RipNsix Wakeboarding Home

It is August and only a few weeks left until school starts up again. A month and a half left until summer '08 is no more. We had better get out there while we can. Try something new, shake off the crash and Live Life Wet!

RipNsix Inc. Wakeboard Center

Gas prices are sky rocketing, home prices are falling, and we as consumers are looking to spend less money. But we can’t give up our habit, can we? Here are some tips to help you fight the gas pump blues and still be able to get in your time on the lake.

Fill up the boat and truck in the morning: When it is cool the fuel is dense and you will get more fuel per gallon of volume than you will if you fill up when it is hot outside. It may not be much, but at $4/gallon, it doesn’t take much to make a difference
Tube Steaks for Flank Steaks: No one in their right mind would choose a hot dog over a nice cut of beef as part of a day on the lake, but a hot dog and a couple ski runs vs. a steak and not being able to afford the ski runs…Ski runs win every time, even if it is combined with hot dogs. Other cheap foods to take on the lake include peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (at least they are easy), home made cookies or brownies, and vegetable snacks (like carrot sticks or celery)
Combine multiple trips into fewer longer (time wise) trips: Your ski time will be the same but less gas will be used getting back and forth to the lake. Your performance may suffer, but at least you are still skiing.
Use the public boat ramp: Everyone hates putting their boat in and out of the water at the public ramp when every rookie in town is trying to do the same. While we sit in line, Freddie first timer has his trailer jack knifed across the entire ramp. The good news for us is that those rookies aren’t heading to the lake much this year meaning fewer crowds at the public ramps. The money saved from using the private vs. public ramp should buy at least a couple gallons of fuel.
Change out the beer for soda or water: I can hear your screams of agony from here but it is worth thinking about. Not only will you save quite a bit of money, maybe more than any other of these cost saving tips, but you won’t have to worry about being suspected of driving under the influence. Many states are really cracking down on drunk boating this summer and the penalties are similar to the DWI penalties of driving a car.
Carpool: We all love to ski behind our own boat and that explains why the dock at the ski course can have almost as many boats tied up to it as there are skiers using the course. Trade off the use of boats trip to trip and split the cost of the boat and truck gas. Talk about big savings! And if you are a tournament skier skiing behind a variety of different boats will give you the flexibility to excel in a tournament regardless of the tournament boat type.
Stay at the lake: While camping after a Friday evening of skiing may not sound quite as comfortable as sleeping in your own bed, you get to wake up at the water and ready to go. You save the money on truck gas by not having to pull the boat out of the water and home. You also may be able to scorch some s’mores and reminisce about childhoods gone by.
Rent a boat slip: For those of you who take a lot of trips to a particular lake, renting a boat slip may be the way to go. The convenience is wonderful and with fuel prices soaring, the money saved by not having to haul your boat back and forth may be enough to pay for the slip. That doesn’t take into account long term savings by less wear and tear on your trailer and boat from the trip to the lake.

The sky is falling, the sky is falling. Chicken Little seems to have taken over the American press and all we hear about every day is how poor the economy is doing and how everything is going down, down, down. Add in soaring gas prices and many people are feeling the pinch in their leisure dollars. How is that affecting the wakeboarding world? I know I haven’t made it to the lake as much this year as I have in previous springs. Conversely the group I barefoot ski with seems to be hitting it even harder this year, their time on the lake being a healthy reprieve from the stresses of life. RipNsix would love to hear from you about how the economy is affecting your enjoyment of your favorite past time. Include any ideas of money saving tips that we can pass along to others.

A money saving tip from RipNsix is to use promo code ‘recession buster’ in the shopping cart promo code field to save 20% on your entire order (for a limited time only). Click here to check out the great apparel in the shopping cart.

Let’s not let the economy get us down. Lets keep Rippin and having a great time on the water. After all, Life’s better wet!!!

In its ongoing effort to give you the best wakeboarding site on the web we have upgrade our multimedia page to make it easier to upload, download and enjoy the wakeboarding videos you love. All you have to do is sign in, upload your video and then send the link to your friends. They will be able to view, comment and rank your video right on the site. Go ahead, show off your mad skills, and if you do it wearing great RipNsix apparel…all the better.

Spring is almost here and summer is around the corner. If you are anything like us, you have skipped right past spring fever and instead have been dreaming about warm days taking a wakeboard pass (or four) on the lake. Those day dreams make is hard to get work done, which is bad, because here at RipNsix we have a lot of work to do.

