Vintage Water Toys
Published: Tuesday, August 21, 2018
By: Captain Dennis J Mykols
Since the theme in this Summer Issue is about “Water Toys,” it made me think back on all the money I spent over the past 40+ years buying the latest “new thing” for me and my three boys to try out.
It started in the late ’70s when my three sons, ages 7 and the twins 4, were just learning to swim and trying new experiences behind the boat. I bought a pair of trainer water skis with a rope tied to the tips to aid them in getting up. It helped a lot to build their confidence.
However, the twins were still small and wanted something more stable, pulled by the boat, and simple to enjoy. I found a new toy on the market called a Zip Sled. This blue towable was just the answer, and they used the heck out of it for years. Last year, my son, David, found an old Zip Sled for sale and I gave it to my youngest granddaughter, Summer, for Christmas. I cannot wait to see her enjoying it like her dad did some 40 years ago.
As the kids got older and braver, the next new toy on the market was the first version of the Hydro Slide, around 1979. This early-to-market toy was made to cut over and jump wakes, unlike the Zip Sled, which was more for slower, straight line towing.
The first versions of the “Yellow Killer” as we called it, was nothing like today’s soft-contoured, padded, and finned-bottom models of today with their big, wide velour belts. Oh no — this one had a thin ½ inch flat piece of foam and a small, short belt that took half the lake to thread into the loop to hold the board to your thighs as you jumped the wake. And, until you learned how to land after a wake jump, you experienced a nose-first dive, complete with the water hitting you in the face and in your “privates area.”
My oldest granddaughter, Claire, likes using our original 40-year-old Hydro Slide to this day. While this board was designed to kneel on, Claire is so athletic, she uses the board as her “surfboard.”
The early 1980s found us purchasing the first versions of the old yellow plastic “towable tubes.” I use the plural word here because it seemed like we busted one at the seams every couple of weeks. While these first-version single-riders used too thin of plastic, my boys will tell you that the boat driver (me) knew how to make, and then take them over, the biggest waves, even on a calm day. There were many a time, after slamming into a wave, that they would be left hanging on to two handles and a limp yellow sheet of deflated plastic!
Today’s tubes are made to withstand the hardest poundings, even with three people on board, without busting. Believe me, I have tried over the past couple of years, to the point my two other granddaughters, Payton and Ava, hang on for dear life — but I still have a hard time even flipping them off the tube.
After 60 years of being towed and towing water toys, I still get the biggest thrill out of seeing smiling faces behind my boat. So, get out there and buy some water toys and put a smile on someone’s face. It may also put one on yours.
This article first appeared in the Summer Issue (Jul/Aug) 2018 of Great Lakes Scuttlebutt magazine.
tags: Lifestyle, Towables, Water Toys
