To slide or not to slide

There has been a question the last 10 years from wakeboarders and wakeskaters everywhere. The question is whether or not to hit rails on the water. Now originally wakeboarding was a sport that was all about hitting the wake and getting air to do gnarly tricks. But in recent years the development of the sport and the influence from other sports has lead to a high number of rails being built in lakes all over the country.

I write this because I myself have been debating it for the last year or so. Some of the risks can include:

1) Dangerous: Well it sure as hell isn't the safest thing to do on a board.

2) Public Lake: If you live or have a cabin on a public lake, who says someone can just snag your rail that you spent so much time building.

3) Money: Wood and components are expensive now a days, do you really want to spend $200 on something that could last a weekend?

These are all things to consider when thinking about building a rail. But there are many positives when coming to building the rail. The rail can progress your riding to the next level, where everyone can stand on a wakeboard but not many people are hitting rails on a constant basis.

So I think the decision on my part is build the rail and see how it works. The worst that can happen is you learn something and you always have good company when building anything.

First weekend at the lake = FAILURE

I don't want to call it a total failure but the first weekend at the cabin this season was not a success. I had very high hopes, which I probably should not have but when you have a six to seven month "punishment" from the lake you want to get back on the lake. Living in Minnesota we have a shorter season than others around the country.

Being only able to be on the lake a short amount of time during the year it makes you take advantage of every opportunity you have to get out on the lake. I say this because there are only 12 weekends in the summer. And while others in Cali, Fla and other southern states are riding all year we have limited days on the water.

So when you drive all the way up to the lake with a couple buddies, a camera and some high hopes you are really let down when you pull into the driveway and there are whitecaps crashing over the beach. Now our cabin on Osakis is already a windy lake but never this windy. I could surf on the waves that were coming in. This disappointment was carried over to the next day when the wind almost picked up. All while everyone was so excited to get onto the lake, we resorted to sitting inside and having some breakfast. Not the best cabin experience.

Moral of the story, don't take for granted those summer weekends of perfect water and sunny days. They are few and far between but just remember this summer, Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes for a reason. Enjoy those lakes and they will return the favor.