It wasn't too bad....

[buckbuck]

55 degree air temperature.
48 degree water temperature.
The only thing that got cold was our hands.
We went out on @Brian eilrich 2017 212X yesterday on the Chain of Lakes in northern IL. None of us had been up there and we could only find water 4.5-5 feet deep. But we surfed it anyway. This boat definitely needs a Wake Wedge. (@jcyamaharider ) If we had one I would have surfed until dark or until I couldn't feel my hands.
For those of you looking for a cold water drysuit I recommend the O'Neil Boost.

 

[Bill D]

You're a wild man Jim! We're complaining about 70* water down here. Lol. Looks like fun though.

 

[haknslash]

You crazy!! Ive never worn a dry suit or even a wet suit. Here I was thinking people were nuts tubing in 70 degree water here lol

 

[RiverRat]

Jim you should come up by me for some deeper water. Ice has been off the lakes very early this year. I'd be willing to jump in in my 3/4 wet suit...

 

[YamahaForMe]

I wonder why there are no other boats on the water!

Steve

 

[jcyamaharider]

Second round of testing for the new bar and I think this one will be a winner @buckbuck . I should be able to place my order this week for more 2017 210 series bars as long as @ar240owner gives me the all clear.

 

[ar240owner]

Second round of testing for the new bar and I think this one will be a winner @buckbuck . I should be able to place my order this week for more 2017 210 series bars as long as @ar240owner gives me the all clear.

we will find out this week

 

[buckbuck]

@Brian eilrich
Sounds like Wake Wedge will be available soon for your boat. Now you just need to feed those kids some more ice cream so we can have more ballast.

 

[buckbuck]

@bobbie You are my inspiration. What kind of water temperatures do you see in the Pacific North West?

 

[Bill D]

@Brian eilrich There is a group buy going for wake wedges right now. Just a thought, but I bet the cool folks over at Gantlin Products would let you purchase one at the discount and ship it when it's available.

 

[trace]

@buckbuck you are my hero

 

[Julian]

That is some die hard surfin'!

 

[Eric Popper]

Pistakee Lake and Grass Lake are both a bit deeper, up to 20'+. I haven't checked yet, but the water levels may not be up for the summer yet either....

E

 

[buckbuck]

@Eric Popper Next time up there we will need you to hold our hand because all we ever saw on Grass Lake was 2'. We were told by the ranger later that they put out bouys to mark the channel in the summer. Is that true for all the lakes?

 

[Eric Popper]

Each lake is quite different. Grass Lake, Nippersink, and part of Pistakee have bouys to mark the "channel" of the river. There are only a few places (that aren't obvious) that being outside the channel is a problem. Off the top of my head, these are "Jetboat Alley," between Nippersink and Fox Lakes, the rocky area just east of the mouth of the Fox River in Pistakee Lake, and anything west of the main part of Grass Lake or Nippersink.

The other lakes don't have a channel system as they aren't part of the river "highway."

I just checked the water levels and it looks like they are metering the dam to raise the levels for the season. (correction, the levels are likely up due to recent rain)

The popular area to wake surf is Pistakee Bay, but this is also the swimming hole so it sucks for the many boats anchored there in the summer that get beat up by the large wakes...

Hope to see you up there!

Eric