Boat and Equipment Setup

    So now we get to the fun part, setting up the boat to surf. First thing you need to know is which side of the boat you are going to surf on – normal (left foot forward) or goofy (right foot forward). To determine which you (or any rider is) are, ask how someone skateboards and they should surf the same way. If they don't know, then as a general rule, put their stronger leg on the back of the board.

    One other thing you need to understand is a boat's propeller will spin in a certain direction and thus will make a different wake depending on which way you are set up (normal or goofy) and turn. For instance, my 2008 Moomba XLV makes a much better wake when I surf normal and turn to the left while I need to go a little faster and spend more time cleaning up the wake (will go over this more later) when someone rides goofy. It isn't that big of a deal but it is something to consider when driving.

    I want to describe what is important in a wake. A wake has two dimensions I am constantly working on – height and length. The taller the wave, the more speed a rider can get. The longer a wake, the bigger the "sweet spot" is in the wake or the part of the wake which pushes the rider without the rope. As you have probably determined is the right combination of height/length which will give you the perfect wake. If the wake is too long, the will be little to no push for the rider. If the wave is too high, the sweet spot will be too small and thus it will be harder to do stay in the wake and ride without the rope. There are 3 settings which will directly affect the wake – ballast (weights, fat sacks or people), wake plate setting and speed. I will cover each now.

To setup the ballast in the boat, you always want to have more weight in the back of the boat than in the front so you can get a tall wave. You will want some weight in the front as well though so a good ratio is 2.5:1 back to front weight. For instance, if you have 2500lbs of weight in the back, you should put 1000lbs in the front. This will vary by boat but it is a good general rule of thumb to start with until you learn your boat and what kind of wake it puts out.

I will assume we are riding normal as that is how I usually ride but the setup is almost the same for goofy (speed may be a little different). I have 3 total fat sacks which weigh 750lbs each or a total of 2250lbs and I will fill up my front 1000lb ballast to almost full. If I have 4-5 people in the boat, depending on how much they weigh, I may not fill up one of the fat sacks or I will place my bio-ballasts (people) strategically throughout the boat to balance out the weight according to the ratio. It is not an exact science as long as you know you need much more weight in the back before putting any in the front. For instance, before I had my 2^nd fat sack, I would only fill up the ballast and my fat sack for 1500lbs and I would never put any weight in the front. You can always ask people to move around in the boat while it is moving so you can see how it affects the wave. I usually have 3-4 people on the boat so I place one on the back deck and we call that person the "Rope Biatch". They are responsible for managing the rope which means pulling it in from the rider and tossing it to them before takeoff. I will then put everyone else as far to the normal side and back as I can until there is no more room and then I send them to the front.

Once you get your weight distributed, you need to set your wake plate. The more down the wake plate is, the more the boat will ride flat and the longer the wake will be. The more up the wake plate is, the more the boat will go nose up and create a taller wave. There is no perfect position for the wake plate because it all depends on how much weight you have, where it is located and how fast you are going. I usually play with it during the first couple of rides to see how the wake responds to know where to put it. In general, the less weight you have in the back end, the more up you want the wake plate.

As for speed, it can vary depending on the boat, the kind of wake you want and which way your propeller spins. The slower you go, the taller the wake will be and the faster you go, the longer the wake will be. On my normal side, I usually set the speed between 10.5 and 11.0. On the goofy side, I usually set it at 11-11.5. Speed is just something you will play with and it will vary based on which side you are surfing as well as how much weight you have and where you set your wake plate.

As you can see, there are no exact settings and it just takes some playing around to find the right combination. Sometimes I will go out 3 times in one week with almost identical settings and get 3 different wakes. It is the craziest thing but sometimes it just happens that way but at least now you have the knowledge of how to set up the boat and make appropriate changes.

Now the boat is all set up, my next post will be about surfing basics.

