My Nautique Excel gets the top of pg 3!

I tried riding Saturday at 7:00 a.m., but it was really bad so I just gave up after a few pulls. The water was terrible so I was mostly just picking rollers and doing 180's and stuff off them. Never crashed that hard, but I still managed to rupture my eardrum somehow which kept me from swimming the rest of the weekend. I blew my nose after wakeboarding and air shot out of my ear. The doctor cleared me to swim when she looked at it Monday morning though.

Picked up 400 lbs of lead plates and 150 lbs of lead blocks this past weekend. The lead blocks are 3lbs each, so I stuffed them into two duffel bags from the thrift store for easy handling. With the lead, 1-2 fat sacs (600-1200 lbs), and a few friends my wake is getting beastly! I think I'm going to plumb in a set of vDrive sacs over the winter so that I can just flip a switch to fill or drain them. I'll probably run 600 lbs in the vDrive sacs, 400 lbs of lead in the bow, and use the 150 lbs in duffel bags to compensate for the weight of the driver when there are only two of us in the boat.

[Edited on July 7, 2009 at 2:37 PM. Reason : l]

7/7/2009 2:32:02 PM

^^ It was pretty durable, there were 4 or 5 of us on it most of the time all day Saturday. We had it up to capacity a couple of times with no issues. My friend works at Overton's in Greenville and picked it up at a vendor sale. The vendor sales consist of free shit companies give to Overton's in order to get it into the catalog, which in turn is sold on the cheap to employees a few times a year for next to nothing.

7/7/2009 2:35:57 PM

btt...Getting ready to burn through some gas this weekend son!

7/16/2009 2:26:08 PM

Quote :

"Professional help may be what I need."

tell the driver to punch it and then slow down once you're on top and riding along, you're heavier than the girls but he's probably giving it the same amount of gas. I'm 225-230, so they pretty much punch it to get me out and then slow down to around 20-25 once i'm on top.

7/16/2009 2:35:00 PM

^^ahh lucky. I didn't get to ride last weekend and won't this weekend either due to heading to the beach. But next weekend i've got the house and boat to myself, so i've got a good riding crew lined up for what i hope turns out to be a lot of good riding

7/16/2009 2:39:52 PM

I didn't ride last weekend either. I stayed in Raleigh and did my once-per-summer massive yard cleanup which included cutting down 5 trees and painting my deck on top of the normal trimming all the bushes, cleaning the gutters, and all that junk. Needless to say, I'm ready for a weekend at the lake.

7/16/2009 2:47:58 PM

How far is your drive from Raleigh to LG?

7/16/2009 2:53:06 PM

hahaha I'm actually going to High Rock this weekend and was just about to PM you

oh well

7/16/2009 2:54:16 PM

^^ 86 miles door-to-door. It takes 1:45 if you're making good time though. Capital Blvd, Rolesville, Louisburg, and Warrenton waste a lot of time.

7/16/2009 3:57:40 PM

I never really knew where LG was before i took a look on google maps.

7/16/2009 4:09:24 PM

Mannnnnn I need friends with a boat. I lurve the water!!!

7/16/2009 4:12:11 PM

I might end up heading out that way. Going to the Woodland Shrimp Feast on Saturday afternoon, but other than that I think it's gonna be a lake weekend.

7/16/2009 5:13:59 PM

how was the water this weekend?

I was at OIB. Heading back to the lake this weekend though!

7/20/2009 2:18:19 PM

bump

7/23/2009 9:03:25 AM

My raw water pump started making a crazy sound like shot bearings. Took it apart and the bearings seemed fine. Put it back together, and all seemed fine. Don't know what that was about, but it blew the chance to ride Sunday morning. Sunday evening was great though.

My neighbor's Supra decided to shit the bed with carb troubles. He put a new carb on it last year, but he had water in his fuel system and left it in there over the winter. One of the jets was sticking so we thought there was probably trash in the carb. When we took the front bowl off we found that the metering block was split in about 100 different ways and metal was flaking everywhere. It's his own fault for leaving water in his fuel system over the winter. I'm sure there was water in the carb that froze by the way the passages were all exploded outwards. You live and you learn.

Just thinking about it is making me want to just get a new Super Air or Wakesetter VLX. I need to buy a lake house of my own before I drop $60k on a boat though.

[Edited on July 23, 2009 at 10:18 AM. Reason : l]

7/23/2009 10:18:05 AM

hahaha i need to a buy a house house before i buy a boat but goddamn if i dont think about it every day.


I'm heading up this weekend, going to try and get there by 6 in time to put the boat in and get an hour or so of riding time before it gets dark.

