thumbs up to Riot for recognizing the need to keep a plastic surf boat in the line-up and available for those seeking an intro to a surf dedicated boat!!!
The Boogie is way ahead of any white water boat in the surf and can hold its own in good clean, steep wave faces.
If you are up a small to med/large paddler, the Boogie can really rip for you and you’ll never look back to wave riding with a long boat or ww boat in the same way again.
http://www.riotkayaks.com/kayaks/core/boogie.asp
sing
limits?
what are the recommended height and weight limits for that boat?
Check the link Sing Attached
– Last Updated: Jan-01-05 2:41 PM EST –
it has the specs for the boat. Boogies unfortunately don't do real well for paddlers above ~ 180 lbs ( your experience may be different of course.) Height depends on your build (long waisted or long legged?) and shoe size. These are great boats if they fit you, but take a little time to get used to how they handle.
Fit Maxes Out
– Last Updated: Jan-01-05 6:25 PM EST –
for a paddler who's around 6' and around 175-180 lbs. I think after that, the Boogie would sit too low in the water, especially the stern. Some who doesn't paddle aggressively and lean forward will find himself squirting a lot. It would be slower to get out and probably slower on waves except those that very steep and clean face.
When a paddler is on the larger end of the scale for a boat, generally that paddler has to have more and better skills to control said boat because the boat will not be as "forgiving" of mistakes.
sing
BTW, I noticed that you're in central CT. The Rhode Island Surf Kayakers (RISK) has scheduled the "winter session" for the "window" of the last two weekends of Feb and the 1st weekend of March. The session gets called for whichever weekend the waves show. Anyway, it's good time to check out some boats (the most surf boats you'll see at any one time in NE) and to see some of the more experienced surf kayakers rip the waves. I would NOT suggest you try surfing then, unless you got immersion gear and some time surfing waves under your hull already and a good roll to go with it. Last year's session was a great time with well over 60 folks surfing the waves.
sweet!
That looks cool and it definitely would be something I would consider picking up in the future if I get more into surfing. Thanks for the update sing.
Hmm…
Where would you surf? Seems like a haul either to the Lake Superior or the to the east shore of Lake Michigan. I figure the prevailing winds of west to east would require a drive to one of the eastern shores.
sing
Check out Step into Liquid
– Last Updated: Jan-01-05 10:09 PM EST –
There is a cool segment with Fresh water surfers in Wisconsin, Port Washington. When I was in grad school I had a friend who board surfed Sheboygan. On boater talk there is guy who posts who kayak surfs there.
There's about 3 seconds from WI in the trailer.....
http://www.stepintoliquid.com/qt_trailer.html
Storm Riding…
Guess it would be like the NE coast. You wait for a storm to come out of the SE to get some SE-NE wave action as the storm comes near. I would think you would have to be ready, drop everything and go almost on a moment’s notice. The waves would be short lived and only around when the low pressure system is in the vicinity. Surf addiction has its price.
sing
yup you nailed the location
– Last Updated: Jan-03-05 11:48 PM EST –
I'm near Green Bay so the couple times that I've gone out to Lake Michigan, we did some minor surfing on the NE side of the Lake. Sheboygan isn't too far from the beach that we surf from. Some of the locals do kayak surf quite a bit although I have yet to see a true surf yak in these parts as most people either use their sea kayaks to side surf or their whitewater boats to do some sloppy carving. The waves here aren't pretty but they are fairly consistant. Usually on a good day you can expect anywhere from 2-6 foot breakers which unfortunately lean more toward the dumping variety. Not the best conditions but still fun.
Oh and as for the drop everything and surf technique, it is being applied by our club's surf yakkers. They drive by the beach daily and when the surf is up, they'll post a message on our club website and give everyone the heads up.
In the video
– Last Updated: Jan-04-05 1:52 AM EST –
I enjoyed the Wisconsin accents of the guys surfing, it reminded me of my neighbor from Door County. Especially the guy who says they get barrels big enough to hide a Volkswagon. I lived in the boonies outside of Madison (Oregon, Wi) , and I had a neighbor who would fish a lot on the Wisconsin below the dales, he would set his boat in one place and surf with the motor running, his stories were pretty good with his local dialect. Not my idea of exciting fishing I suppose.
lake michigan on the eastern
shore is really good, don’t know about wisconsin. and lake superior is even better in Ontario.
Another Boogie Update
– Last Updated: Jan-04-05 3:42 PM EST –
some one reported at the Riot site that the new boogie will come back with "standard wave ski" boxes. I am assuming the Fins Unlimited boxes. This means you have far more and better options for fins than the cheapo 1" and 2" Riot production fins. I find 3" fins work well for my weight after I retrofitted my Boogie with Fins Unlimited boxes. Someone bigger may decide to use 3.5" or 4" fins to get more bite on steep faces but still have the weight to make the Boogie turn quickly. This is double good news with the Boogie. :)
sing
Great Lakes Surfing:
Discussion and pics:
http://www.coastalbc.com/surf/newgard/
Wave Forecasts:
http://www.lakesurf.com/weather1.php
enjoy. 
sing
Boogie fit
Thanks for that weight range info Sing. Good to know. A used one popped up down this way. Better to find out here than at periscope depth after a 4 hour drive! I’m dropping weight and looking to get into that range, but another 15-20 lbs will take a bit longer than the first did. Don’t have enough time for the toys I have anyway!