Nando

Season four on an O'Neill Slasher and while I love the fit and protection, it's getting shabby- good information here to help decide between another Slasher and ??? Radar Drifter looks nice- how's the durability?

I had this problem three years ago- came on suddenly and though it was bad enough to head to the doc, he found nothing, but wanted to keep monitoring me. Being really our of breath at the end of each pass was the only symptom. At some point, I was exercising on a machine with a heart monitor and found my heart rate never rose much above my normal resting rate. That got his attention, so he ordered an EKG and a day later I had a pacemaker. Before I was released, my wife asked the hospitalist what would have happened if I hadn't gotten in. His response was " Um, er, uh, that would have been incompatible with Uh, um, er, uh, ... life". So, while you're probably fine, don't take chances- you're concerned enough about this that you're posting at 2:32 AM, right?

A permanently anchored course has less to get in the way of others- like fishermen- with no central cable or arms, but takes a fair amount of work to install. My brother used to ski at a very busy public lake in the south where the anchors were 3' diameter screw anchors, then chain up to a metal subfloat, then surgical tubing to attach the buoys- all so that if anything broke, it was the surgical tubing and the important stuff stayed intact. The expense and effort to put that in was huge, but though they lost a few balls, they never had to reinstall anchors or anything below the subfloats. We don't go that far, but have string or zip ties on the balls, so they break before anything else. We only have one group of bow-fishermen and we know them, so that hasn't been an issue.

Having had several courses on public lakes over the years, and having given up on a couple of them, I'd say do what you can to get the guys issuing the permits to understand exactly what you're doing (the course and the skiing part of it), if they don't already. My primary site is very visible and we have four or five regulars who trailer in and use our course. We've been very fortunate that these guys are pretty serious skiers and really conscientious about not screwing up our situation. On the other hand, there's one guy who, while a nice enough guy, can't drive and always takes out a ball or two. This guy never replaces them or tries and can't figure it out. From what I know of your area (not much), @eyepeeler's concerns are legitimate, because a good location for a slalom course is usually also a good fishing spot. Thee will undoubtedly be some fishermen who are surprised and pissed about the new course, so try and make peace with them, if you have any contact with them. Let the other skiers know that if you get in a war with fishermen, skiers always seem to lose. How much do water levels there fluctuate? Are you going to anchor it or use a cable course- either way, make it as durable as possible.

First nationals I ever attended I was wandering through the exhibitors' tent early one morning and he and Rob Shirley were standing talking. Ralph had a Mastercraft t-shirt on and Rob has a Nautique shirt on. They were laughing about something and someone commented on their shirts. Ralph just said, "Well, the good book says to love your enemies". They had their arms around each other as I walked away. The sport is full of good guys.

Cooper, I sent a message to your in box. If you're northeast, we may be able to get you on the water.

Being the best to me also involves longevity- look at the number of Masters victories Andy had- it's hard to believe anyone will surpass it. When I was a kid, and skiing still got some coverage, Liz Allan and Chuck Stearns were sweeping all the events at the Nationals and Masters- I'd consider 3-event versatility part of it, too. Having voted for "current world record holder", I have to qualify that by recognizing that there have been some record holders who held it a very short time and they don't qualify as "GOAT" contenders.

I wore one after getting a ski under the jaw in a crash. My dentist at the time (also a jumper) said he was afraid of swallowing one but we decided that the solution to that was just to use one with a the chin strap- what's the downside?

Getting ready to head home from work a couple of Fridays ago and my kid calls and says a deputy sheriff was there about some problem with our course and would stop back. "Oh no", I'm thinking, "this is the end of it". Soon after the head of the water patrol stops by and says, "Someone complained about your slalom course". After a little prodding and insisting I had a right to know who it was, he told me, "It was the guy in the most southerly house. He kind of shot himself in the foot because he did it at our 'hot dog with a deputy' event and grabbed our commander and complained about a half dozen things he doesn't like about our department first, then added that he didn't like the course". So he tells me that technically we need to remove the buoys when we're not using it, then he tells me, "Here's what you need to do: get a letter signed by the affected homeowners saying they don't object. The guy who complained is not an affected homeowner since he can't see it from his windows. Then you need to get a letter from the city saying they don't object- and have them add that it can stay in place for whatever months you want it to and you don't need to remove the balls." Then he says, "We know you guys invest a lot of time into this and aren't ever a problem". So, I drop in at the city, ask for the City Administrator, and he says no problem. An hour later I had my letter from the city and confirmation that all was well. Can't believe how lucky I am :)

@thager, it was Steve Gallop- we were working on the jump and getting ready to head to the hardware store and he had been showing people the steel rod and screws he had removed from his leg and told us to use the screws- so we did. Jump has moved, but a little piece of Steve went with it...

Use what you've got on hand- our jump contains two stainless screws that once held a rod in a guy's fractured femur- that he broke crashing on that ramp.

i do hate that I'm so old I get @Edbrazil's references...

Well,yeah, but how would we retroactively police things? Boat path video? Send out a TC to measure the course? Check the angles of the jump? Review trick video? I think we've gotta trust that our officials are playing fairly. I know rules have been played with, but we're can't make a fun sport paranoid.

@thager- in the Magic Myslajek Bus?

@thager, it most certainly was. It was my first tournament and I thought the carnage they had going on in jumping that day was normal.

Lost the rudder off my '73 Nautique years ago- that lets in a lot of water fast... plugged it with a rag and made it to shore. My first tournament, a jumper crashed and one of his skis sank and never came up. No idea if it was ever found.

Craigslist has some treasures- local guy here has a Torque wood ski that looks brand new posted. Oddly, in his photo, the adjustable heel is mounted backwards. Problem is, he wants $350,which seems steep- time to try the lowball...

So, I'm taking cover from the latest thunderstorm here in South Canada and I flip on the tube and here's a PBS show called "Boards on the Water- the Evolution of Water Skiing", from 2014. About halfway through and it's actually pretty good. I'd never heard of it before. Anyone seen it?

Back to the price topic, the last sticker I saw on an MC was $99.8K, without a trailer. At $105+, the SN is higher for sure (and that's before trailer, too), but not by a huge margin. Of course, if there are fewer boats than the demand, there's probably no dealing... As has been stated here before, it's more advantageous for a manufacturer to sell a few high-profit boats than a few more with low margins.

Like the neon in the new one- Horton's head position off the top of the ramp looks like mine- and no one EVER wants to look like me, for many good reasons...

Let's not forget her silver in jump at the Worlds...

Having just cleaned the carpet on my 196 yesterday, all I can say is bring on the SeaDek.

I riveted mine- with a nylon washer on each side. Comfortable and it’s stayed on for a while.

I imagine the tracking would be pretty putrid with so little area in the water, so not a design basis for a competitive ski boat. Maybe wrong about that, but that's my take. It'd be fun on a big body of water, though. I just thought it looked like a blast in kind of a '60s or'70s way...

Saw this and had to post: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1963-volga-70/. Sadly, no video of the slalom wake. Why do I want this?