Portland Oregon any day of the week

[ruffdawg]

Any day of the week, your boat or mine. I am a teacher and I am tired of waiting for the week end when my friends that have to work can go.

Also I am a beginner and would love to ride with someone that knows the sport better.

[simook]

I'm in that area! what kind of boat you have? Lately my buddy's have been going out less and less during the week and i'm getting pissed.

ill pm u

[nitsud7141]

I'm sure now that school has started back up you aren't available any day of the week anymore? I am on call during the week and usually end up not working mondays and tuesdays, I have wednesdays off sometimes too. I have a boat but it's fairly worthless for wakeboarding in my opinion, you can read about it in the thread called "Vancouver, WA". Also where do you usually go boarding at, I usually go all the way up to yale every weekend, gonna try silver lake soon I hope too.

[ruffdawg]

We have just discovered Yale. School has started and I can probably only do the Columbia during the week.....but I am done at 3:00 which still gives time.

I have an 05 Malibu VRIDE. Just got it.

[nitsud7141]

the water level at yale is down a few feet from a month ago so if you haven't been there a lot you need to be careful by the island now, but yale is the perfect place in my opinion. when every launch on that lake is completely full of trucks and trailers there is still plenty of room in the water. we are planning on going up there this sunday again I believe, so far just the wife and I and one of our friends I think. We usually go every sunday, seems to be a lot less people there on sundays. we usually just run kinda close to the bank on the far side across from the day use launch just outside of cougar, we don't launch there though cuz thats where everyone launches. If you happen to go we'll be in the tiny blue and white POS reinell that is in no way equipped for wakeboarding and has a crappy wake with people falling down behind it all the time. ....we're very new to the sport and don't know anyone that actually knows how to do it so we're teaching ourselves.

[ruffdawg]

I am trying to convince my wife we need to spend the night at one of the CGs. Not sure if it will happen. We will be up on Sat for sure and maybe sunday. Blue/Black/White malibu Vride with people falling down behind it and generally looking like posers.

We were at yale last Saturday and amazed that there were not more people. we put in at the day use area and we were very impressed. Worth the drive I think.

I will keep my eye out for you...........BTW names Mike.

[nitsud7141]

I think the only CG open up there is Beaver Bay which is where I usually launch, and it's open until the 30th. The cougar tents only camp ground closed for the year on labor day I think. If I don't work saturday we may camp there at Beaver Bay saturday night also, we won't know about that until Friday though, we're trying to get as much camping and boarding in as we can before the rain gets here. My name is Dustin, if you do happen to camp there and you see a black chevy colorado pulling the POS boat I described, that is us. If we camp we have to bring extra people to stay behind and watch the kids, our daughter is 4 and she doesn't like going in the boat, and our son is 6 months and we don't want to take him in the boat yet. That will prolly be the big determining factor on if we camp, if we can get someone to come along and watch the kids. otherwise we just get a babysitter for sunday and go up for the day. If your wife is like a lot of others and doesn't like camping because of the bathroom situation, Beaver Bays are decent, they even have showers....just an FYI

[ruffdawg]

Cool. Wife just got home and found out camping is not gonna happen. Thanks for the info though. Well we will be staying as late as possible saturday as the water gets better later.

Happy to take you for a pull also. we just got our boat 2 weeks ago and I used to board behind a 17ft four winns........pretty big difference

[ruffdawg]

Oh yea, last week end we drove 205 up to I5 and woodland.........I mapquested it later and it said to go SR 500 to 503....

Which way is better?

[nitsud7141]

I prefer taking 503 through all the backroads and whatnot, it's a bit faster from our house, but when I take the boat I take I5 to woodland and go that way, it's a lot easier on the truck going that way with the weight of the boat behind it. There are also no other turns if you take the freeway to woodland, if you take the back way you have to make a few more turns but a mapquest would make that easy. when I give people directions i tell the the freeway cuz it's a lot more simple. I would say try the 503 way and see which you prefer, it only saves us about 10 minutes. also if you get to the day use launch and it's pretty full just keep going past it to the Beaver Bay camp ground, last sunday the day use was over half full and I was the 3rd person to launch at Beaver Bay. it's $3 to launch there just like everywhere else, single lane launch with a pretty small dock, but not near as much traffic. usually if I have to wait at all it's only for 1 person, when I've gone to the day use I've had to wait behind 4 or 5 trucks more than once. hopefully we'll be going up saturday to camp at Beaver Bay, If I don't have to work we'd prolly get up there around 1 or something, hard to say for now but I can update you here or send you a pm.

also, on a side note, what do you think about riding in the columbia? For me only boarding twice it's hard enough on the flat water at yale, so I would think the columbia would be a pain in the arse, so I haven't even considered going to the river. I also thought about going to lacamas lake by my house, but that water is kinda nasty. I think Yale is the place to be I guess and it's well worth the hour drive to go there, just watch out for the sticks in the water.

