Hoping there might be a few people from WA on this board that can give me an idea of what lakes are good. I might be moving up there (near Redmond, WA) and just wanted to get an idea of how long the season lasts and if there is a far amount of water to hit up.
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Lakes in Washington State
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Up in the Seattle area, the most popular are Lake Washington (BIG, can get rough), and Lake Sammamish (much smaller, tons of great riders).
South of Seattle, about 30 or so miles, there are many smaller lakes such as Lake Tapps, Mason Lake (good lake, many top locals ride there), and American Lake (where I live). These lakes are fairly easy to ride during the week, but can get a bit crowded on the weekends during the busy season.
There are numerous other lakes that are within an hour or two as well.
Riding season is typically (and I DO stress typically) from around the middle May until mid-October. You can get some decent weather in April. Some people hit it early Spring, but water is still pretty chilly. A few go well into November or year round, but a dry suit is a must if you do that.
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If your looking for a weekend get away, Eastern Washington is excellent. Vantage on the Columbia is a great spot, a little chilly but lots of water and you can find smooth water & some sandy beaches. This is probably about 2 1/2 hours from Redmond. The wind can come up so you have to watch the weather.
One of my favorite lakes is Banks Lake which is near the Coulee Dam in Electric City. It is about 25 miles long with campgrounds on the north side. Lake Roosevelt, which is huge, is a great place. Both of these are about an hour east and north of Vantage.
When the weather heats up over here, you can ski or wakeboard from early morning to late in the evening.
I can't wait until we get back out & hope to see more Tige's east of the Cascades.
Yllis.......
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Lake Washington is not as bad as stated above. We ride on it from early march thru october. If it's cold, we wear drysuits. During the week is ideal, however the weekends just require you to be on the water around 8. Ride for a couple hours and then just relax in the sun (summer) and eat lunch. Sammamish is the same story, in early and your ok.
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Crowded Lakes
Originally posted by joe8395
Doesn't sound much different then Havasu or the lakes in SoCal as far as having to get on the water early during summer weekends.
We also do not have any crowding problems. I can travel 40+ miles in a single direction on Watts Bar Lake. Parts of the lake are very wide. Calm water is easy to locate and in fact is most of the lake. Only gets choppy in the late afternoon after a lot of boats have been on the water. Still there is never any lack of space.
And if I wanted to travel through a few damns I could actually go 800 miles in a single direction from Knoxville to Paducah Kentucky.
And there are several ancillary lakes around that are useful but are not part of the navigation system. All the lakes are excellent for water sports and activities.Ray Thompson
2005 22V
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Originally posted by joe8395
Water system sounds awesome...it's just too bad it's Tennessee
Originally posted by joe8395
The west coast is the best coast!Ray Thompson
2005 22V
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The only dealer in the state in located south of seattle Ski Dog Sports. They are a pretty good dealer. We do get together on Lake Washington usually in September. They give away a new boat to previous owners. Last year we finished second. It sucks finishing second. Got a new wakeboard for the kids though.
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West Coast Boating
Originally posted by joe8395
Irrespective of that you really can't beat the weather out here....and the ladies out here have all of their teeth too which is nice
Don't knock not having teeth until you have dated a girl with no teeth. There are no sharp edges if you get my drift.Ray Thompson
2005 22V
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Originally posted by switchme
The only dealer in the state in located south of seattle Ski Dog Sports. They are a pretty good dealer. We do get together on Lake Washington usually in September. They give away a new boat to previous owners. Last year we finished second. It sucks finishing second. Got a new wakeboard for the kids though.
My buddy finished second at the regatta last year in Parker, AZ and he pouted about that all night at the bar, after a few shots he started talking about how he was glad he didn't win because of how much he likes his 1992 Tige and all the good memories he has had....yeah...ok...the power of Patron I suppose.
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