Tag: Barefooting

New Blog Listed on the Right

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I’ve added a new entry to the blog roll. Mr. Rykert living somewhere in corn country (sounds like Iowa if you ask me) chronicles his life on the water as do I. While he recently pulled out his two jumps, it appears that I was still skiing. Give the man props though, he has two jumps. I have access to the team’s jump which gets yanked in mid-September. Granted my back hasn’t agreed with me using the jump very much, but he has two jumps to remove, which is two more than me. Both appear to be better than our team’s jump. And it looks like he has a consistently calm (and apparently clean) body of water to ski on… something that to me is only a pipe dream. Never going to happen in Madison. If I want really calm water, I’m skiing in a swamp. Or in November on Thanksgiving.

On an slightly related note… the great solar bee experiment in Monona Bay has ended. They didn’t appear to be doing anything and, according to my sources, won’t be coming back. This means less obstacles to avoid while skiing in the (near) swamp land. Look at some of my other posts from the summer, and you’ll see the weeds.

On a related note to the my last comment… the fact that the bay is nearly swamp land is both good and bad. Bad because it is nasty to ski in. Completely and totally disgusting. If you ever see it, you will understand… instantly. Ever want to pretend to be the swamp thing, just do a deep in the wrong spot and you’ll have your opportunity to “dress up.” Good because since the water is so disgustingly nasty, no one else goes in there and the narrow path that is typically open in the summer is nearly always glass calm. As you can see, this is a dilemma that I go through while arguing for cleaner water. Yes, it would be best to have water that I don’t need to pretend is clean and hope doesn’t cause me to get sick or infected from something, but I also want it calm water. I’m torn. My health or calm water? Tough choice.

I do wonder why my legs itch all day at work after taking a morning set in there? Things to make you go “hmmmm…”

Now it is time to go enjoy the Stella induced sleep…

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45 Degrees and Sunny

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Sound like a forecast for April or October? Yes, but it was also the weather we had today here in Madison, Wisconsin. Not ideal for deer hunting as the meat may spoil, but it worked for what I wanted to do today. It did reach mid-fifties, but 45 is the temperature that matters. You see, I took the boat out to the lake today. Hit the water about 10 am. The weather… blue skies, no wind, and 45 degrees. Can’t ask for a better day at the end of November. I meant to take advantage of it.

The water was still a balmy 41 degrees. I actually expected it to be colder. Put my dry suit on and eased my way into the water. Rope came tight and away we went. Took a pretty good run. Starting at Olin Park and made it along the south shore and then curved up towards the “rock pile” stopping well before it since the buoys had been pulled. Limited myself to one run though. We had turkey dinner scheduled for noon. It would have been nice to go latter in the day, but after eating a Thanksgiving dinner, I was 99% certain I wouldn’t be up for doing much of anything for the rest of the day… other than watch football.

Here’s some pictures from the morning’s adventures…

Ok, the water is cold… we can go any time now…
Really slow deep water start… the driver was a little soft on the throttle.

Look at the glass calm water

Time to stand up

It had been more than a month since I had last footed. Looks like I still know how.

Even did a little one foot

You can come pick me up any time now. The water isn’t getting any warmer.

The Madison Sky Line… I love this city!

Afterwards, dressed nice and warm for the car ride home. With my nephews Ben & Nate.

On a side note… as I was leaving the lake I get a text message from Dale… Cancel turkey dinner and bring the boat… glass calm water. I replied I had just finished a set and was off to dinner.
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The Water is Now 45.9 Degrees

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Yes, that is correct. We had some snow fall this past week and that probably helped cool of the lake. That, and the cold nights we’ve had where it has been down into the 30s overnight.

Last night 7, Sandy and I were out celebrating Badger Football & Hockey victories and knowing that the weather today was suppose to get up to about 60 and be sunny, we decided to go skiing.

7, Sandy and Myself

Today, I finished up changing the oil in my boat and gassed it up on the way to the lake. At 1pm it was sunny and pretty nice. But at 330 when we hit the water, the sky had clouded up and it was probably a little cooler (low 50s?).

Yes, that says 45.9 degrees…

Me, wanting to be a tough guy and get one last run in before putting on a dry suit, left my dry suit at home, planning on just toughing it out with a thermal shirt and shorty wetsuit. 7 and Sandy were better prepared.

7 suited up first and took a slalom run. Didn’t complain about the water, but kept his run pretty brief. Could be because he hadn’t skied a lot lately, maybe still recovering from 16 hours of drinking the day before or maybe just didn’t like the cold water.

7 on the Water

I suited up next and jumped right it. Ice. Yes, that is what the water felt like. Grabbed the handle, rope came tight, and off we went. Got up, and besides my face (which was freezing in the wind chill) it really wasn’t too bad. Took 3 good runs along the south and west shorelines. Managed some one foots. Sandy took the corner in the runs really tight. First time through it on the inside corner, I held my spot. Second time, I was on the outside and that was easy. Third time, I held for a while, but could feel it getting a little soft and decided to let the whip carry me across the bubbles. Now I had 20 feet off the rope, the distance I was at was pretty much the worst distance to be as there is quite the rooster tail at this distance behind my boat at barefooting speeds. So, having decided to ride the whip, I closed my eyes and released my cut and away I went. Actually, came through pretty good, probably one of my smoother wake crossings, but in retrospect, closing my eyes as I rode the whip through the bubbles was probably not the brightest thing to do.

