The temperature continues to rise, and 5NEWS is all about creative ways to beat the heat. This week's adventure, Sean Bailey and Katelynn Zoellner teamed up with the Adventure Subaru crew to learn to Wakeboard and more.
With the summer heat in full swing, this week's Adventure Arkansas is all about cooling off by catching waves. Justin Bulla and Matt Dickhut from Adventure Subaru showed 5NEWS Anchor Katelynn Zoellner and meteorologist Sean Bailey the ropes.
Since it was Katelynn and Sean's first time wakeboarding, Justin had a few tips on how to stand up.
Justin Bulla explained, "So like you scoot and then once you're up over you're feet and then you stand up. So you wanna have you're whole body relaxed and let the boat just pull you up over the board. Scrunch up and ball over it, and then once you're over the board, stand up."
It was time for Sean to put his lessons into practice. Thanks to Justin's cannonball tips, it took Sean only 2 tries before he was cruising.
After Sean conquered standing up and drifting back and forth over the wake, it was time for Katelynn to try! In her very first attempt, she was already speeding along like a pro. Even though Sean and Katelynn had quick success, Justin says it took him more than a few tries to get up.
"It takes a lot of repetition because it took me 30 times just to be able to stand up. That's probably longer than normal. It takes a while to get the feel of standing on top of it and moving."
And now after being patient and plenty of practice, he can spin, jump and even flip.
"You can't be afraid. Again it takes a long time and you might have a sore neck or sore back after a couple of them but it just takes a lot of trying."
Another toy the Adventure Subaru crew brought along was a surfboard of sorts. Similar techniques to wakeboarding, Matt shows Sean and Katelynn what it takes to wake surf. The big difference is your feet aren't strapped in like on a wakeboard. So you rely on the grips of the board and the force of the boat pulling you.
Matt was able to let go of the rope, and just surf along the wake and keep up with the boat. Sean's attempts to ditch the rope only lasted a few seconds, but it felt so cool to hang ten.
Hard to believe that was their first time! We have a few more tips on how you can practice wakeboarding here.
Sponsored by: Adventure Subaru