depth of the water

[freedom1]

I was wondering how shallow of water can you ride in before it starts to effect the wake?

[PeterC4]

I'd guess it would depend what you're riding behind.

[WHAT????]

Personally I would go any shallower than 5-6 '. Might hurt a bit when you crash.

[kmagnuss]

It depends some on the boat I've heard...but I've noticed a drop on wake when you get under the 6' mark.

[intotheflats]

Yes there is a difference of wake size depending on the depth of water. Generally the wake won't be effected unless you are in about 6ft or less.

[Tmac1]

forget riding -- how about my prop! 4 feet is about where I try to go-- no less...

[Kodiac18]

haha, i have a jet boat, upside i can run in 6 inches, downside...washy wake...so basically no upside to wakeboarding

[Wake_Turner]

Technically every difference in depth will affect the size of the wake, but any difference over 10 feet will be so small you will never notice. I like to ride in at least 10 feet but like most have said 6 feet is where it starts to get real small

[LFADAM]

Wake_Turner, why would there be a difference in 100 feet vs 200 feet? The wake only changes under 10 feet or so.

I never take my boat in less than 15 feet of water except in 1 turn it gets down to about 8. I will idle in water up to 5 feet but I would never wakeboard below 8 because there may be little hills under water or branches.

[DavidHoff]

I can tell a big difference when riding in 5-6 foot water (Normal) and when I go to larger lakes and ride in 20+ foot deep water. There also seems to be a difference If the water is dense or not, but I'm not sure. When I ride in a dirty, sand-bottomed lake, the wake seems different from when I ride in a clean, rock-bottomed lake.

[matt1808]

LFADAM, Technically it would be different, but like he said you wouldn't be able to tell cause it would be a very very small difference.

[LFADAM]

matt1808, but why? Lets say your boat pushes water down 11 feet before it comes back to the surface to make a wake. If you have 100 feet of water, its only using the top 11, same with 200 so why does it matter how far down the bottom is?

DavidHoff, I know what you mean by dense. I dunno exactly what it is but every once and a while (like yesterday) my lake water gets really soft, like you jump in and it feels like you can swim faster and its harder to float like the water doesnt have as much drag as normal. My friend noticed when he fell while wakeskating that the falls seem softer too.

[nickdakoolkat]

[DavidHoff]

I don't really know if it's considered density, but what I mean is there is a difference from when I ride in muddy/sandy water to when I ride in clear water with no trace of mud or dirt mixed throughout.

[matt1808]

LFADAM, I can't really explain it, cause I never paid attention in physics. It has to do with the transfer of energy between the atoms in water. Like you said you can't notice the difference after like 10 feet though.

[midwest wake]

nickdakoolkat, DavidHoff, just about every lake rides differently. it sounds funny. but the higher the viscosity (i know what it is, but i'm not sure if that's the right word) the slower you ride, but the harder the wake. so compared to some really clean lakes in wisconsin, it looks and feels like your riding in bottled water. very fast and responsive, not as big of air (water is softer) low viscosity rating. compare that to some of the lakes in florida. muddy brown water from the trees and plant life, you have a higher viscosity rating. so you ride slower. with this higher viscosity rating, you have more pushing against your board, so the wakes are packed harder, with these two things, you actually cna go bigger.

wierd concept though.

[goinbig143]

I ride in a silty bottomed shallow lake the majority of the time. It really does affect the wake size and shape.
We usually follow the same path when riding, and the southernmost leg is the shallow part. As we pass into the shallow area, the wake gets less vertical and drops about 6 inches in height.

I think the silty bottom has a pretty big impact as well. I have been in 5' of water with a hard bottom and it affected the shape of the wake alot less than it does in the silt.

[GuitsBoy]

I just crashed yesterday in three feet of water. We didnt realize that corner of the lake was so shallow. I had caught my toe edge and face planted, diving in and my arms and head hit bottom immediately. Luckilly I only have a slightly sore neck. It could have easily been much worse. Anyway, the moral of the story is that there is a good reason youre supposed to be in 6 feet or more water in order to pull anything/anyone behind a boat. I realize this is not always possible when it comes to sliders, etc... But if youre just doing a normal wake run, dont chance it.

EDIT: And to actually answer your question, the wake is noticeably washier when were in the 7' section vs when were on the other side (50' +)

[Wakebrad]

For most wakeboats 10 ft of water is deep enough for a full wake. Although in bigger ~23-24' boats you'll need > 12 ft to fully maximize the wake.

[irish_rider]

i was just at a comp and the lake was under 10 ft deep. on my practice run i felt like i was stuck to the wake (x-star) but then we put a load of extra weight in it and everything was smooth

[CroMagnon]

as far as the density of the water goes, water can not be compressed but can undergo thermal expansion. if the water temp changes from day to day the density of the water will change as well. a large enough change in water temp could possibly result in the water feeling more dense or less dense from day to day

[freedom1]

I appreciate all the input guys I just asked this question because I was down on Table Rock lake "thats in missouri near branson they call it Vegas without teeth" and we were having trouble finding water out of the wind so we rode a different part of the lake that happened to be in the 10' to 20' range, and then we went back to part of the lake where we usually ride, the wierd thing was the size was only a little different BUT the wake was a lot harder. I know what your going to say but it was not the driver or the weight. We were riding behind a 2003 226 team air nautique with perfect pass. The only difference was the depth of the water, this cove was 100'+ everywhere we were riding in it!!

[seadooman89]

dunno if it matters or not but i saw this vid n this guy was goin w/ his wakeboard on in a ditch in the side of the road behind a pickup truck.....

looked so cool i wanna try it but prolly would kill myself

i guess you can still wakeboard in shallow water....

[midwest wake]

seadooman89, yes, it matters, your in the wrong thread that's why.
sorry but this thread is refering to the creation of your wake in shallow water
not riding in shallow water. and yes people go ditchboarding all the time on wakeskates
and skimboards

[KooJo_MoFo]

It's funny that I came across this topic because I just got done talking to my dad about the size of the wake my boat was putting out a few days ago. I usually go in 3 - 6 feet of water behind my jet boat. The wake doesn't seem so big, yet it's workable. We took the boat an hour or so up river where it's deeper, considerably deeper, my guess 10'+, the wake seemed to be huge, it was great. I, now, know that it's the depth of the water

P.S. I've only hit the bottom several times ahha.