Up until August 2025, I had never knee-boarded behind a motor boat. I didn’t grow up in a water-, boat- or ocean-focused family, despite living rather close to a whole, whole lot of fresh, brackish and sea water.
I did not pursue such activities of kneeboarding, wakeboarding or jetski-ing in my young adulthood years. Nor in my midlife years.
But here I am now, two weeks from turning 63, and three years from passing from my midlife years (43-65) and into my elderhood years (66-87), and whaddya know? I done did a thing.
Last August, a neighbor invited me along with a friend to be their safety, their third person, while they hydrofoiled behind and aside the boat.
A lovely Summer day. On the lovely Severn River. On a boat. Count me in.
My neighbor and the boat owner were quite generous in encouraging me to kneeboard and provided plenty of instruction and advice.
I loved it!!!! We rotated who was out on the water, and I got a fair amount of time kneeboarding. Sore as heck the next couple of days from using all sorts of muscles, I hoped (to myself) they’d invite me again.
They did.
This summer, I went out with them and again kneeboarded. Then they invited me again, but this time encouraged me to try wakeboarding. I did. Then they invited me again, each time encouraging me and coaching me to push myself a bit more.
This past week when I went with them, they asked if I wanted to try the hyrdofoil, and I figured, why not?
Now, to be clear, I was on my knees and didn’t even attempt to stand. And while I rode above the water at times, handled a wake-wave or two and managed to stay on at least one time for about (what felt like) a minute, I had plenty of crashes and non-starts.
But, my, oh my! What fun. I like the power I feel kneeboarding (more control and stability). I like how fun it is to wakeboard (even if I am riding pretty much in a straight line most of the time, no tricks to my name … yet). But hydrofoiling? Wow! I felt like I was flying above the water! So fun!
Rumor has it they might introduce me to barefoot waterskiing next time I’m out.
Adventures await!
PS — As you can probably guess, that photo isn’t me or mine.
