Hallpass

@Ipskier. Ok. I guess it's a live with it situation. Thx

My daughter started using a reflex boot this year. Inside the boot, there is a plastic tab that extends from the heel along the Achilles. That tab constantly folds, flops over, and binds when inserting the liner, with or without a foot on the liner. What have others done with the tab? It would be easy to cut it out, but does that cause any problems? It appears the tab is supposed to prevent a bind between the cuff and the base of the boot, if the cuff were severely flexed forward. It's hard for me to see how she could actually flex the boot that far forward, but I'm not the one out there skiing. Thanks for your help. It's the basic black cuff boot, if that makes any difference.

Recently, my daughter had a particularly good run during practice. I said to the coach, a well-known, top-ranked skier, "it's a moral victory." The coach said to me - "that's why we do it - it's not for the money or the medals." Something hit me instantly. I knew that coach was right. But still I continued to think on it for a couple of weeks. Sure you may save a couple kids by diluting divisions and making them winners. But, since there is almost no money or fame, you won't keep many long term. You need to focus on the kids that already understand that this is mostly about moral victories, and those that crave real competition. Creating artificial awards by diluting age brackets does neither. My $.02

:) At least you still weigh 185 and can ski great. You're a stud from my chair. You have told me several times that you have three kids, and they have other interests, in addition to skiing. I'd choose great Dad over great skier 100 out of 100 times.

We took our daughter to the Western Regionals. Nineteen hours of driving for 5 minutes of skiing - TOTALLY WORTH IT. She overcame her nerves of skiing in a "Big Tournament" and improved her tournament best by 10 balls. She was so proud and happy with her performance. I won't make a big deal about placement because of the split to five kid's divisions, and lower number of participants in this Covid year. Still, she made it onto the podium in 4th place and wore her medal on the entire drive home. Clearly the placement made her very happy. I know she will value the photo from the awards ceremony. Covid sucks, but for our daughter it has been a bit of a blessing in terms of waterskiing. Normally, she is a swimmer, and we spend almost every weekend at a meet. If we are lucky, she gets to enter a single water ski tournament in October. This summer there was no swimming, and so she was able to ski more frequently, get some professional coaching, and ski in 3 tournaments including regionals. I hope we get a chance to go again. Was a great experience!

Prices on boats, jeeps, dirt bikes, and RVs are crazy right now. Wait out this pandemic, and you'll find great deals on all.

I'm certainly not the best skier on this site, but I'm 6'2" and 245, and I like my Radar Senate. I tried on a bunch of bindings and ended up going with Wiley's rubber boots. FWIW.

So fun to watch the kids, even when it's not my kid. Is she up to the 25kph min yet?

@"Keith Menard" . Have you actually towed with a 5.3? I towed with the 5.3 - for years, frequently in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This is not a Ya it will work engine. On one of many trips over steep mountains, I averaged almost 80 MPH from California to Wisconsin and back, when the Yukon XL had 100K on it, and towing a lot bigger boat than a Gekko. It simply did not struggle. The 6.2 is fine. I owned one of those as well. Very strong puller. But, the 6.2 is also a big gas pig that cost me minimum $8 Grand in Gas over the 200K plus miles driven without a boat behind it.

I think the 6.2 in a gasser is overkill for your described need. My Yukon XL (Suburban) has the 5.3. I've towed a Super Air Nautique from the Bay Area to Wisconsin and Back. Obviously crossed the Sierras and the Rockies, with a little side trip through the Black Hills just for fun. Also many trips to the foothill lakes in Northern California. Power was never and issue. Currently sitting at 252, 000 miles with the motor and transmission running strong. As far as Diesel, my neighbor just sold his Ford Diesel with 450,000 miles. I think he still got 8 grand for it when he sold it. Yes, there were a couple of costly repairs in there, but as he points out, it's one hell of a lot cheaper than buying 3 or 4 vehicles over the same period of time. FWIW P.S. Pickups are awesome. I've owned a couple. But, the larger SUV is pretty awesome when you can keep your cooler and other stuff inside, under the air conditioning during those long road trips; awesome when you carry 6 of your kid's friends; and, a whole lot more friendly when you take the dog along.

