I walked into my first wake-boarding lesson feeling quite nervous.

Would I be unteachable?

Let me catch you up. I was going wakeboarding for the first time. I have never gone skiing, never surfed, never even skateboarded.

Those thoughts rushed through my head as my grandpa and I rode towards the Captain’s Choice Marina at Lake Murray on a perfect summer morning.

Phillip Thomas of Lake Murray Wake Lessons at Captain’s Choice Marine would be coaching me. Thomas has been wakeboarding since he was a teenager.

We walked into the building and were greeted by Mr. Philip and Monty Rish, our boat driver for the morning.

After signing my life away, I was handed a brand new wakeboard and we all walked down to the boat. The board sure was heavy, but I wasn’t going to tell anyone that.

We all loaded onto a Mastercraft wakeboarding boat and off we went.

Once in the middle of the relatively calm Lake Murray, I was taught the basics of standing up on the board. “Knees to your chest, heels to the board, arms straight out” Phillip repeated numerous times.

He sounded like a broken record but sure enough, on my first try, it worked and I was wakeboarding.

Of course, that didn’t last. Seconds later, I forgot to straighten my arms, I was yanked forward, and I face planed into the water. I was quite thankful for my helmet.

Phillip talked me through and reminded me “hips toward the boat.” I must be a slow learner because he said that a lot.

I had risen and fallen several more times until finally I was doing it.

I was able to wakeboard for several minutes. I was amazed how quickly I learned.

I took a quick break while Phillip strapped himself onto the wake-board and he showed me some tricks. I stared, dumbfounded as he flipped through the air at such high speeds. (Watch a video on our Facebook Page). He also showed us what wakesurfing is. It’s basically surfing but on an infinite wave created by the boat.

Now it was time to learn how to move back and forth. That was quite simple. I simply had to put my weight on my heels to go backward and put weight on my toes to go forward.

Once I comfortable maneuvering, It was time to get outside the boat’s wake. After several failed attempts, I did it. I was even able to go back up the wake in the same go!

And with that accomplished, I got back into the boat and we headed back to the marina to wrap up our fun.

Philip Thomas is a fantastic wakeboarding coach for all ages and ability levels. I would recommend visiting his website (www.lakemurraywake.com) and his Facebook page to learn more.

I was again reminded just how much fun can be had if you just step out of your comfort zone.