NW Fly-In 2008 in Grand Coulee

Greg and I just got back from the Northwest fly-in. We had a wonderful time. The drive was rough at 12 hours, but it was worth it. Julie flew up with her kids to stay with ours, so we had a whole weekend all to ourselves. Well, us and 35 other sky ski fanatics. Banks lake was a beautiful lake. We had glass even in the middle of the day on Saturday.



This picture is the marina first thing in the morning.




The best part of a fly-in is getting instruction from people who know what they are talking about. The boat above is the one we hung out on most of the time. The guy flying through the air is our instructor, Lawrence. He is 52 and has been riding for about 10 years! He was amazing. He could tell us exactly what to change each time the boat came around. We learned a ton from him.



This is Ben Ferney. He is a pro that will compete next week at the national competition. It was such an opportunity to ride with him and watch from the boat. He just floats through the air.




Greg improved so much. He is slowing his rotation and getting some high jumps. It was fun to see how much he progressed in just two days.



I'm still fairly beginner, but I worked hard on jumps. I can't believe how many things there are to think about: line tension, height on the foil, dipping before the jump, keeping the tip up. It finally came together for me and I'm feeling pretty comfortable with it.



We filled all the boats with skis and people and headed over to a cove to get a group shot from above. I can't wait to see it.

Wow, this was such an awesome trip. I can't wait to go to another one. We may hold one here eventually. We love this sport and want to spread it so anyone interested, let us know!