2Valve

really appreciate the suggestions.

Going to FL this weekend for a five day ski trip with a few buddies. Dumb me sold my Sport Tube as it's been sitting in the garage for the past five years. I plan to check the ski on the flight and have removed the fin and bindings and will bubble wrap it and stick it in the ski bag. None of the local boat dealers have spare ski boxes so I figure this will work. Any insight/criticisms would be welcome. Thanks!

I've really learned a lot this season with your information. I don't have any questions, as I enjoy your abilities to break down the simplest techniques for us novices.

It can be a risky sport. But so is any other activity. Let's see, a blown eardrum back in the 90's, a broken left foot, and abdominal hernia, all in the course. This year, a bad OTF resulted in some torn ligaments in my right foot. All in all, not bad for skiing about five days/week for a ton of years. But I'm lucky. Two deer/motorcycle collisions with only one concussion and no broken bones. Our club has a saying, "It's only water, what could go wrong?"

four hours after winterizing your boat, your buddy tells you that you and him are going on a road trip, towing his old Nautique to FL to stay at his brother's house in Ft. Myers, and ski every day.

I have a Wally Sinker compressor we use for our slalom course. I take the suction line and hook it up to a glass jar with two fittings on the lid. The other line goes into the trans fill hole. Turn on the compressor and the suction pulls the fluid into the jar. Zero mess whatsoever, just replace what you pulled out.

I've been using NikWax products for years on my motorcycle gear, tent and boat covers. https://www.nikwax.com/en-us/products/tx-direct-spray-on/

@Rikashae FWIW, I changed from a 140F to 160F thermostat and that resolved the residual fuel odor. Heater works much better also. :) @Bhaynes85 Glad you got it sorted out. The early TB Chevy's are just about bulletproof, so should be good to go.

Pullups and chinups work wonders to develop a slalom grip.

"You only get old when you stop doing the things that keep you young". Giant Schnoodles make great spotters, btw. My boy spots me every morning.

Please be more specific about "jumping the starter". If you run battery power directly to the starter hot terminal, the starter should spin as you've bypassed the relays. Is that happening?

A few years ago, the wind picked up on the lake and since we already had the course up, decided to ski. From 32-41off, we all just tried to do the best we could......behind a '83 Stars and Stripes. Spray off the boat was big, and painful but everyone was laughing. The shots of Crown Royal eased the pain. Just something crazy to do with our clubbies.

Simple Green mixed 50/50 with a soft brush has removed most rust stains for me.

Lowe's 60lb. sand bags work well. https://www.lowes.com/pd/QUIKRETE-60-lb-Tube-Sand/3006072?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-bdm-_-google-_-lia-_-210-_-masonrybaggedgoodsrepair-_-3006072-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=Cj0KCQjwm9yJBhDTARIsABKIcGY7MHh94dyB99JhAKn7eexvsjg7MiT4Fhd3E3iZloswIcmAKDvJVHIaAiCiEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds When you're done using them in the summer, load in the bed of your p/u for added winter traction.

Yep, I'm anal about maintenance on all my "sheenery".

I've had a set on a Carbon V for about three years. The original laces started fraying within 6 mos. and the stick on designs have peeled away. Laces were replaced with stretchy high end REI strings and those have been rock solid. One of the front lace grommets keeps wanting to pull away from the boot, but I've been creative with some Gorilla glue. I've had a few crashes and most times, the rear foot comes out but not the front. It might be due to how tight I have the laces. Overall, they're a good design. Best feature is I don't need soap to get in.

@Ckloves2ski "Good afternoon everyone, First, my family owns a Ski Nautique, I have been water skiing since I was eight years old and I while it was my first post, I do believe this forum most certainly is the right place to have this discussion. I did not call out anyone by name and was asking legitimate questions regarding liability and how others would handle the situation. Yes, there was a website and facebook page. Funny how Gary talks in his post about their concerns about liability issues for their skiing endeavors. In this litigious society, unfortunately it is one that comes to the forefront. I have also seen several posts where people talk about how they have their courses insured and who is responsible for the course. Our course is not insured. Second, when your neighbor makes a website and a facebook page promoting his new ski business, why is it so far fetched to think that it may still being going on even though the website was removed. Is it so out the realm of possibility that when the neighbor takes his boat down from the lift in the middle of a work day, pulls someone six times and then goes back in, that the pay to pull may actually still be happening? Third, our lake is small. 42 acres. The course takes up pretty much the entire lake from end to end. I did go into the middle of the ski course on a Sunday morning and sit, but only after I was trying to cross the lake, when the boat was at the other end of the course, and I had to quickly back paddle because you did not patiently wait to let me cross. Yes, I was upset. This has been done to me at least three times and I am not the first person who has complained about nearly being run over by the Sunday morning skiers or who have been told to get off the lake because they were skiing. The blatant disregard for others is what has now become the problem. Also, that same Sunday, you had at least ten people skiing and it went on for four solid hours, that is about 66 pulls back and forth. So yeah, you can probably see why the neighbors' patience has worn out. But no worries, I can see that as a tax paying homeowner on this lake, I will need to coordinate my ski and paddleboard time with the Sunday morning skiers. I will be sure to let all the other lake owners know as well that Sundays mornings are not for them! (eye roll). Great way to promote the sport. scuppers" I'm confused. You're on a small, 42 acre lake that's just big enough for a ski course, and you're upset that people are skiing, while you want to paddleboard....on a Sunday morning? We sometimes raise our course during the week, 7am, 12 noon. We sometimes have visitor's and sometimes they're so appreciative that they offer us gas money. So yeah, that might constitute a "pay to ski" scenario. What's wrong with that?

@Shell :)

On our private lake, outsiders can't launch their boats as we have a gate requiring a pass-code. If your lake has the same restriction, turn him in. Maybe they can revoke his access privileges. If he's using his boat, then I'd make sure some or all of the buoys were removed after skiing. This is why we love our Wally Sinker course. It disappears when we're done. A-holes like that need to be put in the corner, before he thinks he's a pro body builder filling cavities, running tournament's on the lake and rigging up some cabling to narrow the buoys for his personal passes. I'm sure that's never happened before, but there's always a first. :)

Thanks everyone. I'll report back our findings.

Zero play in the rudder/steering cable. We added 60 lbs. of weight to the front, with no improvement. That's why I thought the thought could be an issue. Haven't gotten under there yet, but my first thought was to get a straight edge and check for alignment. The boat drives perfectly straight going down the lake, no skier.

I'm helping a buddy diagnose a '96 ProStar. When pulling a skier, the boat is constantly sliding around and the driver needs both hands on the wheel to get it straight down the course. I'm suspecting the skegs are out of alignment. Is there any documentation available to reference if that is the problem? Thanks!

@georgert Took a bad fall in the course some years ago and had about a quart trapped behind my left ear. At least it felt that way. Went to the doctor who confirmed a ruptured eardrum. Mine was such that it was best to let it heal naturally, which it did, but I still get periodic ringing. I would get it checked out ASAP. Luckily my OTF's are behind me. :)

MB Sports Direct Drives. My 2002 190 is close to 1000 hrs. and still has zero issues. It would have been interesting to see their evolution through today.

I think I just found my new birthday gift....to myself!