andjules

Odd situation: My brother and I are buying a boat this weekend, in Florida. My brother lives ("winters") in Lauderdale and he'll store it all winter in his back yard. In the spring it will come back to Canada to be used as a ski boat, and we'll get Canadian insurance then. In the meantime, we've got to insure it either: a) just against theft and damage in his back yard or b) he'd like the freedom to take it out for a cruise once in a while (no skiing), so just basic boat owner's insurance w liability. Questions: 1) Never insured a boat in FL (or the US). Do you have a contact/recommendation for reasonable-priced insurance for either scenario (a) or (b)? Please PM me. 2) Do you have any insight into what we should expect as a fair/reasonable price? My brother used some online quote tool and my eyes nearly popped out of my head... maybe we just have cheap boat insurance up here in Canada? Thanks in advance for your help.

Let's remember that the convention goes back 40 or more years. Thin, flexible impact vests that didn't hinder handle passes and wrapped tricks, etc. didn't exist back then. Life jackets were thick.

@Horton, I completely understand where you're coming from. I have the highest respect for some of those mostly-forgotten tricks and remember watching Kreg Llewelyn do SL5s and TWL5s. When I used to trick I was a better toe tricker than hand tricker, so I naturally have a soft spot for a good toe run. However, when wakeboarding came along and got popular, one way of looking at it: Imagine two identical athletes, same talent, same practice time, one on a wakeboard, one on a trick ski. Doesn't matter whether it's 1 week or 5 years, the wakeboarder will do more 'amazing' manoeuvres. You (and I) have got an appreciation for how hard the trickers tricks are... but joe public is gonna plain have more fun watching inverts (whether on a wakeboard OR a trick ski). So in the end, with all due respect to the old-school trickers... yeah, I think flips are where we want the sport to go. My 2¢.

So sad to hear it... end of an era. He did a lot with his life and a lot for our sport.

Yeah, KLP is a special breed of awesome. It's tough knowing I will never, ever be as cool as KLP is at 60. Apparently his first world record was 1966 - 47 years ago: http://www.waterskimag.com/features/2013/03/14/kris-lapoints-1966-record-setting-ski/

#gallonsPerMile

Great section that starts round 7.30+ - he talks about offside lean and being open. THANK YOU. People love the simplicity of 'universal truths', but the reality of the kinesiology of our sport is that offside is very different than onside. Nice to hear someone address it intelligently.

Great series, great for the sport, we need more of this. Thanks @marcusbrown. More importantly, where can I can get the vintage T-shirt!!?!

I heard MC's final solution is if you're a tricker, they'll fly @eleeski to your site with a blow torch, duct tape and wd-40. You have to provide a week's food & lodging and scrap metal. Oh, and it voids your warranty. See http://ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/9417/mastercraft-experiment-part-two

@MayhamModz - I hate you. Well, maybe more bitter-with-envy. It probably took me 5 years to accomplish what you did this summer. Congratulations. As for advice, you're doing great. There are a million finer points (for all of us), but if I limited it to ONE thing, it would be: as you finish your turn and approach the wake, try to straighten your back leg - it will help your hips come forward in a balanced-and-strong way... what we call "stacked". Hold it through the wake. Great job. **didn't mean to say 'as you.finish your turn' - you don't want to push the turn with your back foot; meant 'after you've completed your turn'.**

Damn @Horton, nice reverse wake line O. Congrats. Time to learn a toe wake O - out, toe wake line back - in.

@rico I agree: 1- @Horton's straight back leg theory works for me

@crashman @Andy - It was pretty good in Ontario too, 3hrs north of Toronto. Shorts and a rashguard... admittedly only because I didn't have a wetsuit with me, but still, very survivable.

Tight, stiff, old-school KD rubber bindings on my old KD7000, free skiing in October (colder = stiffer bindings), fairly gentle OTF in a turn... torn achilles. Wasn't long after I switched to my beloved RS-1s, which are awesome and feel very safe.

that's a lot of horsepower. Also wouldn't want to be the one guy that screws up the dock start!!