Equipment for Surfing – Non-boat

    I have covered the equipment you should be looking for in a boat. Now, I will cover the equipment needed which comes separate from the boat. I will skip the obvious ones (life vest, rope) which I covered in an earlier post.
    First and foremost, you need a surf board or it might be difficult to surf. There are many types of surf boards so I will cover some of the basics and a few of the brands I have used. Boards come in all shapes and sizes so let's start off with what you should look for. The longer the board, the more stable it will be and easier to get up on. It typically means the board is heaver as well which will give you more support in the water as it will sit down in the water better. A longer, heavier board is exactly what you should start off on. I started off with a CWB 63" Ride board and it has been VERY easy for people of all skill levels to get up on.

Long, heavy board for beginners.

    The next board I graduated to was a Liquid Force 58" custom board. It was MUCH lighter and shorter than the CWB board. Since it was lighter, it was much easier to maneuver on the wave and make cuts. Since it was lighter, it also stayed on top of the water more and tending to be "squirrely" and took a while to find my balance.

Shorter, light board for lots of maneuverability

    The latest board I am using is a 43" CWB Blackjack board. It is heavier than the LF but much shorter. It is also symmetrical which means it is the same on both ends of the board making it much easier to ride backside on a wave (with your heels to the wave rather than your toes) as well as some other tricks.

Short, heavy board for tricks

    Most wake surfing stores will allow you to rent a board for a couple days to try it out so you can get a feel for it.  I would recommend doing that because the boards are quite expensive.
    In general, I will switch between the LF and Blackjack depending on the mood I am in as well as what the wave is doing. If the wave is really tall, I tend to use the blackjack because it is wider and more stable. If the wave is short or longer, I will use the LF as it is faster and more maneuverable. The only thing I absolutely know is when you are teaching someone, always use a heavy, long board. I have had some very talented and athletic people attempt the other boards and every time they fail until they go back to the CWB Ride board.
    The last piece of equipment you need is weight in the boat so you can create a very large wake. This weight can come in the form of actual weights (lead, cinder blocks, etc.), fat sacks (mobile ballasts) or people which we call bio-ballasts. Personally, I like having big, fat, heavy people because they are very easy to move, however, they are not always available so I will discuss fat sacks since weights are pretty obvious.
    A fat sack is simply a big bag which you fill with water using a pump. This water is used to weigh down the boat and help create a bigger wake. Fat sacks come in all shapes and sizes so they can fit into certain areas in a boat. I personally have two 750lb fat sacks which I use almost every time we go out. The Pro Series X is one of the most common fat sacks out there and you really can't go wrong with it. You will also need a pump (Tsunami is what I use) to fill up the fat sack. It plugs into the cigarette lighter in the boat and to fill up the sack, you put the pump in the water. To empty the sack, you attach the pump to the sack and suck the water out. It is quite simple and usually only takes about 5 minutes to do. I have seen some people actually plumb into their existing ballast system and use that to fill the sacks instead of a separate pump so that is an option as well. One thing to keep in mind when you are buying a fat sack and pump is the connections to connect the sack to the pump do not come with the sack so you will need to buy those separately.
    Now that I have described all the equipment you need, my next post will focus on how to set the boat up for the best wake.

Equipment for Wake Surfing - Boat

    As with any sport, the right equipment is necessary for safety and to make the sport more enjoyable. Wake Surfing is no different although the list is not that long albeit expensive.
    Let's talk about the boat first. As mentioned in a previous post, you need a v-drive wake board boat. The previous post talked about safety but there are performance reasons a v-drive boat makes sense. First, the engine is in the back of the boat which helps to weigh the boat down in the back causing a larger wake. Secondly, the hull is usually shaped to maximize the wake it creates and ultimately you are looking for that perfect wake. Lastly, it has more pull to get the rider out of the water faster.
    Once you find a v-drive boat, there are several options you should think about to make wake surfing easier and more fun. In my opinion the single most important piece of equipment on the boat (besides the engine of course!) is the Perfect Pass system. This is basically cruise control for the boat as you simply set the speed you need and it will keep the boat at that speed until you back off the throttle. The beauty is even if you push the throttle past the speed you set Perfect Pass, it will not go any faster and stay at the set speed. Using this system, I can teach a monkey to pull me or an advanced surfer surfing although we will get into driving and how important it is in a later post.
    The next essential piece of equipment in the boat is the tower. This allows you to hook your ropes (surfing or wake boarding) higher up in the air which will help get riders out of the water quicker as well as let them perform better tricks. A tower is not essential for surfing but it definitely helps. Also, don't forget this is where you attach the speakers for that killer system which blasts the tunes for your riders. J
    Another piece of the boat which can play a vital part for shaping the wave is the trim or wake plate. This is an adjustable plate at the back of the boat usually under the swim platform although it can vary among different brands of boats. You can adjust this plate up or down depending on how you want the wake to behave. I will cover this in more detail when we talk about setting up the boat for surfing.

