danbirch

After seeing the video of what appears to be gates dissappearing at 41, I thought I'd see what it looks like to go through gates at 36mph and 41 off. If you have never done this, I recommend it. With a Mastercraft, it looks like (at the moment you turn in and commit to your gate shot) the ball is in the trough, UNDER the water and moving, or with very little showing. Other visions of it are difficult as it is fairly submerged (and displaced), and camouglauged with white water. .... VERY DIFFICULT to see. By the time the ball comes back to the surface, it's too late. I suppose that the pros are used to this sight, but it sure was an eye opener to see. I highly recommend trying it to get an understanding of what they have to deal with. http://danbirch.com/41gates.png

I thought I read that Nate said when he saw the videos, he felt they looked good, unlike the judges call.

The 4th gate cam shows that his ski was IN THE AIR as he went over the ball. Of course you will see the ball BEHIND the ski (or BELOW it). That angle is not a good angle to judge this call. The other cameras's further prove that this rule can't be fairly judged, as you CAN'T EVEN SEE the ball in the other video's....And THESE are the TAPES used to pull his victory away from him?

Just don't hit the buoy with your leg, or the propeller might hurt.

Another vote for Superfeet! They are also available at Sports Challet. One other advantage in using them with Reflex, is that they keep the boot from sinking if you ever take it off in the water, etc...

I think having a/the top seed go first in a tournament, then the rest run up to chase him is a much more exciting event, rather than having each skier get better as the tournament goes on. This creates a "mark" for everyone to chase after, and would end up with the 2nd seed finally go after the 1st seed's score. More exciting and interesting to watch!

@BraceMaker I agree. That is why I said I don't agree completely with Schnitz's analysis that adding all of those costs up would be appropriate. After all, a ski rider isn't responsible for my boat-buying decisions.

@NEO If the gas that the boat uses is the ONLY expense for the ski day, then you can think that. Unfortunately, there are other costs associated, as mentioned previously.

@Brady good points! One thing is, that it is sort of an embarrassing/unfortunate subject to talk about. It sort of spoils the fun occasion. I am guilty of not mentioning it, in hopes that a person/person's would have the common sense enough to say, "here, let me help you out a little"..., but when that doesn't happen, there is a sour memory left behind. I think the best way to prevent that from happening, is to fit into an EARLY conversation with the person wanting to "go skiing", a mention that (something like), "people who come ski with us usually offer $xx for the expenses we incur to ski, like gas and boat maintenance". BTW, one "invisible" expense of boat ownership, is the hour meter running up. You don't think much about it, until you go to SELL your boat, then all the boats with only 20 hrs. are competing with yours, so down your price goes....

@rico is always invited back, and your generosty is appreciated!

Every situation is different, (and personal relationships are all different) but because water skiing is different from (say) snow skiing, where you would HAVE to purchase an expensive lift ticket or wouldn't be able to ski, there are a few things to consider...... 1. Who "called" the ski date? This is probably the biggest "luxury" that the Boat Owner gets, and it is often an expensive adventure (typically you must OWN or control the boat) to call the ski date. 2. What other direct expenses does the boat owner have, in order to "go ski with you". i.e. trailering the boat to the location, driving out to the lake, etc. 3. The cost of the boat "gas" is only a small percentage of the ski ride. Any boat owner quickly learns about the other expenses (maintenance, licenses, registrations, insurances, trailer, trailering gas costs, the lake, parking and boat permits to use the lake, the cost of a vehicle maintained just so he can pull his boat, etc...) Those costs often serve only one purpose...so we can ski! If you are lucky enough to NOT own a boat, yet go skiing with a buddy who has one, you are in an excellent situation, especially if you get to call the ski day/time. To only pay "gas" is to not respect the many costs associated with your skiing, and unless your boat owner friend has lots of $$, and just loves entertaining you, you may soon find yourself not getting invited out to ski. With many things to consider (all relationships are obviously different), I believe a respectful amount to offer is at least $20/set. While it is not appropriate for the boat owner to add up all of the costs associated with the boat, then divide that amount by the amount of sets skied in a year, and charge THAT amount, at least the guest has showed some consideration by "chipping" in for MORE than just his gas costs. I think that this is what @jdarwin meant by his post, of gladly letting someone have $15, and pull him all day long, as he understands the costs of boat ownership. At the end of the day, are you invited back? Is that important to you? Do you like to "call" the ski date? Is your training something you take seriously? Are you taking advantage of, or are you respecting your "boat owning buddy" and saying "thank you" to him, not only with words, but some green as well? It's a great sport (but yes, expensive)! And as Schnitz once said..."To offer a $5 or $10 bill for a ski ride, is actually an insult" (though I add to that, often not even realized).

