Vernon Reeve

@brettmainer wish we had a laugh icon.

Hard to beat the grip this handle has: Proline Tractor Radius Waterski Handle. I've been using it for years with no issues. Replace it every few years just in case even though it looks fine. However, I typically only ski 3 times a week.

2019 Radar Senate Graphite is an amazing ski. And can be used 34mph. And is way less than high end ski. There is a 2021 blemished at the-house.come for about $500.

Seems like you could do both. Lean/drop the hip into the turn to initiate it, and rotate the hip as you come around to finish the turn.

On a side note: I do think it's really clever using binary for the Robot users info. I'm a computer programmer and if I ever get a tattoo, I was thinking it would be funny to have a string of binary around my arm instead of barbed wire. Then I could tell people it says whatever I want them to think it says:) It would probably actually just say "barbed wire":)

It's also possible the new pressure switch and/or pressure sensor are bad. I've had something like this happen where I installed the new part with no success, so hired a mechanic, who found the new part was bad:(

@kirkbauer I had the same issue with too much throttle. I had a driver who hadn't pulled me before, and suddenly I couldn't do a deep water start. He eventually tried way less throttle, and I got right up. I'm a big guy 6'1" 220lb on a 69" ski, so he thought I would need more throttle. I couldn't feel that he was giving it more throttle. It just felt like I suddenly couldn't get up. Glad you got it figured out also.

@Than_Bogan you're comment about a pontoon boat and ski boat has always been my wish for the future. It'd be so nice to have everyone out for a lake day, eating and socializing on the pontoon as a kind of floating dock, and taking turns getting ski rides. Perfect combination. Drives me crazy loading my boat with people, coolers, gear, etc making the slalom wake un-skiable. Not to mention food/drinks in the boat seems to always create a mess. I'm glad I didn't buy a brand new boat so I don't have to be that guy who gets upset about stuff like that. Still annoying, however:)

Lots of people get a wakeboard boat for wakeboarding, only to find out that the big wakes intimidate beginning wakeboarders and they quit. Much better to get a good slalom boat (like 2003-2006 Malibu Response LXI) and use the wedge if you want the wake bigger. With just the wedge I've had friends jumping beyond the 2nd wake, and doing flips. So it's perfectly fine for most wakeboarders. And the slalom wake is amazing at 30mph+ (haven't tried anything slower). The tower on mine is only about 40lbs, and in front of the engine box, so can't tell any effect on the wake size.

I wouldn't worry about needing to upgrade later. I'd get what you need for your size/speed now, and then upgrade later. I've had really good luck buying and selling ski's on www.ski-it-again.com.

I wonder how many pros found out which one Nate was going to be at before deciding which one to go to:)

We had a guy struggling to get up on two skis. His problem was he kept pushing back directly against the boat with his skis. He was holding on to tons of force before the handle popped out. Finally convinced him to keep his butt on the skis (even after he was up), and to let the boat pull him forward over the skis, just like when someone helps you up off the ground. He was amazed how easy it was after he got figured it out.

@Deanoski The cause of mine is usually because I didn't keep my elbows in on the edge change causing me to lose my balance and fall to the inside or ski comes out from under me and bam!

@buoyboy1 I also used the Evoshield Adult Rib Shirt under a tournament vest. However, did a sliding wipe out that would have been a normal rib shot, but the zippered vest turn inside out, tipping that shield up, causing that shield to jam straight into my ribs/sternum. I was out for about 3 weeks, and still have a bump there. So my advice would be to find a vest with a strap to prevent it from turning inside out during a sliding wipe out.

I was wondering if anyone had done serratus anterior (boxers muscle) exercises to help prevent rib injuries. Seems like if one were to build up those rib muscles, injuries from rib impacts could be lessened.

Mine tore after switching to the non-standard grip for a lefty. But apparently, my left bicep didn't have years of getting stronger, so it tore on a bad deep water start.

I already had the power vest in storage, so I'm back to using it now. I still need to remember to let my arms go straight so the power vest can take the load. The power vest works great (still trying to get used to the deep water start however). I can ski more passes with the power vest, and it doesn't seem to affect my skiing.

The other thing you can do to move the load to the other bicep is switch your grip.

Our sheriff was afraid someone might hit one of the buoys with a canoe after dark and get tipped over:) He didn't realize that the buoys are soft rubber tethered by a rope with zip ties. So the canoe would never even notice it. I finally convinced him that was not an issue, however, to get potential state approval for our "Navigation Hazard", we had to put tall cylindrical markers on each end of the course, with a solar powered flashing light on top, and a radar reflective strip. Cost about $600 to install those marker buoys that would actually damage a boat or tip a canoe over to warn about something that would not. Typical government logic.

But that got us through one season while the approval process was in place. Next season they still denied it, and they eventually pulled the course (after giving us lots of warnings). We still got the course back in good shape, so they were decent about it. The course was denied because the fishermen were complaining that it increased the boat traffic to that lake. Funny how we never complain to fish and game that the fishermen will intentionally drive their boats into our boat path, or that their discarded fishing lines are getting caught up in our props, etc. But they sure complain about us taking turns in one small section of the lake, because that's where they think the fish must be:)

The good new is that while this was happening, a private man-made ski lake was being created, so we only lost about a month of course skiing.

The opening segment for TWBC is awesome as well. Nice blend of danger and excellence with cool graphics and music. That guy skipping across the water really shows just how fast they are going and how dangerous it is.

Love having the pro's doing commentary as well. Makes me more willing to watch the whole thing to see what tips they might have. Also fun to hear what they are seeing/expecting.

What's helped some of my friends, is when I tell them to just keep their knees in front of them. I say "If you can keep your knees in front of you, the boat has so much power that it will pull you up". This seems to work better than saying to keep your ski in front.

@Horton , That's a classic example of the guy on the dock trying to tell the driver what to do, who then panics:)

What length Senate did you try? My weight fluctuates between 205 and 225lbs and the 69" works great for me.

Also, the Goode Power vest takes a lot of the strain out of deep water starts and skiing through the course. Deep water starts are still awkward for me, but definitely takes the strain out of the arms and back.

Fresh air exhaust made a huge difference on our previous Malibu Response LX. Both in noise and in no exhaust swirling around the back when idling around the lake. I did always worry about doing bat turns however. But handled it fine for the very few times I did one.

I pulled that ligament at the bottom of the muscle doing a bad deep water start. I'm also LFF and it hurt in the same place you are describing. Started wearing a black back support belt from Walgreens with the extra two straps to pull forward for more support. Worked great to get through the season. Tried PT and etc, but what finally healed it was a prolozone shot that a naturopath injected and massaged around to get oxygen and other healing ingredients into that ligament area. Been fine ever since, but I was still wearing that back belt because it just felt like it firmed things up and helped with the stack.

People who say they are going to meet you a the dock at a certain time, and are half hour late or don't show at all. And don't even call.

I've heard an unintended advantage of the Nautique is the prop torque helps equalize the side to side weight of the boat when you only have a driver and no spotter. We still add weight to the passenger side anyway, so not sure how much it really helps.