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@Than_Bogan - Go for one of the baggy drysuits and wear a layer of synthetic "long underwear" next to your skin under a layer of synthetic fleece. Look at any outdoor outfitters online for capilene or polypropylene long underwear and polartec 100, 200, 300 fleece. Avoid cotton. Synthetic layers will continue to keep you warm if water does get into the suit (and it likely will). You can add and subtract layers under the drysuit for various temperatures. A system like this traps air for insulation and wicks moisture away from your skin. It's basically a snow skiing outfit with a drysuit instead of an outer parka. Also, wear a neoprene hood or headband. Your head loses heat very fast, and a hood also helps reduce "ice cream headaches". Now if I could just figure out how to keep the hands warm...

Masterline took care of me with a very short lead-time handle order earlier this summer, engraved and everything. They'll continue to get my business. Never dealt with US Gear, and I suspect I never will.

In a '98 Nautique, the pushbutton switches on the dash are circuit breakers, which take the place of fuses. The don't "blow", they "trip". When tripped, they stick out further than the other switches, and they only need to be pushed back in to be reset. Check the switches you use to turn on your shower and heater and see if they're "tripped". If they are, push them back in, and see if the accessories work. Keep in mind that a tripped circuit breaker (or blown fuse) is a symptom of another problem -- temporary or otherwise -- and if that problem still exists, the breaker is going to trip again. If this keeps happening, you have other problems that will require more specific troubleshooting. Check it out and let us know -- I am happy to help as best I can.

Deepwater starts and a few tumbleturns. Good way to stretch out and wake up!

Wow, guys. Really? And we wonder why there aren't more women in this sport? I totally get the humor, but is this really the place to share "out-behind-the-garage" jokes about the women in our lives? What better feedback or point of view could @BlueSki hope to receive than that from a female baller? What female baller would be encouraged to jump in and contribute to this discussion given the answers thus far? @BlueSki is a guy who's lucky enough to be married to someone who is out there running the course. I am too, and hardly a day goes by when I don't recognize and appreciate this. While I understand the fun of finding serious slalom gear in pink, can you guys not understand even appearing that we put this ahead of finding the right gear for her could be seen as not taking her needs seriously? @GregDavis, @JayG80, @AB - I am not picking on you in particular, and I am certain you meant no harm. I am very new to this site and the last thing I went to do is earn the enmity of long-time contributors. But I see these same kinds of comments over and over in other discussions, and then all we guys wonder aloud where all the women are. We live in an age when Regina is taking ALL OF US to school, pass after pass. Who among us really wants to ask her why she's not skiing on a pink ski? @BlueSki - a gently-used D3 X5 worked wonders for my wife, who in one season is about to run -15 at 26.7. We put Wiley high wraps on it, which she finds to be very comfortable, yet secure. You have to look for an X5, but they're out there!

@brody Just because it has closed-loop cooling doesn't mean it was run in saltwater. Ask the seller how much time, if any, the boat ran in saltwater. Inspect everything under the engine cover, including the underside of the oil pan, spark plugs, exhaust manifolds, fittings, steering cable and rudder assembly, etc. Watch the exhaust as you start the boat on the hose and see if the cooling water is rusty. A properly-maintained boat that's been run in saltwater will not look like some of the photos you see in this thread. You can tell by the overall condition of the boat whether or not it was cared for. That's a critical consideration for any used boat, not just ones run in salt. Good luck!

