2016 season recap

Well we made it…Water Monkey Camp just wrapped up its fifth season of wakeboarding / waterskiing / wakesurfing / wake skating fun on the lake. While it has taken a lot of work behind the scenes to make it all happen, the credit goes to all of our loyal camper families for continuing to trust us to give your campers an amazing experience each summer. (At the bottom of this post are links to all of the 2016 pictures)

Year five was also the second year at our permanent property and we are really starting to get comfortable now. Seeing campers and staff take advantage of our epic location by playing Spikeball on the beach, having flipping contests off the dock, lounging in the hammock chill zone, or engaging in intense ultimate Frisbee matches on the field is just an added bonus beyond the time spent on our ridiculous boats.

Speaking of boats, the 2016 Mastercraft NXT22 was the perfect addition to our program. It is versatile and ideal for teaching and shredding! We told everyone this summer that we would be replacing the 2015 Axis A22 for next year but, by overwhelming popular demand, we will be running it for one more summer. It is just loved by so many of our staff and campers that there is no rush to get rid of it yet.

Now some fun 2016 stats!

• 103 campers over 7 weeks
• Each camper stayed an average of 1.5 weeks at camp (longest stay by any camper was 4 weeks)
• Average number of campers per week was 14.71
• Campers were 61% boys, 39% girls
• Average camper age was 13.9
• 33% of campers were returners, 67% were new (huge growth summer!)
• Campers came from 13 states (AS, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, MA, MD, NH, NJ, NY, OH, VA) as well as Canada, China, Dominican Republic, France, Hungary, and Turkey!
• 17,068 unique visitors to watermonkeycamp.com in the past 12 months
• 9,308 pictures uploaded for parents and campers to enjoy
• Average water temperature during camp was 76 degrees
• 4 broken screen doors (campers like to just walk right through)
• 1 black eye
• 608 homemade meatballs
• 1,200 water balloons for 1 brand new camp game – Monkey Ball
• 25 flotilla swim parties
• 250 hours on the Mastercraft and 230 hours on the Axis A22 (for a total of 430 in 2 seasons)
• 2,300 gallons of gas consumed on the lake producing roughly 20 metric tons of CO2 offset with a contribution to Cool Effect (cooleffect.org) Alto Mayo Conservation Initiative to protect land in Peru from deforestation. (We offset an additional 10 metric tons to cover camper transportation to/from camp.)

Next summer is a ways off still but it is not too early to start planning! Enrollment is officially open and some families have already reserved spaces for their campers.  As you start thinking about next year I hope that you will keep us in mind for a week or two of camp for your camper(s). Word of mouth is far and away our biggest recruiting tool so please help us fill our bunks and take advantage of our $300 referral bonus for each camper you send our way who enrolls for at least one week.

I hope you all have a terrific year until we see you again and feel free to e-mail, call, text, write, Skype, or visit any time!

Sincerely,

Evan

617-855-9253

evan@watermonkeycamp.com

Week 2     Week 3     Week 4     Week 5     Week 6     Week 7     Week 8

2015 season recap

The 2015 Water Monkey Camp season was super fun: below is a quick recap of what we got up to this year.

We were finally able to move to our new, permanent location and it blew away all of our expectations with campers and staff making the most of it each day.  The extra space, idyllic lakeside location, and upscale cottages gave everyone something (or many things) to be constantly smiling about...not to mention the two ridiculous wake boats on our private beach and dock with boards and gear for days!

(At the bottom of this post are links to all pictures from 2015)

Our pristine lake and gorgeous setting are part of what makes camp amazing so we do everything we can to keep camp 'green'.  This year we saved over 4,800 miles of driving and 300 gallons of fuel by moving to our new property and not driving back and forth to the lake each day.  Our boats still consumed 1675 gallons of gas over eight weeks which produced roughly 15 metric tons of CO2.  We offset that pollution by planting 200 trees through CarbonFund.org (50 extra to help cover camper travel to/from camp).  On top of that we also changed all of the lightbulbs on the new property to CFLs or LEDs, reducing approximately 80% of the power required to light the camp at night.

Many thanks to all of our campers and their families for coming to camp, to my all-star staff for working 24 hours a day to give our campers the time of their lives, and my friends and family for endless support and unpaid manual labor.

Here are some fun stats:

• 60% new campers, 40% returners (big growth year for us!)
• Campers came from 12 states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Vermont) as well as Canada, Colombia, France, Italy, Mexico, and Switzerland!
• Campers were 70% boys, 30% girls.
• Average camper age was 14.02702.
• Average number of campers per week was 11.02 (that means lots of boat time for each camper).
• 0 hospital visits!
• One (almost) runaway camp fire.
• Infinite jokes.
• 14,218 unique visitors to www.watermonkeycamp.com in the past 12 months.
• 3,195 meals served by our amazing and creative chef Jessica!
• Approximately 1,440 eggs cracked (give or take a dozen).
• 56 gallons of milk poured (give or take a few gallons).
• 205 hours of shredding on the Axis A22 and 135 hours on the Centurion!
• 35 group stretching sessions.
• 1 sighting of the Aurora Borealis.

