learning to barefoot

So I got the tree cleaned up and some pics downloaded finally.

A couple months ago Baitkiller jokingly put out a invite for a barefoot clinic. I contacted him and after two different cancellations we finally got to hook up. JBear and I gathered up the wives and equipment and headed 3 hours south to Marco Island.

We took another CCFan along that was handed over to me by Kapla in june when he and his wonderful family came to stay for a few days during their family vacation here to the states. Bet you guys were wondering whatever happened to Bully.

Anyway, the weather was OK. We had a few storms on a mostly cloudy day. Wind was out of the north and we had marginal water at best at Blind Pass in the Gulf of Mexico but we did manage to get a some skiing in irregardless.

We met up with Baitkiller and his son Cameron at the marina where his boat is kept. It was pretty getting to finally meet another CCFan.



I gotta say, the boat was awesome. Completely functional and Chevy powered. BONUS!!!!!! It had the best of everything. So we loaded up the boat and headed out to Blind Pass.





Once there I worked with Cam to get him the barefoot basics and he got to the point where he was ready to step off but was pretty tired by that time. So Marko John thought that he give it a go. He said he barefooted a long time ago but as you can see. It was a really, really long time ago. The video is pretty self explanatory if you just click on it..



How cool is that? The water you see there is about the best we had all day but it only lasted a little over an hour. So we took some turns skiing and Cam showed off his wakeboarding skills which was pretty impressive but I never thought to get pics.

After the water really turned to crap, we headed back, got everything cleaned up and washed off. Then we met John and Cam for dinner later at an Italian place with a really good cover band.

The next day JBear and I took the wives and Bully to Sarasota and the Ringling Museum on the way back home.

Overall just an incredible weekend. We'll definitely be doing that again at some point. John and Cam were wonderful hosts and even though the water conditions weren't that great, the company was worth every minute of the travel to get there. It's a highly recommended trip for any of you heading to south FL.

Way to go John and Cam! You could not have had a better instructional crew, Eddie was at the helm of my first long line deep and I could hear Jbear from the shore.

I see in the second video that Eddie didn't post you also mastered the "Adam Deen sink as soon as the boat starts" move...well done, that's a highly advanced maneuver.



Keep it up guys!

And a Bully sighting!

A quick morning set with my buddy Carl. A great morning with awesome conditions - confidence is coming back with the need to move to behind the boat for some effort there.

About 30 seconds of wasted video on the front end..

what he said

great progress Greg

Thanks guys.
Tom, I will try to remember your suggestion the next time I am out. Lots going through the head as I repeat the mental check list over and over. Hopefully this will soon become second nature and I can to current progress.

Kap is exactly right. David Small calls it breaking away at the waist....you have to bend down.

Also plant straight legged.....once up put a little bend in knee...but you must break away...but keep head up looking at horizon out back

sweet. never seen the shorts over the suit before.

HW LAMO better work on that before the wedding...
Great work Kapla. In my book (that is counting myself) you are two for two with teaching new footers! The Lane Bowers of Argentina

I hear tell that the NC water is going to be just right for footing this weekend

65 'cuda wrote: https://youtu.be/juqSj2fFyz0 https://youtu.be/YVa6IkdEfGk https://youtu.be/cMTxiItMTuM More fall footing, water temp...61. Can't catch any good water, maybe next weekend.

Landis,

If you really read the whole thread, then you know the rules. Pics or it didnt happen. Its not that we don't believe you, but rules are rules.

Anyway, congrats on the accomplishments, Fun, isn't it? Good luck next weekend. (and take the camera this time)

IAughtNaut wrote: Way to go John and Cam! You could not have had a better instructional crew, Eddie was at the helm of my first long line deep and I could hear Jbear from the shore. I see in the second video that Eddie didn't post you also mastered the "Adam Deen sink as soon as the boat starts" move...well done, that's a highly advanced maneuver. Keep it up guys! And a Bully sighting!

I don't know how I missed that post of Adam's but it cracked me up and reminded me of a couple posts from back on page 2 of this 129 page thread. The art of tacoing. A little more significant back in the day when we were teaching ourselves deep water starts long line because we had no booms. You could go a lot deeper with a 75 or 100 foot line.

Hollywood wrote: Larry, or you pop the jet plane handle and it jams into your waist, feet come off the rope because you don't want the handle to bash them. Now what? Your legs are over your head and still plowing through water 5' down. We call that the "taco".

75 Tique wrote: Yes, I've taco'd a few times. You're down there under the water, completely trapped and helpless, seeing your pathetic life flash before your eyes and the guys in the boat are saying "Oh just speed up a bit, he'll surface as soon as we get going a little faster." But with your butt leading and your legs up over your head, aiming you down like airplane flaps, there is only one way to go.

lcgordon wrote: First long line sorry but the guy who was videoing does not know much about barefoot so he missed my first get up and stopped it in the middle of the tumble turn attempt. first 5ft tumble Sorry for the horrible quality i am trying to get ahold of better quality versions

Have any of you guys used Barefoot Co. handles and rope? Its way cheaper than Barefoot International. Also would 90ft mainline be ok or do I need 100? Also when doing a toe hold does your foot always come out when you fall? Why dont you need a trick release like trick skiing? Thanks for the help and Info in advance.

LakeBoy wrote: I have used Barefoot Co. handles. They are fine. I have a front and backtoe handle from them. I don't know much about their rope. I have a US Gear rope I like a lot. Standard barefoot length is 70 feet. If you get longer make sure it has a 70' loop. Yes you come out of a toe when you fall. BI used to make a "beartrap" front toe which would cinch you in there. Stay away from that.

Thanks for the info I will propably buy there handle and some of the low stretch HDPE TAC mainline. Maybe someday Ill get the spectra stuff but right now I dont think I will be able to know the difference and its almost half the price. 45 instead of 90 for 70+10+10.

PM sent. Thanks again for the info its really helpful. I have been borrowing all the gear from a member on here and he also taught me how. Right now its all I want to do but that might be because I just learned long line this weekend and it is brand new. Right now we slalom ski with about 10+ ppl and including me there are only 2 ppl that foot. So I am just trying to get into it cheap and make sure that I really like it and stick with it before I dump a bunch of money that i dont have into it. But right now man is it fun and it will be even more fun once I can get these long line tumbles down.