ski4xtc

@Skoot1123, it is hard to stay off the radar when you have such a passion for something. Deep down I have always wanted to promote water skiing.... mainly getting more women interesting in skiing the course. Unfortunately, I really have not done much to do it. If I had plenty of time, money and owned my own ski lake, hopefully that is one of the first things I would do. As a side note, yesterday I had a skier come out who was in her 50's. She had not tried the course since she was in college. By the end of the set, she was running all the buoys except 3 & 5 which I had her ski the mini course buoys. She is left foot forward and just needed a little improvement in her pull to 1,3,5. One more fresh set and I would bet she could have run all six. The satisfaction from seeing quick improvement like that is incredible. Made me want to take more time to get more women involved in the sport.

@Than_Bogan the chopper holds 1,000 gallons a pickup and is the biggest in the fleet here in Utah. He called it a Helitaker Type 1 Sky Crane. @OB and @MS, we would like to promote our lakes more to benefit the community but it is a hard call of how much to stay off the radar. When I first started skiing here in the 1990's, we were struggling to be in peace with the local town. We had a couple of costly long legal fights and are finally at the point were we seem to co-exist without any problems. @skoot1123, I have a great connection with the DNR here. They refer people to me who are interesting in getting information about grass carp and stocking rates. They tell the people that I am the local grass carp expert. Not so sure I am proud to be a carp expert.

@Than_Bogan, I am just trying to find out now how many gallons they hold. One of our biggest concerns is getting a helicopter transmitted disease. Our lake is totally clear of leaches, parasites, zebra muscles, and with really good weed control. Many of the neighboring lakes (not all ski ponds) have problems we have either conquered or never have had.

Yesterday we had a helicopter come in several times to pickup water to fight the Patch Springs Fire in the Stansbury Mountains. The fire is just west of our lakes in Rush Valley, Utah. It was quite the event watching the chopper come in and quickly pickup a load of water. Last night I sent a couple of photos into a Salt Lake news station and they showed them on the morning new. Hopefully this was a positive way to help with the private water ski lake cause and water skiing in general.

@wish, do you know how long that lake is? I was looking at it on the map and it appears to be pretty short. https://google.com/maps?saddr=Unknown+road&hl=en&sll=28.562417,-81.377363&sspn=0.009498,0.021136&geocode=FX3KswEdnkom-w&t=h&mra=mr&z=16

@wish, could this have happened with you starting the thread? Whatever the case, another pro tournament which is really needed!

@skijay, does the depth vary that much in the course? If so, wow.

I totally enjoyed following the tournament today with a little different format. In the first round, the top two men and top two women scores got a place in the finals. During the second round, the top four men got a place in the final eight along with the top two women into the final six. Friday morning, two more skiers in both men's and women's get a "last chance" to make it to the finals. This link probably explains it better than I did. mastercraftwaterskishootout.com/shootout_theformat.html Sure made things exciting and a little more interesting to follow.

@skijay, how deep is PB? I am curious what depth water you were skiing in. I know with the TXI, the wake is almost non-existent and totally like butter when the water is under 4 to 4.5 feet deep. There is a little more of a wake at 5 feet and deeper.

I think this is why Horton is in Calgary. instagram.com/p/cuW4snhDac/#

A friend of mine who owns a neighboring lake just called me to ask about leeches. Thankfully we have not had the problem. His two connected lakes are about eight feet deep. The leeches are about 1/4" long and are all along the shorelines. They have grass carp in the lakes but no other planted fish. Any easy solutions or anything he can do to ease the problem. I have heard bluegill work but not sure that is a good option. Thanks in advance for any suggestions or solutions.

Senior Judge, Senior Driver, Regular Scorer

@jodyseal. Thank you!

Looking for the blower location on a CC 200. I told the boat owner we would get it answered here faster than he could find it. Thanks in advance. Maybe @jodyseal could help?

Kaboo is great for cleanup and removing water spots. It is not too hard on the fiberglass. Spray it on and use a soft bug sponge to clean it. Be sure and rinse good and rinse trailer too. Will need to wax after that.

