, cool clammy skin → cool, hydrate, go in
  • Hypothermia: shivering stopping is deterioration, not improvement → emergency
  • Deep hook: cut the leader, tape it still, dress it, go in. Near an eye or artery → go now.
  • Marine stings: hot water immersion, 30–90 minutes
  • Any head injury or loss of consciousness → terminate immediately

My numbers fill these in now, not later