Newbie to boating and wakesurfing. Questions....

I'll admit it first. I'm a kook. I've never owned any kind of boat. I don't know what a ballast is. I thought it was that thing I see onthe top of the boat. I take it that it's not that seeing how people talk about adding weight to the ballast. Anyway, I've surfed (ocean) for about 20 years. I'm goofy foot. All my friends are regular. I'd prefer a boat that I could get a much better goofy side wake than regular. I stumbled on to this site and this forum which is awesome. Anyway, from a newbie standpoint, what's the best way to get into this? I've been wanting to buy a boat for a couple of years now. Mainly for the family and stuff. But, now that I've found out about wakesurfing, these long flat summers we have here in Florida will be surfable. What would be a great "starter boat"? I'm not real sure on price ranges. I've been on boat trader online and have looked around but I really know nothing about boats. I see that alot of individuals are really high on Centurion boats. We had kind of looked at some jet boats like the yamaha and the sea doo wakeboard boat. I'm not opposed to a used boat but would feel a whole lot more comfortable in a new boat. From a price standpoint, I guess anything under 45K would be nice. And lastly, I live on a island between Pensacola Beach and Pensacola. The immediate water surrounding me is salt water. Will the salt water have a more detrimental effect on the boat than fresh water? Thanks in advance.

Matt

you should look into the mastercraft saltwater series but mas $$$ you stated that you are goofy and you would like a better goofy wake, well that is where Correct Craft comes in
also try iboats.com personally i think it is the best

Matthew,
I have the Yamaha AR230 HO. While it's a great "all around" boat, it is not the ideal wakesurfing boat. However, you can see some pictures of me on the wake in the AR230 thread. It has a very surfable wake with the correct ballast setup.

Let me know if you have more AR230 questions.

Regards,

Well I am biast, but I love Malibu's. My roommate has a loaded down Mastercraft X-Star.

Here's my friends 06 Malibu Wakesetter LSV 23 footer with stock ballast (weight) and the power wedge (basically an underwater plow that forces the back of the boat into the water to displace more water) Goofy wake:


Here is me surfing off the back of my roomates X-Star. He has upgraded ballast I think that is 800lbs rear and 900lbs front.


Just find a boat you like, the more reptuable ones that I think (my opinion!) are Correct Craft, MasterCraft and Malibu in that order. I'm just a Bu fan!

why is the starboard rider, riding with the rope?

first time up I think, and I think he was a regular foot rider. I only met him that day.

How far back is that guy riding on the starboard side? Also, how hard is it to be pulled into the wake on your belly and then pop up like surfing? That's pretty natural to me. You kind of know when your in the wave the tail of your board kind of picks up so to speak. I have seen some videos of guys starting with the board in the water and then being pulled up. I've never wakeboarded before so that may take some learning. But looking at that pic of the guy riding goofy foot, my first thought would be to pump up the face just a touch then hit the lip.

Are the Moomba boats a decent "entry level" boat. I found this one on boat trader.
http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/7/1/85533671.htm

(Message edited by mhetheridge on August 29, 2006)

Moombas in my opinion are great boats. They are not made as nice(bells and wistles) as the top level boats IE mastercraft/correctcraft/malibu but they have all the necessary equipment to do the job and for a much better price. Your resale won't be as much though.

My best advice is buy something you want to keep for a long time so you are not constantly upgrading to something else that you might want in a couple years.

There are a couple guys on the board that have some moomba's dialed in really nice!

Thats a clean looking moomba your looking at.

I really like the look of the Moomba too. For the money it fits real nicely into what I'm looking for. My main concern now is how will these boats hold up in salt water. That is one reason I am also looking at either the new Sea Doo or the new Yamaha AR230.

Anyone have an opinion on taking a inboard into salt water?

Make sure you flush the engine and other metal parts including trailer. Otherwise, you should be okay.

alright, I just moved to Wisconsin from South Padre isl Texas. and i wanted to know i have a 8'6 longboard surfboard and a Zap Skimboard and i wanted to know if any of those would work on Wakesurfing.? if so do i HAVE to add fins to my skimboard because its my baby yall and i dont want to mess it up, do fins really matter behind a boat?

Fins do help out a lot but drilling holes in a board you like is a big step. What model is it?

yeah im shure its either the Zap Comp or the Zap Pro, but anyway the demensions are 54 1/2 x 20 1/2 and 3/4

nevermind yeah its a Zap Pro board...

I rode Chris Walker's Zap board last fall. I don't know what model it was but it was a fast riding board. Chris's board had fins, I don’t if he put them on or what.