To get a clearer picture of Clear Lake’s colorful past, we spoke with some of the pros who currently call it home, as well as a few other experts. Current residents include Erik Ruck, Shane Bonifay, Jimmy ­LaRiche, Jeff Langley, Marc ­Rossiter and Collin Harrington (who ­recently moved out in January after living there for 14 years), and experts like former editor of WBM ­Kevin ­Michael, wakeskater Aaron Reed, and photographer Joey Meddock have spent countless hours on its water. The stories are hilarious, but the sentiment remains the same across the board: Living on Clear Lake has a certain vibe unlike any other lake in Orlando, or any other lake in the world, for that matter.

Jeff Langley

THE RESIDENTS

What makes living on Clear Lake particularly unique is the neighborhood built around it and the sense of community that neighborhood gives the riders who call it home. Much of the lake’s residential area is comprised of a series of canals that connect to the lake. From above, the canals look just like streets of water, giving residents backyard access to the main body. By boat or by land, if you live on Clear Lake, your neighbors are literally around the corner. For nearly 20 years a lot of riders have called those canals home — so many, in fact, that naming them all is probably impossible. But when you get a directory as long as Clear Lake’s past and present pros, it’s bound to have a significant impact on the sports.

Erik Ruck

ERIK RUCK:

“I’ve lived on Clear Lake for over 15 years now, and I think one of the coolest things about it is that it’s always been a worldwide refugee camp for wakeboarding and wakeskating misfits. A lot of dues have been paid, and a lot of guys have worked really hard to push themselves and the sport. It’s been really cool for me to watch; I’ve gone from a young rider pushing things myself, to a lake regulator trying to make sure guys are following the rules and staying in their lanes, to an elder statesman enjoying the show. The best part, though, is that everybody living here in the ’hood has always had each other’s backs, and we’ve had a lot of fun along the way.”

Jimmy LaRiche

JIMMY LARICHE:

“It’s pretty crazy to see how generations have come and gone over the years. Even Adam Errington has moved out now and on to other things. Younger guys are starting to move in too. When I first moved to Clear Lake, I was intimidated about doing it because of the pros who’d been living there before me. I was looking at buying one of Daniel Watkins’ old houses, but before I bought it, I called Ruck to basically ask if it was cool if I moved onto the lake. He was the leader of Clear Lake at the time, and I didn’t want to piss him off by being the new kid in town poaching his turf. It was definitely funny going from living in Rusty Malinoski’s pool house in the country to living on Clear Lake. That’s how I learned about wakesurfing and lake parties!”

SHANE BONIFAY:

“I think I’ve lived here 13 years. … Sometimes I lose track — I spent a few in Clermont with Parks — but Clear Lake is part of who I am. The friends I’ve made and the sense of community that is here can’t be replaced or duplicated. Everybody is friends, and wakeboarding is only a phone call away. Or you do what I do and just drive your Jet Ski out to Jimmy’s G23 and make him pull you whenever you see his boat out on the lake.”

Marc Rossiter

THE ‘HOOD

One of the defining characteristics of Clear Lake has more to do with where it’s located rather than who lives there. Just south of downtown Orlando, the main residential area of Clear Lake is less than 1 mile from the Orange County Jail, and much of the surrounding neighborhood is affectionately called “the ’hood.” While we’ve never heard stories of riders feeling totally unsafe or sketched out, let’s just say you wouldn’t want to get lost finding your way to Clear Lake at late hours of the night.

COLLIN HARRINGTON:

“Your view of Clear Lake all depends on which way you come into the Isle of Catalina where most of the houses are on the canals. You either come in the main entrance off the main road, and everything seems fine, or you come in off a side street and you pass some really sketchy gas stations and shops, and you feel like you’re in the middle of the ghetto.”

JIMMY LARICHE:

“If you ever have any industry people over to Clear Lake for the first time, like at Surf Expo or anything, they can get pretty wigged out. It’s funny, ’cause on one side you’ve got the ghetto, and on the other, just a few minutes away, is one of the nicest malls in Orlando with a bunch of great restaurants. The worst part is that Carl (Jimmy’s yellow Lab) howls at police sirens, and we hear those a lot …”

Tony Carroll

THE LIFE

Because of the structure of Clear Lake’s neighborhood on the canals, life there for the riders is tight-knit and fun-loving. There are always guys to hang out with, and there is always something to do. But beyond hanging out and neighborhood vibes, Clear Lake is famous (and infamous) for some of its extracurricular activities. Much of the shenanigans in recent years have been documented via social media but, truth be told, the parties of today don’t hold a candle to those of yesteryear.

