It’s the last real month before the water begins to cool off significantly, and the neoprene wetsuits are dug back out of the closet. It’s a few months before daylight savings time wrecks the schedule for an after work ride. The up side is that there are far less “participants” out on the lake during the week, and even on the weekends. College football starts and for most Alabamians it takes precedent over time on the water. Not for all of us though, personally it’s my favorite time of the year, it’s warm in and out of the water…. the weekend warriors leave us alone. We are not being circled by tubers trying to flip their kids over our wakes. Admittedly, I have a love/hate feeling about this time of year. Fall is a wonderful time, the colors in the trees, the temps outside are great, the water is cool and refreshing… BUT, it’s knowing that there is a very limited time and winter is coming. I try to enjoy the september water without thinking about the coming frigid winter months.
Season ender sales… they are on! Great time to pick up something that you need if your gear is worn or you’ve just decided to get something new. A high percentage of product gets a nice graphic change for next season and the actual board or binding stays exactly the same internally. It’s a great time to get loaded up for Christmas or birthdays and save some cashola. Now, as easy as it is to click a few buttons and shop online, I have to recommend you shop locally. There are marinas all over the lake with the same products you can buy and are happy to compete with the online stores pricing. Your local shops can probably save you some shipping dollars AND if and when something happens to it you can bring it back for repair or warranty.
Surf Expo is this month in Orlando. The new goodies are put on display we’ve been hearing about and some we haven’t which is such a treat. Surf Expo is produced in January and September in Orlando, Florida and draws buyers from specialty stores across the U.S., the Caribbean, Central and South America. The show features approximately 2,600 booths of apparel and hardgoods and a full line-up of special events, and fashion shows. The turnout exceeds 26,000 attendees including retailers, exhibitors and media per show. Now for the ones of us that get out behind the boat we have: surf (both wake and ocean) which is blowing up the wakeshops shelves as the fastest growing sport in the industry; SUP -which is now a HUGE part of the lake and we even have SUP races now; skateboard everything for the days you can’t get on the water; and one of my favorite parts… the tech goodies like new GoPros etc.. Now for the non-wake oriented people that own shops and boutiques you have tons of apparel shows and items to check out to fill the shelves and racks in a store. Surf Expo Tradeshow Sept 4-6 Thur & Fri: 9 am – 6 pm Saturday: 9 am – 4 pm The surf expo board demo day is at OWC (Orlando Watersports Complex) on Sept 3 from 12-5:00pm. You can get tons of information and register to go at www.surfexpo.com.
Enjoy the last bit of warm water while you can,
Sawyer-