oldmanskier

buechsr: Fuel system was checked out by our club member that was a former PCM tech. Not for sure what all he did as I was not at the lake when he did his checking. He said all was functioning on fuel system. Hopefully our parts will be in today or tomorrow and we will see if that fixes the issue. Thanks for your input and offer on harness.

Thanks for all the information. Electronic Parts ordered to hopefully fix the issue. Note answer to questions above: Our 2012 Mastercraft does not have a display screen of any type. Boat cranks but does not fire. Not for sure if boat ran out of gas or not due to possible electronic issues. Fuel pump appears to be functioning ok. Thanks again for all the suggestions given in post. oldmanskier Tom Smothers

Club boat is a 2012 Mastercraft with 5.7 ILMOR Engine with 2022 hours. I was pulling a skier and boat started acting like it was running out of gas. Skier dropped and I was able to idle to dock but boat quit as I got to dock. I put 5 gallons of gas in. NOTE: Since our gas gauge does not work we are never sure how much gas is in boat. I tried to start boat but it would not fire at all. Gave it a shot of starting fluid in breather and boat still would not fire. We have a club member that used to be a PCM tech and he checked it out for fuel issues but does not think it is a fuel issue. He thinks it is a electric or electronic computer issue. He does not have software for ILMORE 5.7 so not much else he can do to diagnose the problem. Before taking it to a dealer for this I was wondering if anyone else had this type of issue with a 5.7 ILMOR and if so were you able to resolve your issue without taking to a dealer. Any information will be appreciated. Thanks oldmanskier Tom Smothers.

skiep I am now retired (but still have to plan arounds wife's work schedule) and have more time to go to ski lakes I have always wanted to see. Keith's is one on my list. I hope I can get to come in September. Thanks oldmanskier Tom Smothers.

BS74 Thanks for the information. oldmanskier Tom Smothers

Anyone know the exact date in September of the Finals at Lake 38? I looked around the internet but could not find a date. I am thinking about going to Lake 38 to watch the tournament. Thanks for any information provided. oldmanskier Tom Smothers

DavidD: Yes I did start out on punch cards and a IBM 360 Mainframe as big as a small car. Thanks again for everyone's congrats.

Thanks for all the congratulations and well wishes. bananaron answer to your question, I looked again and it is 48 years instead of 47 years. 3 years bouncing around different jobs and 45 years working in Information systems as a computer programmer at various Life, Annuity and Health insurance companies. Thanks again for all the well wishes and hope to meet some of you that travel thru Chattanooga. oldmanskier Tom

After working full time for 47 years I am retiring. My last day at work is tomorrow June 1. My wife is going to work another year so I guess I will be considered a kept man. My main ski partner retired in January and we plan on skiing a lot this summer. The main reason for this post is now I have time to spare. If any of you Ballofspray people happen to travel thru the Chattanooga TN area and would like to get a pull at No Wake lake, contact me a day of two before you are coming thru and I will gladly give you a pull at No Wake. Only requirement you have to sign a Liability Waver. My e-mail is tomjsmothers@aol.com. I check it daily. Tom Smothers (oldmanskier)

Our club boat (2012 Mastercraft (1900) hours) Drivers seat adjustment hardware is wore out. The seat upholstery was redone last year and looks great. Have any for you ball of spray guys replaced the Driver’s Seat Hardware before or can suggest were I can get parts or a new driver seat platform to mount our seat too. Any suggestions much appreciated. Thanks oldmanskier Tom

Well said 6balls. Back sided the buoys every line length. That was fun to watch. Thanks for posting that Adam.

GREAT interview David. I am not a Football person so I did not know who David Akers was. I did look up David’s football career and very impressive. So glad someone of this caliber in a another professional sport found a love for Waterskiing. David your interview was spot on. Thanks for doing this. Chet Story: Started going to Chet’s in 2000. In the early years I would go down usually once a quarter for a week at a time to Chet’s place. The best I ever skied was during those years It was due to Chet’s coaching and motivating me to lose the weight I needed to ski. I was 5’7’’ 220 lbs. and looked like a rubits cube. I got down to 184 lbs. and my skiing got way better. Life took over with Job changes, getting old man injuries and various other life issues. Now I only get to go once a year. Currently not at the weight I need but hopefully that will change. Plan to retire in next year or two and spend winter months skiing at Chet's place. Hopefully this will motivate me to get back to weight I need to be for skiing. Had similar story to BUXRUS. Around 2004 I could run 32 off but not 35 off. Chet told me it was a mind thing and I had the skills run 35 off. I was at 32 off. Chet stood up in the boat as he does when showing you something and blocked my view of the pylon. He had told my wife to shorten the rope to 35 off while he had me distracted. He then said I want to see you do all the keys we have discussed and run the best 32 off you can. I proceeded to run what I thought was two 32 offs back to back but were really two 35 offs back to back. I was frustrated due to I did not run what I thought was 32 off as smooth as I thought I should. My wife was laughing at me from the boat as I skied back to the dock. I thought she was laughing due to I had not run very good 32’s. When we got back to the dock Chet said good skiing. I replied those 32’s seemed hard to me. Then Chet told me I had just run two 35’s. I had never run 35 off before. I went from being frustrated to very happy when he told me that. If you are serious about getting better (weight and skiing) and get a chance to ski with Chet and Noah, I think you will find it rewarding. Tom Smothers (oldmanskier)

