jim_s

Was driving to the Outer Banks via NC64 this weekend, and saw what appeared to be 2 courses sitting side-by-side to the north of the road at some point (ICRC exactly where along the route, but I think it was maybe 30-45 mins west of Manteo...) Was that your place @BobF ? Looked pretty serene!

@MDB1056 - yes, I suspect that the majority of what would need to be done is within my technical means, but from a time perspective, I'm not sure I want to take on a big, long-running project like that. I'm still toying with the idea, and you're right - seeing it in-person would likely provide the make-or-break moment. I suspect I could get it for a few $k, but the primary motivation for getting a DD boat is to improve my course skiing (my present Bayliner OB is leading to some bad free-skiing habits that I have to then spend a full set having to undo whenever I get back into the course and need to start turning with some urgency, vs hanging out on the outside waiting for the putt-putt boat to catch back up, LoL). If I spend the rest of the season working on a project boat, I'm not going to be improving much in the course either though.

Thanks for the info, all! After learning a bit more about the boat's history and current owner, I'm a bit less enthusiastic about the opportunity. Apparently the guy (a first-time boat owner) just about sunk it once, due to not knowing he had to put the drain plug in... And apparently the transmission fluid had gotten a bunch of water in it, and had been making some type of persistent ticking noise, though the claim is that it's better now that the fluid has been replaced. The floor has been partially replaced, and some of the upholstery is sort of just vinyl roughly stapled over foam padding. I'm Ok with a fair bit of DIY stuff (I've replaced floor and stringers of my current boat, and re-did the upholstery myself), but I'm not sure I'm looking for a big DIY project at present. I may go check it out in person at some point, but I'm thinking this is probably not the one I'm looking for.

>>the brown and orange ones are fire! Lol Should I interpret that as a thumb down?!? :-)

Was owned by a friend who sold it to a friend of his, who hasn't really used it. There's a possibility of purchase for not a lot of money. (This would be my first DD boat, and primary goal would be good wake for slalom.) Haven't seen it, so not idea about actual condition, but I'm told it's decent, and runs well. Is the 89 Malibu Skier a decent ski boat? Any particular things to look out for? I'm assuming this would be wooden stringers and floor? Other thoughts or suggestions to consider in this possible deal? (It's probably a bit of a long shot, but if it were to be a reasonable first DD boat for relatively cheap, I'd work toward making it happen. (I am told it's closed bow, which is unfortunate for the purpose of family activities...) Thanks!

I really appreciate everyone's input - this all definitely gives me some things to think about and try to see in practice. Freeskiing is definitely not the course, but it seems there are a number of things that can be practiced to make skiing in the course a bit less of a huge leap. @andjules seems to hit on a number of items - I definitely go from a pretty strong lean through the wakes to an over-exaggerated transition to a flat ski - I am having a hard time transitioning gradually after crossing the wakes - I either pull too long, or I make a huge adjustment from heavily on edge to rolling all the way to flat in an instant. On the turning-into-slack thing - when I try to turn with faster rhythm (such as is needed when in the course, vs slower more drawn out glides when free skiing), I end up leaning back to try to speed up the turn, which seems to be a strong contributor to the slack situation. On the plus side, I've been working the last few sessions to pull harder between the turn and the wake, and I'm finding myself getting higher and wider than ever before (even with the exaggerated transition after crossing the wakes), so I'm optimistic that some good is coming of trying to pull hard up till crossing the wakes, vs pulling too long. (I had one quick attempt at the course this evening (it was getting seriously dark), and clipped ball #1 trying to allow myself as much space to get to 2 as I could, LoL, so that was a very brief pass! :o)

If the 'wing thingy' that @lpskier is referring to is not available for purchase, if somebody has one and can tell me the spacing on those slots (ie, the distance between the outer edge of the rectangle, and each of the 4 slot outer edges), I can throw together a quick 3D-printable design. (I'm not trying to cut into anyone's sales/profits, and I have no financial interest or incentive to design one, but if they're useful and not easily obtainable, I'm happy to put a printable design together and make it freely available, simply for the utility of it.)

If you're a geek, and have a 3D printer (or know a geek with a 3D printer...). https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2018229. (and if you're not a geek, and don't know any geeks, I could be convinced to print what you need.) (Looks like the ones listed on SIA are the same ones listed on the Thingiverse site, the guy is just offering to print them for $10.)

Might consider trying something like the Radar Vice glove - it can help tired and/or cold fingers last a lot longer.

Can't wait to try some of this out!

@pregom - LOVE IT!! :-) Thanks for posting a pic!

@Dano and @swbca - yes, that's what I'm finding, too - there is just nothing on the open water (aside perhaps from the awesome looking Off Course, which sadly about matches the value of my entire boat, LoL :-) that induces the sense of timing and urgency to get wide and turn - quickly. I was almost wondering if I shouldn't setup or build some type of timer or such, that beeped based on a preset (or current via GPS) speed, to let me know when I should be making my turn. I agree that working on wake crossings in isolation when free skiing is good practice, but I find it also makes me kind of slow and lazy (and also tends to make me pull too long) when I do get into the course.

@MDB1056 These folks have a template you can print off. I don't know if they take into account arm length like @swbca or not, but I've used this template to layout reference points on my boat. The template is at: http://prestonmarina.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Flag-slalom-board-v2-A4.pdf http://queenesque.com/FS1.html

So, having spent some time in the course 'for real' for the first time at Coble's this past weekend (vs having previously just been dragged through the course 3-4 times with no real direction), I found 2 primary things that I would like to work on while free skiing, with an eye toward improving in the course. (I don't have regular access to a course, though I hope to a bit more going forward soon...). The first thing is that I am slow and lazy on the outside - I lean/cut fairly well and generally get plenty wide (30mph, 15 off in the course, 30-32mph, 22 off free skiing), but then I get to the outside and stand there waiting to slow down enough that I'm not trying to turn into a bunch of slack. This works fine free skiing, but is a bit of a problem in the course, as the buoys are coming along faster than my lazy approach allows, LoL. :-). Some quick calculator math seems to indicate that at 30mph, I should be reaching a buoy about every 4.6 seconds. Does it then make sense when free skiing to aim for making a turn every 4-4.5 seconds? I have a reference point for the rope on my boat so that I know how wide I need to be on each side. The second thing is that I'm not comfortable turning into slack. Sometimes I'm able to muster the courage to turn into the slack, and start leaning away while the slack gets taken up, and that mostly works out Ok when I force myself to do it, though I've had a few out-the-back close calls trying this. Quite (most) often, however, I'm like, "nope, I ain't turning into that much slack". This seems especially to happen on the even numbered balls. (I'm LFF) I'm working hard on getting the hips forward via knee and ankle bend when heading into the buoy, but still feel like I have a lot more speed and slack than I know what to do with, even at my sedate boat speed. So, any thoughts about how to best work on the timing/rhythm and speed/slack management while free skiing?

Did a day of 'Saturday Ski School' down at Coble's this past weekend. It was a fun and somewhat transformative experience (unfortunately, I think it's kinda ruined me on free skiing - the course is LOTS of fun, LoL :-). The folks there are very well organized, very knowledgeable and obviously quite experienced (both in skiing and teaching). They are also incredibly patient and supportive of skiers at all levels. (Some of the most fun was watching them work to get kids up on skis!) And their Prostars have a pretty sweet wake, too!! Anyway, the experience is everything it's cracked up to be - I highly recommend it. This was my first visit, and I've already signed up for my next one. (Alas, more months away than I'd like it to be, but there's this whole winter thing coming along soon, apparently even in NC...)