Renting a Personal Watercraft? - YouTube

Hi. This is Carollyn Parish with the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

You’ll see here in front of me a personal watercraft, or more commonly known as a jet ski

and today we are going to talk to you about how these work,

what you need to know when you’re renting one, and some safety information when you’re operating a Jet ski.

Here to help me today, I’ll allow him to introduce himself, what’s your name sir?

Hey everybody, I’m Ronald Washington, public information officer in Miami Dade county.

Hi Ron and thanks so much for joining us and giving me a hand with this today.

You’ll see today Ron is not in his full uniform but that’s because

we’re going to talk jet skis and we’re down here by the waterfront.

So I’m pointing to the first thing that is important for people to know

and that is what?

The Florida registration numbers. So as you can see they go from left to right,

and they also have a decal with it.

That way we can identify the boat and make sure it’s currently registered.

Yep, and so that’s important folks, just like a boat,

you need to have jet skis registered if you are going to operate them here on the waterways in Florida.

So Ron, tell me a few things about jet skis and how they operate

and what you should look for here when you come to a livery. What should people expect to hear?

So jet skis are highly maneuverable powerful machines

and they are personal watercraft usually they can’t hold more than three people.

This one has rearview mirrors and it's got a compartment in the front for the fire extinguisher.

You always want to make sure at a minimum your jet ski has a fire extinguisher,

a lifejacket and a sound producing device.

So you’ve given us three tips, lifejacket, fire extinguisher, sound producing device.

Now, if somebody just comes, maybe they’re not familiar with jet ski operation,

maybe they’re visiting here or maybe they’re even a local resident in the state

and they go to rent one of these things.

Talk to me a little about that and what we are looking at.

What should somebody expect when they rent a jet ski here in the state?

So before you even leave your house the great thing to do is go online

and take a boating safety education course.

If you’re visiting from out of town it’s a 25 question quiz

that just runs you through what to expect before you get onto one of these things.

Awesome! And so we’re here today in South Florida if you’re just joining us

you’re going to see the beautiful water in the background and Officer Washington.

We’ve got a couple of jet skis here, we’re actually at a livery so I’m going to pan over real quick

And I’m just going to show you, this is just an example of a livery that you may see here

in the state of Florida often times they operate on beach sides like this

and when somebody comes to the livery what happens?

They just go and what should they expect to ... experience when they go to rent a jet ski here?

So if you go to a legitimate rental company you should expect them to have

a livery operator who greets you at the door.

There should be a placard that has boating safety information

and if it’s a Jet ski rental livery they should make sure that you’ve taken that course.

So you’re going to have to show proof that you’ve completed the course successfully.

If you haven’t done it at home, then you can take it on site at the facility.

And then one of the instructors will guide you to where you can operate the Jet ski.

They’ll show you how far to go. What areas to avoid

And the number one thing is that they make sure that they give you

working appropriate safety equipment.

I think you just shared a great tip there Ron that people can take this education course

that’s required beforehand, it will save them some time at the livery.

Remember to bring proof of taking that course with you

or if you don’t have that ability to take the course in advance be sure you take it here.

Take at the livery rental. It is required for them to provide that information to you.

As Ron mentioned, I’m just going to pan over to this machine here.

This is something that’s pretty popular this specific model as you see has enough room for two seats.

So Ron, you talked about liveries, you know and it’s important that

you use somebody that’s a licensed facility, right? Yes, yes.

Do folks try to rent these things, you know just ...

Yeah, well exactly. We’ll have people, private individuals who own these things personally

and in order to make some money off of them while they’re not using it themselves

they’ll advertise the service on Craig’s List, Facebook and

people who don’t know any better visiting, they will just pay just whatever fee it is

to jump on the jet ski. But usually those personal individuals

don’t have the required paperwork and all the safety protocols that we enforce

when looking at a livery.

Right. And that’s great information because remember folks, we are talking about

some legal issues here with what’s required for people to rent these things out

and then what’s required for you to operate them.

So if you don’t know and want to get more familiar you can always go to our website

MyFWC.com/boating and then you’ll look for personal watercraft and livery

rules and regulations and you guys can brush up on those at your own convenience.

So as you can see from that placard, if the Jet ski capsizes or turns over,

then don’t panic but follow what you see here, you have to lean over

grab onto the bar and pull in the direction of that arrow

and climb back on from behind as you would if you fell off.

So talk to me about some of the very specific things related to operating a PWC

lifejackets being one of them.

Well the first thing you should do before you climb aboard this machine

is to put the right size lifejacket on you.

