Newbie Info

[ckdollar]

I have been looking around but can't really find a good overall newbie guide on things like:

How to tie off at the dock to prevent scrapes
How to tie the wakeboard rope to the boat!
How hard to you "gun" it for wbers
What is WB etiquette for newbies like me that just fall, fall, fall etc
General boat upkeep and maintenance. What to use to wipe it down, how long between services etc.

I dunno im sure I have more!

[holdsworth]

Tie the boat semi-loose to the dock with bumpers on it, but not too terribly loose that it's all over the palce. This will allow is to move with the water and it won't get shoved into the dock at all, but the bumpers will keep it from scrapes and such. Also, try to tie the front one a little forward of where it's connected to the boat, and slightly back at the rear point so it keeps it from moving either way towards other boats that may be around you.

To tie the rope to the boat (I'm guessing for towing?), reach through the loop that you want to be pulled from, grab the rope a few inches down from this loop on the side going TO the rider, pull that part of the rope through the loop your hand is through, and tie that circle it makes to the attach point.

Give beginner riders a nice, easy pull just so it's enough for them to stand up. You don't want to go too slow as to drag them through the water to get up, but not floor it. Just like accelerating a car form a stoplight to, say, 35 MPH, you don't gun it but you don't hold anything up. If you have someone that has wakeboarded before and can get up without a problem, have them go behind the boat and practice doing easy starts to be comfortable with a good acceleration speed.

Don't worry about the falls! Just practice the basics of riding step-by-step and you'll be good. If you keep falling, just work on whatever you fell on until it's consistent. If you're really new to the sport, practice cutting outside, then back inside and to the other outside wake to get used to turning. Then do some one-wake jumps, some butterslides/riding switch, and move on to whatever you want to do next.

When wiping down the boat, you can just use a damp/clean towel to get any dirt off and pick up loose drops of water. If you want to, add some Armour All or some other upholstery cleaner. For services, I would say to contact your local dealer and I'm sure they'll be more than happy to help with anything!

Have fun out there!

[walb0244]

I will say that to help with the Wakeboarding questions on stuff. "The Book" DVD Series helps with how to Wakeboard and such. They also have a website you can deal with them through.

You don't have to gun it for Wakeboarders. We just roll into the throttle. The wakeboard does all the work. It isn't like skiing where you have to pretty much yank the person our of the water. Atleast that is how we do it.

On tieing off to the dock to prevent scratches. I would suggest using Fenders that hang on the side of the boat. That is what we do to prevent scratches. Someone else on here may have some more imput on that.

On how to tie the wakeboard rope to the boat. I think you are putting alittle too much thought into that. My old boat had a hook on the back. My new boat has a tower. If you have the hook here is a example.

http://images.hayneedle.com/images/custom_site_images/439/toweye.jpg

With that just hook the rope on it. Same thing with the tower. If you notice in the picture it is wrapped around so it can't just come unhooked. That is how we did our old boat. With towers just hook the loop around the tow point.

Hope this helps some. That is just what I know so far. I just getting into the boating world.