braindamage

Bummer. My middle son learned to drive me at 13. By 15 I trusted him to drive boat without any adult with 1-2 friends. They gotta learn sometime.

I’d ditch the whaler, get a pontoon and let the kids drive the MC.

@Horton...Is that jobe honeycomb the one with the big bee just in front of the front boot? If so I have that and the HO extreme (probably a 1989-90?) I had a black ‘88 MC as well but it wasn’t the lapoint.

Putting some weight on the tails can help stabilize the skis and keep the tips up. Doesn’t help with upper body strength but it makes getting stable for the pull a lot easier.

@DW , any particular carpet? Replacement is on the list for this upcoming offseason.

I am on a public lake and have no access to a course, but I signed up as an ambassador!!!

The ONLY question we should be asking is...”what does it take to attract millennials to the sport”. I’ll go out on a limb and say that it’s not by requiring $80-100k for a tournament ski boat that sits idle 90 pct of the time on a private lake. Maybe we should take a page from the Top Golf organization and begin to market private ski lakes as a social spot...kind of like what I’ve seen from posts about Korea. I applaud @Horton for this big step. First we need to engage in an “evangelism” campaign and meet people where they are.

Behind my Malibu!!

@twhisper this is what we have always done. Way easier to control the skis when they naturally want to stand up straight!!

6BALLZ

This is soooo tempting...

@jjackkrash: I skied for 2 yes RFF growing up by using some of the classic methods to determine. I switched to LFF and my skiing got better much more quickly. I say try the other foot and see what happens.

Got everything in today, but boat had 3-water leaks in the engine compartment. Had to replace the impeller pump. I’ll take her out tomorrow for the initial ski/cruise!!

We used an inflatable trampoline a few years back and had to float about 5 miles. It has a slow leak so time was of the essence. The local marine patrol thought they would “help” and stopped me above the deepest part of the lake: 75’ deep. The exact quote was “I think...this might...be...illegal”. To which we replied “Nah...we do this all the time”. The other cop in the boat thought it was hilarious. They let us go on our way with the warning that we’d have to pay for recovery should she sink.

My 2nd Dodge Durango hemi. Name is Helga. I can’t even feel my ‘bu behind her. This one is an ‘08 and I got her cheap. Great drivetrain but rusts horribly. She’s a mud fence. I can’t even bring myself to post a pic. But as a teenager car and tow vehicle she does just fine!!

I’ve taught alot of ppl to slalom for the first time. 1) it sounds stupid, but THE most effective thing: tell the skier to keep about 8” of ski out of the water and in front of them. I know it sounds crazy, but given this simple instruction, the person can focus on ONE thing and can use the body’s innate balance capabilities to get up. When I started adding this ONE thing to the instruction my success rate went to almost 100pct. The only exception is when they are severely lacking in strength or balance. Other comments: 2) the driver needs to pull them out as fast as possible, but not faster. The more athletic and in shape, generally the faster you can do the hole shot. 3) some like 2 feet in, others drag. If one doesn’t work try the other. 4) I pull them up off the floor a couple times with the rope to get the feeling. 5) after 3 attempts pull them into the boat and try another day. They will be too tired to get up and will just end up more frustrated.

@AbR_Ski_Student that looks like a lot of sharp edges that can scrape. I’d suggest some rubber or foam padding. The zipties are a nice touch though

You have to use a PC to see it.

Rear end weight to reduce OTF crashes.

I love shorts brewery!! Their Bellaire Brown is the best. I didn’t know he was a skier though.

@BraceMaker totally agree!!! Not much better than a sunrise set on glass with nobody around to make wakes other than a stray duck.

Surf: social, easy, any water, any time, no pain when falling Waterski: isolated, physically demanding, calm water only, early mornings, hurts when falling. Do the math. I love skiing, but I get why the masses love surfing.

I’m dropping my boat off for some work tomorrow morning. It’s supposed to be 33deg and rain. Definition of “miserable”. I’m hoping to be on the water before end of April, because come April 28 I go on a 5 week work travel jag. Irritating.

The other thing is that these boats really hold their value. You can use for a summer or two and if you want something different I bet you will sell it for same as you paid as long as you take good care of her.

@6balls definitely! We had an old tri-hull then a deep v 18’ I/O. My dad refused to let us use wetsuits and the water temp only got above 70deg for a couple weeks. Broke home-made rope after rope. I didn’t know or care about form or buoys, I was there for spray, fun, booze, and impressing bikinis. I’m embarrassed to admit on this forum but I’ve only run 1course 30 years ago when I signed up for a tournament just to see if I could do it. I’m proud to say that I made it through the first pass...but that was the end of that. I still just love to ski and am interested in form more for self preservation than performance.