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Waunakee School District,
ank you for your time.

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>> Thank you, thank you.
Appreciate it.

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>> Labor day marks the
unofficial end to the 2025

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boating season in Wisconsin.
But what isn't ending is

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the controversy over
whether wake surfing and

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wake boats should be
allowed on some lakes.

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Tonight, Murv Seymour tells
us why this battle is

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likely to carry over into
next season.

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>> Rain or shine, big and
small Wisconsin lakes are a

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state and national treasure.
>> It's a critical resource

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to the state of Wisconsin.
>> Especially during summer.

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>> When I came up here, I
fell in love with the place.

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>> This place Jeff
Meessmann speaks of is

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Natural Lakes, a 380 home
lake community in the

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Northwoods of Vilas County.
>> It has one of the

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highest concentrations of
freshwater lakes in the

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world.
one

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of them, 220 acre
McCullough Lake in Presque

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Isle, where street names
reflect some of the rich

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wildlife seen along these
winding rural roads.

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>> We see bear here. We see
wolves here. Coyotes.

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>> Jeff Meessmann loves
McCullough Lake and the

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lakes of Wisconsin. It's
why he moved here.

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>> We're an advocate for
the protection of our lakes.

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>> Guided by his boat with
a bucket of gadgets.

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>> Normally, what we do is
we take samples in the deep

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hole.
ad

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300ft from shore to the
deepest part of McCullough

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Lake.
hor

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in, and we should be about
26ft.

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oes
on three other lakes, he

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voluntarily grabs water
samples on behalf of the

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Department of Natural
Resources. He tells me the

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lake data dates back more
than 20 years.

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>> So I'm going to be
recording the temperature.

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>> He checks the
temperature in depth of the

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water.
e top

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of the surface of the water,
all the way down to 15ft

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was very consistent.
>> He also checks water

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clarity with this Black and
white patterned tool called

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a Secchi disk.
>> So I'm going to pull it

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up to where I can just see
it, which is right there.

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>> Finally, using a six
foot pole made of PVC, he

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lls a water sample from
six feet under. It's then

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sent to the DNR for testing.
While you'll see loons,

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bald eagles and massive
fish on McCullough Lake.

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One thing you won't see is
wake surfers and most

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likely wake boats.
>> They're wrecking our

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lakes and wake surfing
needs to be regulated to

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the proper size lake.
>> Jeff Meessmann and other

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like minded lake stewards
believe wakesurfing wrecks.

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Water quality produces too
big of a wake, and they

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believe the boats destroy
the bottom of smaller lakes

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and erodes shorelines. Most
importantly to Jeff, he

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believes wake boats
increase the risks and

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spread of invasive species
from lake to lake.

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Meessmann has led the way,
banning wake surfing on

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McCullough and more than 60
other lake communities

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statewide.
>> It's going to stop a lot

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of paddlers and kayakers
and just people on on

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pleasure cruises, on
pontoon boats from enjoying

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the lakes. We saw one wake
boat on our lake four years

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ago, and I took it into
action right away and we

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stopped it. Now, Presque
Isle for the last year has

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had an ordinance in place
and it doesn't ban wake

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boats. It bans the activity
of wake surfing.

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>> 240 miles away in
southern Wisconsin, you'll

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find Redline Watersports
Redline Watersports.

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is Mars.
>> And a totally different

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opinion.
of the

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story.
>> When you step into

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redline. Owner Paul
Virtucci says.

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g to get
slapped in the face with

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the active water sports
lifestyle. We've got gear,

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water, skis, wakeboards. We
also saw pontoons.

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>> More importantly than
all of that, Paul Virtucci

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tells me he sells bringing
families together through

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water sports. Inside his
office, he has family

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pictures in the window, on
the wall, on his desk. He

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even has a family picture
stuck to his computer. But

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for him, one particular
picture says it all.

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>> I think I was probably 3
or 4 years old as my father

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and I. It was the first
family boat. It's been in

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my blood ever since.
>> Like Jeff Meessmann Paul

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Virtucci loves Wisconsin
s and fun on the water.

