Wakey wakey

 In the tradition of all things ill advised, I got to try something new this week.

On a beautiful day, in a gorgeous place

At my company's holiday party back in December, each member of our leadership team put together a gift that would be raffled off to employees. There was a weekend at the CEO's vrbo on an island in BC, theatre tickets, spa treatments - a whole range of items and experiences. The VP of Operations is a passionate wakeboarder, so the gift he offered was a day of wakeboarding and wakesurfing for the winner plus 2 other people since the boat holds four. My colleague Katy from the Finance team won it, and invited myself and another fellow from the Operations team (who is also a member of the Nicoya hockey team, and a really good guy) to come along, and it was scheduled for last week...until the risk of powerful thunderstorms was predicted, requiring a change of plans. We hoped for Tuesday of this week, and fortunately the weather was absolutely perfect!

Brian at the helm, Katy centre, Clayton's knees, and myself

I brought my action camera - the same one I use for recording my exploits as a washed-up goalie - and faint memories of my last wakeboarding experience, which I realized were now 25 years past (and could thus be considered "classic" in car terms). I was, however, roundly nominated to go first as my stand-up paddleboarding, teenage waterskiing, and general water-based-activity level was considered the highest among Clayton, Katy, and myself.

Heading out to a sheltered bay on Conestoga Lake

Brian suggested we wakeboard first, as he'd need to fill the ballast bladders for wakesurfing. So, I strapped into the bindings of the smaller of the two wakeboards (which was for up to size 8 men's feet, so I was about at the top end of the range), and hopped in the water.

Having ditched my sun shirt, hat, and sunglasses

Here goes nothing..

Nothing, indeed - it took me 3 tries before I could even almost get up, then a few moments to try adjusting the bindings' position to see if that helped. Another 3 tries (and a bit of correction of form) had me nearly get it, but it wasn't until I'd done a full 15mins of flailing and was on my 8th try (after nearly giving up) that I finally managed to stand. Once I did, though..

I got a nice ride in, actually ending it intentionally as my hands & shoulders were very tired from my prior attempts, and I wanted to give someone else a shot.

Almost lost it going over our own wake, though!

I said "the bar has been set low" when Brian pulled 'round to pick me up, and he countered by saying I'd done a full lap up and down the bay...so I guess I did ok? 

Good times!

Katy was up next, and she had a much easier time getting up - she definitely was not near the high end of the foot size or weight for the smaller board, and was on her feet on her second try, though had a bit more difficulty staying there at first. She got a really good run in on her third attempt, though.

Wheeeeee!

Clayton was up next, using the bigger board - he did great, getting up to his feet on his third attempt and getting a great run in before losing it riding off the centre of the wake.

I will point out that I was the only person over 40 - both Katy and Clayton are in their 20s, and I've got 5 years on Brian

When Clayton had enough, Brian taught Katy (who has a boating license as her family owns a pontoon boat) how to drive the GPS-guided craft so he could get some time in on the water.

Imparting knowledge

Brian is - predictably, since he owns a $20k boat plus hundred of dollars of boards and associated gear and heads out a couple of times a week - really good at this.

Carving hard on heel edge

Massive spray from his toes

This is why he wears a helmet (he offered it to me, but I declined)

When Brian was done, we stopped for a bit to fill the ballast bladders with a 12v pump, so the boat would sit lower in the water and create a larger wake. Brian also attached a wave shaper via suction cups to one side of the hull, and I was once again nominated first to wakesurf.

I was not confident it would go well

Fortunately, I actually found this way easier to stand up - I had watched some YouTube tutorials in the days prior, and actually made it on my first attempt!

..though I was down almost as quickly as I'd popped up.

I tried 3 more times, but kept falling - I think that wakeboarding first might have made me a bit too reliant on the tension in the rope to sort of pull myself back into balance, and wakesurfing tends to lead to a very slack rope; the end goal, really, is to be able to let go and have the wake just push you along.

I couldn't quite stay on the thing long enough to find that butter zone

After 4 tries - all of which led to me standing, then falling off backwards, though apparently I was only out there for a total of 11 minutes - I figured I'd inhaled enough of Conestoga Lake for the time being and let Katy have a go.

I was sure she'd rock this

Unfortunately, her experience was similar to mine with the wakeboard, but I think for the opposite reason: while I was toward the high end of the wakeboard's capacity, I'm not sure Katy was heavy enough for the 100lb+ recommended for the wakesurf board. Since you need to push the edge closest to you down into the water in order to stand, I think she may have lacked the weight to get it to flip up to her feet. After a number of valiant tries, she decided she'd had enough and passed the board over to Clayton.

He immediately got up, and had nearly a 4min ride!

After Clayton's amazing run, Brian handed the wheel off to Katy again so he could wakesurf - he never actually got to the point of ditching the rope completely, but he certainly ended up with a lot of slack!

Definitely showing us how it's done

Katy decided to have another go at wakeboarding with the bigger wake from the ballast, and with the rope tied off shorter (which apparently helps with getting up; maybe that's what I needed off the start?). She did way better this time, with some really great rides!

While looking every inch like an advert for some boardsports apparel company

Clayton had another go as well, and even caught a bit of air off the wake a couple of times!

I declined any further attempts - I had so far escaped hurting myself, and wanted to keep it that way!

Brian had another twirl around the lake once Clayton's legs got too tired for him to continue, and once again showed off his skill.

Throwing rainbows

..and catching loads of air

When everyone had had their fill of wakeboarding, Brian emptied out the ballast bladders and we all hopped in the water for a swim in the evening sun.

We all knew we'd be sleeping well that night!

Just after 6pm - around 3.5hrs after we left the dock - Brian pointed the bow back toward the launch ramp as the sun began to dip in the sky.

We really had the perfect day

While the timing could have been a little better - which would have allowed me to be a bit more daring - I am so grateful to have had this incredibly fun experience. I'm thankful to have come out without injury, too, though my hands, forearms, and shoulders have been a bit beat up by my unsuccessful wakeboarding attempts. 

I even managed not to get sunburned!

Hopefully I'll have another chance to try wakesurfing - and maybe a little more than 11 minutes to practice - in the future. For now, I've got a little something on the go for tomorrow...and most of the next day, too.