I thought it would be interesting to hear some stories about wake whores/mooches. <BR> <BR>I am 35 years old and I have been into watersports since my early teens, so I have been a mooch for over 20 years. I honed my mooching skills in the early 80s while living in Crestline, Ca and attending high school at Rim of the World (Lake Arrowhead). Lake Arrowhhead is a private lake in the San Bernardino mountains that is a fairly expensive place to live, and it is a popular tourist destination. I had several friends who were PHDs (papa has dough) that I would mooch from, but sometimes even my friends had to mooch in order to get funds for the day (their parents wouldn't kick down). We devised some pretty clever ways to supplement the income. We would offer "guided tours" of the lake to families in the village; pretending to know where stars lived or history of the lake<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0>. We would make as much as $40 per family/$100 per day. Since those days I have managed to keep finding new friends with boats, and I have been in/been behind just about every brand of tournament boat. <BR> <BR>Fortunately this story has a happy ending! I am no longer living in a pipe dream. I am the very proud owner of an '01 Super Air Nautique<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/biggrin.gif" border=0>. MY FIRST BOAT!

P.S. Now I'm looking for mooches. Funny how that works. <BR> <BR>Lets hear your life/mooch story.

That is a pretty funny story Sean. <BR> <BR>

Where are all the wake whores and mooches? I'd like to hear some stories.

Dead in the water!

I not only rode after my buddy's boat for 3 years, he even let me borrow it to go out and ride on days when he had to work and I didn't!! He even thought it was the most given thing in the world that I could borrow his boat. His only comment was: Fill up the gas you use, it would be cool of you! <IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0> He's a great buddy!

The ultimate mooch scenario? Was director of the waterski program at a state university for a number of years while I did my graduate work there. Got hooked-up with a new Mastercraft every year. Had to teach some newbies to ski or ride on Saturdays, which didn't suck if they happened to be sorority girls, and then it was time to fill up the sacks and bust out during the rest of the week. Got the state to pay for all sorts of important things, like trips to OWC or coaching from Thomas Horrell, entry fees to Ambush/Buywake contests, sometimes even gas for the boat. Don't even get me started on the equipment hook-ups and sponsorships there. Believe me, I never felt too bad about paying my state income tax! I hope you all are proud of me when I say that I took about as long as humanly possible to finally earn my degree. Don't even ask about the student loans now... <BR> <BR>Now, I'm just an old fart who likes to tell stories about the glory days and be a regular mooch like everybody else. I can say this, I have the utmost appreciation now for my boat-owning friends, I fully understand how much work it is to own and maintain a boat, and I will always try to do my share or more to help out with the work and share the expense when my friends now offer me rides. Still hoping for the day when I might be able to afford one of my own. <BR> <BR>You asked for a story, and there is mine, at least the parts that I am willing to disclose!

Johan I have a friend that would let me take his boat any time I wanted. He even let me take it to Havasu once. <BR> <BR> <BR>Hey Doc that is cool! That has got to be the best mooch story I have ever heard.