Transition From Public Water to Tourny Lake

[SpartanSki]

My wife and I have been toying with notion of moving south to get away from the Michigan winters. We've been looking at several states but have landed on NC as a good compromise for location, weather, jobs, and family. While the big mitt has rough winters, it does have tons of lakes making lake front living pretty affordable to a middle America family. In my search for lake front in NC, I stumbled across a great house on a wooded lot and to my surprise it was on a tournament site, and I wasn't even actively looking for tournament sites.

 

So my first thought was to jump in head first. But my wife is hesitant brought up a lot of valid points. I grew up on big lakes, and while my current one is a great blend of big lake life with small ski site, it's still a 3 lake chain of more than 400 acres. So while we'll have that perfect course on this new tournament site, we lose out on the overall lake life aspect.

 

Now I don't suspect anyone is going to say they regret moving on to a tournament site, but are there things you notice/miss/didn't anticipate coming from a big lake? I use my lake for a lot more than just slalom, and our course is tucked in a corner that has all cat tails on one side and shallow sandy shoreline on the other, conditions are about as good as you can get, except the tourny course obviously. Weekends are out for skiing (too crowded and the course has to be down, big +1 for the tournament site) but that is when then pontoon comes out with music playing and coolers are stocked full of beer. I also have little ones (which I would like to get into tournament skiing eventually), so how well does it work out for them?

 

So what are the ins and outs, ups and downs to living on a tournament site?

[lcarnes]

Where in NC? (That's where I live-it's a big state.)

 

It seems that it will all depend on the people and the lake. How many neighbors? Are they friends or just ski partners? Do you like them? How busy is the lake on the weekends? (I've seen it be so busy that weekdays are the only time to get a set in.) What, if any, restrictions are there to using the lake for other purposes, like tubing or wake boarding? Good views? Is there a nice place to hang out at the house or with others to kill time and have a beer? I'm sure you can come up with some more questions for yourself...

[andjules]

I can't comment on NC, but I grew up weekending on a big public lake, so I get what you're concerned about.

 

Here's a question: would your rather live on a big lake and drive/trailer regularly to a ski lake/club... or would you rather live on a ski lake and drive/trailer for a day on a big public lake every couple of weeks? Would your wife answer that question the same as you would?

[igkya]

4 years ago I moved from BIG lake to a private ski site. I miss the long never ending free ski runs, foot'n and just hanging out on the boat. Now I chase bouts, stopped foot'n and hang out on the dock. I don't miss the crowds and other lake idiots.

[SpartanSki]

I only skied my first tournament last year, and really enjoyed it. I'm planning to get more involved and hit up more tournaments this year. Having more experience at the tournament scene will probably help my decision and decide if I want to trade lake life for tournament life.

 

@Icarnes, we've been looking in the Raleigh, Durham area, and the site in mention is in Smithfield.

[Waternut]

Big lake living for me means sailing, windsurfing, long straight passes of open slalom skiing or wakeboarding, wakesurfing where I don't have to worry about shoreline destruction, teaching friends without worrying about running over buoys, and of course looking at the pretty girls sunbathing on boats.

 

I'm fine driving to a slalom lake because I enjoy the freedom to do the open water activities more. For many it's the other way around. Need to weigh the pros and cons for you and your family.

[JMLVMI]

Guessing you're looking at property on Lake Magnolia. It's a nice property but you will be commuting about 20-60 minutes everywhere; Smithfield is a pretty good ways from civilization. Great Lake and nice people.@SpartanSki, Would be happy to give you more info about the area, lived here my whole life.

[SkiJay]

I've had both at the same time, big beautiful Lake Shuswap and the Predator Bay tournament site. I love the big lake for the space and scenery, but it is also host to a lot of doorknobs so you can't beat a tournament lake for meaningful course skiing. The way it has played out over time, the tournament lake is the place to be day in day out, and the big Lake is best savoured on a few special trips with family and friends.

[BRY]

@SpartanSki You say " trade lake life for tournament life". You don't have to do that just because your on a smaller, private lake. Private lakes set up for skiing are often called "tournament" lakes, but that doesn't require "tournament life", they are just private access small lakes. Its a perspective but I think an important one. You can live on one, ski your brains out, chase buoys or not, get into tournaments or not. But if you do get into tournaments then instant access to a quality course really ups your water time, really no substitute.

