Johnseed

Only 91 days 'till spring.

Took a ski tip just below my right eye on a stuff the tip fall. Bad black eye for 2 weeks....x-rays said nothing was broken.

We had this issue on our lake and it peaked during COVID. Our public lake is only 300 acres but watersports are allowed the only restriction WAS 23' length. Surf boats began to take over and the local city government banned surfing for half the summer. Problem solved. Then the surf boat owners complained as they sunk a small fortune in their barges and could no longer use them. A committee was formed and it even included a skier on this forum, so we had a voice in the process. Fast forward a year later and the ban was made permanent but the slalom course is still going strong. Most of the property owners understood the massive differences in boats and wakes. Our course is in a protected cove and the turn buoys are less than 100' from the shore easily. The 200' number came up during the process as a minimum suggested distance to allow surfing if at all. Thankfully in our situation all towed watersports were not simply lumped together. Wakeboarding is even still allowed but without ballast or use of wedges. Once in a while common sense still prevails.

We have a course on Williamstown lake approximately 40min south of Cincy straight down I-75. 300 acre lake surrounded by homes 3 access ramps to launch a boat. Nice water most weeknights or early on a weekend morning. Course is back in a cove and somewhat sheltered.

@BrennanKMN most of the skiers on the lake practice courtesy. If it's one boat fishing normally we'll ask but with 2 my wife opted to wait patiently but they never got the 'hint' ;). Like you, only once in a while will a fisherman be a jerk. PWC are another story however. They tend to never care even racing into the course as we are starting a pass. Truth be told Wednesdays are bass tourney nights and the cove with the course is listed on the KY fishing maps as a bass hotspot.

@Edmund , you forgot the worst part....the occasional pvc repairs or mainline splice. We were very fortunate this summer for sure. Last Wednesday night stunk for sure....perfect glass, one bass boat at each end of the course! We sat there in the middle for almost an hour and nobody moved. Go figure!

We live near a 300 acre reservoir which until last year only had a 23' length restriction and a slalom course, it's a public lake with homes all around it but only 2 boat ramps, both public. When we first started boating here in '99 most of the boats hanging in lifts at the lake were 3 event DDs from every era, now it's a mix of I/O runabouts, pontoons, and surf boats. I only see a couple newer DDs, most of the older ones are gone, however skiing seems to be coming back in the past few years. Surfing was banned last year but the boats still remain, they just can't use the wedges or ballast tanks. Pricing on new boats especially DD and watersport boats seems like a recipe for disaster for the sport. Used is the only way to go for many folks, not sure how that works out in 10 years with not many potential used boats coming on the market.

Some of what you are referring to as a slippery feeling can be from some slalom skis looking for an edge vs just riding flat. The combo slaloms usually have wider rails or flat spots on the outer edges of the bottom and will handle riding straight behind the boat with less effort than a true slalom ski that is designed to be ridden on edge and slice through the wakes.

I'm not saying my way was technically correct but it seemed to work easy and effectively through a zero degree Northern Kentucky winter. I ran the boat on the lake till it was warm. Pulled boat and changed oil and transmission fluid. Drained block. Made approx 5 gal of antifreeze solution in a bucket. Used a sump pump and the fake a lake. Started boat and sump pump. Ran until bucket was empty and solution was coming out the exhaust. Over and done. I wasn't a fan of leaving the system dry all winter. At least the glycol or whatever is in the antifreeze seems to help with rust.

The aftermath of the latest...ski tip into nose/left eye. First question to the doctor was "how long before I can ski again?"

LeonL...isn't that version pre-stargazer? Might be a manual on the PP site.

My wife's concern is lack of feeling in control. Our course is on a public lake and has a short set up at one end and the open lake at the other end...not much room for error and she worries about not being able to adjust things. We went to a larger lake this weekend and the course setup was much longer and she said she almost wanted to try it so there is still hope. Now that we are past Labor Day our traffic during the week is much lower so we will probably try it just open skiing first. She doesn't like change and we just made the move from an I/O to the Malibu last fall and now from hand driving to PP...too much too quick. Ironically speed control makes things so much better and easier for both the skier and the driver....how fast was that pass? Around 30mph? Could be 28-33mph

Update.... Tonight we tried a couple different things... 1. I changed the 'pull factor' under the slalom settings menu down to 20 instead of 60 2. We drove more similar to hand throttle on the pull up - once the skier is up and the boat is planed we throttled down to around the set speed quickly The results were - PP worked as it should - no surges and the lag time to settle was much better. Thank You for all the suggestions BOS is an awesome resource!! Now, how to convince my wife to trust the PP system in the course...suggestions on that one?

