DefectiveDave

@gregy, Yeah, $50K might be a bit too ambitious, but half of all american households make due below that level. To be honest, if someone is dedicated they will find a way to ski regardless of their income. I think that it is still possible to ski on a reasonable budget if you are willing to make compromises. It doesn't appear to be something that prevents many people from continuing to enjoy the sport. The main problem, I believe, is that the cost has become a significant barrier to entry for people who may have been curious about skiing. It makes it more difficult to pass the bug along to others.

Thanks @Horton! Some quick, possibly incorrect, observations: 1. Whenever I go to waterskiing events, I see many more women than the survey indicates (though these events are still male dominated), so I think they just aren't participating in BoS 2. It seems there is a sharp drop-off in people skiing with below $100K combined household income, and the national median income in the US is $51K (i.e. skiing really does price out many people with its economics) 3. More people than I expected own very old boats and a full 40% have no plans to buy a new boat anytime soon (while many of these people are probably leisure skiers, it is also likely that at least some of them are being squeezed by the economics) 4. Median age is probably somewhere in the late 40s These results trouble me somewhat, but I think they just confirm what we already knew. Expounding a little bit on observation 2, only 17% of US households have a median income above $100k. Lowering the cost of entry for skiing to $50k (through magic or whatever is necessary) nearly triples the number of potential skiing families who have easy access to the sport.

@Wayne, Haha, I've actually have that exact vest. I keep it in the boat as a backup or for others to use. It is perfectly functional and doesn't compress my stomach, but I just don't find it as comfortable skiing as my current vest. @mlange, So you can really add extra padding? I'll call eagle later today to see if my dimensions are even feasible. Those vest are super comfy and I know if I go up to a size large then the stomach compression is not an issue in the eagle vests (though it is a very sloppy fit). Adding just a little extra flotation with a good custom fit could really seal the deal.

@Ed_Obermeier , @Edbrazil , @lcarnes , @wish, So here's the summary of the condition of the course as best I understand it: PVC - Great shape with no obvious bending, full of mud PVC-to-Cable Connections - non-stainless bolts which are rusting through, washers are gone PVC-to-PVC Connections - same non-stainless bolts which are rusting through, washers are gone Cable-to-Cable Crimps - Appear to be in good shape, unknown material Stainless Mainline Cable - Does not show any rust or obvious degradation Buoy Ropes - Good to go So overall not bad. We are currently in the process of replacing the PVC-to-PVC and PVC-to-cable bolts which are starting to rust through with stainless replacements and stainless washers. This is likely what caused the PVC at 3 ball to fail when raising it. The buoy ropes are attached directly to the through-holes in the PVC, so there's nothing to replace there. Also, the reason the course is currently sloppy is likely because the water level is down about 4 ft (currently at 6 ft, averages around 10 ft). This is just a hypothesis at the moment, but seems reasonable to me. Not bad for a 37 year old course that's been lying on the bottom of the lake for 11 years. Oh also, of all the great suggestions in this thread on how best to raise up the PVC safely, it seems the method of choice ended up being dig it out of the mud with hands!

@skialex, @GOODESkier, @Fatroll , haha, I would love to send Eagle my measurements just to see what they would say. I'm a tube with chest=34" and waist=32". I don't know if there's a way to make a vest that would actually fit me, but maybe they would accept it as a challenge? I have really liked the Eagle vests when I tried them on, but I'm definitely not a standard fit. @Chef23, I'm liking this Gooru idea. I don't expect any vest to actually fit, but if it has some mechanism to attach it to my shorts then that at least somewhat negates the issue. Do the Gooru vests have at least as much buoyancy as say the Eagle Platinum? @OldboyII , That is one cool looking vest, but I don't think I'm worthy. Also, is it just me or is it only sold on Russian websites?

@Waternut, I can't really complain, we've got a new baby at home so the boss says I'm only allowed to ski once a week! All is good otherwise.

@Waternut, Are you referring to the friction rash where the arms meet the vest? I only get to ski once a week right now, so I ski as much as I can every time I go out. These past few excursions I've skied 5 sets/day. Skiing only once a week, I don't seem to build a tolerance to anything. I've even been getting spray leg again!

It's been a while but I'm happy to report that this course has been brought back from the dead! Unfortunately, I was at home with a new baby and was not there for any of it, haha. I have awesome parents who have recently started skiing again and took the initiative. The water is low due to a minor drought which made it a good time to get started. Total time on the water to bring it up was about 10 hours. I kind of feel bad that I wasn't able to help after getting the ball rolling. Anyway, they didn't take any pictures while raising it, but I imagine their hands were full with just the two of them. To summarize the course was buried in an average of 2-3 feet of muck. In general the components appear to be in relatively good shape. In the process of raising they did manage to damage it a bit before getting the system in place to dig it out. Summary of damages from raising the course: -Broke connection to one side of gate diamond (this was the first thing we raised, already fixed) -Snapped PVC at 1 ball in half trying to raise with the boat (already fixed) -Snapped PVC at 3 ball as it was really in there (fixing this week) Summary of currently known damages from neglect: -Many of the fittings are loose and will likely be replaced (this will probably be done a little at a time, I plan to get more detail to expound upon this) Future work: -Replace a spliced section of the mainline (this has been there for a long time, but I don't want it to break) -Replace poly rope connecting the mainline to the anchors (maybe just double it up) Here's a picture of the course when it was first "raised" without 1 and 3 ball (6 and 4 ball looking this way). It might need to be tweaked a little bit and surveyed again: I'm in the process of getting some information on what is currently wrong with the course and I plan to post back later with more detail. If anyone has specific things that they want me to check out I would be happy to oblige as time allows.

