robscholl-OF

Well I guess I am lucky as I have never had any problems. In fact my son has a three even bag for jumpers/trick/slalom and never has had an issue either. Maybe I just don't travel enough I guess.........OF MS....your on fire as of late.....I got the vest and Nautique banner so we are ready....

Masterline has the cool slalom roller bag. I have flown with my gear several times in the bag. It is padded and has room for all your other gear. Any room left in the bag I fill with towels. On Southwest it is free. On Alaska it is $15, as it is clasified as ski equip. The bag with my ski and gear always is around 42 to 44 pounds, always under the magic 50 lbs limit. It is also very well made and other than fading a little, is in great shape for being well used for the last 3 years. I highly recommend. OF The bag is listed at $169.00, I attached a photo from their site.

I had a knot in a mainline that was skied by several weeks with some big pullers. I did not think I would ever get it out. I agree with the hammer method. I took a hammer and and softly tapped on it while rolling it on the garage floor. It came out very easy, I was amazed. Only one strand of the rope broke. It is now my back-up rope as I agree with RD. Call Brenda and get a new rope. Best $70 you will spend and really cheap insurance. OF

Well, he is not a Lurker, but I found 04196.....Met up at the Law Enforcement Memorial Ball in Seattle.....Hope to rip today with Ron(04196) at BroHo....OF

That would be cool, come on out....OF

Eric, Because you are coming up to coach the BOW camp, I will promise to give you no grief....really I won't. I will make you help me change the oil in my boat though.......OF

Easiest maintenance is buy a new boat every year......I just need to figure out how to pay for it.....OF

Roger, Sorry about the "d" I have a Rodger on my crew and just use to writing it. No worry about being arrested, I screwed it up......OFÂÂ

DW, Good point, I was just trying to say I wish we could have all three boats at the same lake, the same day. They would all have their rudder loaded, the Malibu seat would be spaced up an inch. (Doing this on my Malibu as it is cheap and easy. Makes a big difference)  All would have the similar engine, Zero Off and no Tower (Or all have a tower). Then ski and drive all of them. At the end of the day I would bet you would have a winner. It would not mean the other boats are bad, as Rodger said, they are all terrific boats and he would be happy to drive and ski behind any one of them. There just is one that at the end of the day I/We would would break out our checkbook and buy. Hey Horton, why not the independent boat test. RD has a towerless MC 196 promo coming. All we need is a Malibu LXI and CC 200 open bow. OF    ÂÂ

I got rid of anything to do with a switch. I run standard length line off the pylon now. The only switch is the one my kids jump line is threaded through. No more carabiner, no more wondering if I have the correct length rope, and if I don't, putting in the switch section.  I have seen two rope/handle failures in person. One was one of the Straightline handles that have the removable/replaceable bar, the plastic end broke under load, and one old rope under full load. Neither one was pretty and I was glad it was not me.  Being only 165 lbs has its blessings, because not only do I not load the line like the big guys, but Zero Off almost does not know I am back there....    Scoke I hope you are okay. OF

I change my rope every year, but now you go me thinking. As far as tournaments, if I am in charge of the ropes I make sure we ski them all a few sets ahead of time so there is not too much stretch. I also only buy In Tow lines which seem to always have a little stretch the first set, but after that I don't even notice it. I have skied on other manufactures ropes and it seems the stretch never goes away. I finally bought one of the guys we ski with an InTow line because I got tired of skiing his rubber band.  OFÂÂ

Rodger, good comments and observations. I so wish we could get all three of those boats together for a weekend and have them set up all correctly. Then ski the crap out of them with all types of skier from novice 24 mph to 36 mph extreme shortline. It will be then, the boat that is truly best will shine. It is kind of like when the magazines do a car test and complain about tire noise and handling. They then put the same tire on all the cars and the test becomes really about the cars. OFÂÂ

Man I am glad we only have two legs, can you imagine the conversation if we had four???? At least I have a 50/50 chance of getting it right......OFÂÂ

What RD did not say was I was on a Carbon Senate R & D ski. All I can say is, the Senate C will rock in 2011. OFÂÂ

jipster43, I have never skied a Elite because I knew no matter how much I liked it, I never could afford it. I was on a Senate C the last few years and just switched to a Strada. I rode the Strada two sets and was on the phone to Eddy on my way home from the lake getting an address to send my check to. It was that good. My problem is I cannot compare it to any of the other high end skis that are out there. Probley my bigggest problem is my water time is limited so I really don't have time to spend a lot of time trying skis. I have so much else to work on I just try to find a ski that is forgiving enough so when I am all out of wack it does not buck me off and when I am doing things right, it rocks. That is why until the Senate C I was always on a Kidder/D3. I also am not much of a binding adusting/fin guy. I try to get them to where it feels good and then just ski. OF  ÂÂ

TW, it probably goes back to that genetic thing with me.....................as for, "preponderance of the evidence," that only gets me to probable cause or guilty in a civil case. I need "Proof beyond a reasonable doubt" before I can move on from this dominant leg issue....OF

No worry about a scar, chicks dig scars.......OF

dsmart, RD just likes to save his farts and can't deal with shrinkage.....

