Rate your 2024 boating season

[drewkaree]

While I didn't get out much, each trip was either fun, or a learning experience for some possible future plans. Having @FSH 210 Sport visit for the Sandbar Bash and staying for a 2nd weekend was a great opportunity, meeting @Brad460 & @WiskyDan a few more times is always a great opportunity, and I got to take my grandkids, kids, and neighbors from the city out this year, more than in years past. All in all, even though there weren't as many hours put on the boat, the times were great, and worthy of a B+

My goal for next year is at least a night/river run with @FSH 210 Sport if he can work in another visit, and to get @WiskyDan to Boom Bay. I'll settle for taking him in my boat...baby steps. Someday, he'll be brave enough to risk it for the biscuit and try fitting his own boat. A ride on the Milwaukee River would be nice too, but that'll depend on either going out with someone else on their boat, or me figuring out a place to store my boat in the city if I trailer it down. It'd be nice to meet up with a few guys and head over to Summerfest, but summer seems to be the best time for me to ditch the city and head to the semi-boonies. Working the wife up to tougher water for a possible run to Mackinac Island, and trying to figure out a Torch Lake visit before they have to bury me, mebbe meet up with @HangOutdoors so I can trick him into helping me with preventative things he's already had to do

 

[Babin Farms]

While I didn't get out much, each trip was either fun, or a learning experience for some possible future plans. Having @FSH 210 Sport visit for the Sandbar Bash and staying for a 2nd weekend was a great opportunity, meeting @Brad460 & @WiskyDan a few more times is always a great opportunity, and I got to take my grandkids, kids, and neighbors from the city out this year, more than in years past. All in all, even though there weren't as many hours put on the boat, the times were great, and worthy of a B+

My goal for next year is at least a night/river run with @FSH 210 Sport if he can work in another visit, and to get @WiskyDan to Boom Bay. I'll settle for taking him in my boat...baby steps. Someday, he'll be brave enough to risk it for the biscuit and try fitting his own boat. A ride on the Milwaukee River would be nice too, but that'll depend on either going out with someone else on their boat, or me figuring out a place to store my boat in the city if I trailer it down. It'd be nice to meet up with a few guys and head over to Summerfest, but summer seems to be the best time for me to ditch the city and head to the semi-boonies. Working the wife up to tougher water for a possible run to Mackinac Island, and trying to figure out a Torch Lake visit before they have to bury me, mebbe meet up with @HangOutdoors so I can trick him into helping me with preventative things he's already had to do

The trip to Torch lake is definitely worth the trip!!! Been there many times and always loved it. The one thing I’ll tell you is be careful at the mouth of Torch river. My AR230 w/tower fits under the bridge but you have to watch for a lot of inexperienced boaters in a narrow channel with the water moving at a good pace.

 

[Ribs77]

This was my first season with any boat. I got a 2021 AR195 in February. Stored in a barn until May and then in a wet slip since then. I'm going to pull it later this week and store it for the winter.

Grade: B

With little overall boat experience, the beginning of the season was a steep learning curve. As I developed skills for docking and low-speed maneuvering, however, I came to realize that this little boat is super maneuverable. I also got comfortable with our choppy lake and realized that I'm less prone to taking water over the bow than a lot of other boats. Went through a few moments that felt dicey with wakes hitting each other but now feel more confident in avoiding those situations and also knowing that it's going to be OK.

I think we did about 35 hours on the boat which feels pretty solid. Lots of tubing for kids. And I did a lot of surfing with the rope, but was not able to do ropeless surfing in the way I wanted.

As a result, I'm actually kind of wondering about moving to a surf boat.

At the outset of summer, I wasn't sure exactly how we would use the boat. I knew I wanted to surf, but I'd seen videos of guys bigger than me surfing ropeless on the 195, so I figured it would be possible. I also assumed we'd travel great distances on the boat, so I thought the faster speeds and light weight of the 195 would be great for that.

Turns out we don't do that much.

If we want to go out and just hang out on the boat and relax, we only have to go about half a mile to get a sweet view of the mountain. And for anything different - like lake Union - we have to go ~10 miles, but the conditions are generally so rough on the nice days that we're not going above 15 mph to get there. So there's no advantage to the jet in those situations. My wife also "doesn't like going fast" on the boat

I think I have to choose between investing a bit more money ($500 for the fat sac, $1600 incl. tax for RideSteady) in this boat and hoping it will surf the way I want, or selling/trading in and targeting something like an older T22, Tige, or Moomba. I'm sure I'd have to spend an additional 10-15k to go that route, but based on other boats I rode this season, it's night-and-day in terms of surf wake.

