About wakeboarding on concrete!
I like sports, all kind of sports and especially if it’s some kind of action activity. So wakeboarding sounded like an amazing sport for me to try. All resources required were there; a friend with a boat, a friend with a wakeboard and some time on the weekend.
My friend purchased his first boat just a couple of weeks before and he had no experience in driving his vessel. We believe, if you don’t know something you can always learn how to do it! Trial and error! This time for me there were more errors!
I haven’t been snowboarding or skiing, therefore I had no experience on balancing on a board. We went to the lagoon along the Palm Jumeirah behind Mina Sejahi and Westin Hotel, to try it on flat waters. So the stupid person first! …that one was me…
I put on the life jacket which was looking quiet cool, like a bullet proof vest with a nice six pack under the vest. The vest was also really comfortable. The shoes of the wakeboard were so small that I had to put soap on my feet to slip into them. After some time getting organized and some sips of salty water I was attached to the board.
“Yalla, let’s go.” I heard people say that in the beginning it’s the hardest part, to get out of the water and stand up on the board. I agreed with them and can confirm this. It took us many trials until I finally got my ass out of the water. In the meantime I had drunk a couple of liters of salty, warm gulf water. My eyes were burning and red, but I didn’t want to give up.
I could finally proof myself that I succeeded and I could stand on the board… only for a few seconds. After I had the timing sorted and had the right technique to get out of the water, it was working. But I had another problem… the captain. As mentioned before, my friend was not experienced and therefore it was really hard for him to maintain a certain speed. So as soon as I was out of the water I started to shout: “Faster, faster… not so fast! Slow down!” And splash!! I was back in the water. Good that I had the floating vest and didn’t need to swim. I wanted to at least make a short round through the lagoon. I felt stupid already, when the other boats passed me again, pulling, guys, girls and kids behind their boat. It was looking so easy, how they cut the water and the waves.
So one last try! We started I was on the board, yeahhaa! I do it! “Slow down, slow down!” suddenly I was pulled in front and I felt the hit of Mike Tyson. I don’t know where he appeared from so fast and left again? If this was like a comic, you could see know the little birds circling around my head! It was not Mike, it was the sea. My friend sped up to about 30knotes (50kph) and I lost my fragile balance. I knew that water was hard, but so hard!!! I had enough for the day. On the boat I still saw these birds around my head and I had a bad headache.
Luckily I like action and stupid stuff, but I was not so stupid as I was wearing a life jacket. I don’t know if I lost consciousness but I definitely missed a few seconds in my memories.
My tip: If you start learning wakeboarding, look for someone who knows how to drive a boat. But wakeboarding is cool stuff!