Gear and Procedure Questions for new Tige Boater

[RZR]

Switched from Sport Boat to Wakeboard Boat over winter (Tige RZR). Please help me with a few questions:

First, fenders: What do you use for tying up to docks as well as other boats? Round fenders of hinged flat fenders? What size?

How often do you charge batteries during the summer? I used to charge mine once a month during summer but this is a different type of boating so will not be taking long cruising runs that would otherwise charge them.

I have the Alpha Z tower and plan on learning (or getting hurt trying) to surf. I understand the handholds can be used to attach a surf rope. Do you use the handholds for this? If so, do you tie the rope around the handhold or do you attach it some way to reduce chaffing? Is there something I should be getting for this purpose?

Any experience with kids helmets? Looking for any feedback or insights on wakeboard helmet for a 6 year old (it's okay, he still thinks his parents are cool so he will be alright with a helmet).

Finally, his feet are size 13. Looking at a Ronix board or a Liquid Force board for him. Ronix is sized 2-7 while Liquid Force is 12-5. Put him in the Ronix boots and was able to snug them down so he could move the board around fine. His toes were right at the end of the boots but not sticking out the open toed end. Sales person thought okay to go with the Ronix (and son likes the board better aesthetically but has never wakeboarded so just likes the shark look) and I like the idea of being able to use it a little longer based on the higher end size range. Do you think it is okay to go with the Ronix or should I go with the Liquid Force?

I know I am supposed to attach a photo so I followed the instructions and attached one. All I see is words and numbers. If that is all you see, then the boat looks otherwise. If you see a picture of a boat, then it apparently magically appears after I try to upload this.

Thank you for your insights.

photo.jpg

[konajay]

Nice looking boat RZR, thanks for posting up pics.

I'm sure you'll get a lot of different opinions on what type of fender is best, but IMO, I like the traditional round fenders, the bigger diameter the better. We like to tie up with other boats, and with people constantly moving around, rough water conditions, etc, the more protection between rocking boats and docks, the better. I even tie fenders between the towers of adjacent boats to keep them from knocking together. I purchased some inflatable round fenders, which stow easily, for just this purpose. I think if I recall correctly, I bought them from inflatableboatfenders.com.

I never had to put my batteries on a charger last summer. Our typical day starts off with us anchoring out in our favorite cove, listening to tunes and visiting with friends. We may go out for a few runs, but boat traffic usually has the lake pretty washed out. Most of our surfing is done the last 3 hours or so of the day, so I usually get a good charge on the batteries by the end of the day.

I don't have the Alpha Z tower, so can't really give you any solid advice on how people are attaching to those towers. I would think that attaching to the hand hold would chaff the gel coat. I guess I always assumed there was a pylon on the tower.

Can't help you with the wakeboard advice either, as we only surf. Don't worry too much about hurting yourself surfing, surfing is very low impact on the body. In the 2 years we've been surfing, the only injury we've sustained was a surf board to the head that required a few stitches. The helmet for the kiddos is a good idea. Also, make sure you get a surf specific rope so you don't run the chance of getting tied up in the rope.

Congrats on your purchase, and welcome to TO. I'm sure others will chime in with more advice later.

[houstonshark]

Nice boat! We have 174hrs on our RZR that we've owned for almost exactly 1yr so I can answer a few of your questions.

1.) Bumpers - Space is at a bit of a premium on my boat, especially with all of the stereo equip. I bought 4 of the Ronix bumpers, mostly because I like the look and have a ton of Ronix gear. We rarely tie up so I keep 2 of them inflated on top of my sub enclosure in the starboard bow storage along with 2 deflated. I also keep 2-3 of the Ronix bungee dock ties (which I really like) as well as a handful of other misc mooring lines.

2.) Surf Rope Placement - I don't really see the point in using the hand cut outs instead of the normal tow point. Maybe it's easier to learn on the side but you will scratch up your pretty red tower. I use the Ronix bungee surf rope. If you use the same or similar rope with the Bimini up, choke the rope up and bypass the bungee part. It's really coarse and will scratch up the black part on the top of the Bimini. The bungee does help a bit so you could find some sort of material to put on the Bimini to protect it. The problem is that I think the rope is too long, especially for the shorter RZR surf wake.

3.) Batteries - Get a good on board charger and if you have power where you store the boat, keep them on the charger (maintainer). You'll get a better life out of the batteries.

4.) Kids - My 5yr old has been wakeboarding since August of last year (he was 4 then). He wears around the same size shoe as your kid and the Ronix Vision boots fit fine. The new Vision board has sweet graphics and the really cool sticker pack to reward them when they complete a trick!
The thing I liked about the Ronix setup vs the LF is that they only make the 120. If I remember, LF has several sizes (on purpose to make you buy a new board every other year).
As far as kids helmets, get an adjustable one. It's the only way to make it fit right and keep from buying one each year. I think we bought a Bern helmet. It wasn't cheap but my wife can wear it too. If you let them pick out some cool stickers to church it up, they'll like it and wear it. If you don't wear one, expect some push back.
If you can, get a kids wakeboarding handle and rope. Of course I got the Ronix but I'm sure there are others. The handle is a smaller diameter so they can grip it better (trust me, it makes a difference) and the rope will stretch just a little which also helps. You can tie a rope at whatever length you want easily without using the built in loops but my kids rope has loops at 50' - 65' @ 5' increments.

Here are some pics of us riding behind our RZR. You're gonna love the boat!

Regular surf wake (I'm 6'3")


Goofy (My buddy is almost 6')


My 5yr old


Not a great pic and a pretty washy wake at the time but he's working on jumping off of the wake.


