Wakeboarding: How hard could it be?

After spending the last three years in the concrete jungle of Manhattan, I have now moved back to Central Florida, surrounded by forests, lakes and if I drive far enough, ocean. Since I felt somewhat hindered in New York, with my outdoor options limited pretty much to Central Park, I have vowed to try to do something fun outside once a week. Ideally, I would like to try new and exciting things and not repeat too much, though that’s bound to happen. I will also move inside occasionally for rock climbing, racquetball, etc.

Labor Day was week number one. When my friends invited me to go wakeboarding, I jumped at the chance. I’ve always wanted to try snowboarding, and I kinda figured this would be similar, only on water. For some reason the little voice in the back of my head that kept repeating you cannot ski went unheard.

You see, when I was 13, my dad, with the patience of a saint, tried to get me up on skis. My parents were divorced and I spent half of every summer in Michigan with my father. Because he had to work all week, my father planned weekend mini-vacations to keep me entertained. One such vacation was visiting my aunt, who happened to have a boat.

I flew behind the boat with ease on a tube. All I really had to do was hold on, and I was terrified enough at the idea of hitting the water at 20mph that hold on I did! After a couple trips around the lake, it was time to bring out the skis. My dad went first, able to skim across the water on just one ski, making it look effortless. He jumped back in the boat, ready to strap me in. I figured if he could do it on one so simply, I could definitely do it on two. Plus, we were related, so I must have the skiing gene.

The boat revved and nothing happened. I think I moved an inch before I lost the rope. I tried again. I lifted a little and then face-planted. Not giving up, my aunt brought me back on board and drove us over to a little island. There, my dad pulled out the skis and had me try to lift myself up on the rope, to get the motion down, while he yanked on the other end. Think of that Dirty Dancing lift scene, where she keeps trying to balance, only reversed. Once I was sure I had it down, we went back out to the lake and I tried again. After five attempts, we all gave up and threw the tube back in the water.

Back to Labor Day. Out on Lake Weir, Jimmy went first. The water was choppy from boat traffic, but he still navigated very well. Then Brian went, who didn’t have the form or experience, but still managed to stay up pretty well. I studied both of them and the actual getting up didn’t seem to be too hard. Staying up was the difficult part. I really only wanted about 10 seconds of gliding over the water to say I could do it, so when they called for the next person, I volunteered. I reached for the bright pink life vest and climbed to the back of the boat. My friends Marcy and Amber cheered from the front, replacing my nerves with excitement.

Brian laced my feet in the board and stayed in the water with me, showing me how to hold the rope while Jimmy shouted instructions. The engine roared and my stomach dropped. A split second later the boat was moving and I was still sitting next to Brian, with my feet still in my board in front of me. I couldn’t hold on. No one said it would pull that hard! The boat came back with encouragement. Don’t worry, it was just the first time. Now you know you really have to hold on.

Attempt number two: The boat lurched and I managed to hold on for about three seconds before losing the rope. Attempt three: I held on long enough to face-plant and inhale half of Lake Weir, and then lose the rope. Frustrated and embarrassed, I take off the board and swim back to the boat. At least I tried.

We all take a break from boarding and tie up for a while, drinking a beer and enjoying the Florida sunshine. Later, we pull out the tube and I become a rock star, redeeming myself while flying through the air and holding on for dear life. Well maybe not a rock star, but you get the idea. After all that, I may try to kneeboard soon. Ha, how hard could it be? Stay tuned!

Category: Reader Stories