Ufda

Is there a phone mount you recommend using this with?

7 hours ago, JackQ said:

@ Horton, You forgot one other attribute that needs to be worked out before an electric ski boat will be practical, Weight!  The motor will be much lighter than a V8 lump, but a 1,000- 1,750 pound battery pack will have a significant impact to wake quality. 

I don’t think that’s clear. One interesting thing about battery weight is that it could be spread out in the hull. Gas engines have two small heavy weights: engine and fuel tank. It’s possible that different arrangements of battery weight could improve the wake. 
 

That being said, battery capacity and charge time are still unsolved problems, without easy solutions. 

Has anyone timed how long it takes to transfer five gallons with the siphon daddy?

I had two tera pumps fail in two months. Their quality is not good. But then i found the cheap knockoff at Walmart for $20 and it’s worked great. 

I saw this! In addition to skiing their bindings, they’ve been my local ski shop all my life. I hope the old shop doesn’t change. It has character, and the people there have always been fantastic. 

"That was easy. Why don't I just do that every time?" That's what I always think. And then usually proceed to not do that on the next pass.

There's another 2001 response lx locally I'm looking at. 1100 hours, $20k. It has some sun damage to upholstery, and some minor stuff falling apart (dashboard trim cracked, fusebox falling down). But engine seems to be in good shape, has PP. The interior was in worse shape than I expected from the pictures, but maybe I should just do it. No driving involved.

Also inquired about a 99 ski nautique, same hours and price, looks like it's in amazing condition, 4 hours away. But the seller says it won't be dewinterized until "some time in the next month" so I can't test drive it yet. Thanks to @sgregg for the tip on this one.

Yeah, time is a major constraint right now, and I know that makes the search harder, but that’s reality for me.

Thanks everyone for comments and information. I think at this point my strategy will probably be to find a boat that’s older than I want, closer to the lower end of my budget. Early 2000s, maybe $20k. It seems like the inflated price for an older boat is inflated by fewer dollars than a more expensive boat.

I think I’ll feel better spending that much and not getting as much boat as I want, rather than spending more than I want to spend.

In a few years, when the market cools off, I’ll maybe look into upgrading.

Related question: for a run-of-the-mill used Malibu, Mastercraft, Natique, that isn't obviously abused, how many hours would you guess the engine is good for? I previously had a '94 that we had roughly 2000 hours on before it started burning some oil. Is 2000 a good rough estimate for the lifespan of one of these engines before it needs a rebuild/replace?

I'm trying to evaluate how much life I can get out of boats with higher hours.

I'm trying to buy a boat this spring, ideally $20-30k. I was hoping to get a mid to late 2000s model. So far, I've seen a few boats in the 1999-2001 range. They mostly seem overpriced for that age ($25k with 1000 hours for a 21 year Response). There've been a few priced more reasonably.

My question: it's still early in the buying season here (PNW, still getting below freezing occasionally at night). Do you guys think something closer to what I'm looking for will come on the market, or is this just a really tough year to buy a boat, and I should jump on something that isn't ideal (price, age, engine hours)?

I'm watching ski-it-again, onlyinboards, boattrader, and local craigslist. Anywhere else I should be looking? I'm limiting my search radius to about 1000 miles, so I could drive there and back in 2 (long) days.

I agree with the idea of skiing it to test, but that’s not an option for me this time of year. Which might mean it’s not worth the risk and I should just wait for spring.

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

I was planning to look at boats in the spring but a 2006 Prostar 197 came on the market recently. Question: Will I like it's wake? The boat checks all the other boxes I think (perfect pass, bow rider for carrying lots of kids around, price and engine hours seem reasonable).

I do mostly slalom, 30-32mph 15' off. Hoping to ski more often and improve starting next spring.

Can you tell me how this Prostar 197 would compare to the other boats I've skied? They are a '94 Malibu Echelon (fantastic wake) and an '03 Malibu Sunsetter LXI (pretty good wake, but not as good as the echelon; has a very noticeable bump at 22' off).

I’ve been skiing on a friend’s Radar RS-1 for the past couple years. I found I liked it a lot better than my mid-90s KD-7000. I was thinking about buying a new ski for myself, but wanted to figure out what it is I’ve been skiing on. I couldn’t find any description on the web. Is it a high-end ski? Intermediate? Measured it tip-to-tail and I think it’s a 67”. Overall, I like how it skis a lot, but I haven’t compared it to anything else except my ancient KD-7000.

A couple questions about new skis, and how they’d compare. I’m 6’0”, about 205lbs right now (but before covid was about 200). At my best, I’ve skied a course at 15’ off, 30mph, but I do mostly open water skiing about 30-32mph, usually at 15’ off.

According to the weight charts I’ve found, I should probably have the next size bigger ski. What is that going to feel like (going from a ski that’s a bit too small, to the right size)?

Based on my ability, I was eyeing a Radar Senate, maybe graphite? Can anyone offer any advice as to how that would compare to the RS-1 I’ve been skiing on? Any other skis I should have my eye on? Anyone know of a place in the Seattle, WA area that does demos?