RD, what do you mean tease (men)???? We tease everyone, we just take it a little easier on the woman. As far as cold vs. warm water, I have gone from really warm soft water to cold dense water in a 24 hour period. The cold dense water did sting a little more, but I just figured it was because warm water is soft and so does not hurt like cold. I also notice that wakes behind the same boat are harder in cold water than in warm. I never put too much thought into it, it just seemed to makes sense. All I know is I have to gut it out the first few weeks after coming out of my dry suit. That is why once I stop wearing, I don't go back until winter. I have seen others have their calf bleed from the spray and never have been able to figure out why it is so bad for some and just a small annoyance for others. I just figured it was because of binding placement and ski width......Of

Amen to RD, skibug and Ed. That is why I am left foot forward. If I would go with TW's method, I would be a right foot forward......Come to think of it, if TW's right, I have been skiing backwards all these years. Maybe if I change, -38 will be in my future......OF

Gern, All I do for sure every year is change/inspect those things that if fail, cause big $$. Oil and filter every 40 hours. I use synthetic 15-40 Royal Purple and a K&N oil filter (Has a bolt on bottom to use for easy removal). Trans fluid once a year. (Bought the oil extractor from Overton's, $30 and works great) Use to change cap and rotor once a year, but now about every 150 hours. (I always crack the engine cover after each use so any moisture vents. Since putting in a dripless shaft seal, moisture is very minimal) Always a new impeller and fuel filter every year and clean out the raw water strainer.  Other than that, a couple of pumps of marine grease in the rudder shaft and I call it good. I try to pay attention to the things that when they fail, bad things happen. Use good Oil, good filters, and lube all moving parts, i.e. cables and rudder. I have never had to align a shaft or had an issue with one out of alignment. I have never had any major problems and my boats have ran great. I will be changing my plugs this year as my LXI just went over 500 hours. If I get lazy or want things done right, I just take it up to RD's shop and let him take care of it.  OFÂÂ

I switch to shorts and Guru top May 1st no matter what the temp......OF

dsmart, I talked to Tomas on the phone last night and he said he was in a shorty and it was fine. But of course it is all relevant to what you are use to. He said his back leg was killing him from the spray off the ski as it always does the first few times out of a dry suit. We all just gut it out the first few times because we don't want to get caught wearing a spray leg. I told Tomas to just wear a spray leg as he is skiing 4 days in a row. He said, "No way dad, Terry said he would take a photo and post it on Ball of Spray."  I said I understand and I really don't feel sorry for him being where he is at and who he is skiing with......OFÂÂ

cobber, I would also try a Radar Carbon Senate. It will be great at the speed you are at and take you all the way to -38. I just switched from the Senate to the Strada and it is a very good ski. That being said, I could get back on my Senate and be happy as well. If price is a factor, go with the Senate and you will not be disappointed. It is one of those skis that you can ride 18 different ways and it will not do anything crazy. I found it was very good for me as it allowed me to work on my technique and not worry about the ski being a big factor. What I mean by that is, I have been on skis that flat rip, but only if you ski on it correctly If you get a little too far back or forward, you are done. If price is not a big deal, I agree with others, the Strada can do it all. Not that you care, buy I am not one that is brand loyal when it comes to skis. I use to be, but found when I allowed myself to try different skis, there is a difference. There is not any one ski that will do it all for all skiers. Try as many as you can and buy the one that you feel the most comfortable on and allows you to work on you and not worry about your ski. My opinion is many people buy their ski based on brand loyalty, looks, coolness factor, etc. Most expensive does not mean best ski. All of the above is my opinion, so take it for what it's worth (Probably nothing) Have fun, because in the end, that is what it is about, OF    ÂÂ

My 15 year old son is at Sunset Ski Ranch skiing with Terry Winter.   He flew down yesterday and will come home Saturday night. I talked to him last night and he is in heaven. I had him read Terry's blogs before he left. He said he was glad he did because he was able to have a clue and really put things together. Am I jealous????? you bet. I am stuck here chasing bad guys and he is chasing bouys.   OF