Words: Louis Floyd Photos: Chris Garrison Location: Pasco County, FL Date: Friday, November 20th, 2020
Getting a little bored of the same old spots, wakefoiler Louis Floyd took up an invitation to head into the boondocks in the search for something new. Although the odds favored a failed trip, it turned out it was a chance well worth taking…
Do you ever get to that point in the season when you’re tired? When doing what you love becomes a little mundane? This is how I was feeling for a few weeks and I couldn’t shake it and – to be completely honest – I guess I can say that I am a bit spoiled because, living in Florida, you are blessed with endless waterways from the lakes to the beaches but sometimes it can become boring as it’s the norm for you.
This is when I put in a call to a long-time friend of mine, Chris Garrison. He’s been shooting action sports for longer than most and knows a few hidden gems here in Florida. A few years back, Chris spoke to me about a buddy of his that had been quarrying his land for quite some time and had built his own lake. We were always so busy with this and that, I never actually realized at the time that this guy has pretty much built his own private Caribbean island about an hour away from where I live!
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But, as always, great plans come with some issues. We had set everything up for Friday the following week; Our plan to go out there was set in motion, we got the ski prepped, boat on the trailer, made sure we had all of our gear ready only to wake up the morning of the trip and realize the weather had taken a turn overnight. We had calculated everything for our ride except what the wind was going to be like and the actual weather itself. I guess you can say we jumped the gun on this one because we were all so excited to try out something new.
Hoping that the weather may sort itself out by the time we got there was a chance we decided to take. It was a 50/50 shot, but Dylan and I came to the idea that whatever the weather was doing, we’d make it work. I believe that’s why we always ride so well together, because we just do it…
It had to have been the longest hour drive I have ever been on and I’ve been on some long road trips. Some of the roads we drove down had grass growing through the middle of them. I felt like I was back down some old farmers road in the south of England. We finally arrived where Chris told us to meet him and when Dylan and I pulled up to this cattle gate and looked around, the only phrase to describe what I felt on that first impression was ‘mind blown’.
So it turned out Chris’s friend had quarried limestone out of his land for what looked like longer than we had been alive! Chris had totally undersold to us how big this lake was, and it turns out that quarried limestone turns the water a magical blue color that can mentally transport you to the Bahamas or the Turks and Caicos. Crystal clear water, and we hadn’t even left Florida.
The weather cleared up whilst we were backing the boat down the ramp. After scoping the lake out and seeing what backdrops we could use, we found that the far side of the lake was the most sheltered and had the coolest backdrops with the heavy machinery used for working the land. It was an awesome ride though, tough at first to get adjusted because of how blue the water was and, especially since our thing is foiling, judging where you are on the water isn’t the easiest. But once you get the hang of it it’s quite exciting. The weather was surprisingly on our side the rest of the day, we had some heavy clouds that would pass through but that gave us time to check the photos and gave us a chance to hangout, eat a sub and just enjoy where we were.
Even though the morning had a little bit of a rough start to it the day turned around and we got some of the best light considering the weather predictions. We had loaded up and headed out around 7:30am that morning and I think I rolled up the drive in the dark around 9pm after a long and exhausting day. But a day that was well worth it.
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