75Tique

Ah, yup, missed that. "A" site, not "the" site.

As far as the coverage, I didnt think it was awful. No TWBC, but not awful, tho you are right, graphics were not always on cue (or correct) and they arent great at who is skiing and rope length... but the video of the skiers wasnt bad. @lpskier. Really, you didnt think it was windy? Not what it looked like, not what the commentators were saying and pretty sure not what the guys who only got into 32 or 35 thought. Edit: Today's coverage just started. Looks to be much better conditions. Hopefully will hold up through the day.

Coverage is not too bad this time. Men's event was crazy,

The tourneys that don't use TWBC won't listen to me, maybe they'll listen to Bob.

The original list posted in 2016 goes through 9, then Sacha was added (No. 10) I know Brian Detrick recently was No. 12. Despite lengthy googling, I can not find who/when No. 11 was. Also, does the list still stand at 12?

Related discussion on here just a week or so ago. Interesting you said yours failed. Whenever this discussion ("what's the best way to run/flush my engine") advocates always say flush pro. Many counter with that are susceptible to breaking. Several other methods. A photo of mine (and many others) is shown in the linked thread.

This is a 96 Nautique, Your plumbing may vary. Should be located such that gravity pulls water to the pump to prime it. Everyone always asks: Doesnt the water just flow out through the thru hull? Yes it does, until you start the engine, then it will suck the water toward the pump. No need to put a shut off valve between this fitting and the through hull. When running, there may still be some flow out the through hull, but engine gets enough water to run at slow speeds.

Other than the short run of the Carbon Pro, what year had all the zillions of other ski boats that were around in the 80s and 90s faded away into the dust bin of history, or in other words, what was the first year of just the surviving big 3? What brands were the last to drop out of existence?

Coverage...Ugh!! Hey I have an idea, lets show hours of people walking across the bridge, and lets switch to the commentators in the middle of a pass. TWBC!!

Yup on Ed retiring. Still serving customers with what he has left but not sure that includes a complete course. I recently picked up some bungies but I know he’s not doing much with it any more. Worth a call.

As is typically the case with me, 2. Pretty much all my swervin is on my semi-private (HOA neigborhood) lake where I have my course, and pretty much all my barefooting is up on a much bigger public lake (about 45 minutes away) where my friend with a great Barefoot Nautique lives.

Was vacationing in a coastal town and went into a clothing/gift shop with my wife and saw this shirt. Not exactly sure of context of "baller" in this sense, but I am guessing its not water skiing.

Nautique 200, 206, 211. 211 is a pretty highly regarded crossover, but I bet wifey wouldnt be happy with wake. I would lean toward a better ski wake vs a bigger wakeboard wake. You have to be a very good wakeboarder to need or benefit from a big wake. For years and years, the kids will just swerve back and forth, maybe jumping the wake a little bit. My nephew is crazy wakeboarder guy and get get huge air off a DD wake, more than most can get off a wakeboard boat wake.

Not varmint or vandal related, but related in the sense of the things we deal with to ski. This is how my week went last week. Set up: I'm on a "semi-private" (neighborhood/HOA) lake. Cant leave course out so I sink it after each use by removing balls. Its depth ranges from about 35 to 50 feet, complicating matters. I get to it by following a leader I have (tied to a no wake zone buoy that the HOA placed (one of many)) that leads to one of the anchors. Finally, I'm in the main channel of a 150 acre lake, not tucked in a cove where the course is close to shore/landmarks. So one evening last week, I am going to deploy course. I start pulling on the leader only to realize its not hooked to anything and I am just reeling it in. Somehow it has come unhooked from the sizable spring clip on the anchor. This is not good. I have custody of the EZ slalom course, I do not own it, it is not mine to lose. Next evening I start fishing for it with a rope and grappling hook. No luck after several passes and maybe 1/2 an hour. I go back in and get my fluke anchor and start dragging with that. Another several passes and I snag the main line. Relief! So I get everything put back together. A few days later, I try again. Follow the leader out to the anchor. Hoist up the anchor (remember, 35 ish feet/heavy anchor) Now I find that one of the 3 ropes supposed to be hooked to the anchor, the leader, the mainline and a 50 foot hunk of rope I put a rope handle and buoy on to tension the course. The tensioner rope has mysteriously come off. Off to the hardware store to get a new one. Not sure how much good its going to do, but I wound a bunch of electrical tape around the spring clip. Hopefully won't flop open for no reason two times in one week again. And to cap it off, today, head out this morning, looking forward to the first not too windy outing in a while. Just two sets (for the 2 other guys I was with) into the outing, out comes the big old deck boat, loaded with kids, towing them around on surf boards (not surfing, using long ropes) at 15 mph. We collected the buoys and called it a day. Great week!

