The life as a professional wakeboarder is better than you could imagine, we get to travel all over the world seeing new places and meeting new people. I couldn’t think of anything I would rather be doing with my life. So far this summer I have slept in my bed at home including last night, 5 nights. After being on the road for weeks at a time, there is nothing better than coming home to your own bed and all of your own furnishings. I will spend a few more days here in Orlando, mostly just relaxing and trying to ride as much as possible. Basically, all im sayin is that I enjoy my time at home riding, eating good food and spending time with friends.

Corey

You heard it correctly. Nick Jones, Corey Bradley, and myself attended this year Brostock at Smith Mountain Lake. It was Awesome with a capital A. We all rode and did a couple clinics for some riders, showed some riders a thing or two. Although pretty much we just got down with our bad selves. Joined the Liquid Force team in a couple contests of the adult sort and dominated. Corey and I even had ourselves a hula hoop battle. And I also learned that I can dance really really well. I think i just finally grew into my body and can fully understand it. Wish you guys could have all been there. Now its time to fly home and I have never been happier too. Keep on keeping on, see ya when I see ya.
DG

I suck at gambling.

BATES

I just got home from Reno Nevada this morning. We were in the great city of Reno this week for the Final stop of the PWT 08. As many of you are aware there are several reasons that the average traveler travels to Reno. I would rank gambling around the top of this list. Reno is like Vegas in many ways and when I say many ways I mean that they have all the same games to win or loose money. Let me say this first I am a terrible gambler! I really enjoy sitting at the table and playing Blackjack and Three card poker but the reality is that I suck at it. I understand all the rules and odds and know when I should hit or stay but I loose 9 out of 10 times i enter a casino. Lucky for me I have gotten wiser over the years in realizing this therefore playing for smaller amounts just to have a good time and not loose a stupid amount of money. I tell you all this about myself so that I can tell you about Corey Bradley. Corey absolutely sucks at gambling as well. The difference between him and I is the way that we go about sucking at gambling. Like I said before I know the odds and play them and Loose. Corey isn’t even aware that there are odds in a casino and play’s the games in the most terrible fashion but wins. Before I go further I want everyone to know that I love Corey and I am in no way making fun of his gambling knowledge I am just merely pointing out the things that I saw. So to make a long story short here are the highlights. Throughout the weekend I spent most of my time at the blackjack table. I had a plan to bet small and just grind it out and make a little money. What ended up happening was the complete opposite, I bet small but lost the majority of the hands played resulting in me loosing about $200. Corey played a little blackjack though out the weekend with very little success. Where Corey really stepped it up was at the Roulette table. I watched Corey put 100 on black and win. most people would be content and grab there 200 and walk not Corey he “LET IT RIDE”. Won again. Now with 400 even more people would walk but again Corey “LET IT RIDE”. Corey “LET IT RIDE” four times in a row and left the table with $1600 dollars in his hand. Not to bad for 5 minutes. Corey didn’t stop there he continued to play Roulette all weekend and ended up leaving Reno this Morning with just shy of $10,000 in his piggy bank. Congrats to Corey for his big winnings. I hate casinos!

Trevor

Over the last few weeks, the CWB team has been riding and testing the 2009 boards and bindings. Lets just say that I am excited for everyone to see the new gear at surf expo in September. There are a few new board shapes and most of the bindings have been redesigned for the new year as well. The all new graphics fit the line of new product very well and I think that loyal CWB riders and new CWB riders will be very pleased in what we have to offer for 2009.
Corey

It’s been a bit over a week since this trip ended but I’m still wishing I was on the houseboat again! Much love and thanks to all the sponsors and people who made it happen! Epic Boats and CWB, the videographers Damon Chaimberlain (Frontside Films) and Spencer Norris (WIT Films), our photographers Sean Watson and Eric Cassano, Kimmy Betts and her lab Emmy for letting us use their houseboat, my mom for bringing our boat up, and all the riders for the driving and entertainment on and off the water! Nick, Robby C, Shawna, Alex Scagliotti, Chris Craig and Derek Cook are who I think of when I think of premium west side riding. To be completely honest, after hearing some upsetting news from the doc the morning before the trip I wasn’t sure if I was going to stay on the houseboat the whole week. Had I known what kind of a houseboat trip I was in for, I would never have thought of leaving for a second. I think I had just as much fun as the rest of the crew did even though I only slayshed around once.

