ETskier

I flew a lot before retiring during Covid. Back then golf clubs went free. I just put Titleist stickers on my sport tube.  

Driving on the highway, see a lake along side and start counting seconds to see if it's long enough. Have done that so many times.

IMHO, slalom is not dying. 

Compared  to the rest of the world, water skiing here is still a recreational sport (though not as large as it used to be), where middle class folks can go enjoy a great day out on the water. The rest of the world has mostly elite ski clubs owned  by the 1 percenters who own 90% of the wealth. Their water skiing has gravitated toward the Olympic model of developing high end skiers. They have no middle class or poor class skiers  ripping it up on vast public lakes like we have. Unfortunately our own sport organization (USAWS) are following the same path, and not doing a very good job of it at at that. Just from all the folks who post here on BOS, skiing is alive and improving again. Example: I recently had a conversation with a top foreign skier who had never experienced ripping up glass smooth water on an early morning sunrise run. Sad, she was brought in at a young age just to become her country's team skier. Sad, she never has appreciated what we see in skiing.

 Your alternator for that PCM 5.7 Chevy is a 100 amp high output unit, almost $300 for a new one. As skihacker mentioned, find a local rebuilder. Might not need to be rebuilt. Most common problem is a bad diode. The rebuilder should be able to fix it for 50 or 60 bucks. I had the exact problem on my 2006 196. 

Can anybody there tell how close they are to the dock in their Rideout?  Sure looks close on the breadcast.

Oh, close, yet far away. Kinda of like HO back then trying to chase Goode. I'm honored anyway.

Recommend Jack Travers. Jack and Chris are excellent slalom coaches.  Natalia and Alex excellent world class trick skiers and coaches. A great vibe will be going on there in September as the Worlds will be there in October.  Jon, Will, Jamie, Cole, Rob, Dorian, Loren and others are all training there and are a great group to hang out with and are great coaches too. Accommodations available on site too.

Back in the day, HO had the original snow ski boot style where the rubber was clamped in from the sides rather than from the top like everybody else (aka Wiley horseshoe style). The CDX 1 was HOs answer to Goode.   Their bindings morphed into the HO97s and then 98s. Their hole patterns were unique to HO until the Animals came out.  My wife's 2001 came with new HO 98 bindings. I believe there is enough backing underneath you can put inserts in to work with the newer standard binding plate everybody went with.  I still have her attached fin and front binding locations and tuning spec sheet. Hope this helps.

@SlalomSteveAgreed. I think it's a shame Freddie won't be there. Like golf, Augusta invited all the best, despite their tour or sponsor affiliations. But then again they would not tolerate a public expletive laced tantrum either. 

I'm wondering if there was any foul language or cursing involved. Nautique has always purported strong Christian values. Maybe they were offended. Its an invitational and they have a right to control who they want there.

Try greasing the rudder housing. There should be a zerk fitting. Install the new cable and check again. System should be very easy when not under way. So you'll want to test drive. If still tight, then tackle the rudder packing. 

We got the 6 inch white round crab bouys for 3$ each last fall from Crook & Crook.

That marina manager just wants to sell more new boats. True, the majority of regular boats with 500 hours or more are probably over 20 years old and many poorly cared for. Inboard ski boats cared for properly will easily last 2000 hours or more. Think of it like this. 200 hours is like 20,000 miles on a car.

I set my lift bunks to mirror my trailer. 

Their new Carbon V also has interchangeable tail pieces for a very reasonable cost.

Lake 38 is located near Tallahassee.  Look for all the hotels on the north side near I10. I'm staying at Holiday Inn north at 27 and I10, about 20 min. from the site. Also look at the Gretna hotels,  also 20 min away. 