My 3yr old finally said he's ready to ride. I can't wait to get him up!


Let them play on the boards (even adult boards) as much as they want. It will help them get comfortable. Both of my boys can Ollie my 142 pretty easily.

Practice pulling them up with the rope and handle in the grass and in shallow water (it's also a good workout!).

We tried a couple different ways to teach my son but the best was to start with someone in the water with them. Go easy on the throttle. They get up with very little throttle. Use the speedset at around 13-15 to start. Get them up and start bumping it up as they learn and get comfortable.

Geez. Sorry for the novel!

[Duncan]

Welcome to TO! Great looking boat

I like the traditional round fenders, the bigger diameter the better. .... I purchased some inflatable round fenders, which stow easily, for just this purpose.

^^ X2. We use a pair of big round fenders. And I have a ball fender for the bow--any fender hanging off the front cleat needs a lot more diameter to be effective. The ball fender is perfect. And it makes a nice anchor buoy too.

... using the hand cut outs instead of the normal tow point. Maybe it's easier to learn on the side but you will scratch up your pretty red tower.

^^ We towed surfers from the hand cut out for several seasons using Wake9's surf nubbin. I still tow from that point when teaching a newbie. It makes it much easier to keep them from drifting over into the middle when learning. The surf nubbin did not "scratch" our black Alpha Z but it did leave it a little hazy from rubbing. A little rubbing compound and polish took that away no problem.

Re helmets, from reading, it was my understanding that use of helmets in the water reduces concussion risk but increases neck injury risk. Some of the neck injury risk can be reduced by having a tight fitting helmet to prevent "bucketing" (i.e., water flowing up under the helmet). I would wear a helmet when hitting obstacles but not otherwise. That said, I have read a few TOs that have little kids mention they are rubber band flexible and can bend over and hit their head on a wake board a lot easier than an adult. So I might need to revise my helmet ideas soon.

Re surf injuries, I agree that (with a good driver) surfing is low impact. But the driver that taught me to surf used a wake board pull (a lot of throttle). The large surface area of a surf board plowing through the water after a fast hole shot is enough to seriously mess up your knees. I speak from (painful) experience.

Re wakeboard size, the larger size will give your son more stability when starting out. While it will not be as nimble, landings will also be softer. And he will grow into as his skill increases. For his boots, consider a pair of thick neoprene socks (w/o soles). I bought bindings a half size big and use 1 or 2 mm socks (I forget which) for extra padding.

Re charger, strongly consider buying an onboard battery tender and keeping it plugged in whenever you can. You will greatly extend the life of your batteries. The fewer batteries you have, the less important this is because your alt/gen can keep up.

Last, get a portable compressed gas air horn and keep it very close when you are pulling riders, especially kids. Nothing beats a massive wall of sound directed at some idiot driver not paying attention. The stock "horn" is pitiful and useless.

[chpthril]

Welcome to the site and congrats.

How often do you charge batteries during the summer? I used to charge mine once a month during summer but this is a different type of boating so will not be taking long cruising runs that would otherwise charge them.

99% of the time the main cranking will not need to be charged during the normal course of a season. The house battery, is a different story. The engines alternator makes for a poor battery charger, so the total scope of the house loads: stereo, lights, etc. and how mush time to spend drawing down that house battery while at anchor, will determine if a shore charger of some kind is needed.

[smitty1994]

As far as fenders go I bought these they are big and inflatable, so will save space when storing flat.

http://exileaudio.com/store/index.ph...ll-fender.html

As far as surfing safety: I think proper boat driving and using a proper rope are the keys. Only surf injury I've seen is my wife broke her finger using a bad rope.

[Matt Garcia]

Thats a great looking RZR. Congrats and welcome to the site.

[viking]

As far as fenders go I bought these they are big and inflatable, so will save space when storing flat.

http://exileaudio.com/store/index.ph...ll-fender.html

I use these too. I know alot of people just use the standard hippity hops from Toysrus or Walmart. If you don't mind rocking the Toy Story blue with Buzz Lightyear that is?

[RZR]

Thank you all for the insights and suggestions.

I was contemplating the Hull Hugr flat fenders but had read some comments that they are hard on the gel coat. Was concerned they would take off the decals. Sounds like most of you use round fenders so I went with 8" round fenders with fleece covers.

Picked up a Ronix bungee surf rope and ordered a Wake 9 Surf Nubbin. Will play around with the different surf points.

Also picked up a "smart" battery charger/conditioner/maintainer that I will plug in while in the garage and apparently it will figure out what the batteries need.

Thank you too for sharing your experiences with kids gear (and the photos). I ordered my son a LF Icon helmet that will fit snug so hopefully we can avoid any neck injuries (a friends son took a board to the back of the head and it was a very bad injury - plates, etc, so the helmet has to happen if there is to be peace on the boat). I am picking up the Ronix board this weekend. I will let him play around in it and see if we need to 'stuff his boots' as he gets the feel for it. If spring ever shows up in Wisconsin I will start working with him in the grass. I watched a youtube video on that teaching idea and it looked pretty slick.

I will also pick up an air horn this weekend. What a great idea. Thank you for that suggestion.

I use to ski somewhat regularly about 25 years ago. Then once or twice a year since then. Learning how to wakeboard and surf while my wife learns how to drive can't possibly be bad. I'm putting my faith in TigeTouch, the ability to drop the rope and swim home, and boat insurance.

Thank you all for taking the time to give me the benefit of your experiences. I am very excited for summer to get here. Actually, I am still hoping spring gets here.