I have always thought the D3's ski are better in chop than other skis I have tried. This year when I switched to the Quest, the first set was very windy. The first thing I noticed was how much better the Quest was than the X7 was in the chop. Before that, I thought the X7 was great. What is interesting is the X7 clearly rides deeper in the water than the Quest but the Quest is better in the chop and crossing the wakes not to mention it turns great too.

@pgarske, have you thrown any engine codes? I believe the fault code is #29 for a throttle problem or bad throttle with a 2012 TXI. I have heard of a few throttles needing to be replaced on the 2012 boats. It is a pretty easy swap out. If you are getting codes that need to be cleared, I would not use the boat until until you get the throttle replaced.

I just posted an ad on SIA for a bunch of Perfect Pass parts. I have a brand new switch, gentle used switch and used switch along with a bunch of other parts. Would like to find someone who could use them. Here is the link: http://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?topic=Search&category=Speed_Ctrl&postid=23974

@6balls, that is what I was thinking but did not have the math to back it up. Thanks

In the video @aswinter05 posted of Michaels running -41, what most likely was the hypothetical rope length? The angles look so different in it. Really does not look like any typical line length from -35 to -41. Hopefully no panda here but is a three foot narrower course the same as a three foot longer rope or is there a difference with the angles?

We use spray wax to wipe it down every time we take it out of the water. It does not take any longer than using vinegar and the spray wax keeps it clean along with helping keep the water spots off.

In the last few weeks I got to know Amanda from the comments and updates on her Facebook page and here on BOS. I feel like we have lost an incredible person who shared our passion. We have all traveled to a water ski tournament or to take a ski ride at the lake. We all have that connection which for some reason makes this tragedy even harder to accept. My sincere sympathy to her family, friends and skiers who personally knew Amanda.

@bherder, @shaneh, I believe this is the plug. On the TXI with the 6.0 it is attached to the side of the ECM. The second photo (at top of photo) shows it still attached with the gray cap on. I am pretty sure this is it but without having the cable here to confirm, I am not 100% positive.

@bherder, I can get you a photo tomorrow of the connection on the 6.0 engine (2013 TXI). That should show you what the end should look like. Let me know if you think that will help and I will take a photo first thing in the morning. Too dark now.

When @Rico did the first poll a couple of months ago, I quickly voted that the rule should stay the same and the gates should be judged. I thought it worked and why change? Here is the link to the original poll: http://ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/7775/lets-not-judge-the-slalom-entrance-gates/p1 During a recent trip to ski with friends in the CA desert the topic came up for discussion. After thinking about it further, discussing it with other skiers, dropping and skiing a simulation buoy, and seeing the effect of the recent high profile misses, I have totally changed my mind. Now I think having an additional right hand reference buoy at 14 meters is a great solution to the current issue. I asked myself - how would the change help or hurt me? I could not think of one reason why it would hurt me. The benefits I see: Skier Friendly: - Skiers have the reduced risk of missed gates. How many skiers travel to a big tournament such as Regionals or Nationals and have their ride end due to a small miscalculation on their opener? - Juniors and new course skiers could transition to tournament skiing more gradually. - Scores might improve, but that is not a thing. Better scores lead to more enthusiasm and interest in skiing tournaments…. something the sport could really use. Spectator Friendly: - New spectators view the sport as rounding buoys and big spray. The gates mean nothing to the crowd. If there is a video review delay for gates, the crowd’s interest diminishes quickly. Official Friendly: - Wider gate tolerance equals reduced burden and stress on gate officials to make a correct call. Sometimes you simply cannot tell if they made or missed the gates. Technical Controller and LOC Friendly: - Necessity of gate video equipment (cameras, monitors and recorders) would be eliminated. It would suddenly become a little easier to put on an RC tournament…especially for sites that gate camera setup is difficult or near impossible. The only negative I can see with making a change is that it may not be internationally accepted. Perhaps you have changed your mind too? What is your vote now?