Barefoot Nautique - PJB Story

It was around 1991, and I was at a local pub in Fort Wayne after work one day in May.

My buddy told me that the bar owner had invited him up to his lake cottage on Crooked Lake, as they were getting it opened up after a long, snowy winter. I was friends with the husband-and-wife bar owners, and my friend asked me to come along too.

About an hour later, we arrived at the cottage, a cute older 2-story that sat at the top of a gradual hill that led to the pier on the water’s edge.

We drank beers and helped carry out the yard furniture, along with helping with the other chores that you do when opening up a cottage. After the work was done, we were hanging out on the dock when a new-looking ski boat pulled up. The owner was friends with the kids driving the boat, and they asked if they could get some bodies for the boat. They wanted to go wakeboarding and needed more weight in the back of the boat to generate a bigger wake.

I asked if I could go, and they liked the idea because I’m over 200 pounds. They said, “Sure, come on.”

I was still in work clothes, so I ran up the hill and grabbed the bathing suit I had brought along in case I went swimming. I bounced back down the hill, and prior to getting in the boat, I grabbed a handful of beers and put them in my shirt and cinched them up with one hand.

As I was boarding the boat, the beers spilled out of my shirt and landed inside the boat. Well, at least none on the water, I thought.

I got in and couldn’t help notice that the boat was brand new and also one I hadn’t seen before. It was a Barefoot Nautique. I asked the young guys in the boat, and they said that their Grandfather had something to do with Nautique, and it was one of the 1 st ones. Probably related to Dry Dock Marine was my guess.

Soo… With the fat guy in the back, ME, we set out, and the boys did some Wakeboarding. They had fun, and I hoped I had made the wake better for them. When they had finished, I asked. “So, this is a Barefoot Nautique. Would it be alright if I barefooted behind it?”

I could tell they were thinking, Sure, drunk fat guy, expecting me to try and immediately faceplant.

I found a ski in one of the side pockets of the boat and asked, “Okay if I use this for a drop ski?’

They said, "Sure.” I found a vest that fit, grabbed the ski, and hopped in the water.

I got up immediately. The Barefoot Nautique was a strong ski boat. I gave the thumbs-up, meaning floor it.

It was early Spring and Crooked Lake was totally calm, everywhere. Knowing they thought they were going to laugh at me, I decided to give it all I got.

After kicking off the ski and gauging the speed and power for tricks, I started having fun. I aggressively cut far out, far from the wake I was outside on, and faced back inward. I cut hard, gathered speed, and jumped the wake. I leaped high and stuck the landing. Loving the Barefoot Nautique, I went back and forth, jumping the wake a few more times.

After that, I started going back and forth on one foot, and then the other, and then held the rope with one foot. I was doing all my best stuff. Crooked Lake isn’t that big, so I had already lapped it once. I kept going, jumping the wake and holding the rope with my foot, and messing with the Wakeboarders. I could have barefooted for a half hour if I wanted to.

Eventually, I had nothing left to prove. I tossed the rope and glided into the calm water.

When I got back in the boat, their attitudes had changed, and they were raving about my barefooting. When they dropped me back off at the dock, they said, “You can come barefooting with us anytime.”

The Barefoot Nautique was amazing, and I loved the calm lake and the incredibly strong boat.

It was a great day and an even better barefooting day…