Casandra Baker and her husband, Russell, bought a home as a young couple that was a little beyond their means, she says today. But it was the water in Windsor’s Water Valley that hooked them.

The two spent their childhoods fishing and boating—Casandra in Kentucky, Russell in Colorado—and the two couldn’t resist the easy access to water sports. Slowly but surely, they expanded their boating fleet.

Their neighbors took notice. Water Valley is, after all, a community built around water, and they started asking to borrow the Bakers’ boats.

Now the couple has a rental company they call Why Knot Boat Rentals. They might create a website this year, rather than relying on their Facebook page, because it’s gotten so popular. They have jet skis and pontoon boats, but their most popular boat is their double decker pontoon. It’s fun for groups and families, and the boat has a slide, a favorite of their three kids, ages 3, 5 and 7. They will even provide water skis and tubes and bring the boat to where you want to use it.

Renting from places like Why Knot is a good place to start in boating, and it remains a relatively affordable option for those who want to enjoy the water but can’t buy a boat. Here are some of the most popular ways to have fun on the water this summer.

Photo by Drew Dau, Unsplash

Boating

Jared Jensen begins any meeting with a potential customer with a question: What do you want to do on the water?

Jensen, the operations manager for Island Lake Marine & Sports in Fort Collins, says his first question used to be about the size of the boat they were looking for. Now many customers don’t know what kind of boat they want, but they have a decent idea of what they want to do with one.

“We try to reconcile their idea of boating,” Jensen says, “with the reality of boating.”

There are boats designed for fishing, sport boats for wakeboarding, tubing and zooming around the lake and boats for a laid-back cruise with coworkers, friends and family. None of them are cheap, but like with cars, it all depends on how much you want to spend.

Island Lake Marine sells new and used boats and offers a rental program, an option that other boat dealers typically offer, as well as boat repairs. They will do trade-ins as well. Used boats are cheaper and a good way to get into the market.

One of the running jokes about boats is that they, like sports cars, look really good in your garage (because they never work—get it?). But Jensen says that’s not as true these days.

“The older boats, there were a million different ways they were built in the ’80s and ’90s,” he says. “Now they are streamlined and not so all over the place.”

A reason for the joke is that owners weren’t as good about maintaining them as their cars, but taking care of boats has become easier.

“If you take care of your equipment,” Jensen says, “it will last a long time.”

Photo courtesy of Why Knot Boat Rentals.

Water sports

Personal watercraft—what many refer to as jet skis—are thought of as the motorcycles of the water world. But Jason Jones, sales manager at Northern Colorado Powersports of Fort Collins, sees them a little differently.

“It gives people an opportunity to get on the water,” he says.

Jet skis can cost less than $10,000, and many models can do a lot of the things a boat can do, except pile your friends onboard, he says. Prices vary based on the model.

“The more money you pay, the faster you can go,” Jones says. “The more affordable ones aren’t quite as powerful or as fast.”

Still, even the more affordable jet ski models are bigger now and can do more things, such as tow a tube or even a wakeboard. They probably aren’t as good at that as the bigger boats, Jones admits, “but if you’re just getting into that, they’re a much more affordable way to do it.”

Jet skis and boats are different, just like motorcycles and cars, and dealers don’t always sell both. Northern Colorado Powersports focuses on jet skis, for instance, and Island Lake Marine only sells boats. There are other places that will rent you jet skis for a day.

Wakeboarding has become one of the more popular water sports over the last decade. USA Water Ski & Wake Sports, an organization that promotes water sports, calls it the fastest-growing water sport in the world. It likely started when surfers began using jet ski operators to tow them into and out of the biggest waves in the world. The sport mimics surfing, except wakeboarders ride the waves created by the boats.

“I taught my kids when they were really young,” Jones says. “It’s a pretty simple thing to learn.”

Wakeboarding has usurped water skiing in popularity, he says, although he’s seen more people skiing lately. He believes it’s popular on Lake Loveland, a private lake with slalom courses, and there are people who still do it on Horsetooth Reservoir and Carter Lake. But it’s not as popular as it was in the ’70s and ’80s. The Sports and Industry Association estimates that three million people participate in water skiing every year, a decent amount but less than half of the sport’s peak numbers.

Tubing remains a popular, affordable way to have fun on the water, and tubes can be towed by boats or larger jet skis. Even those who don’t own boats buy their own tubes, as they can use them on others’ boats or float trips.

Photo courtesy of Carter Lake Sailing Club.

Sailing

The Carter Lake Sailing Club wants to spread the word that sailing can be for anyone, not just fans of Christopher Cross.

Many members own a sailboat, though the club also offers memberships for those who want to sail but don’t own a boat, says Mike Gurley, membership chairman of the organization, who has been a member for nearly 35 years and has sailed for 40.

Sailing isn’t nearly as casual as boating. You might compare it to skiing as opposed to riding in the front seat of a Sno-Cat, Gurley says.

“Many people say you’re just being pushed around by the wind, but it takes some work,” he says. “It’s, ‘How do I get from here to there?’”

There is a sailing school at Carter Lake, and Gurley is an instructor there.

“It’s not all that difficult once you get the hang of it,” he says.

The club hosts and participates in races, though that’s not a requirement to be a member. Some members love the competition. Racing is the true test of a sailor’s skills, Gurley says.

“There’s a ton of stuff you have to learn to race,” he says. “But a couple years of racing makes you a much better sailor.”

Gliding across a lake without a motor is what hooked Gurley in the first place. He loved to fish and owned a motorboat until he went sailing with a friend.

“I sold my motorboat the next year,” he says.

Most members of the club, however, enjoy the type of sailing described in “Sailing,” Cross’ yacht rock anthem.

“Some sit on their boats and have drinks with those on the boats just over,” Gurley says. “People have made lifelong friends. It’s a very relaxing thing, turning off that motor and just letting the wind drive you.”