Laz

Or email him at Thomskier@hotmail.com.

Hey @tru-jack. I usually just send him a message via Facebook messenger.

Hi all, We just spent a long weekend as the first guests at T-Gas’s newly renovated house on his lake. He has completely redone the house with new furniture, floors, bathrooms, etc.. It’s now a 3 bedroom place with a full kitchen, laundry etc that you can rent and ski with T-Gas. It’s about 10 minutes from Disney and you can watch the fireworks every evening. The skiing is great and of course it’s always a treat to ski with a world champion.

I think the foils are retractable for shallow water and trailers. Hydrogen might be good but it's a very complicated and inefficient way of storing energy. Battery density is improving all the time but ski boats are so inefficient compared to cars, that current density is a real issue compared with gas. The electrical grid is built for peak power and most places have a lot of excess capacity at night. In Ontario, base power is produced by nuclear and hydro with can produce the same amount of power 24/7. This leaves room for about 1 million cars to charge at night with no change in infrastructures.

Although it still early days, that looks amazing. Would be interesting to know how it handles with a skier. How much extra energy pulling someone through the course? How stable and responsive to speed control? The LTC Marine conversion Nautique would use 10kWh for an 8 pass slalom set. I wonder how this boat would compare.

Looks like I’ll be in Austin for 4 days in November. Anyone know where I could get a few sets? Does Trent Finlayson run a ski school? Thanks.

follow up: Ended up finding a PCM dealer sort of near me. There were a few in Muskoka, but Walker's Point Marina called me back right away. Their service was quite impressive. They ordered the transmission from PCM on Tuesday. PCM took it off the line and prepared it for shipping (paint and cured it). Sent to Canada via Fedex for surprisingly cheap (about $180 Can, overnight), arrived Friday morning and boat ready to pickup Friday afternoon. Shoutout to Kevin at Walker's Point Marina!! The boat is running perfectly now. I think the previous transmission was dragging in reverse and not allowing for full power. @Jody_Seal was correct. There was no option to rebuild or repair. Had to get a new one. Thanks for everyone's help and nice to meet you in person @MISkier

Check the fuel filter. Make sure there is no water or crud.

This is a picture of the transmission label. I’m not sure if this means its an 80 or 40. Excuse my ignorance, but if it goes into forward and reverse very smoothly and quietly, without slipping, could this just be a clutch issue?

@andre I think you might be right. I spoke to Miami Nautique and they have a replacement kit. I’m working with my local mechanic to see if can be installed easily. Thanks for all the help. And, @Horton, thanks for hosting this site. Helpful as always.

I think this is similar to the reverse C position I’ve been working on at 32 and 35’ off. Definitely helps keep me of the tail coming into the turn.

@blakeyates first thing I tried. Now the next challenge is finding a reputable mechanic.

;Hmm. That sounds expensive. Thanks for all your help.

@Jody_Seal So I switched the the wires and the boat still creeps in reverse. The throttle was backwards, so I know I did it correctly. Now I’m worried this is a transmission issue. Would you agree? Could it be anything else (less expensive)?

Hi @Jody_Seal. Thanks for taking Jeff’s call today. I think you are correct. The boat goes into forward and reverse very smoothly, so I hope this means that the transmission is still good. I know nothing about boat repair, so anything is helpful. There are two wires on the solenoid thingy, attached to transmission. (Now I know where the transmission is). I will unplug then, swap them around and plug them in again. Is that what you mean? Is this just a test? Will the boat work like this? My apologies for the dumb questions. @wannabeballer It’s a drive by wire system. I think that means that there is no shift cable. @BraceMaker Yes, it works normally when in gear, both forward and reverse. Thanks, Laz. P.S. @Jody_Seal,I met you briefly at a tournament at the Pickos lake last year.

Hello Ballers (and boat experts). I think I have a bit of an unusual situation with my 2015 OB Nautique 200 with the PCM ZR 409 engine. We have 700 trouble free hours. However, recently we noticed that when in neutral, the prop keeps spinning in reverse. Sometimes, it’s quite weak but other times, it’s almost as strong as full idle reverse. We had our local boat guy look at it. He check the transmission fluid which is normal and isn’t burnt (or whatever he was smelling). The boat otherwise drive normal and shifts very smoothly into forward and reverse. I can also rev the engine normally by pressing little button. The thought was that this is not a transmission issue, but possibly the solenoid shifter thing attached to the transmission, or maybe something connected to the throttle. It’s a drive by wire and as you can probably tell, I don’t know much about transmissions. I already had one offer to replace the transmission for $5000. Nice. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Any suggestions? Thanks!

Always a fan of the Moomba Outback. It was our first ski boat and worked perfectly for 10 years.

@tru-jack Looking forward to having you and your group. If you haven't done so, please register at https://www.skimcclintocks.com/events See you all on Friday!

I think so for all events. You can sign up there.

@tru-jack Awesome!

Hello, On Friday, June 7 we are hosting a very casual slalom tournament at McClintocks Ski Club near Cambridge for the beginner to advanced 35+ skier. Originally, the thought was for a fun tournament for parents of the competitive kids but it has since morphed into a fun intro to tournaments for the adults. The link to register is: https://www.skimcclintocks.com/events All rules are negotiable. These are the rules: Rule 1. There are no rules. Rule 2. Only Men and Women over age 35 can participate. There are no age divisions. Rule 3: All skiers will be guaranteed a minimum of FOUR passes per round. Skiers who complete their fourth pass will have their speed increased by 3 km/h for a fifth and any additional successful passes. Rule 4: See rule 1. Rule 5: Proper swimwear is recommended but not required. Approved safety vests are mandatory. Rule 6: Skiers may choose to ski at any speed, with or without gates, half-course, full course, and have the option to change any of these with each pass. Rule 7: See Rule 1. Rule 8: Anyone running into the 9.75 meter line will be disqualified. Rule 9: The wearing of a Kilt, Speedo or Mullet is strictly prohibited. Rule 10: See Rule 1. Other rules may be applied at the discretion of the organizers. Judging will be subjective and prejudicial. There may be prizes, maybe not. Non-alcoholic beverages will be available

Enjoyed the interview too much to notice the sound.

@Killer @FLeboeuf Very interesting. I guess it’s a moot point if the law has been removed. I think it would be great if WSWC had more information for the casual skier that would help them get interested in a slalom course or even tournaments. I spent most of my life thinking that a big spray on a public lake was the pinnacle of the sport. I wish I knew then what I know now. In Ontario, there are many slalom courses hidden in little bays all over the province. I believe many would be willing to post their location to a WSWO or WSWC directory. When we had our course up, we would always offer casual skiers an intro to slalom and welcome them to use our course. In Ontario, Jamie and Jason McClintock now have a camp program that parents can just plug their kid into for any number of weeks in the summer. This seems to be having a tremendous effect on grassroots involvement. More like this would be great. Those are my thoughts for now. Thanks to @jayski and @Horton

It's one of the most beautiful ski sites I've seen. The picture doesn't show it well, but it's well protected from the wind.

I look forward to all the episodes and enjoy the updates.