Let’s start with wakeboarding apparel. With the help of a wakeboarding affectionado we are recruiting to join our team we plan on a complete make over of all our wakeboarding apparel. We haven’t had many improvements or updates to that part of our business in a while and we have decided that we need to make it a priority. If you have particular apparel you would like to be able to buy or a certain design that you think would look great on a shirt drop us an email letting us know your thoughts. We love feedback and try to incorporate as much of it as we can into our business. Get on the ball and help us give you want you want at info@ripnsix.com.

Then there are our plans for the website. The biggest change is a complete make over on our multi media page (coming soon). We want to make it easier for you to see rippin wakeboarding and wake skating videos and upload your own great water wakeboarding or wakeskating videos to show off to your friends. Forget YouTube, think RipNsix Tube.

Additionally we plan on helping you with your search for the paraphernalia you need to make your wakeboarding experience even better, by finding and reporting on products that might be of interest to you. Check back often to the wakeboarding main page to read about our latest discovery. Our expectation is that we will start those product overviews in March and continue them through the summer.

The biggest item we are working on is in response to requests from several of you. We have heard over and over that we should be carrying wakeboarding equipment in addition to the apparel. We agree!!! And we are working on it. The process is more complex than one might think and we want to make sure we get it right. If you have ever purchased from us you know that customer service is of the utmost important to RipNsix. We feel our customer service is the best in the wakeboarding industry and we want to make sure we can offer that same great service when we start supplying wakeboarding equipment. Great prices and the best service. That is the right kind of combination.

Don’t forget that we can supply your team or club with the best in custom designed apparel at prices that are pretty hard to beat. Shoot, our prices are so good that you can get shirts made for your boarding buddies and start your own club. Drop us a line at info@ripnsix.com.

Keep thinking summer and check back often to see how we are doing on the projects we have planned. Don’t forget, Life’s better Wet!!!!

California Lake Under Fire

The government is at it again, this time trying to restrict boating on the Oroville Afterbay in Oroville, Ca. As has seemed to be an increasing trend over the past few years the lakes we use to enjoy our favorite water sports are being taken from us. The Oroville Afterbay, located just outside Oroville California and a little over an hour from Sacramento California was created by man over 40 years ago. Included in its reasons for creation was multi-recreation use, such as high speed boating, and correspondingly skiing and now wakeboarding. Now, accusations that the boating is hurting the wildlife that uses the lake, the lake is in danger of being shut down. It is an interesting note that the same wildlife that is claimed to being damaged is only present because of the formation of the lake itself and has been able to survive despite the presence of high speed boating since the creation of the lake 40 years ago.

There is a great public course at the Afterbay that was installed and maintained by a ski club out of Chico California. As more lakes are restricted and public courses removed fewer and fewer people will be exposed to the sport we love. The fewer people that are exposed to the sport the fewer people that will become involved and the sport will stop growing. Even if you have no idea where the Oroville Afterbay is and have never water skied there please help out by sending a letter of support for boating on the lake to:

California Department of Water Resources

Attn: Henry M. Ramirez, Manager, Oroville Facilities Re-licensing Program

1416 Ninth Street - Room 1155

Sacramento, CA. 95814

The comment period ends on the 20^th of July so there isn’t much time left. Please send in your comments right away. Lets support skiing and wakeboarding and support our watersport brethren. Remember, Life’s better Wet.

Kick off Summer Giveaway

Read below to meet the winners of our kick off the summer giveaway. RipNsix is proud to have winners from both coasts and in between. Congratulations wakeboards, as wakeboarders took home all three winning spots. Maybe you will be the lucky winner next time. There is a lot of summer left so remember, Life's Better Wet.

Having fun and wearing RipNsix apparel Our first prize winner is Kristel is 14 years old from Long Island, New York and has been wakeboarding for 2 Wakeboarding In New York years. When it comes to wakeboarding she enjoys learning new tricks and is looking forward to competing and hopefully meeting some pros. As the first name drawn in our Kick of the Summer drawing Kristel wins the SKI ringer in heather and navy, the “I do my own stunts” t-shirt in ash, a RipNsix beannie, and a khaki adjustable RipNsix hat. Click on any of the links to see what she won. Thanks for playing Kristel and keep on rippin’.