I would think the operator/driver and the rental company for not offering boating instruction would be more liable than Malibu. 4 kids in the bow of a Response Lx had to seem crowded and easy to lose one...that area isn't that large to begin with. No mention of life vests either that I saw. Tragic to be certain but add to that the reality of preventability.....wow...just awful.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm going to check the linkage and return spring and try 'helping' the system out by backing the throttle down after the start. I'm guessing I could pick up a spring at the local auto parts place? Not sure this matters but the throttle does seem somewhat stuff to move...it always has even before PP. The surge only happens using the slalom GPS mode. It will do it just cruising or while pulling a skier. Speed set at 32...start, boat might lock or might not then boat surges to like 36-40 and sometimes won't even drop back on its own. Maybe the spring? It doesn't surge like that using RPM mode though. Hopefully we will get out tonight or tomorrow and try it. Like many, I added PP to help my driver(wife) and reduce stress on her but with these issues she still doesn't trust the system and won't use it to pull a skier. The hope is that if I can address these issues she will feel more confident using the PP system. The latency issue does render it a problem on one end of our course...I'd be turning 2 ball as the system kicked in.

How would I know if mine was effected? We got the system in Sept/Oct of last fall direct from PP. Once the RPM settles in it holds solid it just seems to take too long to do so.

Last year I installed PerfectPass Stargazer Wake Edition S on our 2002 Sunsetter - I figured it was accurate enough for myself at 15 - 22off. My wife isn't comfortable using it so we really haven't skied with it this year but I was playing with it just cruising the lake tonight and here is my question: How long should it take PP to 'settle in' to the set speed or RPM? In RPM mode mine is taking around 13 seconds from dropping the throttle on a start until it throttles back to the setpoint, is this normal? Tonight it was cloudy so GPS lock was sketchy but in GPS mode it seems to surge badly - I tried adjusting the pull factor but it didn't seem to matter much but the GPS signal wasn't the best. Thanks for any suggestions or help.

We had a SeaRay 180 and ran the course with it. The trick is to play with trim and weight. We also kept fuel to less than 1/3 tank with no more than just a driver in the boat. We also went to a 4 blade prop for better holeshot and a bit of lift plus we added a "whalefin" to the out drive. Skiable but not a DD wake or even close. Speeds above 30 mph for sure.

I would second the Malibu Sunsetter. I have spent the past 20 years skiing the course behind an 18' SeaRay Bowrider and last September we finally made the switch to a DD. I picked up a 2002 Sunsetter with a Diamond hull and the difference is remarkable. The center bump is bigger than say my friend's 08' Nautique but overall it is very skiable for a boat of that size. The Sunsetters are also better suited for public water as they have more freeboard on the sides and bow than a 'standard' tournament boat. I would also add that for a DD they seem to ride pretty decently in public water chop. We added PP Stargazer and it is shaping up to be a rather nice boat for us.

From the pic it doesn't look like paint chipping but the actual gel coat peeling away. Probably best to stay away as others have said. I agree with @skimtb that $10-$15k will get you something way way better.

Made it out today for my first ever November sets here in KY. We had snow at this time last year. Today was near 80 air with water estimated in the low 50s...not bad with a full suit. Hope to get one more set in tomorrow. This weather is amazing!!

Rather than just approaching the council as a whole why not meet a couple individual council members and win them over first? I would go for the property value angle as well.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Last night I moved the bunks outward about 1/2" each side and left the trailer a bit less in the water. It loaded centered and not on the bunks goofey like it had been doing. BOS is awesome!

Maybe advocacy for courses on public waters would help. We have a course on our local public lake but I understand that we are very fortunate. I thought USA waterski used to have such a thing but I'm not sure. Government bureaucrats stink sometimes.