This one says it’s an adult universal lifejacket so I’m going to go ahead and put it on properly.

And while Ron’s getting that on I will tell you I spent a little bit of time with

riding with law enforcement in my position here with FWC and we see folks sometimes that

don’t necessarily have the proper lifejacket on and by that I mean proper fit,

proper design for jet skis and PWC’s in specific

you’re required to have this kind of lifejacket, correct? Correct. OK.

This is a Type II lifejacket I believe and whenever you’re riding a Jet ski

unlike other watercraft, you must have this on at all times.

And so I know that we talk a lot about giving people different types of options

for different types of lifejackets, some of those ones that are self-inflatable,

some of the ones that are fanny pack by design, those are not allowed

to be used on a Jet ski, correct?

Correct. Only this one because if you fall in the water which is common when riding

these watercraft you’ll stay afloat whether or not you’re conscious,

your head will stay above water and it will be easier for rescuers to come find you.

So proper fit is important?

Exactly, so it doesn’t come off and definitely have all three buckles

and if there’s a zipper, zipper it up.

Right, you actually have to have the zipper to consider it ...

Or closed rather to consider it fully fitted and secure. Correct.

Alright so Ron’s going to give us a little lifejacket demo here, some of the things

he’s talking about here. I’m going to follow him here into the water just a little bit ...

Bear with us ... alright. So specifically what we are going to talk about

you know proper fit like we were just discussing

and Ron’s going to do a little fall into the water for me and talk to me about

buoyancy and keeping his head afloat.

So, with no effort you can see I’m able to keep my head above water.

I can breath and if I’m in distress, somebody should be able to locate me in this position.

And so what happens folks as Ron gets back up and situated here is when you don’t wear,

and I’m going to hand this to you Ron, put this over you and show the difference on the size.

So he’s got a different size lifejacket here and we want to talk a little about the difference

of space. You can see that Ron’s wearing one that’s fitted to him

but then when he puts this larger size lifejacket over him

he’s got a lot of space gapping, it’s not buckling correctly,

and what can happen if somebody’s not wearing a properly fitted lifejacket?

Well what we tend to see is the lifejacket will ride high and it might flip off

and it doesn’t give you the proper buoyancy that you should expect

from the correct lifejacket.

Right. And buoyancy is important as Ron advised you know it keeps your head afloat.

It keeps your body on top of the water in the event of an emergency

an incident where you end up in the water, that lifejacket

can help us find you when it comes to a rescue operation.

And one thing I’d like you to just point out (yes) this is US Coast Guard approved.

If it doesn’t say “US Coast Guard Approved” then you’re not wearing the right lifejacket

and find a new one, and it’s Type III.

OK so that's a Type III. So there’s different examples again when it comes to PWC and jet ski operation

like these in the foreground, be sure that you’re getting the right lifejacket,

that its worn at all times and that it’s properly fitted because that’s going to be important.

So we’re going to come out of the water before we wrap this up and Ron,

talk to me about how one of these things turns on. What do you use

and there’s some specific information about this specific key setup that we want to be sure to share.

So most jet skis use a kill switch lanyard and they’ll attach it to the lifejacket itself.

And the point of this is it’s in the name “kill switch”. So if you fall off

and this comes out of the ignition, the Jet ski shuts off completely and it’s not “ghost riding”.

The proper way to attach this to your Jet ski is like this ...

When you feel that click it’s on there securely and then I take the other end

and I clip it securely onto my vest.

And that’s required on a jet ski, correct, to have that lanyard and that kill switch?

Correct. If you’re seen with this ... well it won’t operate with this part not connected, but if this

Is not on your wrist or on your lifejacket and it’s just hanging loosely,

you will get pulled over for your safety.

Right, absolutely. And you mentioned the term “ghost riding” so for our viewers

tell me what you mean by that.

Well, if the throttle doesn’t shut off then the jet ski, they don’t have brakes like vehicles,

so it will continue to cruise and potentially endanger property or a person around.

Right. All important information, and I’ll tell you, you might notice folks are here,

it’s a beautiful sunny day here in south Florida, so, if somebody wants to rent a Jet ski,

when can they rent them? Can they rent them 24 hours a day, how does that work?

Is there anything that we ... any laws about that?

Jet skis are only to be used 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset.

It cannot be on the water after that time window. So as long as you have some light out

you should be good to go but check the time.

Yep, always check the time. That’s an important ... and that’s really a safety feature.

These machines are not set up like a regular vessel.

You’ll see that they don’t have navigational lights and bow lights and stern lights

so there are laws in place about when it’s legal to operate.

