chaloux

https://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?endless=summer&topic=Search&category=Boat_3Event&postid=67838 Hmm

I really appreciate all the replies - it definitely helps bring me back to reality a little bit. A transmission replacement was not something I had considered. I'll just keep putting my pennies away and purchase something in the spring I guess. Any large-ish purchase I've made in a rush I've regretted, so I guess I'll keep waiting lol

Only for the 07. Older boats is significantly more, double and then some. I would do it myself.

Thanks everyone. The main thing is that this boat is 25k CDN! Or about 18k USD. Here's the listing: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1693488147763373/ I am for sure at least going to see it. Looks like the vinyl has been redone at some point. Gel coat looks faded (it was on my 94 Sport as well and came back wonderfully, I surprised the fiberglass people who said I'd need new gel coat). I do understand the lack of trailer as a pretty big barrier, though. Can be a major pain, but there is literally nothing else in this price range for 07-09. But if I add another 6-8k on for a trailer then I'm in the 30+ range where options start to open up. So I've been specifically looking at 07+ for the ZO setup/ease of conversion if 07. This is because the PP setup on my 94 Sport seems a little unstable or slow to react at 34/36mph. 32 is seems much better - perhaps this is just a characteristic of my boat/prop etc. but it's made me want to transition to ZO. Yes I am on the latest StarGazer v. But perhaps I'm focusing too much on the ZO setup and need to expand my search to include down to 99 so that I can get the hull first and spend a couple grand later to convert to ZO. OR, again... I wait and save and pony up. I am just impatient and want a new hull for the rest of the season, which I admit is quite short at this point. Gah.

There is a 2007 196 local to me that is up for sale currently. As far as I can find, it's one of the lowest price 196s around my area (as in within a day's drive). There are of course a few caveats... - high hours at approx 2000 - no trailer (pretty annoying, could figure it out though, and helps to defer some of the cost) - 07 so no Zero Off, but I would convert ASAP (also helps keep initial purchase cost down if I chose to wait) I have not yet seen the boat, but am hoping to soon. The current owner can take a while to respond. With a higher hour boat like this, what should I be looking for in my test ski/drive? Pictures show it looks to be in fairly good shape. The hours don't scare me - I have 190k km on my 2018 Silverado and it has approx 3300 engine hours on it, and all I've had to do is oil changes - I changed spark plugs but I really didn't need to as they looked to be in great shape. I'd be happy to share the listing as long as you buggers let me take first crack at it lol We picked up a pontoon boat this year which made my wife very happy, and I am now able to take a few of the "family" type duties off of my ski boat requirements. No open bow needed, smaller is fine. I know my knees and skiing will thank me. It's either that or I wait and save some more and pick up a 200 or Prostar. I was able to ski a 2019 SN and a 08 196 and a '23 Prostar back to back. I would be happy with any of them, but this boat would get me out of my Sport Nautique the soonest. This would also benefit my 13 year old's skiing - he is getting a good leg workout at 30mph 15 off

Illegal to make such a post without pics

I just wanted to give a little update on this, as I had an absolute blast over the August 26 weekend. Summary at the bottom for all my ADHD friends. I ended up heading to @swaterkd place in upstate NY to ski on Saturday and Sunday morning. Conditions were OK - it certainly wasn't hot out, but I also couldn't pass up the chance to ski behind a new SN. I also organized with @FLeboeuf to ski at one of his sites, but unfortunately timing and weather didn't work out in our favour. Right away, Jonathan was giving me advice, tips, interested in my fin settings, etc. It was hugely educational and helpful - he certainly has a way of communicating that really made sense to me. We went over a few things on the ground with a rope, and worked on my stance on the ski. Then he took me for another 6 passes after I had some time to let it all sink in and really felt like things were starting to click. Although I didn't turn any more balls at his place, I certainly felt like I had been given a wealth of information that I need to translate to my skiing. On Sunday, another skier Matt (can't remember last name, he was national champ at some point I believe?) came out and also had a huge amount of good tips and constructive criticism, and watching him and Jonathan couldn't be any more different in terms of approach. But incredible skiing all around, except from me. Hah! I took a break on Monday as my arms were killing me. On Tuesday on our way home I managed to hook up with Dan Anderson to ski his pond behind his 196 (for sale on SIA if anyone is interested). First time ever on a man-made lake! The 196 was great to ski behind, perhaps a tiny bit firmer wake at my -28/32mph than the Jonathan's 2019 SN, but otherwise felt fantastic and certainly leagues better than my '94 Sport Nautique. I'm a little bummed I didn't get to try Francis's 200 to compare nearly back to back to back, but ya can't win 'em all. The best part is while I was rounding 2 ball repeatedly at Jonathan's and then shitting the bed on my way to 3, at Dan's I turned 4 ball! It felt amazing. I think watching the California Pro and skiing a lot and having all @swaterkd tips rattling around in my head actually helped, haha. Bush's Watersports Park, a local ski site here in Muskoka, has a '23 Prostar. So naturally I wanted to ski that as soon as I could to have a good point of reference to the Nautiques. I was able to make that happen Friday morning of that same week. I don't know if it was different water or what, but everything behind that boat for that session felt like slow motion. I ran -28/32mph on my 6th pass and it felt like the easiest pass I've ever run. Everything just clicked, and I was so ecstatic. What a great way to start a Friday! Of course now I'm working on making -28/32mph consistent here at home. Let me tell you, the first set back behind my Sport was pretty eye opening! That wake is something else. Unfortunately I haven't run the pass again since that Friday, but I'm working on it, and consistently getting 4. I'm getting upset a little on my offside wake crossing but I'm confident I'm going to run it again a few times before the end of October. Once I can get it consistent, I really want to hit 34mph as that's where I should be skiing, and that will help with the wake a bit as well. I'm nursing a sensitive back, and spend a lot of time checking SIA for 196s and early 200s that are within my budget. There's an 07 with 2100 hours local(ish) to me and I am seriously tempted to make it happen, I'd just have to drop a few extra G for a ZO upgrade. Hoping to ski that boat soon. The price is right. As a quick summary: the skiing community is incredible, I am so thankful for everyone taking the time to help a course newbie out, and I had a ton of fun for a few days geeking out, while my wife paid for it all. All in all a really great extra-long weekend! Oh, and I need a new boat.