It's sad that the big 3 are still building boats only for the 35-43 off skiers, not us 15-32 offers.  In the past that top down marketing got all of us better boats. Particularly lower and softer wakes. Not any more. The 196s were the best in the wake department and drove the best. My Last Boat was an 06 196 with single puck ZO.  At  B2  34 and now 32mph, pull felt very similar to the new boats. My old 94 196 had almost no wake. The 200s and the pickle fork 197 MCs and older BUs are OK.  Most of the 90s big 3 are good skiing boats for us mid-level skiers.  Now at tournaments, we get to look forward to big wakes and hard rooster tails  in our opening passes. Oh what fun.  Even if I could afford them,  I wouldn't buy one. Repowering and upgrading an old one is the way to go if you are on a budget. Side note, the hydrogate on the new Nautiques can be tuned for a little bit better slalom wakes. But,  only a handful of people know how to do it, and apparently it's a super secret death penalty for the secret to be let out.  Secondly, the microtuners should be deployed for all slalom.  Again, the manufacturer doesn't care about us, it's fine for the high end skiers.  I will add that Mastercraft has worked hard in recent years to deliver a boat we intermediates would like, still $100K. 

@Horton @Broussard I believe I paid homage to Mastercraft both for their 14 and up and particularly for their recent efforts, both skiing and driving.  If I could afford to buy a new one, Mastercraft would be my choice. Sorry if I was confusing. My rant on the new Nautiques stands.

It's sad that the big 3 are still building boats only for the 35-43 off skiers, not us 15-32 offers.  In the past that top down marketing got all of us better boats. Particularly lower and softer wakes. Not any more. The 196s were the best in the wake department and drove the best. My Last Boat was an 06 196 with single puck ZO.  At  B2  34 and now 32mph, pull felt very similar to the new boats. My old 94 196 had almost no wake. The 200s and the pickle fork 197 MCs and older BUs are OK.  Most of the 90s big 3 are good skiing boats for us mid-level skiers.  Now at tournaments, we get to look forward to big wakes and hard rooster tails  in our opening passes. Oh what fun.  Even if I could afford them,  I wouldn't buy one. Repowering and upgrading an old one is the way to go if you are on a budget. Side note, the hydrogate on the new Nautiques can be tuned for a little bit better slalom wakes. But,  only a handful of people know how to do it, and apparently it's a super secret death penalty for the secret to be let out.  Secondly, the microtuners should be deployed for all slalom.  Again, the manufacturer doesn't care about us, it's fine for the high end skiers.  I will add that Mastercraft has worked hard in recent years to deliver a boat we intermediates would like, still $100K. 

I sold my "Last Boat" last summer, a SN196 ZO.  The proceeds will pay for my club skiing for the rest of my life. I've owned a DD boat since 1975, 14 of them.  The only thing I miss is some big lake boating.  But I can rent an IO or a pontoon every now and then right up the road. New  3 event boats are ridiculous for the price. Used ones sell for more than original wholesale (promo). 

A couple other failures come to mind. Bayliner, Century CTS, Dixie Skier. Not sure, but I don't think any of these 3 even got AWSA approval.

@lpskierTrue, mostly Nautiques last 25 years. Although, I had Ski Supremes in the 80s and a Mastercraft in the 90s.

Right thumb and forefinger on the throttle, left thumb and forefinger on the wheel about 8 o'clock. Left forearm on my knee.  Still drive that way.  I found that a death grip on the throttle and 1 or 2 hand death grip on the wheel usually wound up as a terrible drive for the skier in the course.  We were fortunate enough to have somebody timing in the boat and also had the very early magnet automatic timing.  Now driving tricks in practice was fun in the pre-cruise era. If i did not have a pin person for toe turns, my left knee was on the wheel, left hand on the release. It was nice in the older boats the mirror was on the dashboard, easier to watch the left speedo and skier.

Would agree with Lake 38 towers. Simple, full electronics, rustic, yet modern. 

8 degrees!!!!  Is that Cenitgrade or Fahrenheit?   I'm thinking take the fin out.  Might slide over the ice and snow easier. Ha.