Thomas Wayne

Everyone wants to "buy a better turn" - me included. Overwhelming family obligations have kept me a little out of the loop lately, but I'm hoping to try (and very likely BUY) a 68" Strada next month. I agree 100% with what Scot Jones says about the value of "improving our skill, fitness, consistency, and confidence", but would hasten to point out that the latter two aspects (consistency and confidence) can come from the ski as much as from within. I think being familiar and comfortable with your ski is extremely important to your overall success. TW

Count your blades - three is a good total, unless you have a four-blade prop. Then it's bad. TW

We had an OJ prop that shed all THREE blades suddenly and unexpectedly. Of course, it turned out to not be covered by the warranty, due to the unseen gravel bar we hit at speed... TW

FYI, any correctly tied square-knot will automatically contain a couple of lark's head knots, since the lark's head knot is technically half of a square-knot tied around a rigid object. In fact, a common way to "break open" a cinched square-knot is to pull one rope into a straight line so that it forces the other rope into a lark's head configuration. The twisting of the bridle eye that OF mentions is easily corrected by simply rolling the end of the bridle eye in your fingers such that is returns to its natural untwisted form. This is how I do it when I'm using someone else's mainline with my handle section - since my handle has a HUGE eye (I specify 12-inch eyes from Brenda), but most mainlines have standard size eyes. TW

The "fashionable" white-on-white commercial sign in the background is probably not very effective at attracting new business. TW

Direct to the battery, through a relayed circuit, does not require the boat to be started - so no gas wasted. And sure, an auxillary switch will work just fine - assuming you still wire it directly to the battery - but running a relay from the ignition side of the key is just so much more of an elegant solution. Now, having seen your homemade skis, I realize that "elegant" is not something you strive for Eric... but there is also the upside that no one (especially my wife) has to remember to turn on a switch before I ski. If that convenience saves me one screwed up opening pass per summer it's very much worth it. TW

Study the image closely - it gives wire gauges, NAPA relay part number, and the full "how-to". Note that I put that guide together many years ago, to post on a forum with more posting limits than this one. Consequently it's a little bit difficult to read, and the "purple wire" (from the P.P. unit) referenced  may now be different color. The important thing is that you isolate the P.P. unit such that it's running directly from the battery and is NOT sharing power with anything else. Any power-side connection shared with another component on the "hot" side of the key switch may result in a boat that turns on with the key but can only be turned off by disconnecting the battery - not a good idea. Essentially, the output side of the key switch sends power to the NAPA relay, which closes the direct power lead from the battery to the P.P. unit. When the key is turned off the relay is no longer powered, so the circuit opens and the P.P. turns off. When the relay circuit is closed (P.P. running) power comes directly from the battery and that power is not affected by a drain on the dharging system (from turning on the depth finder, heater, stero, etc...). That relay, BTW, is used in automotive applications to switch electric fuel pumps and other essential components, and has been field-proven to be tough and reliable - which is why we chose it. TW

As already mentioned, power it directly from the battery - using high-grade 10-gauge copper automotive stero wire. BUT you want to switch it on and off with the ignition key, through a relay... like so:  http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n293/ThomasWayne_2006/PerfectPassmodifications.jpg TW

Back in the day (70's) the guy who drove practice for Clint Knox ("Mike", IIRC) wore a motorcycle helmet for that purpose. TW

I don't think there's any "right", necessarilly. I've used the "kicking foot", "step forward", "surpise shove from behind", and the "walk up those stairs" tests - all methods taught to me, btw. In my experience a typical testee will exhibit using the same foot for ALL the above tests; using more than one method is sometimes a redundant way to be "sure". So OF would be the less common case of someone who prefers one foot to be dominant for some activities and the other foot for others. Not saying that makes him an oddball or anything... but I don't recall seeing that very many times over the last few decades. When we did bump into contradictory results we'd usually use a "preponderance of the evidence" - terminology I'm sure OF is familiar with. TW

I have always started my new skiers the same way I was taught: whichever foot they would normally kick a football with goes in front (there are, of course, other confirming "tests" used as well). TW

Hasn't it been taught forever that you control your off-side with your front foot and your on-side with your back foot? This sounds a lot like what point # 4 & your conclusion are saying... TW

So you're knocking $500 off the total if three guys buy it together - sort of like a group buy? TW

"What are the design engineers thinking about with making something assimple as filling a gas tank so difficult? Are they not users of theirproduct?" They're just simple working professionals... they can't afford their own product. TW

