gregy

As a business owner for a number of years. I would have 2 to 3 contacts a day about sponsorship of events, teams. etc. You want to support the business you are in but how do decide with so many inquiries? You look for winners, but above all you look for a return on your investment. A Business is not putting their hard earned money out of the solely out of the goodness of their heart or love of sport etc, it about money and survival ultimately. The best sponsorships I made were people or groups that showed a positive belief in my products and a vested interest in promoting them. People who I didn't have to ask to promote me, but that came to me with ideas. I had people that were incredibly active and others that talked a big talk but when it came down to it weren't vested in my success. To me I think Marcus is to trying to sell the water ski lifestyle and get more interest in the sport. I'm surprised more companies aren't jumping in on this because its essential to the survival of the industrial. The industry can't set back and survive on an aging customer base. Sorry if I'm ranting but I see a person in Marcus that's really talented and I'm sure could find more profitable things to do with those talents. It's easy to pick out negatives from a far. Companies are constantly paying to have their products put into movies. Think back to the James Bond movies with Glastron boats. ET with Reese’s pieces. Fedex and Wilson in CastAway. Rayban in Top Gun. These weren't accidents, its called Product Placement.

The TXI skis better and addressed some quality issues. I think the guy did you a favor.

Some beautiful country. There are some great white water river down there. Never thought about waterskiing. @MarcusBrown looked like a fun trip.

I went with Double boots when they first were popular in the 80s and only change to a half boot a couple of years ago. I never had a problem getting up. I was taught from a kid to get up with rear foot in though. Since you're 6'4" getting foot close together shouldn't be an issue, you'll more than likely feel more comfortable with them a little more apart. I used double D3 T-factor boots for 4 plus years. They're nice for a rubber boot.

@AkBob had used some silicone glue or liquid tape. Not sure what but he covered the worn areas with it.

"police also recovered an additional $250,000 worth of stolen property" Wonder what else they had stolen?

Years ago I ran a boat onto a sand bar. Bent the strut, rudder, prop, and shaft. Shaft was bent enough so that you could see it. I talked to several mechanics and shops about getting it straightened and everyone said no way. I started calling prop shops and Baumann Props in Houston Tx said no problem. They straightened the shaft, strut and prop. They tried the rudder but I ended up having to replace it. I ran the boat that way for several years and sold it to friend that owned it for several more years. As far as fiberglass damage mine had a couple cracks radiating out from the strut mount area and after talking to some glass repair shops I decided to take may chances and try it.

Both. I said same only because there was no option for both.

Either one of those skis would be an big improvement. Look for a deal. If you haven't already look in ski test area for reviews. I'd recommend sticking with the 2016 or newer skis.

Connelly V, Radar Senate would be good skis. Most people say don't change both bindings and ski at the same time but at your level I think i would be fine, I changed boots and ski regularly when I was younger and 15off. A lot of people like the Radar Vapor type boots. The liners are heat molded which if your like me and have a narrow foot its really nice to fill in the extra space. There's a lot of instructions on here how not to over tighten them so they release properly. I also remember seeing some threads about RTPs that things people had done to keep there foot in them, grip tape etc. The other option would be a half boot. I think Radar and HO have version of it. I use a Reflex r-style half boot and like it. I'm 6'2" and 170lb so pretty much in the same boat. If the ski recommendations overlap in weight I tend to go to the longer size. Ski-it-again is a good resource for skis and equipment. You can probably find some deals over the winter. Oh welcome to the obsession, you'll never look a skiing the same again.

Should be under warranty. I was talking to a E-control engineer he was saying those screens are on the low end for quality. You could try disconnecting power from the battery and see if resets.

I have a 2016 Lithium Vapor. I tried a 2017 Pro Build. The Probuild had a feel that it really locks in during the acceleration. It feels like it is on Rails. I think I could get used to it but it was different. The Lithium sees more forgiving overall. 2016 Lithium is a little different construction that the 2017 Lithium.

@RB Could be wrong but I think the T3 Horton unboxed was a joke. It think was for Dirt and Horton got it diverted.

