I have to admit I feel very guilty for not going to San Vicente today, to say goodbye to a place that has been so good to me and my business. Still, I spent my entire day smiling because of time I had yesterday at the WBSD meet up there on the shores of the lake.

For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Gary Colle and I started DBG Concepts www.dbgconcepts.com just over nine years ago. DBG has been a work in progress with almost every day being at least a 12 hour work day.

Working in the wakeboarding industry has defiantly introduced us to some good friends along the way. Geoff, Steve, Buzz, and Robert from Hipp Marine (everyone from Hipp for that matter) to name a few. This summer has been by far the most fun I have had in the nine years I have been at this. I have met so many new friends Ian and Evan Grist (webmasters of www.wakeboardsd.net), Mike and Metis, and Kelli to name a few.

Knowing for the past few years that San Vicente, San V, was going to close, made me dred today. It has scared me to death knowing that the lake that started my career, the place I learned to boat, the place I learned to ski and have met so many friends was going to be gone.

Today I realized DBG Concepts will continue to grow and we will continue to have fun with the friends we have made. Until the lake reopens we will find new places to ride. Wakeboarding means so much to all of us. Ultimately wakeboarding brings us together and bonds the friendships we have.

I want to take this moment to thank WBSD for everything they have done this past season. The Grist brothers have given us a place to talk every day. WBSD is a site not only for wakeboarding, but a place to meet new friends; a place where we plan BBQs, Bon fires, parties, and so much more. Future plans have already talked about including river trips, desert trips, and all types of new reasons to hangout.

So when I look back at my last day on San V, I can’t help but smile. It doesn’t make me think of the past, but of all the times I am going to have with all of the people that have made San V what it was.

Ian and Evan Grist thank you so much for all your hard work on WBSD. Both of you guys are a huge deal to me. The creation of your site has done so much for me and for my business— much like San V.

San Vicente see you in 6-9 years.

Gary Colle