Fun And Sun Water Sports Club - Orwood Resort

Friend's BF showing off his skills!

Fun & Sun Water Sports Club

Orwood Resort - The Delta

I cannot say enough good things about this weekend. A friend of mine invited me to join her and her boyfriend on a camping and boating weekend. They go practically every other weekend in the summer with Fun And Sun Water Sports Club, and now I see why! Members and guests arrive Friday night to Orwood Resort to set up their tents and get the party started. A board member from the club emails out fool proof details from directions to what to bring to the code to enter the campsite. 

 I unfortunately missed the Friday night festivities and arrived early Saturday morning to pitch my little green tent (thank you roomie for lending it to me! ). 

The campground normally only allows RVs and trailers, but makes an exception for the club. There are fully functioning restrooms and coin operated showers making the camping part a little less intimidating. Tents are pitched in a central area while "Shooterville" is set up to one side, closest to the Delta. This is where people congregate when not out on the water. Two key events take place here: checking out equipment and the Saturday night party! The club generously checks out whatever you may need for the water from life vests to skis. Perfect for someone like me who has nothing! I just took a life vest, as my friend let me use her wakeboard on the water. 

Most weekends a themed dinner gets Saturday night moving. This week's theme: Fiesta. Catered Mexican tacos with fresh guacamole and all the toppings you could want waited at Shooterville promptly at 7pm. Margaritas, beer, and soft drinks were not forgotten. Shortly after more and more people were sitting enjoying their meal, tequila girl and tequila boy started coming around with shot glasses, salt, limes, and of course the number one necessity: tequila! A pinata appeared over a nearby tree and was immediately demolished (I got to take the first swing!). Latin music accompanied the festivities and later turned into a dance party. The night would not be complete without a campfire, so of course a member kindly lit one up! 

Now onto why the club exists: water sports! Some Members have boats - others do not. A board member posts the boat assignments for the day on the evening before. He switches it up so you get to be with a different group of people on a different boat each day. There are so many experienced people in the club, that no matter who you end up with, they'll be able to instruct you and get you standing up on your sport of choice (they do take into consideration your experience level and if you prefer skiing or boarding when making assignments). Day one: wakeboarding and wakeskating. I hadn't tried either of these before, but was up on my first try for boarding! In case you don't know - wakeboarding is like snowboarding but in the water - your feet are strapped to the board.  Wakeskating is similar, but you have no bindings and a shorter board - similar to skateboarding in a way. It took me 3-4 tries to get the hang of it.  After several hours on the water, feeling cool that I caught on pretty fast and amazed at the flips and tricks that my friend's boyfriend can do, we stopped for lunch at Union Point on the Marina. Fish tacos, burgers,  and of course Mai Thais. I packed my own lunch both days, so ate quickly before joining the others.

After lunch, it seems that the wind picks up. On Saturday, we powered through it for a bit before going to a sandy beach where boats go to tie up, blast music, drink, and mingle. We found other club boats here and tied to them before returning to camp to get ready for the Fiesta. 

Party Central On The Beach

On Sunday, we switched to wakesurfing in the afternoon. Wakesurfing is literally surfing on the wake behind the boat. Perfect for choppy water, as you stay in the wake behind the boat the whole time. I actually had attempted this last year with my family when camping at their lake, but never stood up. The board looks like a mini surf board. You stand up and get into the wake and find the "sweet spot." Once you're there you can throw the rope into the boat and surf the wake for as long as you can control it and stay in that area, hands free! To make a proper wake, you need to fill your fat sack with water and have everyone sit in the back corner of the boat. Some boats are actually being made now specifically for wakesurfing to create a larger wake.

After gassing up, we headed back to camp to return equipment and head home. My body is unbelievably sore today! Water sports take a lot of strength and use muscles that you don't normally push everyday. On day two, I was feeling confident and tried a few different tricks: bouncing the board, touching the water, and going sideways on the wake. I really wanted to get a 180 degree turn, but I was not familiar with riding on my opposite leg forward. On one run, I started on the opposite side do that I could switch to my stronger side.  It worked!  ..... for a few seconds. I hadn't quite got my balance yet and got caught in the wake and hurdled forward onto my face. With a pounding head, bloody nose, and fat lip, I had to get out of the water.... just for a bit.

 I can't wait to go to  again!