It said one of them was sold. 4 big boats, 4 big crew cab trucks, you think they would stick out like a sore thumb.

There are some lakes in Texas that its probably 50 to 1 of Fishing boats to ski and wake combined.

I went back and read your original post and you commented about grabbing the handle then sitting back. Generally in skiing the problem you perceive usually starts a few steps back. So when you ski narrow like that you never get free of the boat. You have to swing up on the boat enough so that you get free of the boat in order to make a good turn and get angle. When your not getting free of the boat you can't finish the turn. Your hips never make it back to handle, you don't get proper angle. It all kind of snowballs. What I would suggest is getting some consistence in your skiing. Think about skiing in a course. You're always going to start to the left side of the wake. Start by standing tall in position next to the wake. Pick a spot and start at the same place every time. Start your lean to pull out but don't lean back on the back foot. Stay balanced. Use a count on you pull out (3 or 4 should be good), then use a count on the glide around 3 then turn in on 3. You want turn in just as you match the speed of the boat. Try to practice the same thing every time. Make a smooth turn and try to built power into the wake. If you turn hard and start you pull too early the boat will stand you up and you will be flat across the wakes. You want to be on edge in a powerful stacked position into the wakes.

How much rope are you using? I suggest no longer than 15off. Like Brace Maker said start wider. Try to get up on the boat. At 15off I try to get pretty close to being even with the back of the boat which would translate for you to about 10-15 feet behind the back of the boat. I like the drill Fam-man is talking about. I do that drill when I get a chance to free ski. I turn my back foot out quite abit because its more comfortable for me.

You have a video from the boat? Two things I noticed your pulling past the wakes. You want to create all you speed from the finish of the turn to wakes then use that to carry you out to the turn / buoy. The other is you have a lot separation between your hips and handle. It doesn't look like your getting much angle. You want to come into the turn with you hips up then as you come out of the turn you bring you hips up to the handle. You want to keep you hips and handle together as much as possible except when you reaching during the turn.

So a tech from E-controls called me today. He said mount it as level as possible but the main thing is that the arrow on the antenna points in the direction on travel (arrow points toward bow). He said it would work under the windshield but for 3 event it would be better to have in the open. Evidently a lot of the wake board boats come from the factory with the antenna mounted under the windshield.

Video?

I'm about the same weight and height as you. I've been on a 2015 and 2016 Lithium Vapors, both 67". I really like both of them and 2016 has gotten me deep into 32off and for budget issues I'll stick with it for a while longer. Right now the skis that are peaking my interest are 2018 Vapor, Denali, and the new KD ski. If your interested in sticking with D3 the NRG has some comparisons with the ARC. I'd try some other skis if it were me some of the newer skis will be a little easier on the body especially for as much as you ski.

Ski Guadalupe, SMRR and Aquaplex are the closest to you but they are all private. @TFIN does coaching. There is a ski school on Tuesday nights at Frameswitch north of Austin on Tuesday evening that @ToddL runs during the summer. There are some opportunities during the summer at some of the sites for skiing during the weekend maybe someone else could jump in and give some more details on that.

@jercrane This is the antenna harness, you can see where the splices are. I agree they make it more completed than it needs to be. But it's for the sake of keeping it plug and play.

Schematic Diagram 1 and 5 should be for the old antennas which you don't use with new antenna. 4 is for a jump switch don't use 3 and 7 are the communication. These you need. The should be the two blue stripped cables going into these. 2 and 6 are the power wires, 12vdc, ground, Vsw. So you have to have communication from the ECM computer on back of the engine to the head unit in the dash. You have to splice into that those wires with the new antenna cable. Same with the power. Check out the link to diagrams. The new antenna needs 4 wires, 2 blue striped wires for communication and 12vdc and ground so I don't really see an advantage to taking the plug apart. Drill the hole for the antenna however you want plug the connector into the back of the antenna, keep it simple.

When I tried the OB4 version I used the soft-shell boot which pretty much a high top shoe. I thought this would be better since I was on rubber previously. Now that I've gone to hardshell I really like it. Specially with the heated molded liners.