It's All About The Board    

 I consider myself to be a fairly athletic person. I played sports. I get outside. But when someone asked me in July if I wanted to go wakesurfing, I was baffled.

Wakesurfing?

Fortunately, the kind folks at WakeOutlaws on Lake Ray Roberts were kind enough to educate me. Wakesurfing is a water sport in which a surfer trails behind an inboard boat – surfing the boat’s wake without being directly attached to the boat. The wake from the boat acts and looks like an ocean wave.

After getting up on the wave using a rope, wakesurfers drop the rope and ride the wave.

WakeOutlaws boat owner Todd Gaughan invited me aboard his 24-foot inboard boat, equipped with everything one could possibly need to enjoy a day on the lake. I looked around and asked the first question that came to mind: "How did you get started doing this?"

Brad Brennan, another Outlaw better known as Godfather, settled right into the answer as if he’d told the story a few dozen times.

"We were riding on a friend’s boat one day in 2002, and one of us made a comment: ‘You know we could surf that wave.’

"So the next weekend we brought out a surfboard, a real ocean surfboard, and we surfed it. And we’ve been doing it ever since. Then we figured out ways to weigh down our boat. After that, we started Googling it and we found out there are people who surf tankers in the gulf all the time. It’s exactly the same thing, but it’s behind tankers that are not volunteering to let you do it. You have to drive into it with a Sea-Doo to ride their wake."

Once the surfers arrive at the designated spot for "waking up the lake," they fill up the ballast – sometimes referred to as "fat sacks" – with 1,500 pounds of water. While I was with them, they also filled up a 400-pound ballast sitting in the back seat of the boat. This was to put weight to one side, creating the wake to surf. The more weight, the bigger the wake. They have pumps that siphon in water at 1,200 gallons of water an hour to speed up the process.

"You could use lead to weigh down the boat, but if something were to happen, you would be swimming back to shore and have your boat pulled in from the bottom of the lake," said Brennan.

"So what’s the skill here?" I ask.

"To surf," says one Outlaw, who refrained from adding, "Duh."

Then another adds: "To look like a hot stud muffin. That’s the only reason we do it."

As the surfers get ready to ride, they tie a rope to a spool on the tower of the boat, put their heels on the edge of the wake board, and give the driver the thumbs up. At that point, the driver gives it the gas and levels out at about 11 mph. Any faster and you would need an ocean surfboard to stay on.

Towers are preferred as they pull the riders up a little easier. They only use the rope to get up to boat speed and then throw it in the boat.

Newbie surfers like myself who might be tempted to keep a hold of the rope are told repeatedly: "Just say nope to rope."

It’s also important, I was told, to understand there’s a right side and a wrong side of the boat. Otherwise known as "regular" or "goofy."

"A typical stance is toes into the wave," said TJ Brennan, our cover boy who’s better known as Krak Sizzle. "If you’re left foot forward, you’re regular. If you’re right foot forward, you’re goofy."

Just like anything else in life, it’s all about the ride right? Or in this case, the board. On the boat I was on, they had seven different boards. Each Outlaw used a different board, which led to my next question: "What’s the difference in the boards?"

"It’s the shape, the fins, the size, the weight, the curve of it, what it’s made out of... If it has two fins, it’s a little harder to turn in most cases and makes for a good training board. There is a lot of dynamics to each board."

You just have to find one that you like and stick with it. One Outlaw used a board he had never used before. After a couple of rides, he says with a smile, "This is going to be Papa Smurf." Another Outlaw said, "When you find a board you like, you quickly give it a name."

Can anyone guess what color the board was?

Wakesurfing, say the Outlaws, is a very safe sport.

"It’s much easier on the body when you crash. One of the concerns maybe is CO (carbon monoxide) exposure. This is a common problem even sitting on the back of a boat while it’s running. So we run a special exhaust system called Fresh Air Exhaust. It forces the exhaust deeper in the water so it dissipates away from the boat.

"There was a teen who died in California from ‘teak surfing.’ It’s very different from wakesurfing, but they get confused sometimes. Teak surfing is illegal and very dangerous. Wakesurfing is a real sport now. The Texas Championships were held last June and the World Championships will be in Nashville on September 6th."

Teak surfing involves hanging on to the swim deck of the boat, which is made of teak wood. In short, it looks like a good way to get killed.

Another big factor in wakesurfing safety is the use of an inboard boat, which means the propeller is under the boat instead of sticking out the back. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why that would be important.

"Does it matter what time of day or the wind speed when doing this?" I ask.

"Well, we prefer the water to be smooth, but we’ve surfed on rough water before because the water smoothes out when you’re riding so close to the boat."

"Do you consider this more fun than water skiing?"

"No. It’s just another discipline," one Outlaw quickly answered as another said, "No. It’s just less work."

TJ answered, "This is a more social event."

I’m also proudly told the boat is "pushing over 2,300 watts of sound. Everything you need to have a good time."

With cabin speakers, two tower speakers and subwoofers, the boat provides enough thunder to wake the water. It also boasts a PA system to help out with conversation, but it’s not a necessity as the surfer is close enough to have a conversation with someone at the back of the boat. The PA system is a good tool for training especially with conversation between the driver and the surfer just in case they are the only two on the boat. But with a boat that comfortably sits more than 10 people, there was never a shortage of communication.

Not to let go of a subject too easily, I persist with, "Well, is this easier than skiing?" "Depends on what kind of skiing you’re talking about," I’m told. "And it’s not that it’s easier; it’s just less work." As most everyone knows, traditional skiing means being pulled by holding on to a rope.

"We don’t consider skiing with two skis being anything. There’s not much skill in that." The Outlaws like to do basically anything that has to do with a single object such as slalom ski, or wakeboarding.

To me, it sounds like dealing with one object is easier than two. And these guys prefer to keep it simple. But what do I know? I’m just an East Texan in awe of the idea that surfing in North Texas actually exists.

"So what kind of music do y’all like to surf to?" I ask.

"Kid Rock’s latest album … anything to get the girls to dance," said TJ with a grin.

And they always close out the night to, "That was a Crazy Game of Poker" by O.A.R.

Look it up and you’ll see how perfect it fits with this crazy venture called wakesurfing.

*For more information, go to www.wakeoutlaws.com