Why’s there a giant ball of spray following the boat?
That is just Wedge doing a really bad one foot!
I can’t feel my face

The good thing about your feet going numb…
You can’t feel where the water is breaking on your foot during a one foot.

Just before I close my eyes and ride the whip

Sandy took to the water next. Having been living in Florida for the last 3 years and only getting water time in the heart of summer, she suited up in a dry suit and jumped in and took a good slalom run as well.

Proof that Sandy skied in Madison in front of the State Capital

She’s done!

Everyone had a good time and Sandy & 7 were content to have that be their final time out on the water. I, on the other, still want more!

I will admit to the fact that is officially dry suit weather now.

You can download full quality versions of these pictures and more in my web album.

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Wisconsin Weather Redux

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So last Monday, we have severe t-storms move through and highs in the 80s. Tuesday & Wednesday were decent too.

Sunday, high about 75, sunny and very nice.

Today, high in the 40s, rain in the morning, crazy windy, and snow. Yes, that’s right, snow. 9 days after a high of 85. There wasn’t any accumulation, but there was snow falling out of the sky.

Next skiing session will probably need a dry suit now. We’ll see.

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Footstock Highlight Video on Waterski Online

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Waterski Magazine Online put together a short video showing the world what Footstock is. Click on the link and then look for the footstock video.

Libby, you make a brief apperance at the 2:05 mark and Dewey, you got quite a bit of air time starting about 2:25.

Looking for results? The official results can be found here.

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Wisconsin Weather

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So with forecast calling for highs in the mid-80 in October, I planned to hit the water with T-Bell & John today. Watching the weather throughout today, I could see some pretty big storms moving north of Portage and South of Janesville, both about 30 or so minutes away in their respective directions.

As 5pm rolls around, the weather is still warm, somewhat clear, and basically good skiing conditions. Get to the lake at 515 and am getting the boat ready and feel that it is a little cooler already. Get out on the water and know for sure it has cooled off.

We get a quick set in as the weather slowly grows darker to the east, but looks somewhat west. I hop in to take my last run and do a quick run one way and see some lightning way off to the east. Figure I might as well take one last run back to the bridge and we head off to the west, turn towards the north, where it is now darker, and finally turn back to the east towards the bridge (we took the long way to the bridge) and now I’m see lots of lighting, notice the trees are now indicating a strong wind out of the north when it was out of the south minutes before. I let go as we get to the bridge, they come back, quickly, and pick me up. I hop in and we high tail it out of there.

We get out to the main lake and it is getting quickly worse. We make a beeline for the dock and get the boat out without incident.

We did notice the UW Ski Team was still skiing as we headed to the landing… we decided to be nice and hooked up their truck and trailer and helped them get their boat out when they finally came to the landing. BTW, the UW team qualified for Nationals… Congrats!!!

Sorry, no pics from tonight… little too gloomy. Still had good skiing though!

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Gotta Love Fall!

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So according to the calendar, Fall is officially here. But it seems more like an Indian Summer. 70+ Degrees and Sunny. (Looking for 80 tomorrow.) Needless to say, I hit the water today… Here are some pics from the afternoon of skiing…

Why’s the bottom of my foot so white?

Visualize yourself behind a boat…
What… there’s no boat?

Bugs cutting hard

7 Cutting

7 Turning the Buoy

You can find these pictures and more at this web album.


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The Duck Story

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So this past Thursday I was out skiing in the bay. In the fall (I still have a hard time saying that), there just seems to a few more birds on the water. Don’t know why. So much like with the pigeons from Seinfeld, boats seem to have a deal with the waterfowl. As the boat comes through, they get out of the way of the boats and we just mumble under our breaths at all the crap they leave on our dock.

So I’m footing behind my boat, moving along at 41 MPH or so. There is a flock of ducks on the water that we’re coming up on that I’m keep my eyes on. They scatter for the boat, but one moves just clear of the boat and directly into my line. Now, much like in NASCAR (at least according to Days of Thunder), this is kinda like a car wreck so I’m thinking “just go straight through.” There are still several ducks scattered about and trying to slalom my way through just isn’t a realistic option. I’m moving at 41 MPH and there is only about 90 feet between me and the boat. Not sure on the exact math, but that doesn’t give me much time to react.

Now I’m moving along directly towards the duck that is just kind of floating there. As I approach closer, it sees me coming directly towards it and starts swimming which is good. Except it starts swimming the same direction I’m going. It isn’t going 41 MPH. So I’m thinking a typical barefoot stance is about shoulder width apart roughly. The duck isn’t going to fit between my feet. At least not easily. I obviously don’t want to hit the duck. A) This is bad for the duck and B) hitting the duck would be bad for me. I could potentially break a foot, ankle, knee, leg, etc and I’m just not ready to call it a season yet.

