The third annual “Crush the Ice for Life” event memorializing Della Krupp and Lucille Viles and benefitting the American Caner Society was held Saturday, May 9th at the Gene Stratton and Porter park, Rome City, Indiana, on Lake Sylvan. The event is organized by Jeigh Krupp and his close friend Zach Lear and sanctioned by USA Wakeboard.
The event was supported by local riders and Adam Wensink and Midwest Correct Craft, Andrew Shearer and Dry Dock Marina, Dependable Metal, Stewart Brimner Peters, and Lear, Kendallville Iron and Metal, and Noble County Disposal. I brought the Mighty Enzo, my surf boards. I also brought the homemade wakesurf board that I made for the 2008 Texas Wakesurf Championship to donate to the raffle. The Wake Outlaws donated the X Trax traction on the board.
The night before I picked up my son from college. On the way back and over night we had some rain. Then while driving to Rome City the wind really became strong. The clouds started to thicken and darken up as well. All of the ponds that I passed on the way up had white caps. Even the long grass along the road was frantically waving like waves on the ponds, I’m not sure I think I saw white caps on the grass to, or maybe they were dandelions. I could really feel that my tow truck was working hard as I drove in to the wind. I took 400 gallons of gas to get out there but with the tail wind only 2 to get back. At one point I saw a little girl with a dog in an old farm house blow past the road. I really it sprinkled just a little rain on my wind shield on the way up, not enough to turn on the wipers. I ended up turning them on any way just to keep flying cows off the windshield. OK, I may have exaggerated a bit, but it was windy.
Jeigh met me at the boat ramp and helped me launch. The lake temperature was 62F, the same as the Lake Norris Ice Breaker a few weeks ago. The air temps were in the low 50s, but with the wind, did I mention the wind yet, it felt much colder. The attendance was down from the last two years. So, only the hardcore riders came out.
I set the Mighty Enzo up with my standard configuration, manual trim tab as low as it could go, 750 Fly High in the back port locker, port midship tank full, another 750 in front of the midship tank, and a 400 Fly High in front of the 750.
I only had the opportunity to take one crew out for a surfing run. I had about eight in the boat but including myself I only had four riders. As we headed out to a leg of the lake that was a little deeper the passengers in the back of the boat got a pretty good soaking from the wind whipping up spray from the boat. So, I had to troll of to the surf spot at just a little over idle. We started at one leg of the run with the wind to our backs, that kept the spray down and everyone in the boat dry and happy. Once we got the end of the leg we recovered our rider an d headed back to the beginning a little above idle and repeated with the next rider.
The water depth was only 8 to 4 feet, not really ideal. Even so, the wake looked pretty good. These riders have had limited wakesurf opportunities and mostly held the rope the whole time to reduce falls. The first rode my trusty Broadcast beginner’s board. The next two riders rode the home made board that I brought to donate. You can see ion some of the photos below that riders had most of their weight on the back foot and the front foot practically in the air. That’s a sure sign that the boat was going too slow. I speed up a little but should have speed up more. While traveling with the wind the boat exhaust traveled with us. There was nothing we could do to keep the exhaust out of the boat and away from the rider. I tried flipping the exhaust to either and both sides, but left it on the starboard side. It was windy so I don’t think there was a CO threat. You can see haze in some of the pictures, that’s the exhaust.
My impression of the donation board was pretty favorable. The board is a little heavier than the prototype that I made but it is also more durable. It felt reasonably fast down the line and rail to rail. Here are a few pictures from the event.
Gene Stratton Porter House/Park
The Mighty Enzo
Ballast under the bench and clamshell
Riding the Broadcast
Riding the ACS prize board
See the front foot, I'm going too slow
Also see the haze
Board close up
Getting up on the board
The wake in just 8 ft of water, not bad!
Goofy rider, backside
Again in the next two pictures, look at the front foot, I'm going too slow
Goofy switch
See my rooster tail?
I can't get air I just stand up on the board
Slash, nice rail to rail action
The prize winner
Inland Surfer looks to have been represented
So was Wake World
Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. 
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