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>> It's what my family did
growing up. God gave us

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these beautiful lakes, and
if we don't enjoy them,

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it's our fault. And if we
don't take care of them,

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it's our fault.
t the Marshall

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Park boat launch in
Middleton. Once he arrives

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in the desired spot with a
couple of touches to the

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screen, this high powered
boat transforms itself,

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sucking in as much as 3,300
pounds of lake water into

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its ballast system.
>> Ready now. Here we go.

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For the sport of
wakeboarding, we just.

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>> Use the center plate.
And that kind of helps us

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get up on top of the water
with.

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oes.
Three generations of

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watersports enthusiasts on
this afternoon run on Lake

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Mendota.
>> Johnny Z. Over here. Mid

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30 seconds. Outstanding
athlete.

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ld Kyle
Polster, who has been on

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the water with family for a
long time.

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s like
six months old, I've been

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out on the water. I learned
to ski when I was 2 or 3.

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>> And then Joe D'Amato,
who is on the other end of

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things.
>> Actually started a

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little later in life on the
water sports.

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>> To be able to do this
well into your 60s and 70s.

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>> One by one they ski
water board and wakesurf,

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which requires the boat to
produce the largest wake

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artificially.
>> So right now, through

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all the engineering, we've
just created this beautiful

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wake from the running
surface of the boat and the

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devices, and we're going
t 11.3, 11.3 miles an

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hour and just cruising down
a lake.

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glide
on water?

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y freedom.
Hopefully, the camera

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picked up the big smile on
my face and I wanted to

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shout out, to be honest
with you, but it just felt

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so good for my age at 67.
It's just it's just a great

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sport.
>> Unlike Jeff Meessmann,

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Paul Virtucci and his crew
believe banning work

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surfing wrongfully punishes
families because of a few

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bad boaters.
>> It's so easy just to say

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that's bad, that's bad
without really getting all

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the facts and understanding
who you're affecting.

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>> It was more the fact
that it was something that

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we could all do. I want to
have the opportunity to do

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this my whole life, and I
want to be able to have my

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grandkids or great
grandkids out on the water.

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It hurts.
>> The access for people

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who might own a house there,
or that's where they grew

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up vacationing, or it's the
closest lake that they have

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available to them.
>> While most only see the

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beauty in the surface of
the lake, Jeff Meessmann

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cares about what's
happening all the way to

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the bottom, which is why he
worries about the potential

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damage wake boats can do.
Both sides believe it's

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time for state lawmakers or
the Department of Natural

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Resources to step in to
create a statewide standard

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on where wake surfing is
allowed. Paul Virtucci

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believes 200 to 250ft from
shore, in a minimum of 20ft

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of water, is far and deep
enough to protect the

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environment and others on
the water. Jeff Meessmann

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wants three times that
distance in a minimum of

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30ft of water, on lakes,
1500 acres and larger. In a

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written statement, the DNR
tells me the department is

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actively reviewing the
latest science and will

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continue to review and
consider any new

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information. They recommend
that all interested

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stakeholders keep up with
upcoming meetings of the

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Natural Resources Board for
future updates. Back on the

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water. Both sides believe
they're scientists and not

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the others.
>> Wake surfing is

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scientifically proven to
damage the bottom to beyond

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20ft deep damage the
shorelines make the lake

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dangerous for everyone else
to use.

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om I've
spoken with, all are under

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the same belief that if we
operate these boats in a

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little deeper water, we're
fine. Every boat that runs

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around the lake is going to
create a wake, and it's

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going to disturb the lake
and make it rougher.

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>> The battle over wake
boats and wake surfing

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reminds Paul Virtucci of
another battle on the water.

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He thinks both sides can
find a compromise if they

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simply talk and not go off
the deep end with each

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other.
, Jet

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Skis came out, and one of
the big issues with them is

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that they didn't have good
muffler systems on, so they

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were very.
>> Rah rah rah rah. You can

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hear them.
the lake.

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>> I'm a fisherman, I water
ski, I enjoy all the water

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sports. I'm not. After
trying to stop somebody

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from fishing or enjoying
the activities, the only

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activity that I don't agree
with is wake surfing.

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>> Which represents family
and community to so many of

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those who do it.
>> I don't know if I'd come

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out on the water if I
wasn't able to wake, surf

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and wakeboard.
and wakeboard.