Dawn patrol skiing

[PT Mike]

This seems to come up a lot in threads connected to skiing public water. Our home site is a saltwater tidal flat. 5'-6' of water @ high tide, all mud @ low. High tide changes by about an hour a day, w/ maybe a 2 hour window of ski time available depending on the tide. Dawn patrol ski rides w/ a 5 or 6am tide means leaving the dock @ 430am in the dark for the 2 mile ride to the course. So my question is do you train differently @ dawn than you would in the afternoon or evening? Very rare to I feel in the zone to go right up the rope to my hardest pass.

[Texas6]

I don't ski worth a crap if I don't have two cups of coffee in me. On my earliest days, I still wake up an hour ahead of time so I can get some coffee in me before I ski. After that, its as good or better than the afternoon. But that would mean 3:30 for you which is a bit much. Something else that helps me on early morning sets is to do some aerobic exercise prior to jumping in the boat. I'll just spend ten minutes doing pushups, pullups, jumping rope, whatever, just something to warm the body up a bit. Usually helps me when I'm a bit groggy

[gyoung]

Mike, how do your times go skiing through the course when the tide is coming in or out. If the course is fixed but the water is moving at 2or 3mph do you need to adjust the speed after one pass then coming back the other way. Hoping somone with more intelligence than me can explain how it would work. I am thinking about setting up a portable course in a tidal area as well.

[lpskier]

I strongly prefer to ski in the morning and I am usually the first in the water. I find the biggest difference between skiing before work and after work is that after work I still have work on the mind, and sometimes I will be thinking about work while I am skiing, not just in the boat. That usually doesn't happen in the morning. And that is why fishing is better at night. On the other hand, the biggest downside of skiing in the morning is that it is 8 A.M. and the best part of your day is already over.

[MattP]

@gyoung if you have a boat with ZO you will get perfect times and I assume PP with magnets would as well.

[RichardDoane]

has anyone used ZO on a moving river ?

[MattP]

@richarddoane I believe it does have a river mode. There is this tournament down in Australia next weekend called the Moomba Masters it is conducted on the Yarra river in Melbourne. Have you heard of it? I think it has been running for 50+ years and for many years now with ZO. It is know for having some crazy currents. I'm sure @jodyseal could tell us all about it.

[PT Mike]

@gyoung At our site whether the tide is coming in or out the water runs one direction. Bigger tides mean slightly faster currents for us. I ran PP classic for years with no issues. We would adjust skier weight to compensate for the current. Upgraded to SG 2 years ago and still don't have it dialed. The problem with surging is worse going against the current. The guys at PP said the current shouldn't be a factor but I'm not so sure. Still running PP classic but now w/ the multi line display we adjust RPM's to compensate for the current.

@lpskier Yeah John, the best part of the day is over but what a great start, no?

[gyoung]

@PT Mike, totally agree about dawn skiing, could`nt think of a better way to start the day. (except for one thing, but that doesnt happen much anymore). It does take a bit longer to warm up compared to skiing in the evening. I was free skiing on a tidal river the other day with about a 2mph current. Had perfect pass set at 34mph, skiing with the flow my airguide speedo was showing 32mph and skiing against the flow it was showing 36mph. Trying to work out how this would effect times through a fixed course.

[Horton]

@MattP do not be a smartass to @richarddoane that is my job.

[Horton]

I skied at dawn 4 days in a row this week. After a cup of coffee it is not bad. The first pass is rough then it is fine.

[Texas6]

That's exactly right Horton. It's as if your body hasn't quite woken up for that first pass, after that it's fantastic. Best way to start a day

[skidawg]

Of course Horton didn't have to rush off to work afterwards!

[Horton]

What is this work thing you speak of?

[MattP]

@Horton exactly. Posting from work again I see.

[GAJ0004]

I have only skied on a river once. It was in 1996 on the Cuyahoga River in Monroe Falls OH with Harry Stewart. This was before perfect pass. I could definitely feel the difference when I was skiing with the current and against it. It felt faster going into the current. I was skiing at 36MPH at the time. Slightly different than being on a lake. I have yet to ski on saltwater...

[PT Mike]

@GAJ0004 The invites always open, saltwater is very forgiving. If your ever in the NYC area hit me up. Bouyhead@gmail.com

[gyoung]

@PT Mike , agree on saltwater being more forgiving. Nothing like an early morning session on saltwater.

[GAJ0004]

@PT Mike, if you are ever near Pittsburgh or Erie PA or Cleveland OH look me up. The lake I ski on is halfway between Pittsburgh and Erie. garyjanzig@windstream.net

[GAJ0004]

I get up and try to be out on the water at sunrise on the weekends during the summer months. I prefer to ski on an empty stomach. I try to get out 10-15 minutes before the official sunrise time and have the first skier in the water at the official sunrise time so we can get in multiple sets of slalom skiing in, and some barefooting too. I keep a couple of hardboiled eggs in the fridge, and I will eat 1 or 2 to jumpstart my metabolism. I will eat breakfast when I am done slalomg skiing and barefooting in the morning. Because I work alternating saturdays I am able to get out on Mondays (alternating Tuesdays) and some Fridays. If I ski after work during the week it would be tricks and kneeboarding only. The lake is too busy to slalom.

I would think saltwater would be harder to ski on since I would think it would be faster than freshwater. I have not even gone swimming in saltwater..