Lake Martin Magazine

May is a great month of the year on Lake Martin. The lake is full. The boats that have been tucked away for the winter are being summerized. The air is getting to the point of being hot and the water temperature makes its way from really cold to refreshing when you get in from a hot day out on the boat. It’s the month that really starts the season to me.

The one big thing that happens every year in the dead of winter is The Atlanta Boat Show. The boat dealers from all around put together pretty extravagant booths where we can see the new 2012 boats. Most of the dealers offer up some nice “boat show specials” and you can score your new ride at a sizable discount.

As winter hits, the water level drops, the days get short and the water gets cold. What’s a wake rider to do? Well, the obvious is to ride in a wetsuit every chance we get. Most of us are not able to get out very often due the short days and it being dark when we get off of work, which leaves us with weekends.

I have lived on or in close proximity to Lake Martin my whole life. Today I couldn’t think of a place I’d rather live. It’s my own personal paradise. I used to envy people I’d see on the Travel Channel who ran B&B’s in remote islands all over the world. After growing up on the lake and now having a family of my own, I feel lucky to be here on Lake Martin.

Wakesurfing is growing among the young, but even more with the not-so-young. I think the fact that it is a low-impact physical sport really is a plus for anyone who doesn’t feel like taking a hard fall. It’s great to see the parents of wakeboarding kids getting involved and participating. If you bought the $80,000 boat, you might as well enjoy riding behind it, too.

After discussing the wake boats and some of the differences in the drivability and hull design to the wake in last month’s column, this month I’d like to focus on the fun stuff available to ride on: the new wakeboards, wake skates and wake surfers.

To start this season of Behind the Boat, I want to talk about the boat. In today’s world, a pro level wake boat off the showroom floor will run you $50-100,000.

For wakesurfers, a good ride depends as much on having the right wave as it does the right board. Since we discussed boards last month, I thought I would add some pertinent information about waves /wakes for anyone who surfs – or wants to.

Wakesurfing has grown like wildfire on Lake Martin. I’m not sure what sparked it, but I’ve seen more and more slow towing boats with surfers working to stay on the wave than ever before.

s the summer comes to an end, I thought this would be a fitting issue to speak of the evolution of watersports and the future. I look back at what has come about since the first day I got up on two wooden skis. Back then there was no wakeboarding, wakeskating or wakesurfing – now a multi-million dollar sports industry that dominates the market.