Marco

Sweet- The best of both worlds.

Lows here on the Western Slope tonight and tomorrow night in the low 20's. We need to take the boats off the lifts and put them in the garage this afternoon. I'm really tired of winter, especially in late April!!!

Amen to the no snowboards!

Eric- I hope those were some good Mai-Tais! Bummer you missed out on a powder day. It's dumping here now. Snow on the ground, everything is white but the lake, and the ski area is closed. The wind was blowing about 60 yesterdy, but has subsided somewhat. Looks like it's going to be another working weekend...

Just when we're ready to get back on the water... I hate wind, rain and snow/vanillaforum/js/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-yell.gif

Good news back from CC!  This is all second hand, but as it turns out, the software that was loaded into the 200's that were built in the early stages of production were for the 196. Later on they changed the software to coincide with the higer RPM needs of the 200. I don't know any of the specifices, but the programming of ZO came into play as well. The fix is a software upgrade, and they are also talking about propping down to a 12-1/4 x 14-1/4. As it turns out, this is the first 200 run at altitude, so the problem with the older software hadn't arisen previously. CC already has the answer. Hats off to them for being on top of it.ÂÂ

DW- Yes, the boat does have gear reduction. The dealer is hinting at a prop change solution, but won't propping down further give more RPM's but not much more top end speed, which is what is missing? Being a new boat, (less than 1/2 hr on it at delivery), we discounted plugged filters, air or fuel. Could a weak fuel pump be a possibility? Eric- it does appear we are the "high altitude test bed". I do know of 200 promo that will be showing up at a lake a few hours away from ours that is 600' higher in elevation. It won't be there for 3 more weeks, but if we don't have an answer by then, the performance of that boat will tell us a lot...

Bulldog- To be fair, the dealer so far has been very cooperative. The problem was identified on Friday afternoon, and the PCM guys were in FL and were gone from the office by the time he was able to call them, so nothing much happened over the weekend. The dealer did talk to my friend several times on Saturday. We'll see what happens over the next few days. The boat owner was going to ask the dealer to come to our lake (300+ miles away) to run the diagnostics rather than trailering the boat back over the Rockies. We'll see if he agrees. I would find it hard to believe that CC didn't test their boat at higer elevations. Hopefully they did, and this problem can be diagnosed and fixed easily...

Deke- Thats right. Also it barely got up to 34 by the time we hit the 55's when I skied behind it yesterday. The owner has been talking to the dealer, who is guaranteeing they will make it right. The question is: is the boat just to big and heavy for the motor? If so there will not be a solution other than upgrading to the 400 hp. The dealer is talking to the guys at PCM, so we'll see what they come back with. I don't think a prop change will get the 4-6 mph that is needed. Hopefully it something simple like an altitude calibration as DW suggested. We'll know more in a couple of days. As far as how it skied, the wake was almost non-existent and butter soft. One pass we spun at the end and the boat barely bounced when it crossed the wakes. If we can get the power problem resolved, this will be a sweet boat!

That is on the list of options. The frustrating part is that before he ordered the boat, he asked the dealer if the 340 hp motor would be suffucient to pull 36 mph skiers at 5400' on a 2000' lake. The dealer talked to the engineers at CC and they said it would have no problem. I'd say make them install the 400hp motor, but that is a 6K upcharge, not to mention losing use of the boat while it gets replaced.

My friend just launched his new 200 for the first time, broke it in per the instructions, but couldn't get enough RPM's afterwards. The max it would run is 4100, and it barely reaches 36 mph without a skier. Our lake is at 5400', and they prop'd it down to 15 from 15-1/2. (That seems extreme compared to the 12.5 pitch I run on my malibu, but I don't know anything abou SN props and gear reduction). The dealer said they are working on a computer upgrade, which makes me think that this isn't the first boat to have an issue. Has anyone else at altitude experienced the same thing? My friend is extremely frustrated, and it didn't help that the heater stopped working after 5 minutes of use and the knob fell apart in his hands. He's ready to trade the boat in for a Malibu or mastercraft...

It was about 5 1/2. The binding may not even be the reason for the injury, There is a school of thought that buoy impact injuries are typically the result of the ski going airborn after striking the buoy and the injury occurs when the ski hits the water again. This impact would be directed downward toward the ski, and no binding would release from that type of impact. I have heard that from Syderhouse, and I think TW brought it up in a thread some time ago as well.

It appears the bow winch strap is attached to the tow rig... Doh! Upon closer inspection, i'm an idiot.