KEVIN MICHAEL:

“Clear Lake is notorious for its parties, more so than any of the other Orlando lakes with multiple riders living on them. Shane Bonifay has had at least 40 birthday parties on Clear Lake. He’s not even 40, but he’s had at least 40 parties.”

SHANE BONIFAY:

“My birthday has always been the kickoff party of the season, of sorts. And it’s somehow become legendary. I don’t even invite or ask people to come anymore, it just happens every April 4. It’s my ­favorite things all combined in one day: Clear Lake, ­wakeboarding, friends, sun and partying.”

ERIK RUCK:

“The early days of Clear Lake are lucky there wasn’t social media to document the shit show. I’m glad that we can just keep those as memories. But there have been some epic get-togethers out here. Feet on Fire was an annual barefoot contest Dan-O used to host when he lived with me. He and Watkins would get athletes from the wake, water-ski and show-ski worlds to come out, compete and have fun. Everybody looked forward to them, and it created a cool sense of community. And the after parties — and during parties — were pretty all-time.”

JIMMY LARICHE:

“My favorite party ever anywhere was the goodbye party we threw for Daniel Watkins when he and his family were moving back to Australia full-time. He was a legend in wakeboarding, obviously, but also a huge part of the Clear Lake community. We wanted to surprise him, so I had 50 or 60 people come hang out at my house while a couple guys took him out on a pontoon boat for ‘one last hangout cruise.’ Of course, the pontoon broke down while they were on the lake, and he arrived at my house two hours later than planned, so everybody there was already in full party mode, but when he came in, he was so surprised and started crying. We had a hell of a celebration that night. I’ll never forget it.”

THE RIDING

What it always comes back to for our sports, though, is the riding, and Clear Lake has seen more than most. In fact, it could easily be argued that Clear Lake has more media coverage than any other body of water. From covers of magazines to video sections to dumb ­Instagram posts of bass fishing by riders not riding, Clear Lake has been part of everything. In fact, Clear Lake has played a more important role than most casual fans probably realize.

AARON REED:

“Thomas Horrell was the first rider to move onto Clear Lake, and that was right as Cassette was getting started and growing in the early 2000s. We spent a lot of time out there. The majority of ­Sfumato was filmed on Clear Lake, and a lot of firsts went down there, so there is a lot of wakeskating history there. Danny Hampson did the first frontside flip, Thomas did the first frontside big spin, I did the first backside big spin — all the lines in the video, all on Clear Lake. What was funny looking back is that was right when all the Pointless guys were in their heyday too. They’d all come out onto the lake to party and wakesurf and send rollers everywhere. Thomas would get so fired up, and in typical Thomas fashion, it was pretty comical.”

SHANE BONIFAY:

“A lot has gone down on Clear Lake over the years. All the rails, all the photo shoots; there’s too much to list. But two things that stand out to me are Parks’ Double or Nothing and filming for Box of Fun. Double or Nothing was right at a time when guys were really charging off double-ups and doing cool stuff. That contest was fun and really progressive. And Box of Fun was just like it sounds. Making that video with all the Clear Lake crew was a blast.”

There are a lot of factors that come together to make Clear Lake the special, weird, iconic, fun-loving, ghettoish place it is. From its location and construction, to the riders who have ridden on it for the past 20 years, Clear Lake has seen a lot and provided even more for the progression and fun of wakeboarding and wakeskating. While generations of superstars and grind-it-out riders come and go, one thing will never change, and that is the lake itself and the sense of opportunity it provides for those looking to chase a dream in the Mecca of wakeboarding.

ERIK RUCK:

“Clear Lake can do two things for your career: It can either catapult it quickly, or it can trap you in the downtown scene. From there, you have a choice about what you want to do. Some guys have chosen wisely. Others, not so much.”