I've been using a loose fitting CGA vest for the past several years. It works its way up, doesn't quite fit right, and in general has kind of sucked. I've tried to upgrade several times to a slim non-CGA, but have never quite found anything that fit well because I have an unusual body shape. Recently the vest has started rashing up my arms really badly and I definitely need to find a replacement this time. My main problem with slim non-CGA vests is that they tend to compress my stomach. I have a narrow chest, and distended lungs due to a chest disorder (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectus_excavatum), so my stomach expands much more than normal to make room for my lungs. I am not able to breath very well when wearing those vests. Also I tend to sink almost below water level when wearing a non-CGA vest, but I can deal with that part. Really my only two hard requirements would be: -Doesn't rash arms near triceps -Doesn't compress stomach when wearing It may even fit loose and work it's way up, so long as it fits those requirements it would be a great improvement. Is there anything available either CGA or non-CGA which might work? There are no real water sports stores around here where I can try stuff on. Thanks in advance!

RTP for convenience and comfort.

Hmmmm.......Coincidence? http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/us/mount-mckinley-will-be-renamed-denali.html?_r=0

This ended up being a really cool event. The skiing and conditions were great. No-one got into 43 off this time, but I felt as though both Joel Howley and Corey Vaughn had a shot at it had mysterious 41 off stuff not happened. Joel went for 4 buoys at 41 off and Corey for 3.5 buoys in the prelims. Jon Travers ended up beating Joel in the head-to-head final, but it took 2 buoys at 41 off. I don't think I saw any of those guys miss a 39off all day. However, the important part is that lots of non-skiers actually ended up coming for the festival and a good deal of them stuck around to watch the skiing. I ended up talking to several people who were interested in what we were doing, how the scoring worked, and all that stuff. The kids that showed up with their parents seemed to think what we were doing looked fun. I thought that it gave water skiing more public exposure then any other event that I've participated in or attended, and that's the cool part. We apparently even had some live shots on the local news: http://www.wlos.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/hometown-hotspot-mystic-waters-ski-skeet-22469.shtml#.Vdpm6vlVhBc Maybe more events like this might me be part of the equation to help grow water skiing? Combine the tournaments with events that non-skiers might like to attend. Skiing looks really cool from the shore and is of course really fun (not to mention addictive), so we just need to get people interested in trying it.

@elr, I like your idea and wonder why we don't already have a system like the one you've described. I would only make one tweak, I see no reason to limit 36 mph in such a system to males. I'm sure there are many women who could also ski comfortably at 36 mph and would benefit buoy-wise from such a system. For example, I know that I find 36mph-22off easier than 34.2mph-28off. Also, while I'm not a shortline skier, I strongly suspect that 36mph-39off is much easier than 34.2mph-41off.

If you want to keep more B3 boys involved, get more G3 girls involved. Then you could bump the speed to 48 mph and replace the buoys with chainsaws for all they would care.

@davemac, I was just thinking that same thing.

I have a theory that people don't steal boats which look like they're about to sink. So as a matter of policy I never clean the boat or perform even the most basic of aesthetic maintenance*. The crappier it looks, the better! I also: keep a lock over the tow coupler of the boat when I'm not towing store the key at a separate location just so would be thieves won't get any immediate satisfaction keep skis and other equipment in the back of the truck rather than in the boat (kind of a compromise between security and convenience) keep theft insurance just in case *Not that I neglect the boat though, if that engine sputters even once I'm raiding the college fund.

I have some medium 41 Tail Gloves which just don't seem to fit me (whose pinkies and ring finger are some damn long?). I've got about 2 days of skiing on them at this point and they're just not work working out. I don't know how much they're worth used, but I paid $85 shipped when I bought them. So let's go with $40 shipped (negotiable) to the first taker.

Had/have a similar problem on both an A3 and Vapor with a variety of settings. Without video it's hard to tell, but for me it happens when I get on the back of the ski and drop my shoulder into the turn. The ski doesn't take much of an edge, turn is sluggish, and any rollers get amplified.

+1 to both @ozski and @skimaster1.

@skialex , I'll give them a shot, can't hurt. Thanks!

Hmmmm...I took the shocktube off after I put the bimini top on this year because the straps seemed to stop the rope from going too high up on the boat relative to the driver. After reading this thread I think I might put it back on again, just in case.

All, thanks for the further advice. I have since inserted some more eva foam underneath the screws Wednesday evening. I can't say with certainty yet that this has fixed the problem, but the back plate didn't budge when I skied yesterday. The screws did loosen again, but the fact that the RTP stayed put seems promising.

@MrJones and @estrom are both giving good advice. As you gain confidence start pulling out further instead of leaning harder. The further out you pull the more time and distance your lean has to develop as you approach centerline. Also, as you go further out you have the benefit that it is easier to lean against the boat due to geometry/math. No need to force or rush it.

All, The RTP does have EVA foam on the bottom, but there is no foam where the screws insert. This could potentially be the issue as the aluminum just floats free at these points with only the metal-on-metal contact available to prevent slipping. It also causes a kind of bowing effect in the middle of the RTP which prevents a large portion of the EVA from making contact with the ski. I've always wondered if this was maybe a design flaw but didn't think much of it. I can drop by hobby lobby this evening and pick up some foam to put directly under the screws to see if this helps out. Thanks guys.

Also, and maybe this is related, but my screws are definitely loosening over time. I have to tighten them at the end of each day. I originally thought that they would just start holding, but no luck. Perhaps loctite?