I have more friends coming up saturday, so other than maybe a morning ride it'll be just boating off around the lake. Hopefully another good run on sunday morning then we'll pack it up and call it a day. I do have a new tube to try out though, so i'm looking forward to that.


Skack, is your boat on a lift or in water or do you have to trailer it to a landing each week?

7/23/2009 10:26:28 AM

I put my boat on the trailer at the end of every weekend. We lease a lake front lot with a pier that I share with my neighbor, but there is no boathouse or lift. Our community boat ramp is less than 100 yards from my pier though which is nice. There is technically no reason that I can't just leave the boat in the water, but I feel more comfortable with it on a trailer since nobody is there to watch it. Besides, cleaning those water stains is a bitch! I can't imagine how bad it would be if I left the boat in full time.

I really want to find a good lot that I can put a boathouse on and be able to raise/lower my boat with the flip of a switch. I can build later. Picking up another $200k+ mortgage is somewhat out of the question right now though so I'm just biding my time.

[Edited on July 23, 2009 at 10:45 AM. Reason : l]

7/23/2009 10:44:16 AM

yeah, I am the same way. Our neighbor has a ramp, but his driveway makes an S curve, and with my big F150 i can't wheel the trailer down there without running all over his grass, my dad can maneuver his small suv in there pretty easily though. I just take it to the public launch which is all of about 5 minutes away.

I'm hoping our lake will lift its ban on permanent in-water construction so we can build a lift.

7/23/2009 10:51:58 AM

Does water skiing count? I've been doing that a lot lately

7/23/2009 10:53:49 AM

Yeah, a lift would be nice; especially with my parents getting older and not being able to maneuver a trailer as easily. Not to mention the amount of time I spend drying and covering the boat each weekend. I'd love to be able to hang some shop fans above the boat and put them on a timer so I can just turn them on for about an hour Sunday night to help dry the boat while I'm driving back to Raleigh.

I guess I'll make it my goal to earn an extra $500k this winter so I can buy a house and a new boat for next year. Anybody know a legal way to do this? I'm thinking I could do ChaCha or something.

^ Of course water skiing counts.

[Edited on July 23, 2009 at 11:01 AM. Reason : l]

7/23/2009 10:57:19 AM

I'll be up at LKG next weekend.

I'm gonna get the fuck up on the wakeboard this time or die trying.


also, anyone ever tried wakeboarding on the Seadoo Wake edition? Most of what I read is that you really can't wakeboard behind a PWC, but the wake edition has ballast tanks to generate more of a wake. I can't even come close to affording a boat right now, but can get a pair of '07 seadoo wake editions for ~$12500


[Edited on July 23, 2009 at 11:09 AM. Reason : as]

7/23/2009 11:07:41 AM

i learned to wakeboard on a seadoo last year. We didn't have a boat, but had a pair of PWCs. The wake is pretty flat, so you can kinda get used to edging back and forth without worrying too much about the wake. But other than just riding behind and edging left and right there isn't much else to be desired.

speaking of jetskis, i used to love riding mine but ever since we got the boat i rarely touch them. We only really put them if there is a big crowd at our house (12+). They just seem to have lost their appeal to me. I do still enjoy taking them out first thing in the morning when im not wakeboarding and flying across the glassy water and up into the shallows where my boat can't go. Other than that, boat > jetski everytime

7/23/2009 11:14:44 AM

I wonder if Bobby occasionally forgets he's not in Mumbai anymore and bathes himself in the lake

7/23/2009 11:17:32 AM

No jet ski is going to make a decent wake. Heck, no jet boat makes a decent wake that I'm aware of. You're better off just wakeboarding behind your father-in-law's boat (assuming he'll continue to provide access to it.)

If you want something for your family to enjoy you might want to look at some of the jet boats with a wakeboard tower. It's not going to throw a big wake, but you don't really need a huge wake to have a ton of fun. You should be able to find one in the same price range that you're talking about spending on the PWCs.

I <3 my PWC still. It's an older Sea Doo that loves to jump and spin though. With a little skill you can get in a good rhythm with the ski having a nice landing wave for each wave that it jumps. My dad has a big 3 seater Yamaha that I just can't get into. Sometimes I'll take one of the skis when I'm planning to chill at an island all day. So much easier than anchoring the boat. I'll just toss some drinks in the trunk and put them in someone's cooler when I get there.

Quote :

"I wonder if Bobby occasionally forgets he's not in Mumbai anymore and bathes himself in the lake"

I keep a bottle of shampoo in the boat and bathe in the lake sometimes. After I work out and cut the grass Saturday morning it's easier just to grab a rag, a bar of soap, and some shampoo and scrub down in the lake (with shorts on) before heading out. Works fine. I'm going to be in the lake water all day anyway, so there is no need for treated water.

