otisg

XR6Hurricane - I am old enough to remember quite a few tournaments that were pulled by 17' Mahogany Resorters but then again I am older than dirt.... I have often joked that crossing those wakes was like climbing the Berlin Wall - then I realized nobody knew what that was either...

Bikinis were a novelty way back then... I was mostly into balling & drinking... (not necessarily in that order.)

Addkerr -Couldn't help but notice that the first half of your video was filmed on the "Really" Big Mountain. I used to live there and we just got back the middle of February. Who do you soft water ski with around there? Mike Gwiazdon, Doug Reid & Duke Collins are good friends...

Warren Witherell, Billy Grimditch, Bill Humes... Seth & Terence in this century.

If you & your girl friend are about equal in ability and really good - then Whiteface is a Great Mountain. The fundamental problem is that there is very little intermediate terrain that is easily available - I.E. you will have ski or board on some very hairy stuff to get to or get out of much of the moderate terrain. Most of the trails have compound fall-lines (side-hills) and the bulk of the vertical happens in the top half - from there down is a long flat run-out. For example a Blue Square run at Whiteface is a Black Diamond at Stratton is a Double Black Diamond at Flat-Kemo (slight exaggeration) but not much. I, too grew, up dividing my time between Vail, the "Tilted Rink" (Whiteface) and Lake Placid for soft-water skiing... But, IF you put in a solid winter at Whiteface and you will be competent to ski anywhere and in all conditions. Even out West - IF, there is enough snow to gain mountaineering experience in the "Slides" which as the name implies is what the snow does over there. And then there are all of the 1932 & 80 Olympic facilities including one of the few Bobsled runs in North America. If you want less of a challenge? Then I would suggest Jay Peak (often has much better snow -different weather pattern), Stratton, Killington or Sunday River. If you don't want to head that far north try Windham Mountain in the Catskills surprisingly good terrain for a small area. And then there is Colorado or Utah - Snowbird and Aspen Mountain are among my faves. For snow and lots of it - Mammoth Mountain is hard to beat - 226" so far this year. It is like driving around NY City but instead of granite buildings you have 2 or 3 story snow banks that you can not see around at the intersections...

My better half gave me the biggest Ski Boat mirror that I have ever seen. Can't wait to try it. The VR-140 Pro...

It will be on at 5 AM Eastern tomorrow on Optimum Cablevision @ 170

BOS: “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” Dr. Seuss - Horton finds his who

As one who will soon be looking at the 26th Anniversary of his 39th Birthday. You might want to consider a new counting system..... Happy 11th Anniversary.

Jody - The first picture you show is a fiberglass elbow after the swirlers have been gunked up. ( I think.) That happened to mine this year but I use mine in saltwater and it took eleven years because I am fairly anal about flushing and maintenance in general. Next spring I will take a wire brush to the swirlers at the begining of the season so that the water is thoroughly mixed with the exhaust so that those parts stay cool... Saltwater is amazingly tough on these boats but Saltaway soap flushes can really help minimize the problems. I can show you 100 year old Chris Crafts used up on Lake Placid that look better than boats around here after 6 months use.... It looks as though some of those other problems might have been avoided by using & maintaining sacrificial zinks on the block & manifold...

Working on the prototype of my new "Ass-Back Machine" for off-season work on the problem..... We'll see if it makes a difference next spring.

I think that many of you are talking past each other - There are two water pumps on a typical Ski boat - 5.7. 350 GM 0r 351 Ford Block engines. The Raw water pick-up is straight off the crank shaft (except on some older Mercruisers & Correct Crafts - then it is belt driven & off to the side) and it is bolted directly to the harmonic balancer. That is about a $40.00 part - I keep a spare one in my glove box - quick and easy fix. The circulating pump (the one in Jody's picture) is talking about is directly above the Harmonic balancer's pulley (end of crankshaft). When it is begining to fail - it generally drips small amounts of water as the bearings begin to go .... or there is a failure in the casting as Jody's picture shows (probably because the bearing has seized). The Thermostat sits directly above that. It is sort of diamond shaped with bolts at either end is covered. They are fairly simple and cheap sometimes they get stuck because scale keeps the disc from closing properly. Be sure to replace the gasket if you take this apart - even if you only have to clean it. This is where my winterizing gizmo is helpful - if the raw water pump won't pull the anti-freeze over the gunnel replace the impeller. Inspect the back of it of it is driping water - ther bearings are about to fail. If the engine doesn't reach operating temp for a long time it is probably the thermostat stuck open. Check and see if the circulating pump is driping around the pulley.......