And again, if you go to a properly licensed livery, they’re going to know that

and they’re going to tell you exactly what time you need to go out and come back.

So one more thing before we wrap up Ron and we talked about you know

when people come over to the beach. So we happen to be here

at one of the beaches in the state parks here in Broward County,

and I see some orange buoys in the distance, they’re on the left side of the screen there

so these folks are doing what with the orange buoys?

Well, those buoys are markers to let you know where safe water is to pass away from other swimmers

and that’s just a designated zone to get far out enough where you can operate this

in careful regard for the safety of everybody around you.

Good. And you know, like I said we are here at one of the beaches that are along the state parks

you can see some folks here enjoying the beautiful water

so it’s important when you’re operating a PWC or jet ski that you stay out of the designated

public swim areas, correct? Correct, right.

And if you see in the distance, I’m going to pan over here way on the right side of my screen,

You may not be able to see it, there’s a small swim buoy in the distance.

And so that marks that appropriate distance off the public beach that you need to stay

away from for this specific area when you’re operating a jet ski.

So that’s another thing you should ask if you’re not told when you rent a Jet ski.

Where can I go? What time do I have to be back. Make sure you have all of your

required safety equipment, your fire extinguisher, your whistle ...

And double check it yourself. There’s a fuel gage on here just like your vehicle.

You want to make sure you have at least half a tank

in order so you don’t get stranded out there.

If they say the fire extinguisher is good, check it yourself because if you get pulled over,

you’re responsible for any safety violation, not the livery. Doesn’t hurt to check.

Yes, that’s a great tip too folks. Be sure that you’re checking, it’s about your safety

and you know if you experience an issue where you broke down out there,

You can always call FWC, we have our Wildlife Alert Hotline, its toll free,

(888) 404-3922, we can get you some assistance and the livery should give you

some information on that also, maybe their contact information

or businesses in the area rather that can assist you.

Alright, when you’re getting onboard the jet ski make sure it’s off

and you want to board from this back side.

And, you’ve got your lifejacket on, he’s got his lanyard ... and here we go.

So what Ron is demonstrating here is powering through a turn.

It’s important when operating a Jet ski that you apply the throttle completely through the turn

if not, you won’t be able to complete the turn of the jet ski.

So what Ron’s demonstrating here is how to get back on the jet ski in the event that

you fall off into the water.

If you have your key attached and the lanyard attached properly to the jet ski,

the jet ski automatically shuts off so he’s showing you that example

and then he’s going to show you like we talked about that you always have to board the jet ski from behind.

There’s a handle on the seat, there’s a rubberized platform

and you simply pull your body up onto the jet ski, get situated,

hook up your key and attach your lanyard and then you are ready to get started again on the jet ski.

If you’re new to operating the jet ski always ride within your limits

and never operate under the influence of any alcohol or controlled substance.

And Ron what do you mean “ride within your limits”, what are you talking about?

Don’t try any stunts like you’ve see on TV like wave jumping

or riding it with one hand or no hands, make sure that you stay in control.

That way you can make it back safely and you don’t damage the rented jet ski.

Perfect. And at the end of the day we want you to be having fun and have a great experience

But like Ron just said, get back to the shore safely.

So great job bringing that jet ski up onto the beach Ron.

You know, its something that I see all the time is people like to stop at sandbars,

they stop at beaches, what’s important about bringing this on the beach

and then taking it back into the water?

Respect the boundaries of the people around you, so you know how I kept a nice distance

away from the other jet skis and away from the people on the beach.

As long as you do that and you are able to safely stop the jet ski, turn it off,

If you’re renting, check in with the instructor, make sure everything you’re doing

Is based off of their guidelines and direction.

And if somebody stops say at a sandbar or the beach, and they want to get back on this thing

Can they just start it right here on the beach like this or ...?

Absolutely not. So the jet ski will suck in the sand rather than the water

and motors can’t run on sand so you’d be stuck.

And that’s a good tip folks, and we showed you a little about getting on this thing

Especially if you fall off and when we loaded up before to get ready to go.

So, anything else you think we can talk to the folks about today Ron?

Be sure to bring an ID or Florida driver’s license that shows your age.

Because if you’re under the age of fourteen you cannot operate a jet ski on Florida waterways

and if you’re born after January 1st, 1988, you must have that boater safety education requirement.

Go out there ... pay attention to what they tell you because it’s for your safety

and go out there and have fun and enjoy Florida’s beautiful waterways.

Alright, thanks for joining us.

Are you interested in becoming a livery operator and having your own business?

Well our FWC Boating and Waterways section would love to help you get started.