[Edited on July 23, 2009 at 11:29 AM. Reason : l]

7/23/2009 11:24:44 AM

Quote :

"No jet ski is going to make a decent wake. Heck, no jet boat makes a decent wake that I'm aware of. You're better off just wakeboarding behind your father-in-law's boat (assuming he'll continue to provide access to it.) If you want something for your family to enjoy you might want to look at some of the jet boats with a wakeboard tower. It's not going to throw a big wake, but you don't really need a huge wake to have a ton of fun. You should be able to find one in the same price range that you're talking about spending on the PWCs. "

yeah, i always have the in-law, but the only downside is that there's no way I can bring friends out there, and you can only so much fun with in-laws

My only out is to get my own stuff... i'll just have to wait until i can afford my own boat. will look into a jet boat though.

7/23/2009 1:50:15 PM

You can always find an I/O with a tower pretty cheap...Something like this should be pretty reliable and not require much work: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/boa/1283921267.html

Or, if you can deal with not having much interior space get an inboard: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/boa/1257643683.html

7/23/2009 2:05:24 PM

its amazing how small those older ski centurions are. My neighbor has one, sans tower. That ad says seats 8, but if you can get 8 adults in there comfortably i'd be amazed.

Fun little boats though, it would be fine for you, the wife, and a couple little ones.

7/23/2009 2:13:05 PM

yeah you should be able to find a decent boat with minimal maintenance needed (if you're in fresh water) for less than $12500.

this is what we have but you should be fine with something much older and with less engine if you're in fresh water.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2000-Robalo-2420-with-twin-200hp-Mercury-outboards_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ65Q3a12Q7c66Q3a2Q7c39Q3a1Q7c72Q3a1240Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem35a28646c9QQitemZ230359975625QQptZFishingQ5fBoats

7/23/2009 2:13:21 PM

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2004-Sea-Doo-sportster-4--Tech-95389747

This is along the lines of the jet boat I was thinking of.

7/23/2009 2:33:07 PM

^ Wow, I would not have expected a price that low.

oh man, now you got me scrambling to figure out how to make the finances work

7/23/2009 2:37:28 PM

Seems extraordinarily low to me too...I was honestly expecting something like that to be closer to the $12,500 number you mentioned. The difficult thing is probably going to be finding one that is close by and has the options you want.

7/23/2009 2:46:01 PM

Indeed.

I don't think I'll be able to buy one this year, but I think I will be able to buy a lot sooner than I originally assumed. I'll probably keep an eye on craigslist and see if i catch a deal.

If it's not clear, i'm a complete boat n00b.

7/23/2009 3:04:35 PM

Quote :

"08 Liquid Force Lyman/Shane OT Package MSRP: $758.98 BoardersBestBuy: $299.99 Shipping to USA Only: $48.00 "

http://www.boardersbestbuy.com/

Awesome board deal on BBB today. The Lyman is hot.



[Edited on July 24, 2009 at 10:10 AM. Reason : just noticed...Limited sizes.]

7/24/2009 10:09:35 AM

heading up to LKG tomorrow for the weekend.

Have booked a lesson with Adam Fields on Sunday morning.

This motherfucker will be getting up.

7/30/2009 2:26:03 PM

awesome man! I know AF will do wonders for you. You will have to let us know how it goes. I would definitely be interested in doing a private group lesson with him one weekend (probably next summer).

and that Lyman package was HOT! i hope someone took advantage of it.


I really worked hard on my progressive edge last weekend and was moving across the wake HS and TS holding my edge into the flats. it felt great. But a few times I'd get into the flats and flatten out in prep to edge back to center and it felt like my board was getting caught up or was really sluggish...was this due to the boat losing speed with me out there and my driver not compensating?

7/31/2009 9:06:01 AM

I'm on the fence right now for this weekend, but there's a good chance I'll end up going. I went last weekend, spent most of the time just boat riding or sitting on a float by the dock. We ended up getting real drunk all day Saturday and riding with the one sober guy out of 20 or more people to the Lakehouse. I'm pretty sure Adam Fields' place (with the signs and rail in the water) is in the same cove as the route we take to the bar.

Quote :

"I, too, enjoy weekends at Lake Gaston."

7/31/2009 9:21:02 AM

Yeah, you pass by Adams on the way to the Lake House if you're going by boat. I hate driving through that tiny tunnel. I had some friends up last weekend, two of whom were from Roanoke Rapids, and both had Adam's mom as a teacher too. I guess pretty much everyone from that area knows her.

