T-fromTO

So the second phase of digging has been done with the turn island etc. My question now is about the placement of rock on the shores. I am for sure going to line and put rock on the island, but how important is it for the shore surrounding the island? I kind of think I should do it but I have someone who is suggesting that it isn't necessary. It would save me A LOT of money if I only did the island. The soil is heavy clay and the slopes are not ideal at about 1-5 due to space restraints. Any thoughts/suggestions from other lake owners would be appreciated.

This is not necessarily more stupid then Horton's but kinda stupid. My big toe was in the way when a ski buddy dropped the engine cover. It went black and blue and the toenail eventually came off and regrew all mangled looking to this day. Now when I see an engine cover lifted up, I get as far away from that thing as possible.

If anyone can pull this off it is Greg Davis. His energy, enthusiasm and hard work are contagious. Look what he was able to do with the Big Dawg in a relatively short time. I think he can do it again with his NSO. I believe he could build it bigger and possibly faster than he did the Big Dawg because he will be drawing from a much larger pool of potential participants.

Go to www.BeAChampionUSA.com for information on the product.

Harald is 100% certain that he would not be at the level he is at without it. Shelby Coke and his wife Ann also use it and are liking the results. I don't personally take it but what I know about Advocare is that it is a little bit expensive and that it takes a fair bit of dedication to use it. There are 3 or 4 different powders that you mix with water and drink before, during and after "strenuous activity".

@Horton You know a billion times more than me about ski design so I'm sure you're right. I secretly want you to do a ski review on one of these. Just to see what you would say and to get the ski some recognition. PS What do you mean by "splash"?

Harald's brother Manfred in Austria makes them in his garage. He is a jumper and started out making his own jump skis then branched out to making slalom and even trick skis. The slalom skis are based on a Fischer ski. They are a light and extremely soft ski. He calls them MR which stands for Manfred and Robert. He enjoys making the skis and will make them to order but he is not that interested in marketing them to sell a whole bunch. Initially I was very skeptical of these skis because I figured how could some guy you never heard of over in Europe make a decent high end ski in his garage. Like don't you need a whole gang of R&D guys and a test lake and some pro skiers to ride them to make a legit ski? Well eventually Harald sort of forced one of these skis on me and now I love it. I'm not a high end skier and I don't know all the best terms to describe the ski, but I will say that it turns beautifully, it accelerates and it does what you want/expect it to do. Harald says that it allows him to pull out some 39's that wouldn't be possible on any other ski. Unfortunately Manfred has dreadful taste in graphics and his logos and colors he does the skis in do not help the image of the ski but so far nobody has had the nerve to say anything about it!

@DmaxJC_ski I thought about that and may try that in the future. At this early stage I did not want to rock the boat with the city, neighbours etc. I've been very fortunate with the city. No plans, no permits needed, dig this giant ass pond right up to the property line, they don't care. Amazing.

So I am going to do a 90' channel with a 40' island. I am only doing one island, as the south end of my lake is a preexisting pond. I specifically went after this property because it already had half a lake on it. I am stuck with an 1800' lake for now even though the property is 2800' long. The other 1000' south of the preexisting pond is environmentally protected. Maybe when the dust has settled from this project I will take on the Conservation Authority for permission to dig a couple hundred more feet into the bush. May be an expensive losing battle though. I will see what my lawyer says, if he thinks it's worth it to try. @eleeski Does zombie pee kill weeds? Because if it does, bring it on!

Thanks for all the input guys! My mind is pretty made up about putting in the turn island although I am a little afraid of the extra cost. But I really should do it now and do it right. Thanks @scotchipman for taking the time to do that drawing. I will do something pretty close to what you are suggesting. I just looked up 5 different sites with turn islands on Google earth and measured the channels and they go from 80-150'. Except for Jack Travers middle lake where the channel is only 45 feet! I was there to watch Senior Worlds and it was startling to see the boat and skier go through there so close to shore. @andre The site is exactly 1 1/2 hours from Toronto. It is only about 1/2 an hour from Niagara Falls and Buffalo NY. I don't think I will be able to get a jump in there, so no Nationals but I do hope to host slalom only tournaments. The site is still very raw, it was a soya been field less than 8 months ago, but I have put my name in for the Ontario Season Finale for next September.

