bassfooter

Yah, eh? Take off.

@Nicad - Congratulations on the new boat. You're going to love that Barefoot 200. One of the ski clubs in San Diego runs MC outboards because they ski the Colorado River (shifting sandbars). With all due respect to @6balls, I don't think you need hydraulic steering, especially if you have the dual cable rack & pinion. I do agree with @6balls, however, that she seems to be low in back. If it's like the BF200 out here, it has a huge gas take - like, over 35 gallons. Not filling that tank past half-full will make the wakes much smaller. Have fun and be safe!

@BlueSki we use this method on our starting dock in San Diego's Mission Bay, and it keeps the seagulls, herons and pelicans off the dock. Prior to setting this up, we'd have some fairly disgusting messes to clean up first thing in the morning, especially in late autumn.

@keithh2oskier - I can't speak for the duck, but the skier was pretty amazed and fortunately not injured. She couldn't believe her luck. The duck was actually perched at the bottom of the ramp, and she figured it would fly away as they usually do. This one just sat there and at the last second flew up into her. The ironic part is that the jumper is a veterinarian.

We send a jumper out to get them. This is just a duck. You'd want to use a bigger skier for a goose.

@kpickett - Stargazer was installed on our '98 SN in 2011. I recently replaced the puck due to the kinds of symptoms you described. It started by occasionally taking a long time to lock on GPS, and over a period of several months just got worse and worse until it was working less than half the time. Mark at PerfectPass had me do a couple of checks, including bypassing Zbox by plugging the puck straight into the main controller. When nothing helped, he sent me a replacement puck, and now it locks up within a few seconds of starting the engine. I also recommend updating the firmware to Version 9.

@gregy me too. Widening the stance helped me control front foot pressure.

@Wtrskr495 Canyon Lake has a ski club with a couple tournaments coming up this fall. They have a fun and friendly crew that appreciates newcomers who help out - it's a great way to meet people and make some connections for rides. San Diego is a little further away, but the San Diego Waterski Team runs a Class F (for Fun) tournament every month through November. It's a laid-back and very friendly crew with many serious skiers competing against their own best scores. San Diego also has a very active college team scene. There's also the Wet Set Waterski Club based in the Inland Empire, Carlsbad Lagoon in North County San Diego and San Vicente Reservoir east of San Diego. PM me if you want more info. Glad to help!

I go with A1 because @eleeski recommended I use C3.

Here's my '77 X2 clearly marked with Hart on the tail. @Skierfam4 I wouldn't dare try this thing these days - probably snap in two.

As with anything, follow the money. Fishing licenses are a huge source of income for the Michigan DNR. One fisherman is all it takes to be visited by the local Conservation Officer. When I got a permit for Gun Lake back in 1976 (holy crap I'm old), it was the same thing - daylight hours, orange-on-white corner markers, etc., but we kept it low-key and just kept it in during the week. Then one fisherman complained and they started enforcing the rules. This same guy would anchor right in the middle of the course when we were using it legally, and our complaints fell on deaf ears - there was nothing we could do. Turns out he was a real nice guy, he just liked his fishing spot. He didn't even live on the lake. As @GWaterski described, things got better in the Eighties, but by then I had moved to the west coast and only visited Gun Lake for a couple weeks each August. Really sorry to hear it's getting worse.

@keithh2oskier - keep in mind the big thing is that she's a safe driver. Beyond that, if you can arrange it, ride while she pulls a friend and see how she does. Or have a knowledgeable friend ride along while she pulls you, and report their observations. Sounds underhanded, but it's a way of making sure she's not learning bad habits. How's that for spin? Either way leaves you with the delicate task of pointing out shortcomings, if there are any. I am EXTREMELY lucky in that my wife not only drives, she's really good at it. @eleeski sounds like you might have been traumatized.

Thanks, guys. Killer ideas. Big +1 to @eleeski for pointing out that the idea is not to hurt anyone, because he's absolutely correct.