I love how easy and roomy the Yamaha is, but it's killing me that I can't surf ropeless on it. Last night, I had about 800 pounds of ballast, the WakeBooster, four adults, one teen, and two little kids on board and it still wasn't really even close. It's hard to say if it's that I need Yamaha Fat Sac because it's so targeted to the surf corner (my bag spreads the weight a bit more widely) or if I just need that speed control, or BOTH, but I'm worried about putting more money in and then still not getting what I want.

 

[WiskyDan]

I'm glad that by the time I got into boating I was too old to have my focus on wake sports. Seems like a lot of work to get a Yamaha just right and with the shallow lakes that we're on every weekend I don't think I'd want a wake boat with a propeller under the keel.

 

[Ribs77]

I'm glad that by the time I got into boating I was too old to have my focus on wake sports. Seems like a lot of work to get a Yamaha just right and with the shallow lakes that we're on every weekend I don't think I'd want a wake boat with a propeller under the keel.

Fortunately that's not a problem where I boat (so far). I have to deal with some milfoil in the marina, but the lake is over 100 feet average depth.

I actually think I could get away without a different tow vehicle as well, because I would only tow it to and from winter storage...can just borrow a truck for that...

 

[Coult45]

This was my first season with any boat. I got a 2021 AR195 in February. Stored in a barn until May and then in a wet slip since then. I'm going to pull it later this week and store it for the winter.

Grade: B

With little overall boat experience, the beginning of the season was a steep learning curve. As I developed skills for docking and low-speed maneuvering, however, I came to realize that this little boat is super maneuverable. I also got comfortable with our choppy lake and realized that I'm less prone to taking water over the bow than a lot of other boats. Went through a few moments that felt dicey with wakes hitting each other but now feel more confident in avoiding those situations and also knowing that it's going to be OK.

I think we did about 35 hours on the boat which feels pretty solid. Lots of tubing for kids. And I did a lot of surfing with the rope, but was not able to do ropeless surfing in the way I wanted.

As a result, I'm actually kind of wondering about moving to a surf boat.

At the outset of summer, I wasn't sure exactly how we would use the boat. I knew I wanted to surf, but I'd seen videos of guys bigger than me surfing ropeless on the 195, so I figured it would be possible. I also assumed we'd travel great distances on the boat, so I thought the faster speeds and light weight of the 195 would be great for that.

Turns out we don't do that much.

If we want to go out and just hang out on the boat and relax, we only have to go about half a mile to get a sweet view of the mountain. And for anything different - like lake Union - we have to go ~10 miles, but the conditions are generally so rough on the nice days that we're not going above 15 mph to get there. So there's no advantage to the jet in those situations. My wife also "doesn't like going fast" on the boat

I think I have to choose between investing a bit more money ($500 for the fat sac, $1600 incl. tax for RideSteady) in this boat and hoping it will surf the way I want, or selling/trading in and targeting something like an older T22, Tige, or Moomba. I'm sure I'd have to spend an additional 10-15k to go that route, but based on other boats I rode this season, it's night-and-day in terms of surf wake.

I love how easy and roomy the Yamaha is, but it's killing me that I can't surf ropeless on it. Last night, I had about 800 pounds of ballast, the WakeBooster, four adults, one teen, and two little kids on board and it still wasn't really even close. It's hard to say if it's that I need Yamaha Fat Sac because it's so targeted to the surf corner (my bag spreads the weight a bit more widely) or if I just need that speed control, or BOTH, but I'm worried about putting more money in and then still not getting what I want.

Something to keep you optimistic...three years ago, my wife also didn't like going fast on the boat, with or without waves. Now, she doesn't even notice when we're at WOT.

 

[Coult45]

I'm glad that by the time I got into boating I was too old to have my focus on wake sports. Seems like a lot of work to get a Yamaha just right and with the shallow lakes that we're on every weekend I don't think I'd want a wake boat with a propeller under the keel.

"Too old to have my focus on wake sports" is a phrase I hope never goes through my brain. However, I agree with you that all of the bags and things required to get a surfable wake are more work and money than I'm willing to invest. Wakeboarding works just fine on a 210 FSH with no extras. I'm hoping one of the guys on my lake decides he wants to get into wake surfing with his boat, and then I'm all in.