So how does one have so much fun on a houseboat at beautiful Lake Shasta, 2 boats stocked with 4,000lbs of ballast and sunny skies without riding? Part of it might be because some windy days and white caps left some of the riders not riding much more than myself anyway for the first part of the week. It’s also due to the things we did besides wakeboarding like cliff jumping, hiking up a waterfall and sliding down a natural waterslide, jammin tunes with our guitars, and trying to catch catfish (btw Rob discovered tuna and peanut butter taste good together…trust him you’ll love it). But I think that the main reason is the company. Sean Watson described us as comedy central/family reunion and I couldn’t agree more! Looking back on it, I don’t think I would have wanted it any other way. You know you get along really well with people when you can have a blast with them doing things you wouldn’t normally consider “blast-worthy”. These such acts included but were not limited to; persistent inside jokes and phrases, slumber partying on top of a houseboat under the stars with howling cold breezes, having 7 people try to paddle an inflatable mattress across a cove at .001mph, and dancing to techno with glow sticks. I had no choice but to listen to 8 dudes talking inane, uncouth content all week, but you know what? It was hilarious and really fun to be around! These are some of the most comical people I know, and I almost want to call them “like my brothers” but they are way too handsome for me to think of them like brothers.

The wind eventually died and we got some EPIC riding in! We even held our own double-up contest in the cove by the houseboat! It really was an awesome week! There were some things that didn’t go at all the way we expected, but we also had fun in ways we never would have expected; more fun than I had hoped. I used to think that this laid back type of atmosphere was a unique part of the west coast, but I’ve realized that it’s actually just a unique part of wakeboarding; or at least it should be. So the next time you might be frustrated by something while wakeboarding, just remember all the friends in the boat that you love and all the other ways to have fun on a lake and take advantage of it!

cheers!

-Rae

Being that it’s the middle of
the season my next few post will be from the road. I’ll actually have
an event every weekend from now until October. This seasons travels
are pretty exciting with a few coutries on the list I’ve never been to
and some I always enjoy going back to.
At present I’m on a 3 and a half week trip that involves a comp in
Portland June 20-22 on the 23rd we head to eastern Washington to stay
on a house boat and do a photo shoot with CWB until Thursday the 26th
when I head out for MasterCraft pro wakeboard tour #4 in Arizona. On
Sunday the 29th I head out from Arizona for two days of travel that
will take me to Naga, Philipines for the 1st stop of the 08 WWA
WorldSeries.
I’ve bored you with travel details to let you know there should be
some good photos and better stories from the road in the next few
weeks. I’ll be bringing my camera along the entire way so keep an eye
out for an updated blog soon, Andrew

So I have been in Los Angeles for the last few days. Yesterday I drove out to Canyon Lake to see the world renound Cypress Gardens skier, Steve Bates. Today we get to ride on that Canyon Lake. Hope to see the Vandall, I still get giggley when I see him ride. Umm today is Saturday and Tomorrow I go back to LA and then I fly to Seattle to meet up with the rest of the CWB team for the house boat trip.
Till next time
CoBra

So this past week I went to JC Sports in Clemson, SC and took a bunch of peeps out riding it was fun, the best was this little guy Max he’s like 7-8 maybe anyway I let him drive the boat and he rode, we had a great crew rolling out on the waters of Lake Keowee!  Then Sat-Sun I went to Lake Murray with Gunnell’s Marine and this group called the Rought Riders…(www.lakemurrayroughriders) and we did a huge demo/clinic/bro fest of riding all weekend, got to hang out with Shaun Murray and Austin Hair a bit, that was fun even did a doubles run with Murray barefooting!!  We took a ton of people, some had never rode which is what I like cause they get so excited to get up…hey I even coached some wakeskating and Wilds (the kid skater) landed a toeside wake to wake 180 and a heelside back side 3 wake to wake….big too! 

 Last night Jimmy Trask, Will Christien, Jeff House and Bryan Hutton and I all pitched in to help out with a Boys & Girls Club fund raiser….we all were essentially “celebrity” bartenders….not good for the profits to put me behind the bar, but we had a great time doing it and the event raised over $40K for the kids in 3 hours!!  Nice to see the fellow riders come out to help the community huh!

 That’s it for now more to come heading to Knoxville Friday!!

