The weekend was rapidly approaching (actually it was only Tuesday but felt like it had already been a long week) when I received an email inviting us to come wakeboarding . . . wakeboarding in Europe? I didn’t need to know how or where we were going wakeboarding (Luxembourg is landlocked) – it didnt matter ‘Hell Yea’ I replied. The idea of an entire day wakeboarding and waterskiing sent my week into a tailspin. It had been almost a year since stepping on a wakeboard, and now it was all I could think about. I had never even imagined that I would have the opportunity to wakeboard in Europe, but thanks to the Moselle river it was actually going to happen.
Finally the weekend arrived, Saturday morning and we went shopping for supplies – one thing I really like about Luxembourg is that EVERYTHING is closed on Sunday so you have to be organised. We needed the ingredients for a perfect day beer, bbq, sun, and water. (This combination can sometimes be difficult to find in Luxembourg). In anticipation and only partially due to the huge thunder and lighting storm and I even stayed at home on Saturday night in preperation for the next day. The day dawned and luckly there were no remnants of the storm the night before which had blown itself out. We filled the chilly bin and went in search of ice – incredibly they don’t use ice in Luxembourg, you put your food and drink in the chilly bin and they think that is enough, there still a few tricks we can teach Europe.
Weather aside we where picked up about midday and took the scenic route to arrive in a small village called Grevenmacher which is on the Moselle River, which is the border of Luxembourg and Germany.
This place was fantastic¸ the wakeboard club was a run down old wooden hut, with a wooden jetty and a serious ski boat that had a 280hp inboard engine – everything we needed. It was just like something you would see in the movies the guys greeted us in boardies, sipping a beer, the music pumping out of a stereo in the corner of the jetty and a rubbish bin full of empties that helped set the tone for the day. The atmosphere was chilled out and a lot of fun. I was envious, what a great lifestyle –these guys where the closest you would get to beach bums in Luxembourg. The guys made us feel right at home and took the time to help everyone learn and give wakeboarding their best attempt. It was a real party we had 20 friends with us and other strangers from the wakeboard club joining us throughout the day, they would take the opportunity to show us how it was done when there was a gap in the queue.
What was so amazing was that at times when wakeboarding we where only meters from the rivers edge, hanging out the side it felt like you could scrape your hands along the river bank. We passed cyclists and pubs along the waters edge, behind that was vine yards as far as the eye can see. The quote of the day had to be ‘I can’t believe we are wakeboarding in Luxembourg’ however what was even better was the fact we actually got to ski on the boarder of Germany and Luxembourg! Is that international waters? The Moselle is a fantastic place to water ski; high hills protect the water and ensure that even on a rough day the chop in nonexistent.
As the day continued the boat never stopped, there was a constant queue for the opportunity to ski or board. To stop people fainting with excitment we ‘sparked up the barbie’ and had cooked up the many sausages we had bought with us, this provided the strength for round two and again everyone charged into the water.
Weather aside we where picked up about midday and took the scenic route to arrive in a small village called Grevenmacher which is on the Moselle River, which is the border of Luxembourg and Germany.
This place was fantastic¸ the wakeboard club was a run down old wooden hut, with a wooden jetty and a serious ski boat that had a 280hp inboard engine – everything we needed. It was just like something you would see in the movies the guys greeted us in boardies, sipping a beer, the music pumping out of a stereo in the corner of the jetty and a rubbish bin full of empties that helped set the tone for the day. The atmosphere was chilled out and a lot of fun. I was envious, what a great lifestyle –these guys where the closest you would get to beach bums in Luxembourg. The guys made us feel right at home and took the time to help everyone learn and give wakeboarding their best attempt. It was a real party we had 20 friends with us and other strangers from the wakeboard club joining us throughout the day, they would take the opportunity to show us how it was done when there was a gap in the queue.
What was so amazing was that at times when wakeboarding we where only meters from the rivers edge, hanging out the side it felt like you could scrape your hands along the river bank. We passed cyclists and pubs along the waters edge, behind that was vine yards as far as the eye can see. The quote of the day had to be ‘I can’t believe we are wakeboarding in Luxembourg’ however what was even better was the fact we actually got to ski on the boarder of Germany and Luxembourg! Is that international waters? The Moselle is a fantastic place to water ski; high hills protect the water and ensure that even on a rough day the chop in nonexistent.As the day continued the boat never stopped, there was a constant queue for the opportunity to ski or board. To stop people fainting with excitment we ‘sparked up the barbie’ and had cooked up the many sausages we had bought with us, this provided the strength for round two and again everyone charged into the water. 
Slowly numbers started to dwindle and people disappeared in search of hot showers and warm beds, but not a hardy few – our driver who had driven the boat for us for about 5hours straight jumped onto a wake skate and then a wakeboard, the man turned into an animal, wake to wake on the wake skate and then laying down some huge tricks on the wakeboard, it was obvious he had done this before and loved it!We had our final runs as the sun was setting, a full and enjoyable day. By this point my sunburn was starting to tingle, I couldn’t lift my arms any more and my hands where shaking because of the adrenaline running through my veins. It didn’t matter, in fact I so content, it all just felt SO good. As I crawled into bed around 12oclock for the first time that day I remembered I had to be back at work tomorrow, that was going to be a long day . . . oh well it was worth every second.
As I crashed into a deep sleep my mind wandered, I didnt really know how to explain the dream I had that night but think this video clip sums it up well. This will be me one day when I am big and strong.
If your keen to give wakeboarding a try, you have to contact the team at Ski Nautique Grevenmacher, they are fantastic.
http://www.sng.lu