Skiing wise you do get guaranteed quality water and instant access 7 days a week. You give up long runs and sailing anything fast. My dock is 150ft from my back door, there are 13 lots but only 5 have boats and only 4 (including us) regularly ski. I trailer my 16ft cat to larger water, 15min to an hour, as it goes faster than wind speed and needs a lot of room. When we pull out the beer its on the dock, with a bathroom 150ft away, no jet ski noise, and no water DUI. For us its pretty much Nirvana and its home.

At the site we used to ski at there are 3 lakes, 10 per lake, and the families on the first lake pretty much wakeboard 15%, tube 75% and ski 10%. The second and third lakes only have a handful of skiers and the second lake is aced out for slalom. So its what you make of it (within covenants of the specific site).

 

Need to weigh what you all want, but don't limit a private site to just tournament skiing. Its that and a whole lot more.

 

[Chef23]

Not really helpful but I tried to talk my family into making the move south 2 years ago before my daughter started high school. My company is headquartered outside of Raleigh and I could have easily moved there. I saw a house online on Lake Magnolia and I was ready to go.

 

I am still freezing my butt off in Massachusetts.

 

From my perspective I would be okay with a tournament lake. We do pull tubes when we have company but I would be glad to trade that for instant access to good conditions.

[Ilivetoski]

I have skied at a couple tournaments at Magnolia and know the owner and people who live on the lake. That is defenitly the best looking lake I have skied at and in my top 3 for how it skis (behind my lake and Okeheelee). My dad had these thoughts, not about moving to a private lake, but joining a private lake. He didnt want to lose the "boating" experience. Today he absolutely loves our private site and wouldnt have it any other way. People who ski at private sites know what they are doing, dont mess around and you end up getting a lot more ski time.

[GOODESkier]

I would look at it this way...... in college I always found it easier to make noise than to make silence. Seems to me if the option is there to live on a private site and be near public water, you will have the best of both worlds.

[A_B]

It took me about as long as the trailer launch to make the transition from the River to my private lake, so I assume a few passes through the slalom course and I would be over a public lake.

 

We are lucky enough to have a fairly wide section, that we tube, wakeboard, swim, fish, etc. in. We use to make barefoot runs down and back, but turning at the wide end, even with 500 feet of width, is pretty dicey...

 

I'm completely over it....

 

 

[SkiJay]

@SpartanSki It's sad to say, but another piece of due diligence you should do before buying on a tournament lake would be to find out how bad the worst neighbours/members are. It's not unusual for there to be at least one real butthead spoiling an otherwise perfect ski community.

 

[ForrestGump]

It all depends on the neighborhood. Some are pretty stuffy. Overly so. At Lakes at Cypress Hill(site of the '14 and '15 SCR Regionals), once everyone has had their fill of skiing .....the wakeboards, surf boards, tubes and music comes out. Try to keep it off the slalom lake but the jump and practice lake seem to be fair game for public water-like fun.

[Joeprunc]

I'm not a tournament skier so my opinions are a bit different that most here. I think @adjules said it best:

Here's a question: would your rather live on a big lake and drive/trailer regularly to a ski lake/club... or would you rather live on a ski lake and drive/trailer for a day on a big public lake every couple of weeks? Would your wife answer that question the same as you would?

 

For me I would be open for either, I really enjoy skiing, but also enjoy cruising on the boat, 5 mile long ski sets, hanging out with friends on the boat and tying up with other boats, traveling to other bars/resturants by boat, paddle boarding and exploring new areas, boating to a marina and listening to a live band from the comfort of your own boat. Currently we have all this in my back yard, but I can't boat to a "tournament approved" site, however there are 3 "courses" within a 30 minute boat ride. Yes we have a lot of idiots on the water, but with your boat on the water its very easy to get up early and get a ski in before everyone else. I do plan on trying a few tournaments this year, but don't think I will get serious enough to justify living on a tournament lake. I'd choose living on the water on a public lake with a ski course.

 

Looking at the second point of adjules comment: My wife, she would not be able to live on a tournament lake. She needs that freedom of being able to get away, to explore new areas, to ski for miles. She is easily discouraged when skiing the buoys (sure living on a lake will make her better). Living at a tournament lake would take away some of her enjoyment of being on a boat.

 

Sure we ski the buoys a fair amount but as a family boating is more of a life style as a whole, not just one aspect of it. The main selling point for me to move to a tournament lake would being able to ski without a spotter, but for me it isn't worth the trade off.