@jhughes I'm a little late to this thread. I am among those working hard at -28 and have just this summer gotten to the point where I can run it more than once in a 6-pass set. Please allow me to try to answer your questions based on my recent experience. My answer to your first question is that I run -28 when I can overcome these three barriers: (1) Getting wide and way up on the boat at the gates; (2) Holding the handle in coming off the second wake; and (3) Countering by very deliberately tucking my outside elbow behind my upper body during my reach as I approach the buoy. When I remember these three things for the whole pass, I round five and come up on six with all kinds of time to spare. To answer your second question, I think you have to be solid at -22 before this stuff makes sense. Getting wide at the pullout and countering during the reach -- among many other details -- are keys for running a solid -22, but they become absolutely critical on the yellow loop. But for me, it was squeezing both elbows into my vest as I come out of the whitewash that really and truly made this pass attainable -- FINALLY!! The lights just came on. Forgetting this at -22 isn't the end of the world, but you'll be scrapping to run -28 if you let the boat take the handle from you by not keeping your elbows in close. One other thing about -28 for me is that this is the first time I've gotten the sensation of being "cast out" or flung toward the buoy. For me it seems this is where "real" slalom begins. You need to be up on that ski, outside elbow (or arm) tucked in behind you, giving the rope to the boat only when you're damn good and ready as you approach the next ball. You'll hear people talk about "light on the line" -- this, for me, is what that means. Lastly, my answer to your third question is based on the fact that I ski in local grassroots/Class F tournaments. I want to be able to get 2 or 3 balls at -32 if I run my -28 in one of these events, so in training I'd shorten up to -32 just to be better acquainted. By keeping these same three concepts in mind -- wide pullout, elbows in, very countered -- I was able to run 3 at -32 in last month's Class F after a relaxed, clean -28. In training, when you return to -28 after a couple of attempts at -32, everything is calmer and seems to make more sense. This is what's allowed me to start dialing up the intensity and finally get into -28 and -32. Your mileage may vary!

I've just gotten back into the tournament scene this summer, and found myself a little star-struck with some of the big names next to me on the starting dock. The ones who thanked me for a compliment have a new fan. The ones who gave off attitude might get another compliment from me in the future and another chance to gain a new fan. Or they might not. I agree with most responses here; saying "thanks" is always the right thing to do!

@Texas6 The course on Mission Bay gets pretty windy nearly every afternoon. Here's the weather station on our starting dock. You can click back to see what the wind's been doing on previous days. I'm going out first thing Tuesday morning the 17th, so if you can get to the launch ramp at sunrise, I can all but guarantee a good set for you with some super-nice people. It's saltwater, so it feels really fast and you'll want to rinse down your ski. Your only other choices are the (very) private courses at Canyon Lake an hour north or Imperial Lakes 1.5 hours east. I can try to hook you up in those places, but it's hit and miss. Let me know!

@jeffklop99 If you have a trustworthy dealer nearby (or near the seller), take it to them. Ask them to run diagnostics on the EFI computer and also have them do a compression check on each cylinder. This should cost less than an hour of labor. From these two tests, a good technician can give you a warm and fuzzy feeling that you're not buying an engine with obvious internal problems. My two cents!

I ski behind a '98 Nautique and a sweet '94 Prostar on a weekly basis. Both are great slalom boats, but I feel the build quality of the Nautique is noticeably better than that of the Prostar.

@Skoot1123, awesome progress! Dropping into -28 and -32 from -22 is HUGE! And then to get 4 balls at -32? Very well-done, sir! My PB this summer is 3 at -32/34mph, but that's just in training. I just love those gates at -32. What a rush!

@makeall6 - Great advice here. As the owner of a '98 Nautique with StarGazer installed, I agree with everything said thus far. Given your skiing requirements (i.e., no need to train for tournaments with Zero Off-based boats), I can tell you without hesitation that your boat with StarGazer installed should be just fine WITHOUT the Z Box upgrade. Our friend @skimech touched on the biggest problem with StarGazer -- runaway speed mid-course. You can avoid that by simply easing into the correct RPM and not over-revving as you pull up the skier and approach the course. It takes a little getting used to if you're used to Zero Off or the "classic" Perfect Pass systems, especially if you have a short set-up to the course. A lot of StarGazer owners have had great success by lowering their baselines for each speed setting by 30 to 60 RPMs. This helps the system lock in sooner and seems to help avoid getting "gassed" mid-course as the system searches for the correct speed. Having said all that, I recommend you upgrade to version 8 with their "course-mapping" feature. It's working like a charm for us thus far.