Couple of new surfers - Waterski-Rebel and fam

[Timmy!]

I went and met up with Waterski-Rebel (Alan) and his wife and kids yesterday to let them experience the joys of surfing. Alan and his wife were both able to pop right up (pretty much) on the surfboard and are starting to learn. We weren't able to get a very good wave which I think is due to the depth of the lake.

Alan has a beautiful Switch V that we were using to surf on. I took a pair of v-drive sacs with me and we filled one in the corner and had another in the nose about 1/2 full. The lake was reading 3.1' deep at this point and I was afraid to experiment too much with filling the other bag or moving it to the back, etc. I'm thinking if he tries just people weight on the side they are surfing on he may be better off. We had to run his boat up to around 14 mph just to get any wave to develop and the taps was very, very touch. If we went slower than 14 or faster the wave would wash out immediately and the same with the taps, you barely touched it and the wave would just roll over. We saw one other boat surfing and it was a Malibu but it didn't look like it had an optimal wave either. Anyone know what you should do in a shallow lake for surfing?

I had a great time with Waterski-Rebel and his family and I hope they enjoyed learning as much as I enjoyed teaching them!

[samw]

I went and met up with Waterski-Rebel (Alan) and his wife and kids yesterday to let them experience the joys of surfing. Alan and his wife were both able to pop right up (pretty much) on the surfboard and are starting to learn. We weren't able to get a very good wave which I think is due to the depth of the lake.

Alan has a beautiful Switch V that we were using to surf on. I took a pair of v-drive sacs with me and we filled one in the corner and had another in the nose about 1/2 full. The lake was reading 3.1' deep at this point and I was afraid to experiment too much with filling the other bag or moving it to the back, etc. I'm thinking if he tries just people weight on the side they are surfing on he may be better off. We had to run his boat up to around 14 mph just to get any wave to develop and the taps was very, very touch. If we went slower than 14 or faster the wave would wash out immediately and the same with the taps, you barely touched it and the wave would just roll over. We saw one other boat surfing and it was a Malibu but it didn't look like it had an optimal wave either. Anyone know what you should do in a shallow lake for surfing?

I had a great time with Waterski-Rebel and his family and I hope they enjoyed learning as much as I enjoyed teaching them!

Holy crap the lake was reading 3.1' deep at this point. Wow that is shallow. I don't like to go into 6 feet of water. That is when my keel are goes off.
Congrats on surfing. I love it.

[dogbert]

I think you need at least 8'-10' or you won't get a decent wave.

[Waterski-Rebel]

Well, Tim beat me to it. I was going to post a HUGE thank you!!! to Tim, and post some pics. Tim was amazing, I really appreciate someone like that coming out and helping.

When we left our house, it was 55, cloudy, and it started to rain. By the time we got the boat on the water, the sun started to peek through the clouds, by the time we left it was in the mid 70's and very sunny. I have a nice sunburn to show for it. We didn't put any lotion on before heading out due to the weather.

We started with about 400 #'s in the starboard locker,and around 200 #'s up front. The wake where you see Tim, as well as the wake for me are around 13.9 mph, and taps at 1.9.

For my wife, we emptied the 400 # sack, and moved the 200 # sack to the back/center of the cockpit.

I've attached a picture of Tim, myself (getting up), my wife, and my daughter.

Tim did fine, and so did my wife. I got right up (first try), but couldn't make it into the pocket. I tried several more times, but wasn't able to make it into the pocket. My daughter was close, but kept letting go of the rope. She ended up surfing with Tim.

Once again, Tim, thanks for a great day on the lake!!

Although we didn't get the perfect wake, we are still going to buy a board and some sacks.

[dogbert]

Nice job guys! It's always good to see the smiles on everyone's faces when they learn to wakesurf!

[Waterski-Rebel]

I'm not sure you can call mine, or my wife's a smile. But it was fun. Just wish I would have made it into the pocket.

[dogbert]

Patience, young grasshopper, patience

You'll get there. Surfing's a low-key sport...you gotta loosen up and things start happening for you!

[Waterski-Rebel]

LOL!! I wish I were a young grasshopper. But I get your point!

[Timmy!]

Alan,
You're very welcome! It's always fun to help introduce new people to the sport especially when they are as enthusiastic as you were about it! I had a great time trying to be an instructor too! BTW, you and your wife both had huge smiles on your faces but they just aren't in those couple of pictures!

Good luck with the surfing! You can always post up for pointers and advice!

[dogbert]

BTW, one piece of advice I will give you is to try surfing at 9 Mph or even 8.8. Don't worry about the wash (you can surf wash). The reason I say this is the wave will be steeper and have a lot more forward energy compared to a longer wave. The sweet spot is smaller, but more pronounced. Once you feel it and know what it feels like, try moving around a bit. Also, try getting a little closer to the boat. Most people freak out about getting too close, but if you get over that, then you find what I'm talking about.

[Timmy!]

At that speed there was nothing behind the boat but pure wash.

[kko]

looks like every one had a great time!! me and my crew gave it a shot for the first time. the kids and my neighbor ate it up. i like it just not my favorite thing to do behind the boat. i just run stock ballast and have a rookie driver so we are still working on getting the wave dialed in.
me and my daughter

my neighbor and his son

[Timmy!]

Nice job! You even have some slack in the rope there!

[dogbert]

Nice job! What board is that?

[kko]

Thats the im a fat errrr i mean big guy 7'6" nsp fun board. it did make it really easy to get the slack and free ride. it turns slow but it was fun to let the kids walk out on the nose and stuff. i think we could get a way with a 6'6" im not sure i just find it really hard at my size to get anything smaller to keep up but i am very new to the wakesurf game so im still trying to get the hang of it all.