Glock

Great, I feel better about this. Now I have to sit and look at my new boat for at least three months before I get to use it. Torture. At least I have Fin Whispering to keep me entertained.

So, I just picked up a new to me 2012 TXI right before Thanksgiving. The dealer winterized it, but only drained the engine and didn't fill it up with antifreeze. I has been cold here in Portland lately and I am a little worried, being from Michigan, I have always filled the engine with antifreeze. You all think I'm alright?

@dougski, @jedgell, @jipster43, did any of you guys get my private messages? @dougski, where is your site located?

Boy that sure is a beautiful lake. @jedgell , @jipster43 , @dougski , I sent you all pm's. Thanks for the info.

What happened at Otter Tail? That was a great site and a great group of people. Sorry to hear that.

Are there any slalom courses in or close to Missoula? I know of a Rosewater in Kalispell and Echo Lake has a course, a lake development in Helena, and Otter tail lake in Bozeman. Those are all a bit far, so I am hoping someone knows something that I don't.

Good luck. Post a pic after you buy your boat.

Get the Malibu.

I just ordered the book. Looking forward to it as I have never been to technical about my equipment, just make sure my settings are to factory specs every season. One question I have is how will this information mesh with the "GUT" theories? I'm really looking forward to taking my skiing to the next level and getting into shortline consistently. Applying the knowledge to adjust the ski to my preferences and gaining a true understanding of waterski theory will help, I hope. I also need to get into shape, there are plenty of books for that. Workout more and drink less beer. Wish it was that easy.

On the bright side, its a lot better than a broken talus. Myself and a ski buddy have both suffered that injury now and it really sucks. Takes you out for about a solid year. Rest that ankle up. Weak tendons and muscles tend to tear when overused.

I may try it here in Oregon. You can actually do that here year round as we ski on the glacier in the summer.

@Skirvind, can you post that pick? Thanks everyone for the tips. Hoping to find places that don't cost a bunch to rent, although it would be awesome to have a private lake to myself.

I can speak from personal experience that the waterski club at Michigan State University changed my entire college experience and life. I was a recreational skier who only skiied with friends whose parents had a boat and was pretty proud of putting up a big spray before I found the club. I still remember my first time out was with Kevin Bishop and a couple of other guys. I free skied a bit, got into the boat, and was pretty proud of my spray. I asked them how my spray was and I think Kevin almost fell out of the boat he was laughing so hard. Needless to say, they taught me to ski the course which began my full blown addiction to the sport. Marcus's video is spot on that collegiate waterskiing is a crucial piece to the future success of our sport. If I had not gone out for the club at MSU, I would probably not own a boat, or buy a new ski every other year, or be getting my two kids into the sport. What can we do to help encourage the sport at the collegiate level? I now live in Oregon and as far as I know, there are not any collegiate waterski clubs in Oregon. This was such a great experience for me that I would love to help any of the schools, Portland State, OSU, or U of O get something going.

I am dreaming about next summer and some fun ski trips with the wife and kids. My requirements are a place to tent camp (no hookups required), slalom course, and within a 5 hourish drive from Portland. The only place I know of is Lake Billy Chinook. Any other ideas?

When you pickup your boat from being detailed and waxed, including the bottom. Take the beautifully clean boat for a run on the lake before heading home. Get her loaded up on the trailer and head home but don't realize you forgot to secure the bow to the trailer. Take off at the first stop light and leave the boat in the middle of the intersection. This actually happened to a customer when I worked at a nautique dealership during college. Had to go pick it up with the fork truck. I have a dozen stories like this from working there.

@GOODESkier , I sent you a PM. @thager , I am definitely a bigger guy and pull hard. I'm 6'3" and about 210 right now. Hoping to drop to 190ish before next season. ZO has kicked my butt so far as most of my skiing has been behind Perfect Pass Pro. I am definitely thinking that I need a ZO boat or at least one that I can upgrade to ZO.

I have heard of a lot of skiers having good results with Crossfit. That said, I've tried it a few times and haven't liked it much. I'm sure many people on here will disagree with me. I'm going to try p90-X this off season. Its a 90 day routine and I will try to do two cycles before next season. I've witnessed a few people get in really good shape following that workout and watching what they eat. Good Luck!!

I'm sure Traverse has one. The dealer here in Portland, OR bought their 2014 with the 450. Sweet boat.

Yes, I do plan on getting past 32 off. My wife is also my driver, has experience with perfect pass pro, but might be a little off with what you describe from stargazer/z-box. We also have a fairly short set up at one end of our course which might make ZO a better pull.

All, I am debating a new boat. Either a 2008ish ski nautique with ZO or 1999ish ski nautique with stargazer and z-box. I'm a 34mph guy and ski into 32 on occasion. I am hoping to get myself and my two kids deeper into this sport and start skiing a few tournaments every season. My long term goal is to qualify for nationals. So, should I save my money and grab an older boat with stargazer/z-box or spring for the newer boat? My right brain keeps telling me newer boat, but the left side says the older boat will probably be good enough. Its about a 15k difference, so how bad do I really need it?

@MichaelGoodman Wow, that is terrible. Did you give that guy a rating on eBay?

Oh man, this is killing me. I wish it was closer. It looks like the transom is beat up somewhat and the pad on the platform is pealing off. But other than that it looks good. I figure with a trailer and shipping, that boat would cost me another 6k.

I saw that this morning and thought the same thing. Those must be titanium monkey bars.

@vtjc, that TXI on ebay just sold for 27K. I shed a tear on that one. If it wasn't clear across the country from me, I would have taken a stab at that on too. So with a new trailer, that boat just went for 30k. It can be done.

Thanks for the input. The 196 is my favorite, used to have a '99 and loved it. I have to talk the wife out of an open bow, she loved our 197. That said, a 196 is a real possibility. I have seen some txi's and 200's in the low 30k range. A txi recently was on ski-it-again for 32.5 for about 2 days. Maybe a higher hour one in the winter might touch 30k? Just hoping and praying here. Thanks be to god, amen.