Tubing, Bathing Suits, and Failure Prevention
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EDITORIAL
Tubing, Bathing Suits, and Failure Prevention McIntyre R. Louthan
Published online: 10 October 2009 Ó ASM International 2009
All my grandchildren enjoy tubing. This relatively high speed water activity involves riding a ‘‘tube’’ that is being pulled behind a power boat at speeds approaching 20 mph. Modern tubes are not typically tubular, but are semi-flat objects (ours are disc-shaped) that are attached to the boat by a 75 ft long rope. There are handles on the top surface of the tubes and the riders, at least on our tubes, lay in a prone position while holding onto the handles. The tubes will plane on the water surface at speeds higher than about 10 mph, and if the boat is going over 15 mph, the tube will glide out of the boat’s wake whenever a ‘‘sharp’’curve is executed. When the water is rough and boat’s path is curvy, hanging on to the tube becomes difficult because of the bounces, and the tendency for the rider is to slide across the tube surface. The combination of centrifugal forces, slick surfaces, and bouncing makes the ride fun, but difficult. The riders can slide off the tube and into the water. The magnitude of this tendency depends on the skill and strength of the rider and the speed of the boat. The grandchildren therefore want an ‘‘awesome’’ ride, which requires that they be on the verge of falling off the tube during virtually every turn. As the boat driver, I have to drive so that the combinations of bumps, turns, and speed are appropriate for the rider but, irregardless of the rider’s skill, awesome rides result in an occasional slip from the tube and trip into the water. Life jackets are an essential component for any tube ride, and each of the grandchildren has their favorite jacket. On a beautiful day, the grandchildren can tube for hours without any trouble, although slips from the tubes are frequent. Visitors, however, often have problems. The M. R. Louthan (&) Box 623, Radford, VA 24143, USA e-mail: [email protected]
problems occasionally involve a fear of sliding off the tube, or a life jacket that doesn’t quite fit. However, the primary problem is the bathing suit; some bathing suits simply are not appropriate for tubing. When the rider slips into the water, the water tugs on the bathing suit and can strip the bathing suit from the falling tuber. Such stripping is primarily a problem when the bathing suit doesn’t quite fit, or a female visitor wears a string bikini. Over the course of this past summer, several visitors have been embarrassed because their bathing suit bottom was removed as they slipped from the tube. However, the way to avoid such embarrassment is to wear the proper equipment for tubing. This solution sounds simple, but people frequently have little desire to wear the proper bathing suit. Proper bathing suits may not be considered stylish, and the improper bathing suit may be more comfortable, and/or acquiring a new, proper bathing suit may require the investment of resources (time and money). In many ways, the bathing suit problem is similar to failure
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