As a kid, I first learned to water-ski on an old pair of wooden Go Go water skis. The white bindings were made of plastic and designed for a man’s size 10 foot, but I was a very determined 12-year-old. Eric and Robert, my cottaged buddies, stood on either side of my skinny little body. Using their arms, they propped me out of the water so I was already standing when my dad throttled the boat’s engine. After numerous false starts and ingesting gallons of weedy lake water, I was finally up and out of the water and actually skiing for the first time.

Terrified and exhilarated in the same moment, I fell in love. Now 30 years later, water-skiing is still my favourite cottage activity. Despite loving this sport, I have never actually owned a new pair of skis. I always had previous cottage owner hand-me-downs.

This past spring at the Cottage Life Show, I impulsively bought the O’Brien Celebrity Combos. I discovered later what a great purchase I had made.

The O’Brien Celebrity’s are the number one selling recreational water skis, according to Shane Thompson, store buyer for Boardsports, Toronto. These skis fly out of the store every season. When asked what makes them so special, Thompson explains its their design.

“They are wider than traditional skis. The extra width, particularly up front, helps pop you out of the water faster. They also have a dual channel bottom that helps the ski track the water; this is especially good when the going gets rough and there is alot of chop.”

Thompson also likes their bindings. The rubber bindings can be easily adjusted and there is a rear holster strap for slalom skiers. When asked if they require any maintenance, he recommends not leaving them on the dock all day, “The sun breaks down the rubber,” so store them someplace shady.

I cannot wait to try out mine, and now that the boat is purring like a kitten, I will be back with an update on Monday. If anyone has any comments about these skis I would love to hear from you. Also, please share your first-time water-skiing adventures with us.

Here’s to brand new boards.

Julie

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 12th, 2007 at 10:25 am and is filed under Toys. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.