THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 11, 1994 TAG: 9407090027
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E01 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: THE WATER LOG
What can you do on the water in Hampton Roads? This is the second
in a weeklong series of firsthand accounts by staff writer Craig
Shapiro.
Tuesday: jet-skiing on Witchduck Lake.
SOURCE: BY CRAIG A. SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
THE TOP THREE excuses for wiping out at Witchduck Lake Watersports:
3. It was the sun.
2. It was the wind.
1. It was the driver.
That is if you're an accomplished water-skier like Dallas Norman, who owns the 40-acre lake off Witchduck Road.
If you're getting up for the first time, there's just one:
You didn't resist The Urge.
That is, The Urge to stand up too soon.
How can you help it? You're bobbing in the fetal position, ski tips up, arms straight out, at the end of a 75-foot umbilical cord, waiting for Norman or Larry Conner or one of the other instructors to gun the sleek, 250-horsepower Mastercraft. The Urge is nearly as strong as The Force.
Not so fast.
SPLASH!
Not with your arms.
SPLASH!
Stay back on the skis. Let the boat pull you up.
Hey, it works. On the third try, I was zipping down the half-mile-long lake at a heady 26 mph, not too shabby considering once you're vertical you face the hard part - maintaining proper water-skiing posture: Center of gravity shifted forward at the waist, shoulders back, arms straight out and relaxed, knees bent. SPLASH!
It was a little freaky at first to be looking into the business end of the boat - SPLASH! - but once I got over that, I was scooting over the wake almost like I knew what I was doing.
Until the first turn.
SPLASH!
But Norman is a patient, outgoing instructor who clearly enjoys what he's doing. And why not? He's got the best job in the world.
When he's not building houses in Chesapeake or Virginia Beach, he's running through the slalom, driving for his brother Kenny or longtime bud Conner, or getting us wannabes started.
It's a pretty simple process, too. Beginners start out holding a boom suspended from the port side of the boat. That mastered, you work your way onto a handle attached to the end of the boom. After that, it's the real deal.
1-2-3.
SPLASH!
No problem there, either. Norman has done a nice job with Witchduck Lake, an old, abandoned borrow pit when he bought it in 1988. The lake was created when the Norfolk-Virginia Beach Expressway was built - Norman calls it the ``flip side of 44'' - and for years people used it as a place to dump refrigerators, cars, couches, you name it.
All of that has been cleaned out. The lake, its coves and shoreline ringed by tall trees, is used for water- and jet-skiing. One part is roped off for diving. Norman also brags about the bass and catfish that have been pulled out of there.
Anyway, I can honestly say that I've never had more fun on two skis. And not because my career as a downhill racer ended after I broke my arm on my sophomore run on Colorado's powdery slopes.
Water-skiing is an undeniable rush. Norman is right when he says learning to do it may be the best part of the sport - that and just hanging around the lake. One thing: It's exhausting; you need a break every 20 minutes or so. And if you wake up the next day with sore shoulders and thighs - and, if you forget the sun block, a slight burn - so what?
Besides, once you're up, you're halfway there.
A one-hour lesson and you've got a whole new appreciation for those ESPN water-skiing shows.
A few more runs and I'll have those turns sussed.
Just keep those knees bent.
And arms straight.
Relax.
SPLASH!
Point me to the slalom. ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA
Water-ski student Bernadette Lipson sloloms on her second day at
Witchduck Lake.
IF YOU WANT TO LEARN
WITCHDUCK LAKE WATERSPORTS is at 5125 Witchduck Court, a
half-mile north of Virginia Beach Boulevard, off Witchduck Road.
LESSONS are by appointment. Rates are $65 an hour, including
boat, driver and equipment.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 497-7392.
by CNB