Rippin’ it up on the river
Water sports enthusiast lets you try wakesurfing for free
Matt Broley is taking people wakesurfing on the three rivers this summer for free — no strings attached.
There is a rope with a handle that you hold as he pulls you behind a 23-foot-long, strikingly yellow and black MasterCraft XT23, a boat made for tow sports such as this and water skiing and tubing. The Jefferson Hills man has borrowed the customized boat from Deep Creek MasterCrafts & Sports in Deep Creek, Md., whose owners are joining him in the international “Pass the Handle” push to turn on people to wakesurfing.
The 31-year-old Mr. Broley, who works in computer security, was growing up in Orlando, Fla., when someone gave him a chance to try it, and he was hooked. That happened again in Pittsburgh, which is how he met Duff Cooper, a fellow wakesurfing and wakeboarding enthusiast who is helping him with this outreach.
Through a page on eventbrite.com, Mr. Broley is taking reservations for Fridays and Saturdays through September. He and Mr. Cooper will take out up to five people per session for about two hours and give them a taste of wakesurfing and the more
extreme wakeboarding, in which the rider’s feet are affixed to the board in boots a la snowboarding.
“This boat has one purpose,” Mr. Broley pronounced as he eased it away from the dock at Southside Riverfront Park, “which is to throw MASSIVE wakes and waves.” If they hit the wave just right, experienced wakesurfers can let go of the handle and keep up with the boat. If they don’t, well, they face-plant in chilly brown Monongahela River water, and the boat circles back for them to try again.
Both things happened on a Friday night earlier this month when the first-timers included Mr. Broley’s “favorite cousin,” Maura Rusch of Plum, her boyfriend, Jay Shadron, and their friend, Dennis Hutchinson. They wore swimsuits and brought towels and signed waivers. Mr. Broley provided an assortment of boards and life jackets and spirited coaching as he either stood aft and guided the rope or piloted the boat.
“That is AWESOME!” he yelled from the helm once Mr. Hutchinson got the hang of it. “That’s what we like to see!”
The buff Mr. Duff gave a demo of wakeboarding, which is done at a faster speed and on a longer line. “Because it’s rough, I’m going to go 60 [feet],” he said. “So I don’t die.”
But the 41-year-old didn’t look as rusty as he let on, doing several flips as he dolphined over the churning wake behind the brawny boat, which was zooming along at 20 miles per hour, blaring reggae music and drawing stares from others on the river and shore. Just as they’d planned it.
“We’re trying to bring awareness to water sports,” says Mr. Broley, who says he’s not trying to sell the $125,000 boat. (He directs those inquiries to boat dealers Todd and Jenn Pratt.) “I do this just to put smiles on people’s faces.” And he certainly did that.
But he wouldn’t mind if doing what he loves to do morphed into a job as, say, brand ambassador, which has happened elsewhere. Mrs. Pratt says they found the right guy to share a love for water sports.
“Oh my gosh, he’s awesome!” she says. “His passion for it bubbles over.”
Pass the Handle Pittsburgh plans to add trips at Deep Creek Lake, too. For more information and to reserve a spot, visit www.eventbrite.com/e/ pass-the-handle-pittsburghfreeYou can also find “PasstheHandle Pittsburgh” on Facebook.