About two years ago I decided that at 61 years of age I’d better stop tempting fate and scratch my board sports itch in a way that was less likely to involve injury incompatible with life. I absolutely loved my electric skateboards, but the activity of riding them can be very unforgiving. My Kaly (the one with red wheels) was a legitimate 40 mph board and I often exceeded our neighborhood’s 35 mph speed limit when I took it out. I never crashed at speed, but did go down twice on pavement at just over 20mph and I knew it was just a matter of time before something more serious was going to happen. It was time for a lifestyle change. E-foils had been a fascination for years and since we live on a lake, I pitched the switch to my wife Heidi. She was onboard (no pun) with the idea, but understandably nervous over the expense involved. I sold all of the eskates but one (kept the AWD full suspension board) and bought our Lift3 Cruiser 5’4” efoil in the late summer of 23. I taught myself to ride on that board pretty quickly and took it out often.
Heidi wasn’t very interested in giving it a go and though she was glad I was less likely to die riding, she wasn’t happy about the injuries I did sustain. I somehow broke the little toe on my right foot, and was hit by the wing on two separate falls causing some pretty ugly bruises. But considering that I was just learning, refusing to take it easy, and falling multiple times per ride, the injury to fall ratio was astoundingly low. I tried to keep the bumps low key, but it’s hard to hide a toe being taped up when you’re barefoot, and/or purple marks on your legs when you wear shorts 7 days per week. After a couple of session, the crashes became less frequent and less severe. Heidi was appreciative of this fact, but still skeptical of the endeavor as a whole.
Fast forward to mid summer of 24 and our annual family house boating trip on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. We do this every year (only skipping 2 years of the last 15) and it’s something we all look forward to. There are typically about a dozen of us there, but we have had twice that many. Last year was the first year an efoil was present for people to try. I was the only one who had ever been on one. During the five days on the lake, all but 1 person had given it a go and they all loved it. I finally got Heidi to try and she had a blast. Only a few tried to stand up with most just riding prone or on their knees doing touch and go maneuvers with short hops on the wing. It was such a hit, Heidi said “we need another foil” and started shopping before we got off the boat. We found our second board (a Lift2 Pro) in Austin and detoured In the RV to pick it up on the way home. Since then, my brother in law and my nephew both bought brand new Lift4 efoils, and Heidi and I replaced the Lift2 Pro deck with a Lift3 Pro deck. This year’s Cumberland trip will consist of a minimum of 3 efoils and possibly as many as 5!
Heidi wasn’t very interested in giving it a go and though she was glad I was less likely to die riding, she wasn’t happy about the injuries I did sustain. I somehow broke the little toe on my right foot, and was hit by the wing on two separate falls causing some pretty ugly bruises. But considering that I was just learning, refusing to take it easy, and falling multiple times per ride, the injury to fall ratio was astoundingly low. I tried to keep the bumps low key, but it’s hard to hide a toe being taped up when you’re barefoot, and/or purple marks on your legs when you wear shorts 7 days per week. After a couple of session, the crashes became less frequent and less severe. Heidi was appreciative of this fact, but still skeptical of the endeavor as a whole.
Fast forward to mid summer of 24 and our annual family house boating trip on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. We do this every year (only skipping 2 years of the last 15) and it’s something we all look forward to. There are typically about a dozen of us there, but we have had twice that many. Last year was the first year an efoil was present for people to try. I was the only one who had ever been on one. During the five days on the lake, all but 1 person had given it a go and they all loved it. I finally got Heidi to try and she had a blast. Only a few tried to stand up with most just riding prone or on their knees doing touch and go maneuvers with short hops on the wing. It was such a hit, Heidi said “we need another foil” and started shopping before we got off the boat. We found our second board (a Lift2 Pro) in Austin and detoured In the RV to pick it up on the way home. Since then, my brother in law and my nephew both bought brand new Lift4 efoils, and Heidi and I replaced the Lift2 Pro deck with a Lift3 Pro deck. This year’s Cumberland trip will consist of a minimum of 3 efoils and possibly as many as 5!