I can easily land pretty far out in the flats heelside at 80' behind my boat, but I don't like the shock of landing like that. I wish the wake were a little wider sometimes so I could get more air without landing in the flats. The Wakesetter wakes are pretty wide, but then I have the problem of having a hard time clearing it toeside.

I was getting booted last weekend with 5 people in the boat and a few hundred pounds of lead though. I had some 180's off rollers that really surprised me by turning into 270s, lol. Instant headache. I still can't do a handle pass to save my life. One of my friends used to do handle pass 180's, so I thought that might be a good way to learn it for 360's...No luck though.

7/31/2009 9:31:47 AM

Everybody from Roanoke Rapids either personally knows, is related to, or has at least heard of nearly everybody else from Roanoke Rapids.

7/31/2009 9:36:16 AM

lol...tr00.

7/31/2009 9:40:18 AM

Quote :

"East Coast Wakefest Lake Gaston (Littleton, NC) - September 11th - 13th"

This is always a really good time and a great time to buy gear. Ski Boats Unlimited brings a few new Mastercrafts out and Freestyle board shop brings tons of gear at great prices. I think I paid $70 for a brand new Accurate Handle and A-Line mainline a few years ago. That line is over $100 pretty much anywhere and the handle was probably about $75 by itself. Surfboards in the $200 range, $5 Reefs, tons of clothes, etc. Bring yo ass!

7/31/2009 10:56:44 AM

i tried wakeboarding last weekend....man i was sore as hell the next day

7/31/2009 10:57:36 AM

just got back a little while ago.

and...

I can get up consistently now. Adam took me out this morning and had me up on the first try! I spent about an hour with him, and then 2 more being towed by my father-in-law, and i'm gonna hurt tomorrow!

goddamn that was fun.

8/2/2009 9:29:21 PM

Congrats, bobby! Adam is very talented, and he loves what he does.

Does anyone here wakesurf? I tried it yesterday for the first time. Really fun, but it seems way easier for girls (lighter, lower center of gravity).

8/2/2009 9:42:28 PM

Yeah he's a pretty laid back dude, it was money well spent.

I saw some people out on lizard creek wakesurfing (or maybe wakeskating, what's the difference?)... looked like fun.

8/2/2009 9:49:33 PM

There's wakesurfing, wakeskating and wakeskimming. Basically, wakesurfing, you use a surfboard. With wakeskating, you use a board similar to a skateboard (minus the wheels). With wakeskimming, you use a skimboard.

The idea is to pull yourself in front of the wake (between the wake and the boat) so you can drop the rope and just surf the wake as long as you can.

8/2/2009 9:54:38 PM

What did Adam tell you that made the most difference Bobby?

I surf fairly often during the day when the water is crappy. I ride a Hyperlite Broadcast, but there are usually quite a few boards on the boat to ride.

There really isn't anything called "wake skimming" that I'm aware of. It's all wake surfing. There are two types of surfboards though...Traditional surf shaped boards and skimboard shaped boards. It's all rider preference as to which you choose to ride.

Check out this vid for some awe inspiring surfing...re-post from page 2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8kZx3O6lpE

Wakeskating...No boots, just board...Freakishly hard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_gDIVqvcCY

[Edited on August 2, 2009 at 11:53 PM. Reason : l]

8/2/2009 11:25:58 PM

wakeskating is much easier with the shoes imo

8/2/2009 11:58:19 PM

Some of my friends say wake skimming, but it's technically wakesurfing. I only wakesurf and haven't tried to wakeskate yet. In both cases your feet are not strapped to the board, which I kind of prefer, being a surfer prior to picking up wakeboarding.

The joy of wakesurfing is that it gives you a reason to use your shortboard year-round. In Florida, it's rare that there are summer days where you can surf on anything other than a longboard.

Wakesurfing is super easy with a surfboard, as it's extremely buoyant. The skimboard is a little more fun, as it gives you more control. Haven't tried wakeskating yet. How does it compare?

8/3/2009 4:40:59 AM

I like to shortline wake skate...Set the boat up like you're going to surf, but fill ballast on both sides of the boat so you have wake on both sides. Get up on the wake skate with the surf rope so you're right behind the boat. The wake in that spot makes a nice spine ramp that you can slide on or ollie off of.

8/3/2009 10:01:47 AM

Quote :

"What did Adam tell you that made the most difference Bobby? "

haha, it was more of the pyschological misdirection. He told me he was going to just pull me slowly while down so I could feel the motion of the water at a slow speed. So, I wasn't worried about trying to get up that time.

But after going slowly for a few yards, he accelerated, and next thing i knew i was up.

after that, i only fell while getting up maybe twice... now i'm hooked.

but today, i'm sore as hell!

8/3/2009 10:46:44 AM