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...)

I have a friend with a Four Winns 180 - it's a nice enough boat, but getting pulled up behind it on a slalom ski is as close to getting waterboarded as I hope I ever get in my life. Once up, the wake is pretty unpleasant at waterski speed and across a wide range of rope lengths. Can't speak for the 170, but I can't imagine it's vastly different.

I appreciate the interest shown by folks for the TRA! It appears that it has found a home - someone from the Webster Waterski Collective (https://websterwaterski.org/) was first to contact me, and has agreed to send money to cover shipping. This is sort of ideal, in that if 7 kids can show the TRA some love in a year, that'll help offset my family's contribution to the Cosmic Karma debt accumulated from the ski sitting neglected for 7 years by my 2-ski-skiing, open-water-loving, non-snowboarding, generally-inexorable lout of an offspring. (Sadly, I must continue to bear the shame of my personal parenting failures, but I will carry on.) If for some reason the ski does not end up going to WWC, I'll work my way down the list of those who have expressed interest, in order of who contacted me next.

This is a blank ski w/ fin - no boots. Bought new for my kid (in 2014), who never took up an interest in slalom. (He also snow skis instead of snowboards - so yeah, I've basically failed as a father on multiple fronts... ;-) The ski is not doing anyone any good sitting in my attic, and after 7 years, I've finally come to emotional terms w/ the fact that he's not gonna slalom. (He's also a full grown ass person at this point, so even if he did take up an interest, the TRA would not work for him...) Ski is Free to Good Home. We'd need to figure out the shipping. It's basically a softer, 63" Senate. I skied it once when we got it, just to see what it was like - it was fun and lively - felt a whole lot like my full-size Senate. (That's the only time it's ever been in the water.) It should have a lot of life and fun in it for some little ripper(s) whose parent's have not failed to instill in them a love of sliding around with both feet strapped to one stick. Oh, it's also scratch-and-sniff (sorta - I think that stuff has kinda lost it's vaporous vigor over the years). Photo is not of the actual ski, but photo is the same year/model/color as this ski. Ski is in essentially new condition (never having been used, but, let's not go there... I'm over it, really. Really! Ok, I'm mostly over it.). Anyway, if interested, get in touch, and let's work out how to get it to you.

Nice little open water session in VA this afternoon - air and water were both 54. The O'Neil dampsuit (formerly drysuit) kept things reasonably comfy!

@JBB - Give Sean Martin at Donek in CO (donek.com) a call - he's made Skwals before, and they've been well regarded. I've owned and ridden several of his alpine race (ie, hard boot) snowboards, and he makes a mean machine!!

Spent a little quality time on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia yesterday. Beautiful sunny 60's, and the drysuit was definitely overkill, but I wasn't complaining.

Watched my first DFC podcast as a result of it being up there, though did not watch in place - went to YouTube. I personally don't mind it at the top, but if people are concerned about scrolling, maybe just an alert of the video, and a link to YouTube? Nice to have something pointing to some interesting video content.

Same suit, same problem. (Nonetheless, I freaking LOVE that suit!!) I went at all of the seams with the Aquaseal +FD and the 'accelerator' that they sell (it does speed the cure time, for sure, but I was using it for thinning the Aquaseal so it could be spread more easily). So far, it seems to be working great. It's not quite back to it's original 'dry' condition (I could literally ski in regular clothes, take the suit off, and drive home as-is, LoL :-) But it's back to being a damp-suit, and I'm Ok with that. I think it's pretty much entirely water sneaking up the wrists and ankles at this point. Took 4 tubes of the .75oz tube of Aquaseal along with the full amount of the .34oz accelerator they package with it, but I was able to get all of the seams covered pretty thoroughly. For $40, it was worth squeezing (hopefully!) another few seasons out of the Assault. (Bummed to hear they've discontinued it!!)

With the help and encouragement of Brooks from Radar, and the fine folks at Performance Ski, I took my first ride on the Senate Lithium yesterday - sweet ski!! It's a very noticeable change from the 2009 Senate I've been on for a few years. Gonna take a few more outings to get fully comfortable and confident on it (it turns a bit differently, and wants to take a much more aggressive path across the wakes than I'm used to!), but I'm surprised by the general ease and comfort of riding it. It definitely feels like it's higher on the water, is floatier/flowy-er, and I found myself with a lot more speed to bleed off on the outside than I'm used to. (This was all open water yesterday.) It even pops up noticeably faster on the pull-up. On-side leans and wake crossings were much more put-together feeling than on the old Senate - felt super natural. Off-side leans were mildly terrifying, due to the increased angle the ski wants to follow, but when I was able to force myself to hold a solid position the whole way across the wakes, it was actually smoother than my old Senate. (Which I don't entirely get, since it seems to be riding higher on the water - you'd think it'd be bouncier, but it was definitely smoother - I just need to commit to the lean and the sharper angle!) FUN ski!!

Sorry if I can't find this due to blindness and/or ignorance, but does this exist any more? If so, can someone please point me to it, or another source for such info? (Looking for settings for a 65" Radar Senate.) Thanks!