david_ski

Today is the last day of November and we have logged in 12 days this month. Second highest number of days in November in the last 20 years. 50 deg water and 60 deg air and no wind. Perfect day. Like ALL of this November has been. Even with a leaky drysuit and a Camaro top underneath.

 

 

 

Here is the Channel 3 interview with Ron. We will have a third station (channel13 & 31) coming out this Friday for some morning live segments.

 

I have been using the red/black MSN thick gloves for several years. The size seems consistent with other brands. One pair lasts me about 140 sets.

If I recall correctly Phil Yastrow did the site layout. I haven’t talked to him in 20+ years

Such a tragic loss for the community and the family.

 

I have posted this before on another thread.

 

I have skied with a handle guard for the last 10+ years. Last year while skiing I had a bad turn at ball 3 and dipped the ski tip in a slow-mo OTF. Knowing I was going down, I threw the rope away from my direction of travel. We were video taping this set. After video review I saw that as I hit the water my hand was instinctively trying to catch my fall, and it was directly on the handle guard. I could not believe the video. It was not the consistent with the clip that I recorded in my head. I knew I tossed the handle away from me. If the guard was not there, my arm would of been clean through the handle V with that fall.

 

Takeaways: Everything happens on the water (good and bad) so quickly. What you think you have done correctly might not agree with the video replay. Practice always holding onto the handle until the boat takes it away from you. A small piece of plastic, mesh, or rope webbing on the handle may avoid an injury.

I received a set of the H-bombs with the foam on the edges of the lenses and they DO float. With the rubberized ear pieces they seem to stay on my head better without any strap. I am still a couple of weeks away before the lake opens (3/1), and I still need to get medical clearance to ski.

@sodbuster88. I ordered a pair of the H-bombs with the foam around the lens. I will see how they work once lake opens, and I get the clearance to ski.

@Horton What model of H-bombs are you currently using? I have been looking through the Bomber site at the H-bomb models and do not find one is labeled as floating.

 

I just had a retinal repair, and I will need to ski with eye protection.

@Garn what @thager says. Two ball valves since I wanted to close off heater completely from the engine so there would not be any backflow, and I could comply evacuate the core. I went from rusting out cores every 2-3 years to no failures (10+ years) since I added the ball valves and a means to blow the core clear. We only need the heater for a month in the spring and fall.

My first tournament with a tow boat that had a tower, I blew my opener. It was the first time in over 10 years I had skied behind a boat with a tower, and the visuals threw me off just enough to be late at the gates. Maybe it was the tower, or it was just me on a off day. Score for that set= 2.5.

SkiDim, Amazon, and Nautique. Skidim for unique parts. Nautique for PCM parts not avail on Amazon. Amazon for most everything else including impellers.

I have been wearing contacts skiing since 1996. I have only lost 2 contacts over the last 22 years. The second time happed this season. They were both epic yard sales. Both cases the contact wasn’t really lost, it just gets folded and pushed under the eyelid. In trying to get it out, it gets damaged in the process.

 

Without contacts I couldn't see (or focus on) the balls if I tried to ski faster then 30mph. Contacts opened up this sport for me.

 

I also dunk my face into the water with eyes open before the first pass to make sure they are moistened. Sometimes I try to catch some spray in the face on the deep water start instead of the face dunk. It doesn’t work as reliable as the face dunk.

 

I have never had any issues with my eyes and have not had any infections or eye irritations from lake or pond water.

I got 4 days in November. Last day was 11/7. Only needed a Camaro top for temps. Water temp 60/Air 70. With fire in NorCal water temp dropped to 50 deg in 4 days due to smoke. I am in Thailand this week. I will probably only get one more day after thanksgiving this season.

2003 196 with ZO conversion. TSC2 was/is one of the best slalom wakes out there.

Skied the 50th edition MC and idled it down the lake to the trailer. I have yet to see a 19SN

This string is hilarious. I resemble many of these comments.

There is a (was new) tape measure beneath our lift. Only a few nuts and bolts around lift. Fairly minor things lost in the lake over the years. Many close calls. Sunglasses don’t float. Caught them just in time. Rash guards, tee shirts, and towels don’t float either.

 

Others have lost GoPros in the lake like @LoopSki. Awaiting for one day when a catfish or a carp come to the surface wearing it.

@Horton I probably only have a 4-5 binding release falls a season (80+ day season). Therefore, I only get a bad shin scrape usually once a season. This latest one happened last Friday. This was my worse/painful shin gouge to date. At the frequency of happening only once a season, I am good for the rest of the season. Right. I am seriously thinking about using a soccer shin guard until the skin fully heals. I will find out today how it feels in the water.

Reflex and R-Style rear boot. The leg scrape happens with me probably 20% of the time the Reflex does release. My ski buddy gets the leg scrape 100% when his Reflex bindings release.

 

 

My EKG ski rope shirt is starting to get worn out. It seems to be the familiy’s favorite shirt. Someone other than me seem to be always wearing it. The message is subtle with no logos. It can be worn almost anywhere. It is time for another t shirt campaign.

I had that happen to me once.

 

I was coming through the gates approaching one ball at 28 (or 32) off and it all happened so fast. I face planted into the lake right at ball one. My bell was rung really hard. Usually you have a split second to react before a fall, but this was being thrown face first into the water without any warning. There was blood in the water around my head, and the driver thought that I was serously injured. It was just my nose that was bleeding. After we realized it was just a bloody nose and I was not really hurt, we went looking at the equipment to see understand what happened. The culprit was the wing screw came lose like yours.

This was hilarious. Coaches, they all say the same thing. The reason you are hearing the same thing is that you are doing the same things wrong. You keep making the same mistakes, fixit and you will hear different things.

I have received many ski's over the years from both FedEx and UPS. It is now time for me to ship a ski from west coast to east coast.

 

What shippers do ballers prefer to ship a ski in the original cardboard box?

@WIRiverRat Your comment "StarGazer vs ZeroOff" is probably the big difference. At least from my experience.

 

Last year I trained behind a '93 ProStar 190 and a '98 196 TSC1 with Star Gazers. At tournaments and a couple of training days I would ski behind a 200. Every time behind a 200, I would be surprised by the curb and then I would be in scramble mode (22, 28, & 32off @34mph).

 

Late last year I sold the '93 ProStar 190 and upgraded to a '03 196 TSC2 with a ZeroOff retrofit. Now 85% of my training is behind the '03 196. At tournaments this year, the 200's curb feels exactly the same as our '03 196 with no surprises.

 

Previous years, skiing behind a ZeroOff boat was always a challenge. Skiing behind most PP boats felt like home. This year I am very comfortable behind a ZeroOff. When we ski behind the '98 196 TSC1, I notice that the boat doesn't pick me up at points that I have become accustomed to with ZeroOff. The pull at the gates with PP does not feel as strong as the ZeroOff. Just listen to a PP boats engine through the course vs a ZeroOff. The ZeroOff is much quicker to adjust RPM due to load changes.

 

Add the ZeroOff pull at the gates "+" a slightly different boat wake that what you are used to "=" a surprise curb feel.

 

Nice work, and glad that you had a great time. Tournaments are a lot of fun, and you have to complete a few before the opener jitters goes away. Unfortunately, almost everyone will blow an opener once in a while. Stuff happens. Great job on your first tournament.