Thanks for the replies y'all.
> Sportsinsurance.com
I tried this, and they said this isn't something they insure 😞
> Have you used a portable course there and been told you have to have a permit?
The second time I put the course out, I saw DNR taking pictures of it. I caught up with them and they said they were forwarding the pictures to the gov agency that manages permitting. In my ignorance I reached out to the permit agency in good faith, and that led me down the rabbit hole I'm currently in. I even asked the guy at the agency "so, hypothetically, if I were to put it out, would this harm my chances of getting a permit?" and he said definitely. So I tried to do it the legit way. Maybe that was a mistake, but I'm in too deep now. I honestly thought it wouldn't be this hard to put a few *#(@ing buoys in the water.
Unfortunately the lake I'm placing it on has seen a massive increase in traffic, and the state has increased DNR/police presence 4x in the last year to crack down on everything they can. So it would be difficult for me to hide the course usage.
> Is this for a college waterski club?
Nope
> Do fishermen on the lake put out noodles? Bouy's with fishing hooks dangling from them.
Not that I'm aware of
> Start a club and get club insurance through AWSA. I suspect that's the most viable path.
I originally read the wrong the AWSAs insurance policy, so I didn't think it would cover the course (it seemed to only cover sanctioned events). But after reading the club insurance policy, it does look like it should cover my use case! I'm gonna see if the state will sign off on that policy and what other hoops they'd want me to jump through (the policy looks like it's gonna be $700+ a year, so I gotta be sure it'll work first).
Thanks for the help y'all!