Winner Cory shows the wakeboarding world how to get upside down. The next RipNsix winner is Cory Shapielak of Mount Olive, Alabama. Cory is 16 has been wakeboarding for four years and is already doing well in competition. He enjoys boarding and practicing (he is currently working on improving his flips and rolls) behind the families Team Edition Super Air Nautique on Smith Lake in Alabama. He loves the ride and the adrenaline rush that comes with it. Cory must be doing something right because he placed fourth in his division at the 2006 INT Championships held at Smith Lake. Keep the adrenaline rolling, Cory and do it wearing your winnings; 1^st is the popular RipNsix logo design hooded sweatshirt in charcoal. That sweatshirt will be accompanied by the RipNsix flex fit cap in California Blue. Wakeboarding in Alabama is probably warm enough that Cory won’t need the sweatshirt for a couple months but it will help keep him warm for those fall and winter sets.

The last winner is Nathan Veldkamp from Santa Rosa, California. Nate main focus is on snowboarding but whe Third place winner Nate Veldkamp practices wakeboarding on the Sacramento Delta n the snow melts at his favorite hill Kirkwood, he jumps into waterskiing and wakeboarding with both feet. He doesn’t claim to be a pro on the water but has a great time and is getting better each time he goes out, which is all that matters. Nate, thanks for reminding us that waterskiing and wakeboarding is all about having fun and getting better. For being winner in our contest we are going to send you the RipNsix “Danger” t-shirt and the Wakeboarder logo design t-shirt. We are not sure that wearing the RipNsix clothing makes you any better, but it sure lets everyone know what you love to do during the hot summer months.

Summer is here!!!

Summer is here and there are all kinds of good reasons to get on the lake and maybe even some excuses to get on the lake now. Most of us may have called in sick to enjoy a day on the lake and few of us feel guilty about it. It is easy to be sick of work where there is a wakeboarding pass out there calling your name. Here are a couple other excuses you might be able to use: 1. Gas prices have dropped over the last couple weeks, you need to get on the water before gas prices go back up and it becomes more expensive. 2. Many parts of the country are dealing with a low rain fall year. Lakes levels are way down. You need to get out and ski while there is enough water. 3. You just got a new wakeboarding shirt from RipNsix.com and you need to see how it looks when you wear it on the boat (shameless marketing – click here to go to the shopping cart). 4. You can feel it, there is a new PB right around the corner (isn’t there always a new PB just around the corner?). 5. Who cares about excuses, let’s just get on the water.

While you taking great advantage of your excuses and documenting it all with pictures, videos and stories, remember that here at RipNsix we love pictures, videos and stories too. Send them to us and we will get them up for the world to see.

Remember, Life’s Better Wet!!!!

Private Wakeboard lakes

I have long dreamed of having my own lake. Or at least a house on a private lake. As a full time real estate developer I knew that eventually I could get it done but I also had premonition of how difficult it could be to get approved and finished. Being from California and doing most of my business within the state I understand how difficult development of any kind can be, especially dealing with water run off and grading. Horror stories abound. One fellow I know has been working on a lake and subdivision outside Middletown in Northern California. Five years later, still no lake. A second fellow, outside of Sacramento, started his lake after receiving all the necessary permits. His neighbors didn’t like it and had friends at the County Supervisor level. The county retroactively cancelled his permits. At the time the permits were cancelled the lake had been dug and was beginning to be filled. A lawsuit followed from the neighbor to block the filling of the lake. A full twelve years and a couple hundred thousand dollars in legal cost later the Supreme Court ruled in favor of our fellow water enthusiast and he was allowed to continue. That is a long time to go without a board on your feet.

Some states pose little problem for those that want to dig a lake. Last summer WaterSki magazine ran an article which mentioned a lake in Arkansas which was dug in a short amount of time and for less than one hundred thousand dollars. In Florida and the upper Midwest, entire communities built around lakes are being planned and built. Those of us in more regulated states are jealous indeed.

But even in the states that fall under the rule of the People’s Republic of Bureaucracy, all is not lost. Even in California lakes can be built relatively quickly and for a decent price. The key is the zoning allowances. In many counties in California (and many more out of California) grading permits are not required for work done within Agricultural Zonings. The Ag zoning may hinder a person’s ability to put in a wakeboarding community but isn’t a problem for someone who wants to build their own lake and estate type house. Ag zonings usually run at either 20 or 40 acre minimums but are sometimes less, all the way down to 5 acre minimums. A lake was recently completed in Glenn County (about 1 hour north of Sacramento) in which no permits were obtained and total cost, including the 70 acres of land, the dirt work, and two boat docks, was less than $400,000. The builder, who did all of the work himself, says the key to a successful lake building experience is to be on good terms with your neighbors. People as a general rule are suspicious of change and that suspicion can overshadow truth and create the ill will that will make the lake building experience a nightmare. Check with your local planning department for more information or email us here at info@RipNsix.com.

Life’s better wet.

Spring 2007 Collegiate Team Challenge