Great suggestions, thanks! I love this site. @dbutcher - moving it to the shoreline won't work, unfortunately. We're in a public park and it would be way too easy to access. I like the ideas of a barrier mounted on the front of the ramp that can be easily lowered or removed. It can't be too complicated - we are talking about water skiers here...jumpers, no less! The only other concern I have is leaving the lower part of the ramp open to someone taking a jump off the side.

Hi Ballers - We just set up a ramp in a public area, and we're looking for ideas on how to prevent people from using it who are not vetted by one of the local clubs. We also need to keep jetskiers from using it. Probably something that's locked to the jump surface and visible at a distance. Ideally, it would be lockable, easy to remove and replace, and easy to keep out of the way during jump sessions. Also -- and don't kill me for asking, please -- will it damage the ramp if wakeboarders use it? It's a glassed plywood surface.

Right on @eleeski! Many thanks and a huge shout-out to Ashleigh Wallace, as well. It was her vision to have 3-Event water skiing back in Mission Bay. @Edbrazil thanks for the history. I've heard there's been skiing there going back to the 60s. There are still spots available for the Class C tournament June 17th and 18th -- the first 3 Event tournament there in many years. I'll share some photos in the next day or so. We just mounted the side curtains and got the jump positioned this evening.

Here's a promo rig. Sorry if you've seen it already...

@eleeski - please define "properly stored".

@eleeski - Great story well told. I thought about you with all this snow, and I wondered how this monster winter was going to affect your recovery. Now I know. Poor Ben! Please be careful - a couple of us need your coaching when things get a little warmer. And drier.

@Teddy - As @eleeski and @"Pat M" mentioned, there are a bunch of us running everything from '84 MCs up through newer 200s and Malibus in San Diego's Mission Bay. Preventative maintenance makes saltwater a no-brainer. Plan on replacing the exhaust manifolds and risers every 200 - 300 hours because a leak there can kill your engine. Otherwise, a dry bilge (i.e., no-drip packing), flushing the engine with Salt-Away, and rinsing down the trailer is all that's needed. We also try to minimize wet bodies and equipment in the boat, which is really easy to do with a starting dock. I spray plenty of Corrosion Block or the equivalent all over the engine, mounts, etc. in the bilge. Trailer brakes and trailer lights probably take the biggest hit - no matter how much you rinse, you're on borrowed time it seems.

@Horton @Gloersen Would a higher elevation make the engine spike higher than usual? I think this site sits fairly high (Salt Lake airport is just over 4,000').

Don't worry @NorthIdahoLPO - X7s show up on SIA occasionally, but they seem to go fast. My X7 sold within a day or two of posting, and I recall that I had it priced on the high side in anticipation of price negotiations that never happened.

@Gloersen I agree with @eleeski that the accelerometers are active in trick mode. @eleeski loads up the line and the throttle responds. Not a lot, but you can hear it. He loves it, and was too polite to complain when I gave him a crappy ride behind our SN with Stargazer, aka "Starguesser".

@ZipZapPaddyWhack @eleeski says to use either A1 or C3 because "...B2 doesn't do anything well". I've been waiting for his hip to heal before giving him a hard time, but by now he's probably checking out the fresh snow and not paying any attention to us anyway.

@Skoot1123 I struggle with these same two issues, and I think both handle control and weight on the front foot are things you have to practice — neither one “just happens”. As an added bonus, I have a bad habit of grabbing the handle too soon rather than letting the ski come around. One thing that helped my handle control was to imagine pinning my trailing arm to my vest (left arm into one ball) and keeping both hands on that handle all the way out to pretty much the buoy line, give or take depending on line length. The second thing that helped me was to consciously get up on that front foot. This is what @Horton said could be done right at the pullout for the gates. If I fail to do either one of these, it’s usually a quick trip on a flat ski right to the ball. If I get it right, I get a nice, early edge change, a nice reach, and, if I stay off the handle as long as possible, the ski comes around and I hook up smoothly in a powerful, stacked position. I agree with working on these things at 32 mph (i.e., slower than your normal course speed), because it really does seem to give you more time to think ahead.