Spotted at the foot of the Ngong Hills. (photo by Kelvin Terry)

Kelvin Terry, the landscape architect who worked on Silverock Cove, sent an unusual photo from his trip to Nairobi, Kenya. From Kelvin:

There are 35 million people in Kenya and today while eating lunch at the Windsor Park Club in Nairobi a local Kenyan walked by sporting this Silverock Cove T-shirt! Can you believe it? I asked him where he got it and he replied a friend had given it to him. Cheers!

It’s a little more than 8,000 miles from Smith Lake to Kenya. Glad to hear that they are spreading the word about lakeside living in Alabama.

Thanks to Rebecca Hughes for sharing!

Catching big air makes wakeboarding appealing

Over the years, it seems like wakeboarding and wakesurfing have passed skiing in popularity, especially at Smith Lake. More and more teenagers and younger kids are taking up the wakeboard as it offers a variety of ways to get big air, jump off the wake, and generally have an experience that is more like skating and surfing on the water.

Coverage of events like the x-games have brought extreme sports into the national consciousness. Wakeboarding is a great way to experience Smith Lake, and it can be safe if you take care to follow basic boating safety.

Here are some tips for beginners:

• Optimum boat speed is around 16-23 mph. This should create a decent sized wake at a reasonable speed. Experienced riders can ride at about 18mph or more and use a shorter rope.
• The difference between a wakeboard and a wakesurf board are the footbindings on the wakeboard. Wakesurfing doesn’t have bindings and allow for a number of different moves. With practice, wakesurfers can drop the rope and surf off the wake.
• When you’re starting out in wakeboarding, learn the fundamentals first. Then you can move up to advanced tricks.
• Always wear a life jacket, no matter how good you are. It’s not only a good idea, it’s the law. And always observe proper boat safety.
• Always use a boat with an inboard motor.
• To get up on the board the first time–stay in a squat position as the boat revs up. Drag your knees to your chest and point the board at the boat. The resistance will shoot you out of the water. Hold onto the rope and stay relaxed in an athletic position.
• Once you’re up, try hitting the wake back and forth. Don’t be afraid to experiment with some turns and jumps. If you feel out of control, drop the rope.

Smith Lake is an ideal spot for wakeboarding. Have fun out there, be safe and take advantage of the last few weeks of the year to get out on the wakeboard.

Fall has arrived, and Silverock has never looked better. The construction of Phases I and II is complete, and the houses look great from the water’s edge. I really enjoyed a quiet walk around the rim of the lake. The colors of the fall foliage are really prefect this week, and the traffic on the lake has slowed from the summer rush.

All you need is a good book and a deck chair and you’re in business. (Need a recommendation? I just finished “The Accidental Billionaires”–which became the movie “The Social Network”–great book if you like what a mountain of money does to friendships. And I’m reading “The Nine”–the story of the Supreme Court justices and the machinations that have shaped the landmark cases over the past thirty years). And bring a sweater on your next trip, it’s getting chilly.

The big winner!

Thanks to everyone who submitted some excellent photos in our “Leisure on the Lake” photo contest. There were so many excellent entries–we had dogs, big fish, acrobatic tubing & wakeboaring and a lot of kids caught flying through the air.

Congratulations to Jennifer Morrissey-Patton, whose photo of a kiddo catching some big air above the Silverock pool got the most votes in the contest. Her family wins a catered dinner in their home from Chef U. And thanks to all the entries in the contest, Silverock Cove is donating $100 to the Black Warrior Riverkeeper.

Check the slideshow below for more great photos from the contest! And thanks for all the great entries–Be sure to save up your photos for our next contest!