I've been concentrating on walking correctly as well. If I don't consciously think about it, I don't push off with my toes. During recovery, I couldn't, and now it is just habit and lack of strength. I notice weakness around the muscles around my ankles, the ones that play a big part in balance. i hope that won't affect my early season skiing. Thanks for the reminder on the wobble board. I started with it in PT, but stopped when I stopped PT. I think I'll make one this weekend if I have time.

Mbskier- I was put on the early weight bearing protocol as well. Light weight bearing starting at 4-5 weeks.  I think its a a fairly new protocol, as I believe previously the conventional wisdom was full cast for 3 months with no weight bearing. After about 12 days I was in a removable walking cast, so I could start doing range of motion excercises. Still, my dorsiflexion is limited, mostly due to constriction in front part of my ankle joint. Hopefully that is just due to scar tissue that will break up over time. I couldn't imagine being immobilized for 3 months. That must extend the rehab duration drastically. 3 weeks till I'm back on the water. Can't wait...

Cliveous- Good to hear from you. I hope yours and everyones recovery went/is going well. I am almost 7 months post op, and although I can walk fairly normally again, I have very limited strength in my calf and ankle muscles, and my tendon is about three times the width of my healthy one. I haven't been to PT since the 3 month mark because my insurance ran out, and life and other things got in the way, so I haven't been as diligent with my rehab as I should have been, but I have been able to start working out more vigorously lately. I have not yet been back on the water, but our lake should be full again by the end of the month, and I plan on getting out then. I have been asking about bindings and achilles injury (see the thread on the lower part of the 1st page), and will be trying out some RS-1's that Richard is generously loaning me. Scot says that they will be one of the better systems to use given the injury, but also said the Reflex system releases in a way (when set up properly) that does not overly stress the heel. What is your recovery time from the surgery to remove the bolts? I hope it is very minor in nature and you are back on the water soon. Keep me posted.

Will do. Thanks.

Do NOT tighten beyond the recommended setting. I did and have a surgically repaired Achilles to show for it.ÂÂ

Has the order gone in yet? I may want to get my daughter in on it. (Nothin like waiting till the last minute)

Gloersen- I hear what your'e saying, and I can't ski with a RTP either. I tightened the Reflex mainly because it was releasing regularly on my offside when I over-turned and stalled at the buoy. (I know, I need to fix my offside turn rather than the binding). My rear shin was getting torn up from hitting the ski. Those were really the only 1 in 1 out falls I had with the Reflex. When I tightened the Reflex, I was of the mindset that "in all the time" was safest. What could happen??? Richard- thanks for the generous offer. I whispered back.

Brent- I had a single Reflex front and a D3 rear highwrap. Thanks for the info on the Quattros. I have heard that the FM's are heavy. Do you find that to be the case? Scot- thank you for the detailed explanation. I may have had my binding cranked down too tight which would explain the injury. I'll stay away from the single plate release. Perhaps the Reflex is still the binding for me if I loosen it up slightly, but the Stradas sure sound intriguing...

Thanks for all the input. It sounds like the Stradas may be the way to go for me, since I don't like to tinker much when I get the set up dialed in. Richard-How is the performance aspect of the Stradas? I haven't seen them in person, but they appear to be a hybrid of a hardshell and soft binding??? Do you get the same edge control as with hardshells? I'd imagine so, otherwise you wouldn't be running into 39 all the time...

You hit the nail on the head in my opinion. The greater tip pressurer explains the tip stall I often get on my offside at my shortest line length. I thought Terry Winter's photo of the transposition of his offside shows it clearly.

I'm a few weeks away from getting back on the water after rupturing my achilles tendon last September. I was on a Reflex when I hit a buoy and destroyed my front foot. I have no way of knowing if a different binding would have prevented the injury, but now I am reconsidering my binding choice because of my repaired achilles tendon. I am curious as to what binding release system would be most friendly to an achilles tendon in an out the front release. I don't want to sacrifice the performance and connection to the ski that I got with the Reflex, so I don't want to go back to rubber, and I want to stay away from Velcro. I was thinking about the new Strada's, but don't know much about them, or any of the newer bindings for that matter. Any input would be appreciated.

Gern-When we developed the property, we were allowed under county regs to peel off 3 six acre lots without going through a full subdivision process, which would have killed the project. In addition, my partner and I each have a 35 acre parcel, so we have 5 homesites on the lake total. We pre-sold 2 of the 3 six acre lots to good friends, who helped build the lake. The last lot was purchased in '03 by the second person who looked at it. We do have covenents that restrict boat types, house sizes, etc. We modeled our CC&R's after Shortline Lake in CA. We're not that close to Vail, about 150 miles south west give or take, but there are 2 lakes closer to Vail, one about 1/2 hour west, and the other in Carbondale near Aspen.