So we got back in town yesterday from the 2008 Hipp Marine River Rendezvous, and it was an awesome time!  There were a good 10 WBSD members out for the trip, and the good times were in full effect.  Myself and Dani rolled out around 6pm on Thursday night, Gary, Chad, Jenny, Steve, Ryan, Mike, Metis and Steve were already out on wednesday, and Evan and Jamie headed out friday night.  

We showed up around 10:15 on thursday to find Gary, and Ryan pulling up to meet us in a golf cart, and had already been celebrating for quite a while.  We unloaded at the trailer and headed up to the house to start the party as well.  Some beverages were enjoyed by all, a game of human Jenga was played when Jenny passed out, and Gary played about 15 hours of Wii Fit.  After a late night offroad golf cart ride, we passed out for a couple hours of sleep before getting up to wakeboard Friday morning.

We hit the water friday morning and got some decent sessions in – the water was glass and there was no one out other than us and a few border patrol agents doing training.  We rode for an hour, then pulled out the wakesurfer, which was awesome until I took a pull and Gary plowed my boat onto a sandbar.  Some damage was sustained (I think ALL of our boats sustained quite a bit of damage this trip – the DBG Kayot, M&M’s Calabria, and ours as well).  Thats the risk you run when running the river I guess.

We had a meeting with the Hipp Marine staff around 3 on friday, and figured out the plan for the Rendezvous on Saturday.  We (DBG, WBSD, and Wakesports) were to man stop 5 on the rendezvous – which was basically to camp out at Ferguson Lake all day.

We headed out to Fergusons around 8:30 am on Saturday and got up there to some pretty decent water.  A few boats were out riding, but it was pretty decent conditions.  We anchored the Kayot with a flag up for people to see, and then took a few pulls behind the Wakesports Pro-V 2.  People started showing up after a couple hours, and then the party got started.  By 3pm everyone was up there, about 15 or 20 boats just anchored up, blasting music, and partying.  It was a great time!

Headed back to Hidden Shores and showerd up before dinner and awards around 7pm.  A few hours of laughs, drinks, and nicknames (Mercury Mike, Slingblade, Tubs, General Really Good Guy, Gumdrop) and then we dispersed to get some serious partying done.  It was  a late night, when we finally wrapped up around 3am…the morning came too soon.  Everyone packed up, hit the road, and we stopped by the Roadhouse Cafe in Yuma for some ribs before the long drive home and starting up the week again on monday.  

After work today…I miss the river!  Looking forward to helping Hipp Marine out next year at the 2009 Rendezvous!

I was at Wakesports Unlimited the day after the Byerly exhibition at San V. Geoff, told us he’d seen Jacob Valdez do a 900. He said something to the effect of “why do I bother…” and it’s true. Look we’re old. I don’t have the cojones to even think in my dreams I could do stunts like that.

Reading an online article about young Jacob Valdez his mom said “The Pro tour implemented what is called the ‘Jacob Rule’ so that Jacob could ride against his peers and not just his age bracket.” But I wonder, if you are 14 and don’t have two brothers who’ve already won all the competitions but just go out on your lake every day, while no one knows your name and you don’t have a “rule” you’re still kicking my butt all over the water.

Dylan, our nephew, started riding a couple years ago. He didn’t have the advantages of being guided in his wakeboarding. Pretty much his dad who owned a boat got a deal on a Hyperlight board, threw it at him and said here figure this out. At 16 he is cocky but not quite as good as say “Jacob”. He’s smooth jumping the wakes but I’m catching up to him. See he’s getting older as you read this. Soon he’ll have to pay for gas when he rides and he’ll need a job for that. The curve of his invincible youth is turning. I’m sure with a few hours on the wake every day I’m bound to catch up.

Here is what Park’s said in his interview with Ronix  “After watching the sport change as well as my own riding, I want a board with as much explosive pop as I’ve ever had as well as a fluid turn and edge, mixed with a reasonable amount of forgiveness. My board is quite a bit wider with more rocker than our other high-end 3-stage shape (Danny’s One Board) – so that there is the recipe for the most pop. The Ibex has a ton of side cut allowing its wide profile to turn well and give me extra lift off the wake. The board has a softer bevel/sharp rail in the center blending to a harder bevel/vertical rail near the tip and tail for more natural speed. We didn’t jump into knocking out a board; this deck went through more testing stages than any of my other signature decks. Everyone says it, but I definitely mean it – this is the best board out there for my explosive style of riding. Oh yeah, and the graphics will get ya’ some action too.” -Mr. Parks Bonifay

Ty Morlang
43:2 Productions

40three2productions@gmail.com