If I'm lucky I've got 1-2 more free skis ahead of me. On the other hand, if I'm really lucky, I'll get down to my brother's place in Florida a couple of times over the winter.

@foxriverat it depends a little what you're working on, but I personally don't think 67" is too long for you. At -35 off maybe. At -15off I think the issues are usually about getting enough pull/leverage, not about getting a tight-enough turn, so in my mind, long is better than erring on the short side at this stage. Moreover, as you start progressing into shortline, it's often good to drop the boat speed to 32mph to practice a new length, so again, longer is better than too short. For what it's worth - and I think I mentioned this on your other thread last month - but I'm about 10+ lbs heavier than you, was on a 66" KD7000, was on the edge of buying a Senate C, then grabbed a 66.5" S2. It wasn't love-at-first-ski, but within 3-5 sets we started to get along, it's done well by me, I'm up 6.5 balls on my PB this season.

@jhughes I'm with you. I'm doing a lot better @ -28 this year, not as consistent as I'd like, but managed to finally run -32 this year for the first time. All at 34mph. I warm up @ -22 and I can screw up all over the place and it's still easy. -28 is not nearly as forgiving. I'm RFF, so for me it's all about a tightline ball 1. Ok, I never get a tightline ball 1, so really it's about 2ft of slack vs 5ft. Things that helped: - after centerline/2nd wake: - - elbows tight to vest, release later, release slowly - - others will say that edge change is the result of other things, but I have to say that when I concentrate on letting the ski roll under me faster, it helps - coming into 1st wake: straighter back leg. When I watched video of myself I'd have a stacked position before the wake but would absorb a lot with my knees at the wake. Being a little stiffer/straighter-legged I found I carried more cross-course speed, got out wider.

@MattP - a bottle for @Horton or for @ELeeSki ? ;-)

I wish I had the water-time to start tricking again. I was always better at it than slalom. But after a few summers where - given how little time I'd get to practice - the best I could hope for was to get worse slower... I decided to let go & devote what time I had to swerving.

@foxriverat Wow! We've got a pretty similar story - I was on a KD 7000 forever, upgraded to RS-1 bindings a couple of years ago and upgraded the ski this spring... almost went with a Senate C but got a good deal on an HO S2 at the last minute. I'm also guessing that you got your new RS-1s off ski-it-again - I tried too - I guess you were quicker than I was (let me know if you don't like them, I'll buy them). Anyhow, I'd lean to the 67 on the Senate C. The 65 will feel most at home in the short run, but in the long run, the 67 will discourage you from hooking turns, will probably help get you out early, and will support you more at lower speeds. If you were running 35 off, I'd probably lean the other way.

Up +6.5 buoys. 2.5@-35 off (34mph). Not bad for about 20 sets total this season.

I realize I'm up +6.5 balls this summer, in only 15+ sets. Feels awesome. Haven't had a year like that in a long time.

Hello Mr Blue! @Skoot1123 I think you inspired me... I finally ran -32 this morning. New PB: 2.5 @ -35. Thanks go to @Chuck_Dickey for selling me his S2 back in the spring, and to @Horton for creating this addictive site, so skiing is always on my mind. Lastly, thanks to one of my ski partners who helped me with the distinction: even though I hang on and don't release too early, when I do release, I reach too fast. About 17 seconds after explaining that I was out the exit gates. 13m goes down in 2013!

When I was 5 years old, we had neighbours at the cottage - they were probably 15-17 year olds, behind 65hp outboards. Wooden maharaja, if I recall, I watched one of them dip their elbow in the water around a turn and pull out of it. That was probably the moment. The next summer, my dad bought me a pair of wood combos, and the same neighbours taught me to ski. They moved away a couple of summers later, when I was still farting around on a wooden slalom ski, not much of a skier yet. They probably have no idea the influence it had on my life, almost 40 years later.