Ideas For A Portable Wakeboard Rail Or Box

[Kingfish]

I'm thinking of a rail for the lake next summer and I'd like something I could put out for the few hours it will get used each day and then pull to shore afterwards. I don't want to leave it out as I'm worried about liability issues. It needs to be portable, easy to set up, somewhat stable when anchored. My son was at a competition a few years back and they had an inflatable rail, not the best as it bounced a little with the waves, it was about 12 - 15 feet long. I've down some internet searching and cannot seem to find a supplier site. Anybody else doing/using something like this? If not then what have you built, any photos would be appreciated. I had thought of using a raft/floating dock type of design instead of purchasing one.

[CumminsBu]

4" to 6" PVC pipe attached to tow-able tubes or dock floats is all I can think of.

[corey]

We built a slider on top of an old Canoe, it worked really well. Basically we decked off the entire top so as not to fall into the canoe and then built the braces to hold the PVC right on top of that. Total lenght was about 17' or so which seemed long until you started sliding it, then it seemed pretty short but still a ton of fun and easy to anchor and tow.

[Kingfish]

Thanks for the replies.

I agree that 17 feet is short once you ride it but better than nothing. How did you keep the canoe from bobbing around. It would be nice if we had a cable park at this end of the world. I'm gonna keep thinking on this one over the winter.

[pamtar]

The best floatable rails I've seen use 'floating dock type' flotation devices. Basically its the square, plastic stuff you see keeping piers afloat. Don't use barrels as they tend to leak.

You need to decide what type of rail you want. I'd recommend an 'up to flat' - basically a ride up transition to a flat rail at your desired legnth (~30 ft is good for starters). Width of the 'flat' becomes a factor based on the width of your flotation. Usually a wooden frame is constructed around the floats with the sliding surface screwed to it. I recommend Trex for the sliding surface. Its kinda expensive but it slides great. You can find it at Lowes, Home Depot, etc.

You could also check out OWC's website for ideas as most of their rails are floating. Hope that helps! Have fun!

[Kingfish]

Found this today searching for inflatable sliders.

"It took RAVE Sports ingenuity to marry the concept of inflatable platforms with wakeboard sliders to create a versatile and safe slider that is fun to use and easy to install.

The new RAVE Rainbow Slider line is constructed of UV treated 28 oz. 1000-denier PVC fabric. Seams are heat welded and doubled at stress points for maximum durability even under continuous daily use

The new RAVE Rainbow Slider is available in 50', 40' and 30' sizes. RAVE also offers a Table Top and Ramp Slider that may be used alone or combination to create a custom slider experience. Prices range from $1299 to $1899."

[bass10a]

rave stopped making these sliders years ago unless they started again. i found a guy in la, im from the bay area, who had a ramp slider on craigslist for 700 bucks and drove all the way down there to get it after contacting rave and trying to bribe them to make me a new one. i like the ramp its 30 ft long, but its really hard to anchor down and takes alot of work to set up and break down. we have a houseboat otherwise it would be more trouble than its worth to bring out for just a day trip. i would love to buy the long ranbow slider if anyone can find one though.

[Kingfish]

Thats too bad about Rave, thanks for the heads up. I think my son and his buddies may have to do without. Post a picture sometime of the ramp slider.

[Liquidmx]

You get floating rails to not bob with weight...lots of weight. First you get them to float nice and high, then you throw sand or something on them to add some weight pushing down and keep them stable. This is how OWC's are setup.