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@vtmecheng I switched to a hard shell last year. I have a very wide foot with a high instep. It was difficult for me to get the boot on and off. The liner seemed to grip my foot and it would end up inside out most of the time when I removed it. I saw someone skiing with a sock and thought I would try it. It is now easy to slide my foot in and out of the hardshell boot. It’s weird, the boot feels larger with the thin nylon sock than it does without the sock.

I’m a big fan! Over the last 3-4 years I had tendonitis in my elbows and shoulders. The tendonitis was caused by water skiing with statin intolerance. The tendonitis wasn’t as bad after I started taking collagen peptides. I stopped taking the statins spring 2023 and continued taking the collagen peptides. My tendonitis is now completely healed. Sam’s club has Vital Proteins brand collagen peptides on sale a few times per year. I buy the limit when it is on sale. The last time it was on sale they were $22.98 for 24 ounces.

Nothing worked for me until I stopped taking statins and started taking collagen peptides.

@m_pags I don’t think I can work it out this winter; but I am looking forward to skiing on your lake next winter. Thank you!

The WNBA to water skiing analogy is a failure. The WNBA likely would not have existed without the establishment of the NBA. Waterskiing was popular decades before wake surfing was ever dreamed of. Horton should consider a self-Panda for his posts on this subject. An idiom that is a better analogy of what the public lake users are so passionate about is Don’t throw the baby (water skiing) out with the bath water (wake surfing). Don’t support/establish laws designed to remedy the problems created by wake surfers when they also restrict/eliminate water skiing on public lakes.

“We encourage you to state that 200’ distance from shorelines is an appropriate distance for towed watersports activities without causing harm to docks and shorelines.“ Water skiing and surfing cannot be lumped together as towed water sports or it will have a significant impact on water skiing. The quote above is not true for surf boats. They will cause damage at 200’. If the 200’ rule were applied to water skiing on the public lake I ski on (larger than the 1500 acre lakes in the proposal) it would eliminate most of my water ski days due to the water being too rough for my old joints. It would also eliminate the use of the slalom course I ski on. I don’t ski close to docks; but, I do ski less than 200’ from shoreline.

Someone please add pictorial instructions to the fin block settings: ski wheelie, Superman flying out the front of a ski, etc

@Horton @lpskier and others. Thank you for your advice. I have read your comments multiple times and listened to the Spraymakers gates podcasts again. I have missed more gates in the last week than I have in decades. I don’t have it dialed in yet; but, I’m getting closer. Also, I’ve learned that I’m a tail turner. Horton’s advice in another thread to straighten back leg has finally made “stand tall” instructions that I have heard make since. Now that I’m standing taller and not tail turning as bad my glide is much longer. I need to pull out earlier now than I ever have.

I’m not able to open the pictures in this thread. What is the best way to hang water skis on the wall without damaging them?

My driver is my wife. She loves me; but, during ski season it is kind of a love/hate relationship for her.

I’m old and broken. I’ll be happy to ski a couple of minutes.

Thanks for the challenge. I’ll give it a try.

@Horton Your thinking lines up with the pros I have heard on Spraymakers, etc. I have parallel parked everything from a compact car to a 28 passenger bus loaded with noisy teenagers without much thought or effort. However, I have a mental block regarding the gates. I wait until I think I can’t make the gates and I’m probably still early.

The OP asked about visual clues for the gates. Most of the responses are about the pre-gates. I understand the skier needs to be wide for the gate and the skier should turn in for the gate when their speed matches the boat speed. I understand the pre-gates can be used as a guide to know when to pull out to set up for the gates and timing of this can be adjusted to get the desired gates. This is all good information; but, someone please answer his question and mine. You are adjusting all of the above things to get to the perfect spot and time in the universe. Where is that? Assuming you are at the perfect width and speed, how do you know the perfect spot and time to begin your turn in to the gates? What do you see? Do the gates appear to be a certain distance apart? Is there a certain alignment with the gates and one ball? Is there some other visual cues for the actual turn into the gates? Does Regina whisper in your ear to turn now? Do these cues change based on line length? If so, how?

This is a great practice for a bass boat driver screaming down the lake especially in rough conditions. I have never heard of anyone being thrown from the drivers seat of a competition ski boat at 34 mph in skiable water conditions. It’s all I can do to intentionally get out of the seat (when the boat is sitting still). I do not use the lanyard. I’m open to using the switch if there a risk greater than me getting struck by lightning while driving the boat. Convince me otherwise. Tell me of the real life experiences where you or someone you personally know has been thrown from the drivers seat of a competition ski boat built in the last 25 years at 34 mph or less.

If you’ve ever had a fisherman cast his lure at you…

Try 22 off 32 mph for your opener, then speed up to 34 on the second pass. I find it easier than 15 off 34 mph because there isn’t as much rope to manage. At 15 off I end up well outside the one ball which then makes it difficult to get around the 2 ball. I like to free ski at 34 mph 28 off. There is no bump to deal with for my old damaged arthritic joints.

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Still no power in my Ft Myers snowbird mobile home. Here is the view down the street before they started cleaning up debris.

That was scary! I’ll be more careful about what I do with the excess rope in the boat after watching that.

I had the pleasure of attending the Adaptive Nationals last week. This was my first exposure to adaptive skiing. The athletes were inspirational! If you get the opportunity, attend an adaptive skiing event and volunteer to help. You will not regret it! Abby is a fierce competitor! Thank you Arizona Coach for allowing her to participate. Best of luck to Abby and the Arizona basketball team!

Given that you want to start cut through gates when skier speed matches boat speed and you adjust pullout timing to adjust where this situation occurs, what is the goal for when the skier should be initiating turn in for gates. What are the visual clues for knowing you are at the right spot? I can adjust my pullout timing; but, I do not know the goal point that I am adjusting to for the optimal path. How does this change at the various line lengths?

@Broussard I apologize for my apparent failed use of the sarcasm font in my previous post. I love college football and basketball and have no desire to shut them down.

Petition Iowa State to shut down their football and basketball programs. They are too dangerous! What about the rodeo club? Oh my!

@SmittyNYUSA Alico is near Alico Rd in Ft. Myers. I’ve also read that the Harborage, a gated community in Ft Myers, has a course; but, I haven’t seen it.