I had something similar a few years ago. It caused numbness in my left little finger and on one side of my left ring finger. Very strange feeling. It did not affect my grip or skiing grip but suddenly I could not do cords on the guitar. I have played for years and this was very disturbing to me. Doctor ordered a nerve induction test (I think that is what it was called) on left arm and hand. This is where they stick very tiny needles in your hand and elbow and run an electric pulse thru. They can measure how long it takes for current to get from your elbow to the hand thru the Ulnar nerve. Mine was considered severe impingement and was already starting a wasting process (weakness and lack of dexterity) in left hand. They recommended Release surgery of the Ulnar nerve in left elbow ASAP. Doctor said wasting would only get worse and therapy would not help me in this advanced stage. I had the surgery and it did help. I never had any grip weakness in my hand but the finger dexterity in my fingers took a while to come back. I still have slight tingling in my left little finger and on one side of my left ring finger at times but nothing like I had before surgery. I can cord a guitar again now but I have to play a few minutes to warm up before it gets fluid. Doctors said the weakness and dexterity would have got worse it I had not had the surgery. Surgery is simple day surgery and recovery about 6 weeks to be able to use arm for normal functions. It took several months of playing the guitar before the cording got to an acceptable level of ease. Playing is not as easy as it once was but at least I can still play. I had the surgery in the winter so when skiing season arrived I could ski with no issue. I do what they call Ulnar nerve flossing exercises every day to hopefully keep this from happening again. Hope you get it figured out. Tom Smothers (Oldmanskier)

jayski: Very nice boat. I love the solid White. Very clean and uncluttered looking. Tom

Ditto on what LOTW asks. I looked at web site but did not see a place to subscribe to a print edition? Tom Smothers

I got a new right hip 12 weeks ago. I am back to my normal full work outs. Trying to drop 20 lbs I picked up this winter by summer. I hope by May or June I will be able to ski again. I may retire sometime this summer but not for sure yet. Oldmanskier Tom Smothers

Correction it was the 2014 Nationals at San Marcos that I met Bud. Tom Smothers

I met Bud at the 2016 Nationals at San Marcos. Chet and Sherry had a house there at the time. Bud and Chet's Mom (who lived close by) came to watch Chet ski. Chet had told me many stories about being a young person and having Bud as a dad. I got to sit and talk with Bud for a couple of hours during the BIG Dawg competition. Very interesting person to talk to. We talked about everything from his skiing days with Chet to his Church and his Christian faith. That was one of the highlights of my trip to San Marcos was getting to meet and talk to Bud. Bud is skiing in the heavens today. Prayers of comfort for Chet, his mom, brother and sister during this time. Tom Smothers

This is great news. I went to the worlds at Swiss when Jeff Rogers won. I did not realize that was 18 years ago. I hope to go to this one if the cova19 issue is under control. If you have never been to a Worlds you need to try to attend if possible. The Worlds I attended at Swiss 18 years ago was awesome. Thanks so much to the Travers Family for taking this on. Oldmanskier Tom Smothers

I loved it. Thanks for sharing this. Tom

I agree with escmanaze. I am not a fan of $3000 to $5000 touch screens. Great looking boat. I like the simple bare bones Zero off unit. If I were in the market for a boat I would give it a look. oldmanskier (Tom)

Thanks for the information. I live in Chattanooga and have a very good ortho hip doc here. He only does knee’s and hips. He did both of my wife’s knee’s and she skies without issue but she does not run the course. A guy in our club had a full replacement a few years ago and says no problem skiing. But he skies 30 mph 15 off so not much load. Thanks again for the information. I do not know how close you are to Chattanooga but if ever down this way stop by for a pull. Private lake called No Wake lake and I am one of the owners. Thanks Tom

I do not ski tournaments anymore. I use to go to the Masters but once they brought in Wake Board it was not the same to me. Currently as far as watching, any Big Dawg I have been too was great. I watched the 2020 Malibu open on the web cast and I must say I would have loved to have been there. I only have time to ski on the weekends so I do not want to give up a weekend to go to a tournament. I hope to retire in 2 years (maybe 1 year if things work out) and after that I plan on going to watch several tournaments around the country. My current tournaments I would like to visit: Any Big Dawg in US, Malibu open, Lake 38 tournament, NorCal MasterCraft BallOfSpray Cash Prize, Any pro tournament and nationals. Hope retirement comes soon. oldmanskier (Tom)

Well I am about to join the hip replacement club. Full Right hip replacement (back leg on ski) Surgery in a few weeks. Being this thread is 5 years old I was wondering if there were more recent ballers that have had this surgery and returned to skiing. If you returned to skiing how long of a recovery before you skied again. Any information, comments or encouragement will be appreciated. Thanks oldmanskier (Tom Smothers)

Thanks Horton for keeping BallOfSpray 100% politics free zone. oldmanskier Tom