The wake plate is right above the propeller and rudder.

The last major piece of equipment on the boat is a built in ballast system. A ballast is essentially a big bag you will fill with water to help weigh the boat down and create large wakes to surf on. A triple ballast system is one of the more common set ups which will have one ballast in the back left and one in the back right as well as a larger one in the front middle of the boat. I would recommend getting the largest sacks you can for these (750 lbs or more) as they are the easiest to fill up and empty. They are also built in so they will not move around or roll over as they are in a compartment fit for them. There are many places which can custom fit a ballast to any area to help fill every area with as much water as possible.

These are the normal placement of ballasts

My next post will cover all the non-boat equipment.

Surfing Do's and Don'ts

    As with any sport, there are do's and don'ts you should be aware of.  It ranges from the type of boat you use to the rope.  I will outline everything I have learned here.

    First and foremost, you need to understand the kind of boats you can surf behind and those you can't.  When you are surfing, you are only a few feet behind the boat and you will more than likely fall forward towards the boat at some point.  Because of this, you can run the risk of falling into the propeller if you do not have the correct type of boat.  There are boats specifically designed to solve this problem called v-drive boats where the propeller sits a few feet under the hull of the boat and if you fall, there is no risk to you.  With traditional outboard or inboard boats, the propeller sits outside the hull right behind the boat and you can run the risk of falling into the propeller.  So make sure you know what kind of boat you have or are going to get before hopping on a surf board behind one.

Note the prop is under the hull

    Next, there are specific surfing ropes you should use.  You do not use a wakeboard or a ski rope to surf with since the handle is too big, which can get tangled on you when you fall, and the rope is too thin which can cut your hands/fingers when not using the handle.  I initially bought a thin surfing rope with a small handle and was having a tough time using it.  Once I switched to a large woven rope with knots in it and a small handle, it was MUCH easier.  Ideally you want the rope to be about 8-9' long from where you attach it.  It is easier to surf with it attached to a tower but you can also do it from the pylon.  Here is alink showing several types of ropes - http://www.boatersoutlet.com/surfropes.aspx. 

    Next, you need to understand, unlike wake boarding and skiing, the surf board is not attached to your feet and thus when you fall, it can go anywhere.  I learned the hard way to always fall face first, dive under the water and pause under there for a while to let the board go where it is going.  If you cannot fall like this, I will typically cover my head with my arms similar to the crash position in an airplane in the event the board comes at my head.  This sounds really dangerous but in my two years and hundreds of surf outings, I have only seen it happen a handful of times.  And the few times, it hurt pretty bad but only resulted in a few headaches and one black eye.  Once you get more experienced surfing, this becomes second nature and you do not even think about it.