@scotchipman I posted a drawing where is shows that the lake widens out from 175 to 225 at the end and the potential location of the turn island. I tried to put as many dimensions as possible. How does it look to you? Also, I may be dumb, but 100' is the sum of what?

@MS They contacted me to pick up the dirt and then asked to quote on the job so I'm giving them the work. On a side note, just because I love talking about my lake, I will mention that all I needed from the city for this project was a topsoil removal permit for $100!

@efw My boyfriend is not a fan of turn islands but realizes that we sort of need one on this lake. He's never paid much attention to their configuration and construction so he is not much help this time.

@DmaxJC_ski I have no idea, but it's a lot! I am going 6 feet deep for this section. There is a local speedway that is paying an excavating company to take away the massive pile of dirt from the digging of the first phase as well as what is coming out of the new dig for a new track that they are building. I'm letting them have the dirt for free. They are starting next week. They are not the same company I used for the 1st phase but will use them for the second phase as they will already be on site for the speedway and the guy was quite eager for the work. Here is my pile of dirt from the dig last spring. Could not fit the whole thing in the frame! I can't believe I just posted a picture of a pile of dirt!!

Here is a closer look at the drawing I am working on. I put about 60 feet between the island and the shore. The island is about 40' in diameter. Should I go smaller on the island and larger on the channel?

Thanks @scotchipman for posting the Google earth map, I was hoping someone would do that for me! So I am digging north into the field to get the other 800'. I have another 1000' into the bush to the south but that is environmentally protected so I am stuck with 1800' for now. I am hoping to run a club/school there eventually so there will be kids and beginners that need to spin as opposed to dropping at each end. I would be doing one turn island, at the north end only. It's good that I am getting this feedback because I personally have very little experience skiing on lakes with turn islands.

From what I understand, clay will not erode as much as other materials. This clay soil is so heavy you could practically throw it on a pottery wheel and make a vase out of it! I will consider the cement bags though.

I don't know how to find the Google earth coordinates, but the address is 3986 Yager Rd. Port Colborne Ontario. The photo does not show the modifications but one can clearly see the existing pond and the field to the north where we are doing the extension. The pond was dug in the seventies for the fill to build a nearby overpass. It is roughly 8 ft. deep.

Some gratuitous photos.

I bought 75 acres of farmland in the Niagara region of Ontario last spring with a very large pond on it, 400'x1000', that is oriented north/south. I had an extension dug on it last June which was the first phase. The extension was 160' wide and 300' long. Now I am ready to dig the second phase, another 500' bringing the length of the lake to approximately 1800'. My question is, should I do a turn island at the north end? If so, how wide do I make it and how many feet should it be from shore? Side note, we realized 160' is too narrow and we are digging the second phase 180' and widening the part from the first phase. Here is a drawing of the relevant part of the site. The curvy end is the north end and where I am considering putting the turn island. I will mention that the soil is heavy clay. The second photo shows the 300'x160' extension that was dug last spring. And yes, we did ski on it last summer with an overlapping 8 and no exit gates. Feel free to ask me any other questions as I can talk about my lake all day and when this thing is done I will consider it the crowning achievement of my life! .

In my opinion you would need to ski year round, or very close to it, to ever run 39. And that is in addition to all the other stuff you mentioned.

@santangelo Met this sweet little lady last week. There's no such thing as the "puppy uglies"!

@skihard I'm partial to small dogs. Is your dog a Brussels Griffon mix?

And now for something completely different.

@Horton Seems like no one has a pat answer to your question "How do I attract more women to the site?". The tone of the site is pretty much where it should be now so that's not the issue. Just keep doing what you're doing. The only thing I can think of is to sometimes specifically address women in the titles of threads, like "Lady Ballers, what do you all think of ....?" I believe we are more likely to comment or post if we are specifically called upon/encouraged to do so. Maybe the occasional poll just for women. Here's a good one: Lady Ballers-Do you set up your own skis? Yes-I have mastered the art of ski set up. No- I get my ski buddy, coach, husband or any random fin-setting-knowing- guy to do it.