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We had a few things on our side going into this trip. The two WaveRunners we were using were extremely nimble for towing and dropping into almost any location. With the low draft of the machines, you can ride tons of spots you can’t normally get to in a boat (or hike to with a winch). We also had Danny and Collin’s girlfriends, who helped out driving chase, being thirds, and genuinely organizing and keeping things in line. While riding was important, hitting the road with your friends and camping, cooking and laughing around the fire is what a trip like this is all about. There is nothing like the lifestyle aspect of sleeping in a tent to wake up, ride, and shoot photos and videos with your buddies.

The first spot we hit was on Carters Lake, a secluded body of water a couple of hours north of Atlanta and just south of the Smoky Mountains. We picked a campsite on a peninsula overlooking the lake, with water on three sides and the most epic view. The problem with staying on a peninsula like that was that we were perfectly exposed to the elements. After getting to the campsite late at night, we all woke up on the first day of the trip to 45 degrees and 30 mph winds blowing directly across the lake, right to our tents. Morale on a trip like this is a crazy thing; as the conditions change, or when there is a turn of events, the entire attitude of the crew changes. At this point everyone on the trip was pretty concerned about the next five days ahead. We knew we had to get some riding done for the trip to be a success, but we didn’t know what lay ahead as far as the weather was concerned. None of us wanted to get skunked, so we had to find some good water and take the WaveRunners out in the heavy wind to scope the lake for a good spot to ride. It was cold, choppy and … cold. We were lucky in the sense that Carters Lake has tons of crazy fingers and inlets, so finding protected water wasn’t as challenging as we had thought it would be, and we could really get into some narrow spots with the Yamahas. Aaron and Danny could take turns riding while Collin and I hiked and found spots overlooking the lake to shoot from.

After the first day riding, shooting and battling weather, we got back to our site ready for some good old-fashioned camp vibes. We grilled, cooked over the fire, and got our fire burning well to keep everyone warm as we enjoyed an epic dinner at dusk. The wind calmed down, and Carters Lake delivered a gem of a sunset right over the dam on the other side of the lake. We woke up the next morning to what would eventually be the best weather day of the trip. The sun was out, the wind calmed down, and we had a perfectly lit morning session that lasted straight into lunch. The water was chilly, but the sun and the wetsuits helped combat that. After lunch we scouted spots for the afternoon session and found some pretty cool areas to ride near the dam, with a natural rock wall chute and a few narrow passes in the shallows. It was a perfect day where we were able to ride and shoot right until we were cooking our meals under the stars and laughing about all the day’s happenings. We were in for some harsh weather ahead, so we hunkered down that night and made sure our rain gear was ready to roll.

We woke up with the rain, packed up camp and made our way out of the woods at Carters Lake and down to Lake Allatoona, about 40 miles south. On our way, we stopped over at Terminus Wake Park, and Danny, Aaron and Collin took some laps. Since it’s a Yamaha-affiliated park, we were greeted with open arms from the good people there and had an amazing few hours under the cloud cover with perfect glass and no wind. After that, it was on to Lake Allatoona and Red Top Mountain to set up our camp for the next couple of days. The crew dropped the WaveRunners in, drove them to our campsite, and met up with our chase vehicle (Danny’s Ford Tuscany van) and made our camp for the next couple of days on the red-clay-lined shores of Allatoona. This time, we were in a secluded inlet where we could keep the Yamahas beached right out of our tent doors, and we spent the next couple of days ripping around and finding new spots to ride and explore.

A camping and wakeboarding or wakeskating road trip should be in all of your plans this summer. It’s rough, it’s rugged, it takes you out of your comfort zone, and it’s the best experience you can have. Bring people you love to hang out with, and bring some new people along as well. You get to know a lot about a person after spending a few days in the woods camping and having fun. As with any trip, this one was a roller coaster with plenty of peaks and valleys and stories to tell afterward.

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Words and Photos: Shawn Perry

Anytime you venture into the great outdoors, you’re at the mercy of a lot of different variables. Wind, rain, water conditions, light for shooting, spots to hit and staying properly outfitted can be big challenges on all fronts. We took a crew of Danny Hampson, Aaron Reed, Collin Harrington and myself into the wilderness of north Georgia, with two Yamahas in tow, to see what kind of waterways we could find to wakeskate on — and to camp everywhere in between. While we didn’t necessarily plan to scout locations to do epic stuff on wakeskates, our goal was to find lakes and different places where we could drop in the Yamahas to ride, camp and venture into parts otherwise inaccessible.

