Wakeboarding Pictures - Circa 1997

I was digging through some old photos the other day and stumbled upon these gems from what was likely my sophomore or junior year in highschool.




Yep, thats a 17' starcraft supersport with a 75hp mercury outboard. It wouldn't hold speed to save its life, and it listed probably 30 degrees when you cut out hard to the side. The wake was tiny and washy, you had to hit it hard and extremely fast.

The tower is made from an 8' 4x4, braced at the bottom with a couple 2x4s. Bow strap is a piece of rope. My dad was gracious enough to let us put this disaster in his boat. The only inboard boats on the lake that summer were a couple of wooden Chris Crafts. This was Charleston Lake, in Ontario. The cottage was on Tar Island, all 4 acres of it.

We rode this setup every single day for 8 weeks that summer. The boards were a full tilt with sandal bindings and an origin with hyperlite moonboots, if I remember correctly. I could consistently land 360's behind this boat, and the kid in the bow could hit backrolls and tantrums behind it. He rides for a traveling team out of Toronto now. I on the other hand, work for a living.

We would get up at the crack of dawn, ride til about noon, then go fishing in the afternoons. Some of the best times of my life. The "tower" would come out every day before chasing smallies. The other picture is typical of the size fish we pulled out of that lake. Ate a lot of fried fish that summer. My long hair is gone now too.




Anyway, hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane.   

Good times!