Rope Freedom...Finally!

[WakeVB 0]

Everyone seems generous in sharing stories, so I figured I would post mine up as well. We had a terrific day on Lake Gaston last Saturday. Air over 80 and water up to 74. Everyone in the family took some type of ride that day and we had some new successes. Remember, this is our 6th day ever on our boat..we are still pretty new to all this.

 

The first win of the day was that my wife got up on the Yellow Loogey. She had never surfed in her life. Took her about 4 pulls of taking water up her nose before she figured out how to stand up, but everytime after that she popped right up. She kept commenting how much easier it was to get up on than the wakeboard. Somehow in her second run she pulled out this massive floater...I was really impressed. She held on to the rope for her set, but really looked comfy. She is now definitely addicted to surfing and is over her "back of the boat" fear she kept telling me about. Anyone questioning beginners getting up on the loogey, guess again. You can see that my daughter and I took a set as well!

 

The second major win was that I finally got my wave dialed a bit on my cyclone. We used a 300# sac, and 200# of lead to get it right. Three adults in the boat. I finally surfed without the rope and the wave on the darkside (about 6 of my 7 are all goofy!) really cleaned up nice. The pictures dont really do it justice, and I know I can get it better. We have been trying to throw the rope constantly, but the wave hasnt been big enough to ride on. What a blast to have that Freedom I have been looking for.

My moms was on rope duty as well....gotta love that!

 

Anyhow, really happy with the boat and the day overall. Here are a few pics...

[WakeDoc 471]

Congrats on getting the wave dialed in, add a little more weight and it will only get better. By the smiles on everyones faces, looks like y'all had some good family fun.

[VaBeachBum 0]

Gotta love that first time you lose the rope!

 

Looks like you are telling a fish story in that one pic. "I'm serious...it was THIS big!"

Just make sure the wifey doesn't wrap that rope around her arm or hands. That's a lot of extra slack. Wrapping up an arm on a fall can turn a good day into a bad day in a hurry. (sorry about that, talk about buzz kill)

 

Looks like fun. Can't wait to get up to Gaston for some boat time.

[WakeVB 0]

Good call on the rope. I kept telling her repeatedly to not wrap her hands...and it wasnt wrapped. It was scaring me a bit though. I could have shortened it one more notch, but I was trying my best to make sure she could get up.

 

I really need to get you to help me daisy chain, or tie some effective knots in that wrope anyway. Its a pain in the arse to hold on to....and its a bit long. Any ideas?

[VaBeachBum 0]

Definitely don't make a knot. Even knots that you know you can get out, will be crazy hard to untie after it has been under the load of pulling up an adult.

 

I'll show you how to daisy chain for sure. It's actually quite easy, and I daisy chain any rope, cord, anything that's too long. For me, it's the best way to keep your anchor line shorter until you need it, also with extension cords in the garage (unless you have something to wrap it on).

[WakeVB 0]

BTW, I googled "how to daisy chain." Wow...I learn something new every day!

[WakeDoc 471]

BTW, I googled "how to daisy chain." Wow...I learn something new every day!

 

Oh...you guys were really talking about a rope...

[WakeVB 0]

[duramat 462]

This year Im going to make or buy a T-handle or those surfing handles that you cant put your arm thru. Ive got a surf rope with all kinds of knots in it. but when the hands are so tired or pulling to fast, it gets hard to use, and then it just hurts even more.

[Bigshow 0]

Nice, Looks like dad got out on the Yellow with a youngster too.

[k_b_stephens 0]

Looked like a great day on the lake!

 

btw..where on Gaston were you?

[WakeVB 0]

We are on Pea Hill Creek usually! Do you ride out that way much?

[eleventenths 0]

Congrats! I remember my first ropeless ride. Looking at your wake there may be a little more on tap. I am assuming the 300sac/200lead is in addtion to stock tanks-what's your full setup? Heres a pic from 06 on the elizabeth river in an 06 cyclone, we got it even bigger last year but don't have pics handy on this computer-new boat this year so it's back to square one:

 

 

We're on pea hill on gaston also, We've had our waverunner out but haven't dragged the boat out to the lake yet this year. There has been a surprising amount of construction over the winter given the supposedly down housing market. I almost did not recognize the entrance to po creek with the new big mansions sitting there.

Edited May 6, 2008 by eleventenths

[WakeVB 0]

Thats a great pic man! Thanks for giving me some hope too. I had no idea you guys were a past cyclone owner. What did you figure out to be your best set up??? Any help would be awesome....and yes, that weight was in addition to center and rear stock.

[k_b_stephens 0]

We head up Pea Hill quite often. My family's place is down on Little Stone House, basically across from Outdoor world. Also, if you're cruising down my way, we hang out at the island just outside of Big Stone House, across from Camp Willow Run. Nice sand bar for kids to run around on and it's a lot tamer than Wobble island in Pea Hill.

 

I'll keep my eye out for you guys!

[SV216 1]

Second time surfing, let go of the rope, great feeling. Our family is now hooked on surfing. My twelve year old also second time and is letting the rope drag beside hime for 4-5 seconds at a time. Pretty cool. How far do you guys surf behind the boat? Were at about 6-8 feet, is that to close? End of the day sufed up to the platform and actually stepped off onto it and picked up my board. Were using a Phase 5 Oogle board.

[Joe B 17]

Surfed for the 3rd time behind LadderRat's boat. Used his real surfboard and the sweet spot was about 4ft from the corner of his swim deck. It was a blast. I've been having trouble with my 4.9 broadcast and weigh only 150lbs with a big wave to push but haven't been able to free-ride. I may try moving closer to the deck of my Avy. Alot of fun trying new boards. LadderRat had a 4 foot skim board for his kids and that was like riding a frisbee.

Great fun, can't wait to get my kids and landloving wife surfing.

[duramat 462]

Joe~ The other night we took out my boat and Sky (Sky_High) brought out his collection of fatsacs and we sacked mine down good! Weight is obviously a good friend and made alot of difference in being able to surf, and with slack in the rope. That was the best I had ever done!

 

Sky has an IS Blue board that I really like. I do like the fact that the nose has more of a curved lip at the tip to help prevent me from torpedoing downward.

 

I do have the bigger broadcast and I took out the center fin for fun and now it seems a little more squirrley. I may put it back on and try again with my boat slammed again. Anybody else have the problem of diving/ submarining/ torpedoing their board and then think ,,,, "CRAP".

[tgaugh 2]

duramat - you should try taking that Broadcast back out but put the center fin in and remove the outside fins.

[Bigshow 0]

Duramat, it's called pearling. Do it all the time, generally on boards that are too small. The IS boards are pretty resistent to pearling.