DavidN

Has the water temperature changed much recently? Sometimes it helps to adjust your equipment a little.

Stokes gloves are awesome! Amara palm, thin, durable.

I think you can’t go wrong either way and it all comes down to personal preferences. Masterline is my go-to because it’s 15 minutes from my door. Customer service is outstanding, the staff is always super friendly and very knowledgeable, and even if they don’t advertise much personalization of their products, a lot can and will be done if you just ask! I got used to the feel of the Masterline optimized rope. Bought the 1st gen (the white one) last year and skied with it for a good while. Didn’t feel that much of a difference first (coming from a Masterline DX rope). Then I ordered a custom rope from Brenda and never liked the firmer/stiffer feel of that rope, so I went back to the ML. Bought the new optimized rope a few weeks ago and after a couple sets to get it stretched out, it feels quite comparable to the 1st gen optimized rope. For a handle I used a Masterline carbon. It did good for 3 full seasons, I even had it re-stringed by Masterline once, when the triangle started to fray. Way cheaper than buying a new handle! When the rubber finally started to wear down too much, I ordered a In-Tow spectra handle and love it! I like especially the thin spectra line that is strung to the handle, feels lighter, less bulky than the rubber coated rope of the Masterline Carbon handle. The grip feels the same on both handles, let’s see how many seasons I will get out of the In-Tow handle. Brenda was also easy to work with, friendly, very responsive and keeps you up-to date on your order. So again, you can’t go wrong either way here.

@TEL Watch the first part of Joel’s video: Have fun and good luck! :)

I use galvanized nails, plastic chain (3 links per buoy), and bungee cord with a plastic hook. Works perfect, is durable and installed in minutes. Measure where to put the nail, depending on how thick your buoy is (obviously it should not stick out the other side), push nail in an inch or so from one side, try to keep it horizontal and centered, insert chain links in buoy and push the nail in further. It obviously needs to catch the chain inside. Push it in completely and give it a tap with a hammer so the head disappears into the foam. Attach bungee and hook. Done.

Yes, @jayski has an all (or mostly) gray 200. Looks stunning! Mine is white/gray. And yes, the gray shows scratches very very easily. :(

I’m oldschool, so it’s mostly “OK”, occasionally “whenever you are ready”. Think it’s best and most safe to not confuse drivers with all sorts of presumably funny phrases.

@UWSkier I totally agree, but isn’t that obvious?

Yup - upgrade to the single puck version. (See my answer over at the bu-crew.)

I would go the opposite route. Pulling down instead of lifting up. Put a cable hoist (ratchet puller/come along) between the cradle and the lower lift frame (underneath where the bent pulley is in your picture). Lower the cradle a bit, using the lift winch until cable has a little slack and use the come along to pull the cradle back down and the bent/stuck pulley back where it should be. What goes up has to come down, right?

A 2004 LX for $17,000 https://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?endless=summer&topic=Search&category=Boat_3Event&postid=51810

@kylegansel Sent you a pm ...

Fred 5.5@41

A little play in the rudder is quite normal. 1/8” is nothing to worry about. The swivel mount will have a little play as well (kind of bad/cheap engineering). If you tighten it down to where it has no play, it won’t turn on the bolt. So you have to find a balance between most of the play gone and still being able to rotate it on the bolt. Malibu could have come up with a better solution here, something like a brass sleeve that turns on the bolt, but it is what it is...

@kylegansel That is a common failure on that era Malibu’s. The bolt of the swivel mounting arm (or whatever it’s called) gets loose over time and water will enter the bilge around the bolt because the sealant fails when the bolt has play. You are right, there’s a nut underneath, only accessible when the lid of the HDS box is removed. If there’s significant play, get some marine sealant, remove lid (28 screws or so), remove bolt, clean everything up and re-install, using a good amount of sealant on the inside. Tighten the bolt down so that the swivel thing barely spins and let sealant fully cure before using the boat. Of course the HDS box lid has to be re-sealed as well before re-installation.

Ok, thanks! Guess I’m heading over there then. Always fun to watch!

Are they doing a webcast again? Or do I have to drive over? :D

Try to polish them first. On my Response I had quite good success getting rub marks out of the domed decals using some fine rubbing compound and wax afterwards. But I have to say, the “naked” Sportster posted above looks pretty sharp!

Two weeks ago on our lake... :#

Use the cleats? I never understood the purpose of putting vinyl to the outside of a boat! So useless...

At least he rounded the ball. :D

@igkya I tried the bright yellow Flexseal stuff that comes in a spray can. :s Painted a full set of old and faded bullet foam boat guide buoys with it. Buoys looked good for about 4 weeks in the Florida sun. Then the coating started to fade pretty quick and cracked everywhere. Another downside - yellow streaks on the hulls all the time. Not too bad to get off, still enough annoyance for me to buy a complete set of fresh boat guides. Painted buoys went in the trash right away.

Sometimes I look back to make sure I really rounded the buoy. :D

Run some (quality) injector cleaner through it. Cheap enough and can’t hurt. Could be one injector hanging for one cycle.

Difficult times to sell right now. There’s a very clean 200hrs 2014 200 with the 5.7 near me for 38k. A bargain - or so I thought - still up for sale after more than 4 weeks.