Deke

I'm with with you there @jhughes. I've had a good boat and water for 15 years. However, access to a course and quality of water has been a real issue. Unfortunately I've had to considerably change my expectations regarding how far I'm going in this sport. @Horton the greatest barrier to entry is not the boat, but I would love to see this project unfold.

I'd like to know more about what the doctors think the risks are. The pulling out of the drysuit story above is sort of telltale. But what are the doctors really afraid of? Cement cracking, no ligaments holding things together, bone breakage, dislocation? My doctor said the same thing that @A_B relayed... if you already do the sport you can go back, but taking on something new you need to watch it. I had both of my hips replaced a bit more than a year ago and was skiing again 12 weeks after the second one. I am not a shortline skier but I have a far better chance to improve now than I did prior to surgery. Aside from strength, there were no issues, no pain and holy cow my range of motion may be better than ever. On another note, I was ice skating only 5 weeks after each surgery and playing hockey again after six months, and snow skiing after 9 months. My doctors only real concern is a broken femur. I admit that it has been a lot of work and I am still working out the muscular tweaks and rebuilding stuff that I lost long before surgery, but the benefits far outweigh where I was coming from. Oh, and I'm 58.

@eleeski I use my boat at 6900' and was told early on not to bother with premium gas. There is apparently not enough oxygen to use the extra octane, so why bother. Maybe this is same with your airplane?

@marco just to be clear... You are using the same cable and rack, but changed out the whole helm including the pinion? Could you recap the parts? Where do you think the issue actually was? I've been through pretty much the same process that you went through without ever finding the source of the slop so obviously I'm curious.

I like @DefectiveDave comment about getting the leg in the same position each time. But instead of the plumb bob you could use a framing square against the floor.

I like everything in that article except, "3. If your ski is more than 5 years old, it is time for a new one. If you can afford to ski, you can afford a new ski." It should be much further down the list.

Maybe I'm thick, but I still don't understand this explanation. Is it possible for someone to annotate that picture. Thanks.

Thanks @DW and @eleeski . I have the same issue with my '99 RLX and like @marco have looked at everything else and it seems to be something in the rack and pinion. In my case all parts, including the cable are still original and working smoothly. Extra play is about the same as Marco's at about 1" left and right and it makes sense that to get that much movement it would be in the gears. That much slop anywhere else would be really easy to see. It will be months before I get to look at this again, but I am following this thread closely.

@DW if there winds up being slop/space between the gears, what next?

Deso in his natural environment.

Deso, our observer.

MacBookPro/osx 10.9.5 has no issues. iPad 4th Gen, 32 GB, Wi-Fi, MD511LL/A IOS 7.1.2 sometimes won't sign in. It's working right now though.

@Than_Bogan‌ you might need to shim the boot, outside or inside, to get the balance and leg alignment you're looking for. Sometimes the cuff is actually in the way of where your leg needs to be. It is more obvious in an ice skate and less on a waterski but some people need it. I just don't feel like I need the shape of my foot contoured into the footbed. It locks your foot and prevents you from using it's full potential.

I used to use footbeds in everything: waterski, ski, skate and sometimes shoes. Now I don't use them at all. A good fit, the right alignment and just let my feet do what they're designed to do. I have discovered that balance does not gain anything from casting the bottom of the foot.

@Marco‌ it must have been miserable if it took 4 hours to get back from Durango. Glad to hear things are getting better now. Keep that positive attitude!

@waterskicorey I just had both of mine done last winter by the anterior (front) approach, which has a very low probability of dislocation and a fairly short recovery time. You are pretty much unlimited in activity after 12 weeks, though you will still be a little weak. It really takes 6 months to a year for complete bone healing. A lot will depend on your condition before surgery and if the arthritis has caused atrophy or other problems. I'm not a shortline skier but the hips were a complete non-issue this summer. I also did a lot of skating between the 2 surgeries (which were 12 weeks apart). I think I started skating at 5 or 6 weeks. Will start ice hockey in a couple a weeks, which will be 6 months from my second surgery.

Cold water and drysuits just aren't that much fun. Got others ways to swerve and slide coming soon. :smile:

@sandrozaal‌ don't go too crazy either. See the current thread about changing the bevels. http://ballofspray.vanillaforums.com/discussion/11714/modifying-the-bottom-of-a-ski#latest

@Niles Taylor‌ Congrats! Now, don't hesitate to get some pro coaching. You'll thank yourself over and over down the road.

I don't think it would be a problem in adjusting down or forfeiting the pass. Don't you have to sign your scorecard in golf? Could do something like that.

Just a thought about the compression that @skijay mentioned... Couldn't you make the spacer two blocks, one toward the rear and one toward the front? As long as they don't touch each other they won't contribute to compression problem. Could also save a lot of weight too.

@Than_Bogan‌ that makes total sense now!

@MISkier‌ you're way better than me but this may help. As others have said, you are in a sort of squat. I would even bet that you feel like you are loading your front foot. However, I think if you straighten your back leg a little and put a little more load on it as you come up, it will move your hips forward where you want them.

@gator1‌ so the skiers reach serves to lengthen or shorten the primary pendulum? And, the skier has the ability to change gravity relative to the pendulum?

@Horton‌ United / Great Lakes did mine too. What a coincidence.