@Loopski Of course. We can line it up and confirm fit. Not trying to sell anyone anything that doesn't work. I already did that myself. BTW, my daughter had a junior siege at one time. Darren Wiley told me that it was the front binding that required narrow plate, not the back. Easy enough to confirm that with him before you buy a front binding. I'll be at Bell Aqua Monday morning. Send me a PM.

@LoopSki What size RTP do you need? I bought my daughter a size small in May, but she needed a medium. The small has one day, two sets on it. I get up to Sacramento a couple times per month. Was going to put it on SIA, but if you want it, let me know.

To my youngest brother, this is the only thing he would want from my estate. This is my Maha ski. I saved up my money in the mid seventies and bought it used from a neighbor. It' has a huge sliver missing from the top right side. Honestly, it's been so many years, that I can't remember if I did the damage, or if it was there when I bought it. The ski probably has minimum value. In November of last year I was diagnosed with cancer. That's fine. They caught it early. I will be ok. But, as you do when you have cancer, I began to put together my will and organize my affairs. I reached out to each of my brothers and asked if there was anything of mine that they would like if I was to pass. I'm not a rich man, but I have done OK. I have some things of value, and I have some things that I inherited from our parents. My youngest brother is 13 years younger than I am. I'm not sure if he was born when I bought that ski. He couldn't have been more than 3 or 4 years old when I last skied on it. He can ski a little, and I do mean a little. He's not very involved in the sport. Much to my surprise, he told me that if my wife and I both passed at the same time, he'd be honored to raise our daughter. Else, the only thing I own, that he wants, is this ski. Apparently, he remembers me skiing on it. He says it was one of the coolest things he remembers when I lived at home. I'm off work next week, and I plan to deliver the ski to him. Why wait till you're dead, right? Who would have known that this ski meant more to him than to me.

Given the unfortunate news of this weekend, I ordered a guard for my daughter's handle. I'd been thinking about it for some time anyway. To me, it's like wearing a snow ski helmet. I never did. But, at some point the question was not why, but rather why not? Turns out, a helmet is the most comfortable "ski hat" I've ever worn. I'm sure the guard on the handle will present no problem either.

Not sure where you are located. In California, I wouldn't pay 18K for that boat. You can do better. My $.02

My daughter skied a 63" TRA from age 10-12. She was about 4'9 when she got it. She started at long line 17 mph, and had worked her way up to 2 at 28mph 15 off. Worked really well for a reasonable purchase price. FWIW.

@Lars has it right. Pull it a bit tighter, then it will release easily. If you are looking for alternatives, do some searches on Elastic Shoelaces. You should find a number of different sliding cinch devices.

@Steven_G. PCM Excalibur, 350. Came straight from PCM.

BTW, they are Attwood gas shocks. Once you find the model you want, easy enough to price them on the internet. Tons of suppliers.

I buy mine at the Auto parts store, or find them online. Usually I double the rating of gas shock vs. the OEM installation.

FWIW. My daughter was at a youth camp last summer and @twhisper filmed himself running 15 off from 21mph through 34 mph. He posted on his you tube channel. I just checked, it's still there. I've watched it many times. I think he tried as best he could to simulate what it might look like for a skier progressing through those speeds. He used two hand turns through 30 mph, At the slower speeds, he didn't crank off turns, generate speed, and wait around at the turn. Just skied it smoothly with right amount of leverage to make the pass. You can really see the difference as he progresses through the various speeds.

I made the switch last summer on my 98 Nautique. @Orlando76 is correct in his price estimate.

I think I would name the company No Excuses. The Ski models would be: -It's not the Boat -It's not the Driver -It's not the Ski -Quit your Bitching

@wawaskr. Not sure why NoCal, Socal, blah blah blah Cal doesn't seem to bother anyone. State of Jefferson - ha ha ha. There's an off topic, political hot potato that might get me banned even in this thread.

@DaveD yes, NorCal and SoCal Don't get me started on that dumba-- song, or the tourists wearing "Cali" hats and sweatshirts. Even worse, if you really want to rub fingernails on a chalk board, refer to San Francisco as "Frisco." Echh. I can barely type it.