Ed_Obermeier

Stock D3 Leverage pretty much since they first came out. Tried the first iteration of Strada boots, couldn't get consistent with them, went back and been there since. Too much velcro, not enough velcro, gotta change out the velcro X number of times a season, gotta get the tensioner set JUST right... You guys can have your hard shell whatever's. Too many variables in the equation, heard too many injury horror stories, and not enough water time to be worth screwing with it. Never had a Leverage not release when it needed to.

Yes. Plus a very good ski to begin tackling the course at 28 - 30 mph if/when you're ready.

Look at some other boat-for-sale sites for comparables to get an idea of what people are asking. Link below from onlyinboards.com which lists six '03-'06 which is the same hull as the one you're looking at. Link I think I know the one for sale in Kansas City, Mo, the 2004 listed for $25K. If it's the one I think it is (@kstateskier is this your boat?) I'd jump all over it if I were looking myself. No tower though...

@Jeff_70 Like 6balls said the pads over the ski locker make up the sun pad on a DD. Probably not quite as large as on a V drive but still plenty to lay out/lounge on. Some boats (some MC 197's i.e., there are others) are set up so the back seat bottom comes up to add to the sun pad area pretty much doubling it.

@Jeff_70 wrote "I am looking for a multi-purpose boat. I want a boat that I can slalom behind, older children can wake board behind and the family can spend a day on a bigger lake (Texoma) if we want to. For me the need for a smaller wake is paramount." My 0.02 cents. If that is TRULY your case (read - if you want to seriously pursue slalom skiing with this boat) you are ultimately NOT going to be happy with a V-drive of ANY brand regardless of what anyone here wants to have you believe, and I've tried skiing behind most of them out there. It's a compromise at best and the slalom wake (if that is truly an imperative to you) is going to be way inferior to any DD, which will ultimately hold you back assuming you truly do want to pursue slalom seriously. The suggestions of a Malibu Sunsetter LXI or even the Response LXI would be more what you'll ultimately be happiest with. Malibu build quality is right up there (if it weren't why do they continue to sell so many?) so don't think you're getting inferior quality. Wife loves the sunpad and open bow room in our '05 Response LXI, the slalom wake and performance are world class, with a tower and Wedge (neither of which I have on mine) you're set. My wife doesn't ski either and she's perfectly fine with the interior room of our RLXI and that will be improved slightly with the Sunsetter. If you're serious about course skiing you need a DD, otherwise some of the V-drive suggestions will likely be fine.

Ah the memories! First boat was an 18' 1970 Larson Shark tri hull runabout purchased in around 1985 or so. Bought it because the open bow was about 60% of the length of the boat, 6-7 people could sit in the bow no problem, and because it was $2000 which even that was a stretch back then. Had a nice running Ford 4 cylinder, top speed about 30 mph with 4 people. Quickly figured that wasn't enough power to suit me so I found an old Buick 225 6 cylinder engine, rebuilt it, stuck it in the boat. Spent about $800 to rebuild it, gained maybe 2 mph if that. Lesson learned. And I pulled it with a 1976 Olds Delta 88. Only went through 2 transmissions... Had that about 3-4 years , sold it and bought a late model 20' runabout with a 305 Ford V-8. Worlds of difference performance wise. Had that several years and got serious about skiing somewhere in there, then bought my first (and only to date) new inboard, a 2000 Supra Legacy. Sold that in 2008 and bought the 2005 Response LXI I'm still skiing. Never say never but don't expect I'll ever need another inboard, this one does everything I need it to do and it's paid for.

@igkya pretty much nailed it dude.

@Stevie Boy wrote "one thing is for sure your youth will catch up with you, when you get older, you will not get away with it." I know THAT'S right! Ah, the ignorance of (my) youth...

I always add Marine Stabil to my gas every time I fill my boat up. Don't have to worry about it that way. Even with premium fuel you don't know if you're getting ethanol in it (often not listed on the pump one way or the other) but I just assume it's there, treat for it, no worries.

@aupatking shoot me an email anytime, be happy to discuss it with you. ed@ez-slalom.com

I'm not quite 2 weeks out from having my left shoulder rebuilt for the second time in 6 years. Torn supraspinatus, torn infraspinatus, torn labrum, surgeon had to install a dermal patch (Google it) to put it all back together. Did the damage back in mid June, couldn't afford the down time to get it fixed until now. Doc says 6 weeks in an immobilizer sling, don't move it, no PT, nothing until first of the year. Last time in 2009 I pushed using it again, never really felt like it healed entirely right, could just be in my head... Didn't stop me from skiing though so what the hell, right? That is until I tore it again. I can assure you that this time until the doc says so I'm not doing squat with this shoulder, even if it's 6 freaking months. I definitely don't want to do this again. Typing one handed sucks and I definitely want to ski again next spring.

Option 2 needs to be divided into two different options - I ski a permanent course on a public lake and/or I ski a portable course on a public lake.

@GOODESkier you obviously have too much spare time...

IMO this is in the same vein as the self installing, auto positioning GPS slalom course. The technology involved is yet to be proven and the cost, were it to become available, is likely highly prohibitive to the average water skier. Fun to think about, cool idea, totally unrealistic. Just keeping it real folks...