Dry out the plate and the boot, then put a small square of double-stick carpet tape between the boot and the plate at every screw attachment point. Make the tape piece around 1 inch square. Re-attach the binding in the desire oreinetation and tighten down firmly. You want to be sure there is adhesive contact to both the plate and the boot at each screw hole. I you want it to be adjustable you can replace the carpet tape with squares of self-adhesive Velcro. No need for the 450 + 250 craziness that Goode skiers (et al) employ; just about any old WalMart Velcro will do, since the screws are your mechanical bond. If necessary later you can remove all trace of the tape with a mild solvent such as turpentine (paint thinner). TW

"Tommy John's surgeon was a fella' by the name of Frank Jobe. I thought that was pretty interesting." Even more interesting: the scrub nurse was Bonnie O'Brien, and she was well known to be a bit of a HO. TW

The money's not enough... you need "thanks" too? TW (PS: Thanks.)

Consider memory-foam earplugs - I prefer "Quiet Please" brand available at Walgreens or WalMart - along with the headband. When i broke my eardrum a few years ago I didn't realize it right away. At first I thought I just had water in my ear, so I squirted in some of the stuff swimmers use to dry out their ears. This stuff consists of alcohol and a buffer, and believe me when you squirt some of THAT into a broken eardrum it'll get your attention! So the ear doctor diagonosed a broken ear drum and gave me some antibiotic drops + pills; told me to not ski for six weeks.  I explained our realtively short season and told him that wasn't going to happen. Skied with one foam earplug and a headband and never looked back. TW

Is there really any doubt here? I would say that was okay, 'cause I was looking for a girlfriend when I met her; then I would shake her hand and tell her I really enjoyed getting to know her; then I would go skiing.  TW

Antique elephant ivory generally comes from old museum displays that have been in storage following the wide-spread emotional swing against Ivory use that began in the 80's. There is much controversy over the current status of "endangered" for elephants, but no elephant ivory - legal or or otherwise - has been imported into the U.S. in many decades. Currently the greatest danger to elephants is human overpopulation. As land is cleared for lumber and living space the elephants are becoming more and more crowded in their original habitat. In fact, virtually all of the footage of elephant "poaching" shown on television is actually from government culling programs bent on reducing the local herds to a manageable size. Furthermore, elephants have no natural predators but will only live to an age of 50 - 60 years before they wear out the last of their six sets of teeth; then they starve to death. All of the ivory recovered from government culling [and elephants dead from natural causes] is currently being warehoused by various governent agencies. A while back a one-time sale of some of this ivory was approved, and around ten tons of it went to Japanese buyers. Antique elephant ivory runs between $150 and $300 per pound, depending on its condition (cracked, calcified, etc.) Mastadon ivory has an even greater range, running from $60 (total crap) to $450 per pound for the primo stuff. I have a lifetime supply of both. TW

All of the Elephant Ivory I use is certified antique, and was legally imported before my father was born - long before Elephants were considered "endangered". I also frequently use Mastadon Ivory, most of which came from a Siberian excavation estimated to be around 30,000 years old. I've been unable to find any video footage of Mastadons being hunted. Even if I could get more recently taken Elephant Ivory it would have no value to me, since it takes decades for Ivory to stabilize to the point where it can be used for my purposes without cracking and/or shrinking. Virtually all of the Ivory illegally exported from Africa goes to Asian countries - most of it being made into "name chops" (google it) in China. On another note, Andre, do you eat beef? I just watched a documemtary that showed how cattle are raised and slaughtered just for their meat... Not a nice sight. TW

I never saw the poll either, but this is what I've been doing for a living for the last 28 years: http://cuezilla.com/archives/263 TW

For the bungee method to work you need to have multiple lengths of bungee working in tandom. Even so, this method is really only meant to keep the course tensioned in the presense of wind and other small external forces. For variable water depths with much fluctuation, bungee is not a suitable answer. If your depth is sufficient, one of the best methods I've used for countering changing lake levels is illustrated below:http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n293/ThomasWayne_2006/VARIABLECOURSEANCHOR.jpg Obvioulsy the floating "anchor" needs to be well below surface at the lowest expected level, and the hanging weight must remain off the bottom to avoid a slack course. We have also used the weight attached directly to the anchorline, halfway between the course and the anchor.  It works fine to keep the course straight, but does not recover from deflection as quickly as the bungee method - though it is much easier to apply. If the course is properly tensioned to begin with a surpisingly small amount of weight will suffice. TWÂÂ

Methane lakes on Titan? Totally skiable... just be sure to take your O2 supply and remember, no smoking. TW

Do yourselves a favor: when you order a handle from Brenda, order it with an oversized end loop (she makes mine 10" - 12"). With or without an ARMGUARD it makes changing handles much, much easier (and quicker). TW