    Another issue is axhaust from the boat.  Since you are so close to the boat, the exhaust can pollute the air you are breathing if you make really long runs.  I have never had a problem with this but it is worth mentioning as we usually have a "Rope Biatch" who sits on the back of the boat to help with the riders and teaching when necessary and this person can be exposed to the fumes.  They make some plumbing to re-direct the exhaust so it comes out under the water instead of on top but I haven't seen the need for this yet although it is in my long range plans.  Here is a picture of what it looks like -

Fresh Air Exhaust to keep CO2 levels lower

    The last thing I will mention is the use of a life vest.  I still have not heard first hand whether it is legally required to wear a life vest, however, I will recommend you wearing one, especially in the beginning.  There are several reasons I recommend it beyond the obvious of not drowning.  First, it will be much easier to get on the surf board when you are learning.  Second, when you are learning, you will be getting very tired just from surfing and the extra flotation will help preserve some strength.  Last, if you are working on new tricks, I would recommend it because you will likely put your body in awkward positions at first and the extra bouyancy will be helpful to conserve your stength for the tricks.

    I do not mean to scare you with any of this as most of it is pre-cautionary but I would feel terrible if you went out surfing and something happened which could have been prevented.  In my two years, I have not had anyone get majorly injured on the surf board other than some cramps in the legs.  In talking with others in the community who have been doing it longer than I have, they have similar experiences.  So follow a few of these simple rules and you will have much more fun!

What is Wake Surfing?

    Wake surfing is ultimately about freeriding behind a boat using the wake of the boat to propel you through the water. The boat is usually going 10-13 mph and the ride users a wake surfboard (although traditional surf boards can be used) to ride the wave. The boat initially pulls the rider up using a rope and once the rider finds the groove in the wave, they toss the rope back into the boat and can ride the never ending wave! Here is a link to a video so you can see how it is done - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTY8mrwhOTQ.
    I am not 100% sure where wake surfing started but the most common story I have heard involves the ships in the Houston ship channel. When the big oil tankers would come in loaded down with oil, they would create huge wakes behind them and you can often see dolphins ride those wakes and jumping in them. Eventually someone with a boat got the idea of running a rider out behind the tanker, getting in front of the wake and letting the rider out to surf. The boat would follow and if the rider fell, they would pick them up and get them back on the wave. Sounds a little crazy eh? Here is a video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5PsF7y1Jdk.
    Do not worry, the wake surfing I am talking about is a lot less crazy and easier for everyone to take part in. I will cover the specifics in other posts but a special boat is needed as well as special gear so do not just go attempting this without knowing how to safely do this sport. I have probably taken 50-75 people surfing over the last two years ranging from extremely athletic people to uncoordinated to over weight and I have about a 90-95% success rate on getting people to at least get up out of the water and surf a little ways on the surf board.  So this sport is for just about anyone and any skill level.

Welcome to Wake Surfing Wires!

Hello everyone! My name is Brad Freels, I live in Austin, Texas and I am 40 years old with two kids and my girlfriend lives with me. I grew up on Lake Houston (near Humble/Atascocita area) and went water skiing with my dad and friends. Some of my fondest memories are of being on the lake with my family and friends, learning to ski, watching others ski and having fun.


About 2 years ago, I decided I wanted to see if my kids would be interested in something similar so I bought a wake boarding lesson from Greg Lawrence of Lake Lessons (http://www.lakelessons.com/) for them. We went out on Lake Austin and my daughter got up on her first try and my son got up on his second. When I asked them if they wanted to do this more, they gave me a resounding YES!

On that day, a strange occurrence happened. I was watching another boat go by very slow and behind the boat was someone on a board of some kind and not holding any rope at all. They were doing something that looked a lot like surfing I see on TV. They went on for about 3-4 minutes before finally falling into the water. I asked Greg what they were doing and he said, “Wake Surfing dude!”

That fateful day is where my journey begins. I have spent the better part of two years learning to wake surf and spending lots of time, energy and yes, money, hoping to catch the perfect wave. What I would like to do is share these experiences with you so if you are interested in wake surfing or are already a wake surfer, you will find some nuggets to help you in the same quest for the perfect wave!

I intend to share you with all kinds of information from what the sport is, the risks of wake surfing, equipment needed, boat setup, beginner tips, advanced tips and any other information I can think of. I hope you enjoy this information and please provide feedback and stories of your journey to find the perfect ride!

Riding the top of the wave!