What’s up guys. it’s been a long time since my last blog entry. Too long. Right now I am up in my hometown in Spring Lake, MI. Its awesome up here. It’s been 80 degrees and sunny everyday I have been home, except for today where it was 65 and cloudy. I have been enjoying myself. I have been riding everyday still behind my X-Star but instead of the same old blah in Florida everyday I get to go to the beach, go longboarding, cruise down the channel in my boat, or just chill between sets. It’s awesome to see my family again too. And get to go out with my Dad on Father’s day and hang with him. I love Michigan. I go to Fargo, N.D. this weekend for a clinic which should be fun. And then after that I go back home for four days then stright to Arizona for the 4th tour stop then on a houseboat trip for CWB. Even more fun. Anyways later guys.
DG

I am in the middle of day 2 on a trip that will last a little bit over a month and if I can say something “I am psyched”. No seriously! Normally that would be a sarcastic comment but not today. I am in Tennessee right now at the Supra team catalog shoot. Reed, Josh, Austin and myself are sitting here in the team house having a little break after a morning of shredding. We had a pretty good morning and I don’t want to give to much away but there was some pretty gnarly tricks going down. After this week I am off to Portland for the Tige Pro Am. Then we have a big week for team CWB with our house boat trip to eastern Washington. It is going to be a really fun trip this year. We have got some awesome stuff planned for this year and I think that when you all get to see it you will be pumped. Then after a week on the house boat I am off to AZ for the 4th PWT. Then right after that I am going to the Philippines for the first stop in the WWA World Series. Then I will get to go home for 1 day and then go to Reno for the last PWT. So like I said it is going to be a long month but my bags are packed and my spirits are high so i will keep you all up to date as I am sure I will get delayed and have extra blogging time.

Trevor

The Cobra is a deadly snake that sits in a basket awaiting it’s prey…it then dazzles the prey with its stare and swaying back and forth…..sometimes they strike sometimes they don’t….where as a King Snake is a version of the Cobra thatmoves around kick, one of the fastest ones out there and quite smooth at that…..

 King Cobra ZS

Dear all, it has come too my attention that many of you who are posting blogs on this website are not putting your names at the bottom of the post. This can become extremely frustrating for the thousands of readers that read these things as well as frustrating for myself. When you finish writing a post click on the “Categories” tab on the right side of the page, from there you will uncheck “Miscellaneous,” and then check your name…this will let the reader no who is writing the post..go figure. Then at the bottom of the post that you write, simply do as I have seen Zane, Derek, Andrew or myself do and put a little sign off like, ZS, DG, AA, or as I do Corey. Its that simple. Many of you are posting without a trace and people that are doing the reading are going to be left in the dark. Its that easy.

CoBra

I want to personally thank Steve Jobs for releasing the new iPhone today. I think that it is cool that you act like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible when you release a new product. Especially when I run out and purchase the first generation iPhone a mere six weeks ago. It’s not the fact that you released a far superior product that costs $300 less than the sack of crap I now own or that I also spent $200 to get out of my Sprint contract. It doesn’t bother me that my plan costs almost doubled. It’s also truly not an issue that download speeds on the new, far cheaper iphone are more that two times faster than my tin can with a string.
Go Steve..

Bates

The more i’ve started to travel, the more i’ve noticed i don’t mind hanging out in the airport. To most i feel like an airport is like a videogame they don’t know how to play, but once you get used to it, it can be fun. Passing the time at airports can be fun and entertaining. RIght before i started writing this, i had a kid who lived in the same small town in Florida come up and talk to me, and i’m at the Sacramento airport. Small world. Unfortunately, this kid was missing half his teeth and smelt like crap and wouldn’t leave me alone, but other than that it was kinda cool. There are a lot of things you can pick up about a city just by looking at its airport. My layover to get out here was in LA, and let me tell you, everyone looked like they were dressing to be models. The airport felt really up tight and rushed. I’ve never been outside the LA airport, but i have a feeling if i ever were to leave it, thats what Los Angeles would be like. Speaking of airports, want to know what really burst my bubble? Paying for luggage. This was the first flight i’ve had to take that it was a requirement to pay for my second bag. I paid, thinking that maybe it would make it safer for my bags to make it to my final destination. So imagine my surprise when i got to Sacramento, and my bags weren’t here! The good news is, i’m wearing my most comfortable shorts right now, so they should last me all week. Plus, they’re athletic shorts, so they’ll work as boardshorts also!! I’m glad i paid for my bags to get lost. I’m not going to name the airline i flew on, but its name rhymes with melta. I’m off to the food court to buy a $10 burger and find out what the Sac airport is all about.