 

Either way living somewhere your boat is in the water a stones throw from your back door is heaven.

[6balls]

@joeprunc I"m a fan of living on a public one with access to a smaller site or private site nearby. Hard to find, I know. I live public lake, and ski 10 miles away on a public never used by anyone but us. Hit the buoys a.m., then have the afternoon on the public lake.

My buddy in chicago skis laurie's quarry a.m.(private using her boat), then puts his boat in the fox river for some public river fun in the afternoon. I've visited his place for this and it's great...best of both worlds.

I think if I actually lived on a private ski lake, though, I'd be hard pressed to go trailer to a public body...so maybe this is a one direction thing for folks like me.

[The_MS]

It took me 1 day to adjust.

[Kelvin]

Once I started using private water on a regular basis about 18 years ago, the trips to the public lake have gotten few and far between. So much so that I haven't been to public water in over 3 years. May go some this year for a change of pace.

[Marco]

Its pretty easy to get used to a private lake. The convenience of walking out your back door to the dock when you want a ski ride, or to go swimming, paddle boarding, fishing, or whatever, is pretty darn nice. You still have the option of going to a public lake if you want to trailer the boat. I grew up skiing on public lakes, and since we built our own private lake in 2002, I haven't been back on public water since. It is just too easy to ski at home.

[mmosley899]

Yes there is a dilemma there. I skied on a big lake for many years but now live on a tournament lake. I don't know what your work requirements are, but Whitestone Lakes in north Georgia is a great place to live and Ski. And there is a great, big lake only 15 minutes away.

[skihard]

We moved south only a few months ago. Currently building home on a private lake(s). Should be moved in at the end of this month or early next month.

We (family) only skied at lakes that were located a minumum of 20 mins away to as far away as 10 hours on vacations. Didn't have access to a course other than some lessons from T$ while down south working.

First and foremost the community we are lucky enough to be moving into has wonderful people. We couldn't be happier with the welcoming and support we have received from the people at our site.

We can do almost anything we like within reason at our site it seems? Just no big wakeboard boats as the waves kill the shoreline and aren't so nice to docks!

I am at our lake as much as I can be during the build of our house and am ALWAYS disappointed when I have to load up my cooler and such and head back to the house we rent until we can move in. Meaning - I can't wait to be able to come home, ski, tube, barefoot, etc, and then be able to sit on my dock in front of my house enjoying cold beers with good friends and neighbors without having to worry about DUI or water cops coming to tell us to settle down. Chances are if that happens at my house it will be a neighbor telling me and others from the lake to keep it down. :)

If I want open water I can/will pull my boat out and drive it to wherever to enjoy the day. But as was noted above - those days are very few and far between now and will probably be even less in the future.

My only regret is that at my age now - I wished I could/would have done this many years ago! I'm new to the bouy chasing game and it shows when I watch and ski with the gang at my lake. But I don't care I can only get better and kudos to my lake site gang that they accept my poor abilities and allow me to join them!

 

It's a GREAT LIFE!!!!!

[6balls]

For the private lake skiers...do you worry about re-sale? Seems when selling it would be a very small market of die hard skiers whereas public water appeals to many.

[crashman]

@6balls I would wonder the same thing. This lot on Hawthorn Lake west of indianapolis has been on the market since 2011-started at $85k now down to $55k. If I lived a little closer to it I would buy it just to have lake rights. For me once ski lake real estate falls below the price of a new boat it becomes tempting but it would be an investment in happiness not financial.

http://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?topic=Search&category=Real_Estate&postid=25528

 

For me the only buildable ski lake close enough to where I work is right on the interstate- I could almost spray the semis coming around 6 ball which I'm sure further kills the resale and plus its a real short setup but every time I see a house there for sale I get damn tempted.

[6balls]

@crashman there are some screwy deals out there. When I lived in Waterloo, IA I paid less than $100 per season which gave me access to their site right on the interstate. I could use my own boat for nothing, or a club inboard for $4 per tenth on the hour meter. Hard to beat that one.

 

I've seen some apparently good private lake deals, but wonder how I'd ever get out when the time comes.

[The_MS]

@6balls It all depends on the housing market on the whole. If the market is good, its good for all types of property.

[skihard]

Fortunate at my site. Places will sell quickly. I would think it's more about location and the people who live there?