So I get to thinking, the duck is swimming, it isn’t that big. I’m about 20 feet from it now and I decide to widen my stance so it is about 4 feet wide. I wanted to get wide, but not too low because the duck might remember that it can fly too. The duck starts to swerve just a bit, but not much, just enough where I need to move a little bit to keep it centered and I straddle the duck. To the best of my knowledge, I didn’t touch it. I didn’t feel any feathers on my ankles or legs.

The spotter, Seven, who’s watching this, went from a look of “oh shit he’s gonna hit a duck” to laughing his ass off. John, who’s driving also sees this in the mirror and I could tell he’s laughing too. They could both see clear as day that I straddled it.

I resumed my normal stance and just kept on going.

Maybe this duck thought it was a squirrel?

BTW, ask John about his duck stories. He’s got a couple of them.

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Busy Week

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During the ski season (which is still going on… I’m talking about the ski team season) I keep thinking I’ll have free time when it over. Wrong. Life doesn’t let up. This past week has been busy. Two Badger football games and much more in between.

We start last Saturday when I went to watch the Badger football team beat up on Western Illinois. The Badgers won, but against NIU, they should have played better.

Sunday, the NFL season kicked off. Monday, even more football.

Tuesday, I ended up heading out for Holly’s birthday. We met up at the Nitty Gritty. Had a small turnout from the ski team, but the people I expected to be there were. Bugs, Libby, Beau, Kelly and Cory. We gave Holly a lot of crap for her full page write up in The Star (local Sun Prairie weekly newspaper). I mean whole page. Take a traditional newspaper page and her article covered 90% of it. Just a couple ads and two very small articles were on the page. The rest… all Holly, lots of pics too!. When we finished up at the Gritty, we headed over to the Karaoke Kid. The bar is truly a little hole in the ground. I believe everyone sang. Some better than others. The Kid, although a bar specializing in karaoke, didn’t have the selection that I’ve seen at CBI where they just have a traveling karaoke person come in. I’ve put some pictures up of the vents from the night.

Ski Team Members doing shots… what’s new?
Libby, Bugs, Holly, Cory, Kelly, Me, Beau

Holly and I doing the 3 Wise Men… I look like a giant next to her

Me & the ladies of the night


Holly – The Birthday Girl

Cory and Myself singing… Sweet Caroline I think?

Bugs & Kelly – A Little Funky Cold Medina…

Wednesday morning came all too early and it was a take my boat to work day so I could ski right after work. Met up with Beau and Bugs. It was a little cool, only about 65 degrees and overcast. Very calm winds though. First we hit up the ski jump. Bugs and Beau made use of that. Beau tried a reverse heli. Not so good. Bugs looked a little rough. I think he became use to the good jump service he was on it Ohio. We then went into the bay and did a lot of footing. I did several loops. Beau didn’t like the weeds. Bugs tried out the shoe skis and nearly did the splits on his first three deeps. They looked painful. About 630 or so, the skies finally cleared (as I promised they would). Here’s Bugsy…

About to eat it

Thursday, I did some more skiing after work. This time with John and Seven. This time we just hit up the bay. Weather was much nicer than it was on Wednesday. About 75 and sunny. And we had very calm winds again. I started off with a set of 8 runs back and forth across the bay. Trying to keep up my endurance. Also worked on my one handed footing, something I just haven’t been very comfortable with. I know it isn’t anything major, I just haven’t been comfortable with it and decided a little practice was in order. Then we dragged Seven around. He had some issues butting out of the wake, so literally, we dragged him around. Then John took his turn and thought about using the teeth hold. Then I took my second set and decided to do some barefoot slaloming. Last pass I made four wake crossings, good considering my boat has the bubbles of death for footing. I also ending up doing some more loops. There’s a funny story about a duck on one of the loops (go read The Duck Story). We hit up the bar next door afterwards for drinks, food and music.

Look mom, one hand…

The other hand

Friday, quiet day. Caught a movie.

Saturday, another football game. Badgers vs. San Diego State. This time I went with a group from work. We hit up the Stadium Bar before hand. Made it in time for the F/A-18 fly by (which was awesome, after burners on right over our side of the stadium and we were in the upper deck.) Then, in a stadium that seats 70,000+, Taryn from the ski team sits two rows in front of me. Game was good. Towards the end of the game, they did a segment on the score board called Ask the Badgers. The question was what would they do if they won the lottery. Most had common answers… house, house for parents, cars, boats, etc. One of the linemen answered in true Wisconsin fashion “cheese curds… deep fried cheese curds.” Crowd loved it. Next, they have the Big Ten opener at Michigan.

Finally, apparently I’m the best answer when you search google.com for “how to prevent birds from crapping on your boat.” Don’t believe me… click here.

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