Next summer is our 5 year anniversary and we are gearing up for our best and biggest season ever.  We just purchased a brand new, 2016 Mastercraft NXT 22 (http://www.mastercraft.com/boat/detail/nxt22) to go along with our 2015 Axis A22.  This boat has a mellow but crisp wake for wakeboarding and the Mastercraft Gen 2 Surf System for perfect waves.  I know that our campers will love this boat!  On top of that we just ordered a new quiver of wake surf boards from Phase 5 and a whole new line of 2016 wakeboards and bindings from Liquid Force.

Word of mouth referrals are our greatest recruiting tool so please spread the word to friends, family, coworkers, and strangers on the street who may enjoy our program!

Feel free to call or e-mail any time and when you are ready to book your week(s) for 2016 hit me up and I will get it sorted!

Sincerely,

Evan Goldner (owner/director)

617-855-WAKE (9253)

evan@watermonkeycamp.com

Links below to pictures from 2015!

Week 2   Week 3   Week 4   Week 5   Week 6   Week 7   Week 8

Water Monkey Camp has a new location (officially)

We are so excited to announce that Water Monkey Camp is moving to its new, permanent location directly on the shores of Merrymeeting Lake.  This property is the fulfillment of the Water Monkey Camp dream where we have a small, self-contained community of campers and staff pursuing their wakeboarding, waterskiing, wakesurfing, and wakeskating goals and ambitions. On the property we have:

• Five cottages with two or three bedrooms in each as well as a full bathroom.  Campers and staff will live in these cottages just a few steps from the lake.
• Clubhouse on the sandy beach for group use.  This is where camp will have meetings, cook-outs, watch movies, play games, and hold indoor instruction on white-boards and with digital video captured out on the lake.
• Large multi-purpose field where campers and staff will have fun when they are not actively out on the water.  Think pick-up games of ultimate frisbee, soccer, kickball, etc.
• Sandy beach and T-Dock on the lake where the two camp boats will be happily docked.  Campers and staff - under the supervision of lifeguards - will be able to swim, SUP, and enjoy the gorgeous New Hampshire summer from this amazing spot.

No matter how great the location, though, it is camp's top-notch staff and amazing campers that really make the experience.  Camp will still emphasize superior instruction using the best boats and equipment, gourmet, home-cooked meals, and a safe, constructive environment.  What Water Monkey Camp has done is embrace the best parts of traditional camps and apply them to a watersports-intensive program to create a unique place for boys and girls to thrive and have an awesome time.

As we get started working on the property this spring I will be sure to post pictures so you can share in our excitement and anticipation of this season at the new location.

-Evan

Glacier boogie boarding!

We stumbled upon this article about two dudes boogie boarding a glacial melt river! Glacial boogie boarding!

I have done something similar over in New Zealand called 'river sledging', where we were given a boogie board, flippers, and a helmet and set loose on class III and IV rapids in a narrow canyon.  It was exhilarating to say the least and I am sure it is even more intense on a glacier!

2014 season recap

The 2014 season of Water Monkey Camp is history and - with no hyperbole - could be described as epic.  Each year I leave camp thinking it was the best summer ever and the next summer just blows it out of the water.  Many thanks to all of the campers (and their parents), staff, and my friends and family for helping make it all possible. This year we had a 100% fresh staff which included all new instructors and a first time chef.  I was constantly impressed with the quality of work they all produced and the height to which they raised the bar for the Water Monkey Camp program and any camp that hopes to teach water sports.

2014 showed that we are certainly not lacking in top notch students to teach on the lake.  The guys and girls we have welcomed to camp have come from all over the U.S. and the world and each bring with them their own unique backgrounds, water sports abilities, and personalities but all share the same desire to have fun, learn, and make the most of their short time at camp.

Here is a breakdown of the 2014 season:

• We filled 68 out of 70 spaces this summer over seven weeks of camp
• Campers came from 12 states (California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas) as well as France and Canada
• The average age of our campers was 13.849
• Campers were 74% guys, 26% girls
• Peak sustained water temperature was in Week 7 at 81 degrees
• Lowest water temperature was in Week 1 at 74 degrees
• 10,828 unique visitors to www.watermonkeycamp.com in the past 12 months
• Served up 2,205 meals (and almost infinite snacks)
• Taught eight campers how to do back rolls or tantrums
• Racked up another 200 hours on the Centurion odometer to bring us to 500 hours of fun!
• Burnt through 940.28 gallons of gas producing 8.344 metric tons of CO2...offset by planting 150 trees through www.CarbonFund.org! (we planted an extra 60 trees to offset some of the camper travel to/from camp)

It is too early to tell what the 2015 season will be like for Water Monkey Camp.  We hope to move to our new property but are still facing a long process obtaining zoning approval.  Having turned away more than 60 campers this year we desperately need to increase our capacity in order to make Water Monkey Camp accessible to more kids.  To that end we are purchasing a second boat (we have narrowed down the new boat options to two companies) and already started recruiting additional coaches so that we will be able to instruct 20 campers per day for the length of the summer.  One thing we can guarantee is that camp will continue to deliver the same experience that our campers know and love.

Keep in touch throughout the year and we hope to see you back at camp in 2015!

Sincerely,

Evan Goldner

617-855-WAKE