Mark and Bree Neal are no strangers to the thrill of action sports and the excitement of being in the great outdoors.
Growing up, both competed at a very high level in motocross - a discipline of dirt biking - leaving them with a lasting love for adrenaline sports and having fun in nature. Today, however, the pair have traded in their motorcycles for a new kind of adrenaline sport: Becoming parents and raising two beautiful daughters: Collins (9) and Heidi (7).
Several years ago, the family found wakesurfing and quickly became so passionate about it that now the four spend most of their free time on nearby lakes. We sat down with Mark and Bree to talk about surfing as a family, wakeboating, and about how they use their Axis.
Between Two Texan Lakes
The Neals run a tree service in North Texas where they live directly between two big lakes - Grapevine Lake and Lewisville Lake. Consequently, the family is spoiled for choice when deciding where to go wakesurfing. "We're about ten minutes from each, so we use both lakes regularly," said Mark. "We've become quite nerdy in how we decide which lake to use on a given day. We watch the wind and which direction it's blowing and pick our lake based on that! On weekends, though, we tend to use the bigger lake to get away from the crowd and have smoother water, if possible."
Collins and Heidi are homeschooled, ensuring that the family can spend the maximum possible time together enjoying their 2023 Axis T250. Their boat - currently without a name - is the family's second Axis boat.
Buying Their First Boat
The couple bought their first wakeboat in 2020 after an experience on a friend's boat made the sheer fun offered by a wakeboat crystal clear to the family. "Our interest in wakesurfing began in 2019 when Collins, who was only five years old at the time, surfed with an adult behind our friend's boat. She loved the experience so much that she immediately demanded that we get into wakesurfing together as a family," said Mark, chuckling.
"We eventually saved up enough to buy one and at the end of 2020, we bought an Axis A22. Although we had boated a little before buying the A22, this was going to be our first wake boat ownership experience. We basically jumped head first into it and haven't really looked back!" he added.