 

[WiskyDan]

"Too old to have my focus on wake sports" is a phrase I hope never goes through my brain. However, I agree with you that all of the bags and things required to get a surfable wake are more work and money than I'm willing to invest. Wakeboarding works just fine on a 210 FSH with no extras. I'm hoping one of the guys on my lake decides he wants to get into wake surfing with his boat, and then I'm all in.

I defy my age enough snowboarding in the winter so I don't want to have to worry about getting jacked up in the summer getting towed behind a boat.

I'm waiting for @drewkaree to get his boat wake dialed in so I can at least try it once..........

 

[Ribs77]

"Too old to have my focus on wake sports" is a phrase I hope never goes through my brain. However, I agree with you that all of the bags and things required to get a surfable wake are more work and money than I'm willing to invest. Wakeboarding works just fine on a 210 FSH with no extras. I'm hoping one of the guys on my lake decides he wants to get into wake surfing with his boat, and then I'm all in.

Yeah, I think if I were wakeboarding I'd be perfectly happy with this boat. I've only gone once (compared to ~15 times surfing) and it was really fun, but I had a super violent faceplant wipeout and thought mayyyybe I should mostly stick to surfing at 47 years old.

 

[Coult45]

I defy my age enough snowboarding in the winter so I don't want to have to worry about getting jacked up in the summer getting towed behind a boat.

I'm waiting for @drewkaree to get his boat wake dialed in so I can at least try it once..........

We're not getting any younger, @drewkaree ...get that thing dialed in.

We don't get enough snow in Syracuse anymore to bother getting a season pass anywhere, but we're going go make the drive up to Mont Tremblant this winter for a little snowboarding before I forget how.

 

[CanTex]

also 47 and purchased a Mastercraft NXT 22 in 2020...took me the better part of the first summer to develop the skills to go ropeless (just saying it took me a while to get there...been active in sports most of my life). I surf/wake board about 50/50 now, I keep the board planted on the water and only wakeboard when there's glassy water, agree that a face plant at 23 mph is not pleasant.

 

[Ribs77]

also 47 and purchased a Mastercraft NXT 22 in 2020...took me the better part of the first summer to develop the skills to go ropeless (just saying it took me a while to get there...been active in sports most of my life). I surf/wake board about 50/50 now, I keep the board planted on the water and only wakeboard when there's glassy water, agree that a face plant at 23 mph is not pleasant.

I thought maybe it was just my skills (or lack thereof) at first, but I've gone out on a few other boats and was able to go ropeless with my current mediocre skill set

Edit: Another reason surfing is more viable than wakeboarding for me on this lake is that we get glass basically never in the summer. I'd have to go early morning, and I had a hard enough time finding crew who wanted to go at peak times. By noon on a nice day the water is churned to hell by 10,000 other boats.

 

[drewkaree]

I defy my age enough snowboarding in the winter so I don't want to have to worry about getting jacked up in the summer getting towed behind a boat.

I'm waiting for @drewkaree to get his boat wake dialed in so I can at least try it once..........

Sometimes I wonder what goes through your head. Why would I waste all that time when you and I can bribe @Brad460? He needs to practice for when his kids are finally up to try it, so we can be his test dummies...more dummy than test though.

Maybe we even get him liquored up one night at The Lodge and we sneak the k....nevermind, I've said too much already!

 

[drewkaree]

Yeah, I think if I were wakeboarding I'd be perfectly happy with this boat. I've only gone once (compared to ~15 times surfing) and it was really fun, but I had a super violent faceplant wipeout and thought mayyyybe I should mostly stick to surfing at 47 years old.

You HAVE been looking prettier, but I didn't wanna bring it up

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Where I live the wake surfing folks are out in dry suits when the water temp is 38°…these are the 30-40 somethings the young and pretty ones don’t show up until it’s warmer out. I don’t recall seeing anyone wake boarding here.

Then there is the geritol gang water skiers in their ski nautic stern drive, these dudes look like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young on a farewell tour. Point being, don’t let years get in the way of doing something you like.

 

[WiskyDan]

Sometimes I wonder what goes through your head.

You have no idea how many times I've heard that over the years..........

 

[Ribs77]

"Point being, don’t let years get in the way of doing something you like."

The boat in the slip next to mine is a crew of upper 50s, maybe 60s folks who exclusively surf. I'm jealous that they have a consistent crew (and a boat lift )

 

[iamtommyboy]

It was my first full season with a boat so for me, A++++++. So much fun!

 

[HawaiiBreeze]

Another less than stellar season out here. Still on going though but way too many "un-boatable" weekends with overly high winds.