We had a few things on our side going into this trip. The two WaveRunners we were using were extremely nimble for towing and dropping into almost any location. With the low draft of the machines, you can ride tons of spots you can’t normally get to in a boat (or hike to with a winch). We also had Danny and Collin’s girlfriends, who helped out driving chase, being thirds, and genuinely organizing and keeping things in line. While riding was important, hitting the road with your friends and camping, cooking and laughing around the fire is what a trip like this is all about. There is nothing like the lifestyle aspect of sleeping in a tent to wake up, ride, and shoot photos and videos with your buddies.

The first spot we hit was on Carters Lake, a secluded body of water a couple of hours north of Atlanta and just south of the Smoky Mountains. We picked a campsite on a peninsula overlooking the lake, with water on three sides and the most epic view. The problem with staying on a peninsula like that was that we were perfectly exposed to the elements. After getting to the campsite late at night, we all woke up on the first day of the trip to 45 degrees and 30 mph winds blowing directly across the lake, right to our tents.

Episode 1:

Morale on a trip like this is a crazy thing; as the conditions change, or when there is a turn of events, the entire attitude of the crew changes. At this point everyone on the trip was pretty concerned about the next five days ahead. We knew we had to get some riding done for the trip to be a success, but we didn’t know what lay ahead as far as the weather was concerned. None of us wanted to get skunked, so we had to find some good water and take the WaveRunners out in the heavy wind to scope the lake for a good spot to ride. It was cold, choppy and … cold. We were lucky in the sense that Carters Lake has tons of crazy fingers and inlets, so finding protected water wasn’t as challenging as we had thought it would be, and we could really get into some narrow spots with the Yamahas. Aaron and Danny could take turns riding while Collin and I hiked and found spots overlooking the lake to shoot from.

After the first day riding, shooting and battling weather, we got back to our site ready for some good old-fashioned camp vibes. We grilled, cooked over the fire, and got our fire burning well to keep everyone warm as we enjoyed an epic dinner at dusk. The wind calmed down, and Carters Lake delivered a gem of a sunset right over the dam on the other side of the lake. We woke up the next morning to what would eventually be the best weather day of the trip. The sun was out, the wind calmed down, and we had a perfectly lit morning session that lasted straight into lunch.

Episode 2:

The water was chilly, but the sun and the wetsuits helped combat that. After lunch we scouted spots for the afternoon session and found some pretty cool areas to ride near the dam, with a natural rock wall chute and a few narrow passes in the shallows. It was a perfect day where we were able to ride and shoot right until we were cooking our meals under the stars and laughing about all the day’s happenings. We were in for some harsh weather ahead, so we hunkered down that night and made sure our rain gear was ready to roll.

We woke up with the rain, packed up camp and made our way out of the woods at Carters Lake and down to Lake Allatoona, about 40 miles south. On our way, we stopped over at Terminus Wake Park, and Danny, Aaron and Collin took some laps. Since it’s a Yamaha-affiliated park, we were greeted with open arms from the good people there and had an amazing few hours under the cloud cover with perfect glass and no wind.

Episode 3:

After that, it was on to Lake Allatoona and Red Top Mountain to set up our camp for the next couple of days. The crew dropped the WaveRunners in, drove them to our campsite, and met up with our chase vehicle (Danny’s Ford Tuscany van) and made our camp for the next couple of days on the red-clay-lined shores of Allatoona. This time, we were in a secluded inlet where we could keep the Yamahas beached right out of our tent doors, and we spent the next couple of days ripping around and finding new spots to ride and explore.

A camping and wakeboarding or wakeskating road trip should be in all of your plans this summer. It’s rough, it’s rugged, it takes you out of your comfort zone, and it’s the best experience you can have. Bring people you love to hang out with, and bring some new people along as well. You get to know a lot about a person after spending a few days in the woods camping and having fun. As with any trip, this one was a roller coaster with plenty of peaks and valleys and stories to tell afterward.

Episode 4:

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