In seeing peoples collections, I think it is just a personal preference. Some collectors have a billion skis, I think just to have a billion skis, without them necessarily being special. I think pretty much universally highly regarded ski are the old, finely crafted, multi-wood Maharajas, They always seem to bring a premium price in the few hundred dollar range on up. Obrien had some nice wooden skis, as well. Another one you see frequently are the old Dick Pope Jr. wood skis with the orange and yellow graphic.They can be had for cheap as there are millions of them out there. I know I've got one on my wall. I think what a lot of people look for is old skis they grew up with that have sentimental value, that they lost somewhere along the way, but would like to replicate. I know that was my case with my first two skis, (see photo) a Northland Custom Slalom and the ever popular (there must be a billion of them out there) silver green and blue Obrien World Team Comp. They can be had for cheap as there are millions of them out there. One ski that a lot of people seem to like, I always wanted one in the 80s but they were pricey, so I never got one until a couple years ago is the Obrien Competitor. A lot of us thought that was a skier spray in the graphic but I learned only recently (around when I got it) that it is actually the tree line of Lake Sammamish where Herb Obrien designed and tested skis.

Another skier's (coincidentally) 54 years of skis, tho I dont have as good a story to go with mine.

They certainly misrepresented that. Appreciate the clarification.

Apologies if this was already linked someplace and I missed it. Pretty significant. Not 200 ft, not 150 feet. Not at all, period. https://beachgrit.com/2022/03/alabama-first-state-in-nation-to-pass-wake-surfing-ban-causing-much-fear-consternation-panic-to-spread-through-novelty-wave-community/

OK, last bit of wisdom, I promise

I finished a barefoot run a few weeks ago. Guy pulls up alongside saying “good for you getting up and going again after a good faceplant”. And that he had done some barefooting back in the day but was too old for that now. Was probably in his 50s. I’m 67. Another time I ran into a guy who used to wakeboard but no longer. Since he’s too old for that now. He was 35.

I plan on dying young as late as possible.

1- great job on the Response, nicely done. You've shown the rest of the world the kind of resto-magic that happens over on CCF. 2- Sabreflight. Very cool. Spotted one on our lake a while back. Cool, rare boat. On this little lake of nothing but pontoon and deck boats pulling tubes, a craft like that is not appreciated by anyone but me (and the owner, I suppose.)

My situation is similar to some of those above. Quasi-public (open to my neighborhood only) lake. Can not leave balls out all the time. Too tedious taking completely in and out each time. EZ slalom sits on bottom of lake. Sounds simple like others have, but complicated by the fact that it is in 30 - 50 ft of water. Wish I could leave at least one buoy on to find it, but can't. Have a leader that goes about 200 feet from one of the course anchors to one of the lake's permanent no-wake zone buoys. I retrieve that rope with a boat hook (about 5-6 feet down) and then hand over hand to the anchor. Pull up the anchor, clip a handle/buoy to the 40 ft rope on the anchor for tightening purposes, drop the anchor holding onto the mainline, then hand over hand down the mainline, clipping on all the buoys. Takes about 30 minutes. Then go back and pull on the tightening rope, as inevitably the lifted anchor moves down course when dropping it back to the bottom. (I've wondered if running my leader to the gate instead of the anchor might result in my not having to pull the anchor tight each time but there is no conveniently located no-wake zone buoy) Have a pretty decent sandy bottom so not dealing with muck and the course rests deep enough that there is little life therefore pretty much no algae/slime/gunk on the lines/pipes, so that is all good. Comes up clean in the fall. (I pull out the whole mess in the fall) Pretty clean sandy bottom is good, but also there is a fair amount of debris on the bottom as well. I've hoisted some pretty significant limbs/logs up when lifting pulling up the leader rope or lifting the anchor.