Found this this morning. Very intersting. Associated Press November 2, 2015. By Mary Clare Jalonick WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has voted for a resolution calling for scrapping new federal rules to protect smaller streams, tributaries and wetlands from development and pollution. Senators voted 53-44 in favor of a "resolution of disapproval," a measure that would void the regulations if also passed by the House and signed by the president. The White House has said it would veto the resolution. The Obama administration says the rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in May would safeguard drinking water for 117 million Americans. Republicans and some rural Democrats say the rules would give federal regulators unprecedented control of small bodies of water on private land. Federal courts have already put the regulations on hold as they consider a number of lawsuits. Grouped By Vote Position YEAs ---57 These Senators voted for the bill. Alexander (R-TN) Ayotte (R-NH) Barrasso (R-WY) Blunt (R-MO) Boozman (R-AR) Burr (R-NC) Capito (R-WV) Cassidy (R-LA) Coats (R-IN) Cochran (R-MS) Collins (R-ME) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Cotton (R-AR) Crapo (R-ID) Cruz (R-TX) Daines (R-MT) Donnelly (D-IN) Enzi (R-WY) Ernst (R-IA) Fischer (R-NE) Flake (R-AZ) Gardner (R-CO) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Heitkamp (D-ND) Heller (R-NV) Hoeven (R-ND) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johnson (R-WI) Kirk (R-IL) Lankford (R-OK) Lee (R-UT) Manchin (D-WV) McCain (R-AZ) McCaskill (D-MO) McConnell (R-KY) Moran (R-KS) Murkowski (R-AK) Paul (R-KY) Perdue (R-GA) Portman (R-OH) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Rounds (R-SD) Rubio (R-FL) Sasse (R-NE) Scott (R-SC) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Sullivan (R-AK) Thune (R-SD) Tillis (R-NC) Toomey (R-PA) Vitter (R-LA) Wicker (R-MS) NAYs ---41 These Senators vote against the bill. Baldwin (D-WI) Bennet (D-CO) Blumenthal (D-CT) Booker (D-NJ) Boxer (D-CA) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Coons (D-DE) Durbin (D-IL) Feinstein (D-CA) Franken (D-MN) Gillibrand (D-NY) Heinrich (D-NM) Hirono (D-HI) Kaine (D-VA) King (I-ME) Klobuchar (D-MN) Leahy (D-VT) Markey (D-MA) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR) Mikulski (D-MD) Murphy (D-CT) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Peters (D-MI) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Sanders (I-VT) Schatz (D-HI) Schumer (D-NY) Shaheen (D-NH) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Udall (D-NM) Warner (D-VA) Warren (D-MA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR) Not Voting - 2 Brown (D-OH) Hatch (R-UT)

It's a rare treat to get to ski a private site, very infrequent. Almost always on public water, bigger half of the time using a portable course. Have to get out early to get any decent water. It is what it is.

We're public lake skiers too. We're on the water by 7 AM Saturday mornings, often earlier than that (frequently at daylight mid season), cause that 's what we have to work with if we want to do any skiing. Our issue here is as much wind as Wallys (plenty of both), by 9 or so the wind comes up and we're screwed, traffic starts about 10. Early bird gets the good water. Not much help with the spotter situation I know, just an observation.

No spotter required in Kansas as long as the mirror is 72 square inches or larger in size, most ski boat mirrors meet that requirement already. Unless I'm mistaken I think it's same thing for Missouri.

If I could afford the plane I'd probably put the money into my own private lake instead...

B2 seems to be the go to setting for those of us coming from PP but my buddy suggested B1, which IMO does feel to me more like SG at the buoy. Releases me more coming to the ball and gives me a bit more time to get my stack under me before the boat picks me up. FWIW. I'm sure that varies from boat to boat though.

FWIW I run PPSG in my '05 LXI, ski regularly with a good bud with a '13 LX with ZO. I ski about the same behind both boats and really don't notice much difference. I'm not the world's best technical skier so that's possibly why I really don't notice much difference between the two. IMO once you get used to ZO and find a comfortable setting it's really not a big issue.

I did mine a little differently this year. Normally I run antifreeze through the motor etc then drain everything, thought being that if any water/antifreeze mix remains it has enough antifreeze in it that it won't be a problem. Problem with that is trying to get the bilge and everything 100% dry before I put it in storage, which is usually the last possible day I can get it in storage before it either freezes or the storage place fills up. This year I drained the raw water out of everything earlier in the process, put all the plugs etc back in and then ran antifreeze through the motor and just left it in. That way I was able to allow the bilge to dry completely plus having antifreeze in everything should hold corrosion down. Took 6 gallons of antifreeze mix (I do use automotive antifreeze) to make sure it was coming out the exhaust, shower etc. Before you start getting on me about using automotive antifreeze, I us an oblong cattle watering tank with a backboard to catch all the exhaust water and in the spring I make sure to run it all out before I ever put it in the lake. I take the waste antifreeze to a recycling place to dispose of it. Costs me about $25-30 in antifreeze every fall but cheap insurance IMO. Never had a problem.

I'm more a fair weather AL fan, not too up on the NL. Felt pretty confident the bullpen would be the difference.

On 10-15 Ed_Obermeier wrote "$10 says it's the Royals and Cubs in the Series. Well, the Royals anyway... :p" Just saying...

Was the leg broken in the front binding or was it in the RTP? Many will argue against but IMO you're safer in double boots, less likely to have a one in-one out type crash. The one that stays in is generally more likely to get the damage.