david_ski

I had a 93-190. A great boat that was fun to drive and had great wakes at all speeds. The 95-190 had a big bump at 15-22-28 off lengths. Only downside to the 91-94’s was the hull spray on a windy day at 28off and shorter. I sold mine and replaced it with a SN 03-196. We wanted a ZeroOff boat. Love my current 03-196, but I still miss the 93-190. Luckily one member at our lake has a 93 S&S 190 that I get to drive and ski every once in a while.

@skialex That is exactly what I received. I ordered 2 ropes and saved $10 in shipping.

I received my order this week. I got the S-series lines. I wanted to order the mid stretchy, but I clicked and ordered the most stretchy. Anyway, I am very impressed with the quality and feel. For being the most stretchy, it did not feel like a typical new rope stretch on the first set. It felt like a good tournament rope. I have used it 2x this week and a couple of other skiers also gave it a try. I am very happy with the purchase and happy with the S-series choice.

7 days in Feb plus 10 days in January. Yesterday Air 62 / Water 60. Coldest day was 48/48 A/W on Jan 3. Warmest to date was Feb 11 72/64

@skibrain TW at 1/4 speed is probably my most watched and re-watched ski video. Just yesterday I was looking at his stack/stance at the pullout pre-gate turn-in and comparing my position while I am trying to get and keep more weight forward with hips up. TW makes it look so easy.

@503Kento. I will talk to her this afternoon. The 67” Senate is hers. She is giving the 65” Senate and 67” Vapor a try to see which one works best for her. Right now she is gravitating to staying on her 67” Senate. I think today will be a A vs B test with the Vapor. I tried her 67 Senate to my Vapor and I could not get the ski to slow down in the pre-turn. It also felt like it was riding a little higher in the water in the pull behind the boat. Other than that he feel between the Vapor and he Senate felt very similar. I was as comfortable on the Senate as my Vapor. Now that the water is getting colder, everything is feeling faster.

This winter I am closely following @Horton goals. Last year I got 2 ski days a month in Dec/Jan/Feb. it was enough to keep the March early season aches, pains and endurance conditioning issues to a minimum. Our lake closes from Dec1-Feb28. I am joining a neighbor lake (3 miles away from primary lake) over the winter. My goals are to: * get in one set a week, and hoping for a 1.5 sets/week average * Work on improving technique with easier passes * Get on the mountain bike throughout winter * Keep winter hibernation weight off, loose some lbs

@503Kento, We have a 2022 65 and 67 Senate Pro’s along with a 2022 67 Vapor Pro here in Northern Cal (Sacramento Area). Our lake is open until the end of November. I ski on the 2022 67 Vapor Pro -32 @32mph 200lbs, and my primary ski partner skis is on the 2022 67 Senate Pro -32 @30mph. For a limited time she has a ‘22 65 Senate Pro and the 67 Vapor Pro in her possession

I have been on a 67” 2018 Vapor Pro for the last 4 years. I ski at 32mph, my PB is 2@35off@32 I tired a 67” 2022 Senate Pro at the end of August. I was amazed at how comfortable the Senate felt on my first pass. I skied 2 28offs and it felt similar to my Vapor. I was unable to complete a 32 off pass. Overall, the ski felt like it was riding higher on top of the water. I had to work a little more to get a good cutting edge from tun ball to center wakes. After the wakes I could not burn off my speed as I approached the turn ball like on my Vapor. After the Senate test, I ordered a 2022 Vapor Pro. Very happy. It feels ver similar to my 2018 Vapor Pro, but It finishes onside and offside turns much better. I can carry speed after the turn back to the center without any turn stall. My 32 offs are now more consistent. I now have more space before ball 3 and 4 so my ball 5 and 6 are not panic turns.

I met Matt in 2017 at a local tournament. It was his next to last tournament that he skied. @Skichiro and @brettmainer captioned my thoughts from my conversations on the dock. When we talked he gave his full attention to the conversation. It was a moment in time that will be etched into my memory forever. Rest in Peace and comfort for his family.

I have a set of bullseye boat sights, that I did not end up using. in my opinion, the shape of a 196 deck does not work well with bullseye sights. A small piece of tape on the windshield works well for me. This is the TALL sight. PM me if interested.

Today my dual puck ZO lost GPS as I was rounding the island. It did not come back. I turned the main power disconnect off and on a couple of times. Eventually he GPS lock did come back. The GPS info showed the correct time with a date of 12/21/01 with 7 satellites. I forgot to take a picture. The unit will be off for a couple of days. After the next power up and hopefully it will GPS lock, I will again check the date and time. The experts in my area are at Nationals this week.

