o2bnMaine

16 hours ago, MitchellM said:

After just 3 months, a load of emails, two telephone conferences and I don't want to know how much in application fees, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection just sent me a Notice of Intent to Issue a Permit.

I now have to publish this notice in the legal section of the local newspaper and await public comments over the next 30 days.  If there is no public discussion, I may actually have my course installed by April.  

Very exciting news!

Great news!!

It wouldn't hurt to have a few typos in there. Make it harder for people to recognize what you're doing?!

Body position (sitting too much) -- get your hips between your shoulders and your front heel. 
Giving up width by not maintaining contact with the rope enough after the spray line. 

But others already said those things. 

Go out and watch this video. Key in on the speed you are skiing most. Play both videos side-by-side. Watch where Horton is in the course compared to you and look at his body position and how strong his rope control is. You'll probably see a difference in where you see him accelerate (and how fast). Also, watch how he continues his outbound swing after the spray line without going down course.

@Adam Caldwell Since I didn't see you in FL this winter, I'm most likely going to see you in May when I'm driving to Maine! I can't wait to try to small and/or medium. 

I see the biggest barriers for electric (battery powered) boats are charging times (and getting the 50amp (or more!) service to the dock) and the ridiculous charge times (4-5 hours). A hydrogen fuel cell powered electric boat would cut down on the weight, charging times etc., but who knows when or how we'd get hydrogen to a dock! Yeah, I don't see boats as being an early adopter of electric power trains just yet. I am excited for it though. 

(1) I'll be working on my off-side turn. When I watch the video, I can see how much more smoothly/faster my exit is on my on-side. 
(2) I will be less shy about running into -35 even if my -32's aren't stellar.

It sounds like you got the wrong agent. I had a very easy go a few years back. The guy was very reasonable with his questions and very helpful in guiding me through the process.

Hopefully, it all ends well. If not, you are welcome to use our course whenever you like! The ramp is close, and, of course, you can ski with us too.

@MitchellM I can't wait to see a course on that lake!! 🙂

14 hours ago, MDB1056 said:

@o2bnMaine - what is pulling you? Looks like a vintage CC based on the bow profile, or maybe even an old Century 

That's a friend's Barefoot Nautique. They have the best wakes for barefooting.

No slalom for me today. Each morning, we start the day with a sunrise barefoot session. 47-degree air this morning. The water was 63 degrees. We'll usually do a slalom set later in the day when the sun's glare disappears.
 

Sorry northerners. This Floridian sometimes has to resort to a spring suit to help stave off the chills while resting between passes. This winter in central Florida has been pretty chilly (by Florida standards). It'll be this cold in late May when I'm back in Maine for the summer. The water has been in the mid-60s. We've been waking up to air temps in the high 40's but it can warm up to the high 60s by mid-day if we're lucky. 

I got Scott to send me a handle just as they were appearing on the website. I started using it in Oct 2022. My wife and I share a handle and when in Maine, friends use it too. It gets a lot of use. 

From a durability standpoint, it has withstood the abuse better than I expected (especially for a gen 1 product). I don't see any wear on the rope. The rubber has some indents from where I grip, but, again, not that bad for over 1 year of heavy use. 

I will order another (soon). 

2 hours ago, Horton said:

@o2bnMaine

I don't know man. I've never banned somebody for something like this, but we might have to vote on it. If you don't buy a new C95 ASAP, you might be not just banned from this website but from all of water skiing.

I'm really going to be in trouble when I admit that I even demo'd the c85 in 2022 ... that's where I got my 4@35 PB. I didn't buy that one either... my wife bought one though!

52 minutes ago, Horton said:

@skihacker then you need to wrestle the credit card from MRS @o2bnMaine and order him a C95.  Otherwise his days are numbered.

Sounds like our pot luck get-together tomorrow is going to be very entertaining!

15 hours ago, skihacker said:

HE EQUALED HIS PB AND DIDN'T BRING IT HOME!!! Sorry I'm still a little screwed up by this, sigh....

I'm hoping to get another go on a production model this winter.

23 hours ago, Horton said:

@o2bnMaine

Need video of your first set on 95

Too late! I demo'd one of the prototypes in mid/late September. It was a medium, which might have been a little big for me. Still, I got 4@35 (tied my PB). The ski was amazing, in my opinion. I didn't have to work as hard but got tons of angle.

I will try to remember to get a video though when I get my hands on the production ski. Maybe I'll take the time to do a comparison video like the one I did with Chris and me skiing on top of each other!

Denali for me. I'm currently on the c75. I'm eyeing the c95 after the new year.

Interesting fact... I'm using a Denali c75. Chris is using a Denali c85. 

1 hour ago, skihacker said:

Dead heat, both run through 32 off and part way through 35,

Today, we're a dead heat, but Chris has a higher life-time PB than me. 

On 12/5/2023 at 9:12 PM, MitchellM said:

Well, the state DEP just responded to my application.  Apparently this process will take anywhere between 3-12 months.  I am already starting to regret going through proper channels.

Hey @MitchellM. I did the permit process in Winter Haven 5~ years ago. It wasn't as bad as I expected. They guy was very helpful. I think I had it all done in 3 months. 

I can send you a copy of my completed application so you can see what I was required to do. Hopefully, the process hasn't changed too much. Send me a PM if you want a copy.

I finally spent some time with my dock's webcam and am getting pretty decent footage of our passes through the course. I thought I'd share this one as it is a overlay comparison of two skiers at 28off. I find it interesting to see the differences in angle into the buoy, width at the buoy and other differences.

I just put in the boat's 3rd 4-position blower switch. I wear them out from use. I want to wire the 4-position switch to a paddle switch to turn it on/off without changing the L/M/H setting. This should prolong the switch's life, I hope.

Does anybody know what gauge wire I should be using? I was looking at the stranded wire at the hardware store and didn't think it came with as much insulation as the wire that connects to the 4-position switch. This made me think I should ask some questions before modifying.

On 7/23/2023 at 9:34 AM, UWSkier said:

Beautiful boat but off by at least 7 years on the age. That looks like a 2004 to me. 

The year will be in the serial number (back right corner on the transom, I think).

My LX is a 2009, which, I think, was the first year Zero-off was available for the LX. So, if it is Perfect Pass, I would deduce it is older than that.

I think it is time to upgrade from my c75! I'm very excited to try this one out!!

@KRoundy I think you have that right. For (b), I like what @ColeGiacopuzzi said in reply to one of my recent posts. Think of it as standing up as you cross centerline. But you are right, do not lead with your upper body. And, of course, your edge change will not finish until you are well past the spray line.

When I picture my body hitting centerline, I picture myself allowing my body to get pulled up by the boat, but I make sure my ski's path is not changing.

I'll use Joel Howley's slow-motion video of 41-off (because we're all trying to fine-tune our -41 passes, right?!). 😉 Seriously though, notice that he is just starting to stand up as he crosses centerline. He doesn't even get to a flat ski until he's way outside -- way out there before he allows the ski's top to be visible from the boat.

@ColeGiacopuzzi I like "Standing up sooner." That works for me. 

I totally agree that there is more that happens before we get to the 1st wake. I guess I could have started my article with "assuming all is done correctly approaching the first wake..." 🙂