This couldn't be released at a better time for me, haha. Excellent!

Quality of announcers was great! I was streaming in a hotel room and YouTube was maxing it at 480p, was that normal for everyone else? I wonder if it will up the quality in a few days. It was acceptable but even one notch up in bitrate would have helped a lot.

Thanks Francis! PM sent.

Thanks everyone! I'll try reaching out to the Saint-Zotique guys and I'll also send you a PM @swaterkd

I'm headed to Cornwall Island for at least Saturday-Monday and would love to get a ski in. Free ski is fine. I'm happy to pay for gas/extra. I'll be hanging out alone all day while my wife is at a conference so I could drive a bit out of the area as well.

Buy a new boat. Needlessly spending money fixes nearly all my problems.

Thanks for all the replies. Finally got around to thinking about this a little more and taking some more measurements. Also found some old threads and Ed says that he has a diagram to essentially "lock" the whole course in place in relation to itself, so I reached out to him as well. I think I found part of my problem as well. One a few of the turn balls, I have river adapters going up and down course, so that ball is essentially locked. Unfortunately, while that ensures that it's perfectly in line with the boat gates, it kicked that whole ball and gate out of alignment. I've attached another (awesome) pic to help explain, lol. This is on my number 3 ball. Think about the river adapters adding extra tension and thus kicking the whole thing out of alignment. I think once I have it properly setup and locked in place, everything should be fine. It's because I have a few river adapters here and there that the course is out of alignment, and using them to align the turn balls with the gates is giving me issues with the main line. Will update with progress 🙂

I'm so glad I found this thread, somehow I missed it the first time around. Have a few Qs for Ed, glad I can now reach out to him!

It's not only boats, I believe it's all toys. A good childhood friend's family just sold their Yamaha dealership. Pre-purchased snowmobiles for the next season are called "snow-checks." Typically for a slow year they'd have around 20 snow-checks. Good years up to 100. I was chatting with the old owner recently and the new owner has one snow-check. One. Now we'll see how long it takes for prices to drop back to normal - I'm talking used here, not sure new will ever really return unless new orders drop catastrophically.

This was great! I loved that it revolves around the 21 worlds. I remember watching Jamie winning and being so happy for her! And of course Whitney's brutal fall. I will be sharing this with everyone I can.

Here's what I have that Ed sent me in PDF form, but unfortunately my installation manual is a paper copy. I suppose I could scan it if you really need, but these will help. So my eyelets are threaded - they have the loop on one end and threads on the other so you just need a washer and lock nut. I use the Quick Connect version, so stainless carabiners that clip onto the threaded eyelet. 05A - HD Course Kit - 10' and 20' pipe length kit instructions.pdf 04B2 - HD Course Kit - SpecialDutyArm Construction Instructions Quik Connect Setup.pdf

I glued all my joints together so I didn't use the bolts, but they are 1/4" as you said. I know this because I was just reading through the instructions trying to find an unrelated measurement. Are yours not stainless and that's why they need to be replaced?

Ouch.

Quick question for those using river adapters - where are you anchoring the line to? I'm currently running mine back to the previous outside gate ball from the turn ball, but I'm thinking I can run them back to the split in the main cable for the boat guide. I'd like to have less rope and crap in the river and it'd be really easy to just go from the ball on the arm to the main cable instead of boating all the way to the previous set of gates. Less to deal with. I just need to take a measurement of the split cables that go from the main to the boat guide eyelets. Unless someone happens to know that off hand, haha. And yes I tried emailing Ed but it looks like he killed the site and therefore his email when he retired, so I can't reach out to him anymore.

This is yours? Man it's even the right colour(s), and deckadence, and 2x racks. I love it. The hours don't scare me at all... I've owned classic Audis 😂 Unfortunately I'm building a very large garage with living quarters above (to store my future boat). Priorities... Ugh

https://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?endless=summer&topic=Search&category=Boat_3Event&postid=66260 I want this, badly. Healthy price drop recently. Anyone know how much it costs to add a tower after the fact? I probably don't want to know...

For my 94 Sport I went with the OJ428 which I've read is very similar to the Acme 422 but a little more robust. Since there is a chance of bumping into things here and there where I'm at it made sense. If you have no risk of anything ever hitting the prop then the 422 will be fine.

Too much white, boring