I am a M6 skier for another year. Last year I had an detached retina eye injury (not from skiing). I came back from the eye injury skiing at 32mph on my 2018 67” Vapor Pro. I did not notice any ski behavior issues with 32mph vs 34mph. The Vapor skis really well at 32mph I have thought about trying a Senate, but the Vapor has been working really well for me. This year I have stuck with 32mph, and I am having more fun getting into 35off. I have been working diligently on my form and technique. Skiing at 32mph has helped that immensely. Just a little more time to think. I do need to try some 33 and 34mph passes. Maybe after this weekends tournament.

In 2017 we put in a used Hewett cable cantilever lift. Added new motor, canopy, and solar charger. We then added walkway and dock. Total spent less than $8k.

@Cnewbert that is how I would use my drysuit with the comp vest on the inside. For now the Isrus 2.2 zipper less is a great wetsuit. 43 deg air and 48 deg water on 12/21. Only my feet were very cold after the set.

A ski on the shortest day of the year. Dec 21 43 deg air; 48 deg water. Dec 21 Watching the boat from the dock, it would completely disappear once past the 55’s. On the water you could only see the current and next ball.

I know a local skier that re-powered his '92 ProStar 190 with new engine and ZeroOff. It was right around $15k

@skialex @Horton: I will give my limited edition carbon fin a try next summer just for the fun of it.

I picked up a 2003 196 with the EX330 that had been converted from PP to ZeroOff. We bought the boat because it had the ZeroOff upgrade. Prior to the '03-196, I had a '93 ProStar with a PP StarGazer and ZBox. We could never get the PP pull to feel the same as a ZeroOff boat. Whenever we would ski behind a ZeroOff boat it was never pretty. Now that we ski behind ZeroOff boats >90% of the time, skiing behind a PP boat is never an issue. Back to the '03-196. With ZeroOff, the pull behind our 196 in the course feels the same as the pull behind a '14-200. The 200 has a better out of the hole response with the EX343 vs my EX330.

@lpskier Winter Hibernation and get the need to get projects done at the house during the off season. Our lake closes from Dec 1-March 1 in NorCal. This year my plan is to ski at least 3 times a month at other local ski lakes that are open to stay in shape. So that March is not spent building the core back. In general it takes more effort to keep the core strength up as one gets older whether is is on the bike or the ski.

@Horton More stable at the Apex is what I remember. I was using it on an HO-Monza at the time. The Monza (at least mine) had a really touchy sweet spot but it was really quick when you were on it just right. The Carbon Fin mellowed out the narrow sweet spot and helped me at the apex. I then went to D3-RCX and never used it since.

Seeing the listing reminded me that I had one on the shelf. Maybe I need to try it again

My O'Neil Assault Drysuit has had the same issue this season after 5 years of use. The last month I ended up putting on my Camaro BlackTec top underneath the drysuit. At least the water leak was not felt until it seeped down past the waist into the neoprene section. I will try to see if I can waterproof the the upper-half this winter. I also need to repair a wrist seal before it can be usable again. I am not enthralled with O'Neil's current drysuit offerings. The full baggy Boost or the Fluid Drysuit. The Fluid seems to be somewhat restrictive for movement. One of my ski partners bought a O'Neil Fluid and she is very happy with it. However, I am giving this suit a try. The Isrus 2.2 zipperless wetsuit. Another friend also had a 5 year old O'Neil hybrid suit failure, and he went to the Isrus wetsuit and is extremely happy with the choice. My Isrus arrived, and I have not had a chance to give it a try yet. I am impressed with the material and construction. The zipperless design feels more flexible than a Camaro 1.5 BlackTec full suit. Also, it is not as delicate material as the Camaro BlackTec neoprene. shield-2-2-zipfree-fullsuit-wetsuit

I had an eye injury at the beginning of this season (not related to skiing). When I got medical clearance to be back on the water, I decided that I was going to spend the season at 32mph to take things a little easier and not push the limits. Next year I will age up into M7. My average scores this year have been about the same 2@35off@32mph vs 4@32off@34mph. The slower speed for the full season has allowed me to focus on fine tuning my techniques at shorter line lengths. My best scores were 10 years ago when I got to 2@38off@34mph a couple of times. I do feel that for me with age the reflexes get slower. I have to work harder each year to get into shape. My core strength is not what it was 10 years ago, and that too is part of the equation.

I should of posted this last week. Ron Phelps’s 90th birthday ski ride Nov 22 2020.