You're welcome to ski with us in Canyon Lake.

I understand that tournaments have to pay an extra fee to use the OLR, but I don't know how much that fee is.

The OLR has a lot of potential, and is getting closer to it's capability. It has the potential to eliminate the need for a registrar. Of course, since not everyone uses it, we still need someone to accept the snail mail entries. The Good: 1. The user gets instant acknowledgement that He/She is entered. You do not get that with snail mail. I have seen people show up at tournaments, but their entry was received just after the last available entry, so they did not get to ski. 2. Payments, waivers, registrations are all transparent. The registrars don't have last minute problems chasing down the $, or waivers, incomplete registration forms, signatures, etc. 3. Easy to use (imo) I can sign up for a tournament in under 1 min, no licking stamps, going to post office/mail box, no need for phone calls to registrar to see if I'm in, etc. 4. I can see an instant list of others who are entered. This helps me decide (sometimes) if I want to enter. The "Improvable": 1. Seems that some are still having difficulty using it. I'm not sure why, though. 2. Some won't use paypal (though you don't HAVE to pay that way, and you can still send in a check). 3. They need to show WHICH ROUNDS of a tournament an entrant wants to sign up for (like if it is a 3 round tournament, and they sign up for 2). This would allow the system to make a running list easily. Otherwise, we would be just guessing which 2 rounds the entrant would want to be in. One idea would be (at least) have a place that the entrant could place "comments" into. 4. The "Check Registration Status" button needs to take you directly to the "check registration status" page, instead, you now have to make about 3 more dropdown window clicks just to get there. (I use that button ALOT). I have mentioned it to them, and their reason was that it could be too hard to load that many entries (for a big tournament) on a Cell Phone..... 5. They need it to be free to the tournament to use. I know of several locations who will not offer it simply because they don't want to pay for it. I like it, it just needs some more evolving.

@richarddoane Can you say who you sent it to? I'd pay to have it done. I've been trying to get a cable for a couple of months, to no avail. ZO said they won't do it.

Here on Fios, it was a show called "Fringe" for most of the evening.

I just skied there. Unbelievable!!! Crystal clear fresh water. They have 2 courses in an oval shape, and you can go around, and around, never seeing any motion on the water. You get a LONG set-up before entering each course (maybe 200 yards). The rotation was light. The water and temps were warm enough (about 3 wks ago) to go with no neoprene. Frank and Charlene were awesome hosts!

@Bruce55 I know a guy that skis only in a wet suit here. He says he's ok (during the colder months), but I prefer to feel warm; worth the extra neoprene to me). The last few days have been icy cold in the mornings (which hopefully won't last long, but will affect the water temp). Skiing would have to begin around noon before the warmth would set in, but I'd still use a drysuit. We are more northeast than SD, (a bit more in the mountains) so our weather is more extreme than SD. @rodltg2 San Diego (Mission Bay) doesn't get the temp swings as much as we do, as we are more in the mountains. I agree, their temps are really great. Ours are tolerable, just more swing in them. February can be awesome, but sometimes we get windy after around 11 or 12 (Jan/Feb can have that). The good news, though, is we have fresh water, not salt water. *Skied today, the water temp today was 51º...

Great! Bring a dry suit.

Canyon Lake is about 1.5 hrs. north of San Diego. It is typically skiable, weather permitting. You, and any other Ballers are certainly welcome!

@GOODESkier Would you also have to initiate an earlier "edge out"?

Awesome skiing, Rich!

I've heard some pretty good skiers say it should feel like you're trying to "sit down" on the ball. Now my head's really spinning...

@ShaneH We had a tournament here with the + setting, and it seemed to give the users .94's every time. w/o the + setting it would be a .95 or .96. Did you notice any hot times with it?

Looks like an awesome place to live! I see a lot of work opportunities over there as well.