Various Watersports

Power Towed Water Sports

Skurfing is a popular water sport where the rider is towed behind a boat on a surfboard with a ski rope. Kind of like waterskiing with one BIG ski. This sport is gaining popularity in many places in the world. Skurfing isn't a professional sport and there aren't any official competitions, it's "freestyle all the way baby," with personalized style and form. That is what's so cool about it. It's all about personalized moves and about "style".

The sport of Tubing or "biscuiting," is using a large circular rubber tube like you can pick up cheaply if you know where to look. Heavy equipment, on and off road, and tractor trailer tire tubes are ideal for tubing. It's considered a novice or child's watersport because it's very simple to ride a tube and there are no special skills involved or required. The goal is to hang on for as long as one can w/o falling off due to the boat's movements, or the wake coming from the tow boat. An experienced biscuiter can jump the boat's wake and go for a short and furious flight. A trick for newbies would be a barrel-roll, where the rider falls off the tube and rolls upside down and back upright again, all in the same motion.

Back in the 1960's we used to tow aluminum saucer sleds behind our boats and got a heck of a good ride by rigging one to a ski tow-rope and dropping the throttle until we had dragged each other up and down the harbor in front of our house. It was our little thing, but every year, even today you'll spot a saucer sled or tow out on the lake towing the kids along at a leisurely pace. I recall it as being quite an adrenaline rush, but not as excellent as starting out one water ski and riding until exhausted without ever losing our balance. What a blast! Be sure that you keep your valuables tightly sealed in a waterproof pager pouch, which accommodates cash, license/passport, credit cards and keys. Pick one up before you start this boating season, you'll find that they're very cheap insurance!