But, I have been thinking of getting two of these - one for each end. If I can't stay out of the groceries....

My history is about like bogboy's but I took a thirty year vacation from the sport. I used to drag a foot but have found that in these short lake set-ups that if you miss your rear foot kick-in it's over before you get started. So, I switched to Reflex front w/ Connelly rear from an RTP. It seems to work well in salt water which is where we normally ski. I was 230 this Summer - skiing on a green 67" Sixam. I have had problems in Fresh water. So I am trying an approved vest with more floatation... We'll see. One thing that I have learned (the hard way) is that particularly with Big Guys a great deal depends on the boat driver - my usual driver eases me up very S L O W L Y until she sees my head come above the spray and then puts the hammer down smoothly. Works about 95% of the time; once I ski myself into shape. I am working on getting down to about 205 -210 for next summer... That should help. One thing I can tell you for sure is that having a Driver "Hit IT" hard will not work - supposing your hands/grip can handle the load. I tore my hamstring twice until Terrance showed us that s l o w l y works much better. The other thing that I have found it that a plams down grip at the start seems to help with lateral balance and stability.

BraceMaker - No it just works off of the raw water pump. But that is why it is important to put in the one-way valve so that the column of anti-freeze will prime the raw water pump. Instead of back sliding into the buckets as you liftthe end up and over the gunnel... Here is a better picture - you can use the green covers to increase the anti-freeze to water ratio to lower the temperature range. Or, use them as I did here, on the right, to keep the mixture from splashing out...

Here is my antifreeze recirculating contraption. This enables you to run your engine as long as you need to. Thermostat open in other words. This is to make sure the antifreeze is completely mixed throughout your boat's entire cooling/heating system. You can also use it to recycle & re-use your anti-freeze - IF you have an overwhelming & burning desire to go out and freeze your butt off for a New Years' Day Ski @ 20 deg. F - as some crazy Adirondackers have been known to do.... The key to it is to have a one-way valve. So that the hose going to the raw water pump stays full. This will cause less wear & tear on your pump's impeller.

Brent - Finally re-read the title - got it. Best, Otis

Tjm- That worked! Many thanks, otisg

Anybody else have a problem with this? Can you stay signed in on one computer - although off line and sign in with a tablet if you are traveling? I don't seem to be able to.....

Power and Cell service finally back this morning for us. Still, 600,000 without power Island wide. Not as bad as it could have been out here in the "Fashionable Hamptons". The wind shifted from NE to SE just before the full moon high tide hit & there wasn't much rain. It could have been really horrendous if those two things had been different. Now all we have to worry about is the Citidiots returning (Just got rid of most of them.) because the NY City is such a mess....

Lasagna??? In England? Now that's a problem. What happened to Bangers & mash? Has a better ring to it. Kind of like Ballers.......

Hipsup - You (as group) should have thought ahead and bought the place. Presumably you knew in advance that it was "For Sale". You didn't act. Someone else did. Now you are whining here and elsewhere trying to invoke a Mob mentality (never pretty) to prevent the rightful owner from doing as he sees fit with HIS property. Put on your Big Boy pants and stop saying disparaging things about the owner and see if there is a way for the members to buy the place. His profit will be the price of your intransigence on the first go-round. There is a good lesson here for all of us. If you really care - Don't wait until the proverbial horses are out of the barn and long gone before reacting.

Hersh - Never skied the quarry because it is run by an infamous ex-Mastercraft dealer..... Head straight North to Monroe, NY - Twin Lakes - Great Place and much closer to you without going through or around the City. Closed now but in the Spring give Brad a call - a great guy and coach. A couple of guys have a course over in one of the inlets by Kennedy Airport. Good luck on the Belt Parkway....

I am with Shane on this one. It is no mystery to me as to "why" Karl Marx found a home in the U.K. The Right of Private Property to do with as you wish was the cornerstone of this republic. Anybody here in the N.E. who has tried to buy an appropriate piece of property and dig a ski lake knows the high cost of the "Do-gooders" who think that they have the right to tell you what to do with it. And then bury you with regulatory B.S. I am sorry to say that I hear the echo of that here.

Hersh - I think you mean non-perishables.... unless you are a Priest and the Nuns are out of town. We're out on the East end of Long Island -essentially 12 mile out to sea. We'll see if the storm matches the hype. Usually they don't. In any case we're ready.