[sparkysparks9]

anyone ever board a bit further south?...by about 4 hours.

[simook]

have either of you been to the slough between govt and mcguire island? its probably one of the best areas for boarding on this part of the columbia. make sure you motor around first because there is a sand bar at the east end of it that blocks it off.


I'm available any day after 3pm. call or txt me 360-608-4316 and ill be there

[ruffdawg]

I don't know the columbia that well. I just know enough that you have to be careful. We go out there a lot too......but usually just to take my boy to a beach so he can play. Maybe we should meet up with simook one day eh?

[ruffdawg]

[nitsud7141]

it's lookin like we will be going up saturday some time to camp for the night, so we'll be at the Beaver Bay camp ground. At this point we don't have enough people coming with us to take the boat out Saturday, waiting to hear from some friends that said they might just meet us up there sunday to go out on the boat but they're supposed to let me know for sure tonight. hopefully they come up with us saturday and camp so we have people to take turns watching the kids on saturday. my friends g/f won't go on the boat, guess she's scared of boats, so she don't mind watching the kids but she doesn't want to watch them all day. I usually take my wife out for a run or two then take her back to the dock for awhile, then she'll text me if she wants me to come back and pick her up again, or take other people out earlier when it's cooler out, then come back and pick up my wife later when it's hot out. I love my kids, but they sure do make things tougher sometimes.

[simook]

so my buddy and i will be going out sat morning in that slough i was talking about... you guys should join us. i would love to be pulled behind yr malibu...

[sparkysparks9]

This is the first year I have tried wakeboarding in tenmile.. usually head all the way to loon lake. A few times went to the umpqua river this summer as well

[ruffdawg]

[nitsud7141]

[simook]

this is my first season of boarding. started around july. me and my buddy have been going out at least twice a week, every week and it just takes lots of board time to get good. I have w2w with decent air down now, still getting used to switch and i have pulled off a couple grabs.

im hooked for life

[nitsud7141]

I will never be able to w2w behind my boat unless I use like a 15' rope. back at 60' on the rope the wakes are prolly a good 30' apart if not more, not to mention that the wake is only maybe 18" tall. at 75' on the rope there really isn't even a wake, more like a speed bump, i guess my boat is good for getting comfortable being on a board but it's worthless for anything involving a wake. that's not really a good thing considering the word "wake" is the first part of the name of the sport.

[ruffdawg]

Here is where I am at: I could totally pull off the height/ distance for w2w. I just need to grow a pair and do it.

Today I concentrated on holding the handle at my hip (insert drumroll here) got so much pop off the wake that it launched me to where I landed right on the crest of the other wake......completely by accident. Since I am such a rookie.... I was not ready and the board was ripped out from under me and I cartwheeled.

When I came up for air I was a little stunned


Totally looked for you today nitsud, got your text today and tried to text back but it would not send. I have very spotty reception. We had to go in a little early anyway........gas was getting low as I underestimated the amount of gas we would use

[nitsud7141]

no biggie, me and a buddy got up there just after 3 and set up the tents. my wife was supposed to be there soon after with her brother but he was really really late and eventually called her and told her he wasn't coming. needless to say she didn't get there til about 6 after waiting for him forever so I figured that was a little late to just be launching. we were out quite awhile today, it was warm out but it was so windy that you never really got warm and the water was pretty choppy. It was fun, but cold, and my friend got up for his first time and my wife actually rode half way across the lake which is a huge step for her. I pretty much just zig zag back and forth using the wake on either side as a berm until i get tired then let go and sink, so I guess I stayed about the same.

[ruffdawg]

Really? Weather was perfect all day Saturday. On the far side of the lake in front of the day use area was very nice all day.

We did wakeboard quite a bit. Then we surfed. Not enough people in the boat to get a good surf wake, but still had fun. Almost got a surface 360 on the surfboard I think I might be able to nail it next time. It would help If my board had a fin in front.......gets really unstable when it is flipped backwords but what do I know

[nitsud7141]

hey Ruffdawg, almost time to pull the boat out for the summer. you itchin for it yet?

[ruffdawg]

De winterized this week....Ya getting antsy for sure Got a new surf board, did not like that Ronix. Got a CWB Tsunami.

had a bad crash on a mountain bike wed. Will keep me out for awhile. Busted my nose lost one tooth and found 3, stitches from upper lip to nose, on forehead and under both lips......fun stuff [/img]

[nitsud7141]

wow, fun stuff. rocky soil is a little less forgiving than the water thats for sure, especially if you aren't wearing a helmet. I've been itchin all winter to try out my new wakeskate and new board, but it's not looking good for this summer now, had some personal issues over the winter which turned into boat issues now. Right after I went out with you last summer my dad was diagnosed with a very aggressive throat cancer. I spent 4 months taking him to the hospital almost every day and feeding him through a feeding tube and all kinds of fun stuff. He ended up passing away the end of january, then I was busy with his final arrangements and whatnot. well all that kept me pretty distracted and I never winterized my boat because I had more important things to do. I started it a few days ago and it's no good now, water in the oil and all that jazz. I don't know jack about motors so I can't fix it, and haven't worked since my dad got diagnosed because I had to take care of him, so can't afford to have someone else fix it or buy a new motor. blah, this sucks. Anyhow, enough of my sad story. I know I'd been thinkin about gettin out there every day lately so I figured you were too, that was before I knew the situation with my boat though. I'm sure I'll still be up there at yale a lot this summer camping, but unless I can row our rubber raft really really fast I don't think we'll be on the water too much.

[ruffdawg]

Wow really sorry to hear about your dad. Sorry man.

Well we will have to stay in touch through the summer, there will be plenty of room for you.

Mike

[nitsud7141]

cool, I appreciate it. Now that all that stuff with my dad is over I'm trying to get back to work, but of course nobody is hiring for anything, but I'll still be able to help out with gas and whatnot. I know your boat is a little thirstier than ours, so I'm good for a half tank each time or whatever you think is fair, I'll fill your tank if you want, no biggie. We'll definately keep in touch, do you still have my cell # for those last minute early morning wake up calls? If not I can send you a text or something so you'll have it again, I still have your number in my phone.

thanks again Mike,

Dustin

[ruffdawg]

No problem, would love to have you aboard. I started a "crew" list of friends and I will get your number added if you send it for me.

Mike

[nitsud7141]

cool, text sent, you should have my digits now.

[dustytd]

OK I got a Master Craft X10 to through into the mix looking for people to ride with and get better. Pretty much a bigginer at the tricks got the W2W but nothing much more then grabs would like to progress this summer. Gas did go down but its always nice having people split it up and give you change to watch some boarding. Do any of you have skype? my skype name is dustytd hit me up im usually always on. I want to hit he water every day after work. I get off at 4 and want to tear it up this summer!

[nitsud7141]

I work nights sunday night through thursday night, so my best times are friday or saturday since those are my days off. I start at 6pm monday through thursday, and 5pm on sunday. I suppose I could go those days as long as I was back in the couv by an hour or so before I have to work so I can get ready for work. I'm sure that only applies to Mike anyhow since you have to work until 4 dusty. Where do you usually ride dusty, we were riding Yale and Merwin last summer.

[jinx3]

Just curious - I am another vancouver wakeboarder - which lake is better Yale or Merwin? I am planning on camping out there this next weekend and doing some boarding. I have been to Yale a few years back, but that was on a waverunner - so it is pretty different.

I am thinking about trying Yale first, but would love some opinions.

[nitsud7141]

both are great, big lakes so plenty of room for lots of boats. we usually always end up at yale because merwin is closer so the launches fill up faster. you can't lose with either of them. I wouldn't go up to swift though, every time I've been up there the water is too choppy for boarding IMO. If you are looking to camp and board I would personally go to yale, usually we camp at the Beaver Bay campground which is like 5 miles or so outside of Cougar, there is also the Cougar campground which is less than a mile out of Cougar. They both have launches so either will work fine. I've never launched at the Cougar campground, but the Beaver Bay launch is a small, one lane launch with a pretty small dock. It's also a pretty small parking area for the trailers and whatnot, but some people launch then tie the boat up to the shore somewhere and park their rig at their camp site and leave the boat in the water the whole time they are there. My best recomendation is to try them all and see which one you like best, you can't go wrong with a weekend of camping and boarding either way.