Joeprunc

@itch2ski We have a nice vented Sunbrella cover, and I'm looking at adding some sort of skirts for the cover for when its on its hoist. Our boat still looks beautiful, its just its so much easier to spend free time on the boat & skiing vs waxing it ;). I'll be pulling the boat out later this month for the first time in two years, I'll be sure to give her a good detail before putting back on in the water. I'm glad to hear the Hot Sauce should keep me happy. I had a free sample that I was quite impressed with last year, that's why I made the switch.

I wax my boat once or twice a year, and it sits on a hoist in the sun the rest of the year. I used Babe's Boat Bright for the past two years, it worked nice, but not as well as when I would trailer it home and wax more often. I just got a shipment of Boat Bling Hot Sauce in, I've heard better reviews about that stuff. I'll let you know how I like it after the last bit of Babes is used. On a side note I should probably do a spray wax more often... @itch2ski you boat looks beautiful...how many hours do you have on her? Our 18 year old boat looks quite nice for its age, but not as new looking as yours.

@ctsmith I really like this thread, as I am in the same boat as you....but improving (on my good days), I joined a club this year, and have learned a lot!! Here are some of the things that I have found help keep me stacked (especially on my offside!). 1. DO NOT LOOK AT THE NEXT BALL!! I can see in your videos, you just want to make it to the next ball no matter what it takes. Focus on form not # balls and speeds. When I was looking at the next ball, then my shoulders would follow and tug my left shoulder forward (I'm LFF). For me I was not strong enough to keep form with my left shoulder leading the way. But to make sure I got to the next ball I would break at the waist worse than you, I'd make it to the ball, and make up for the lost time on my onside turn/pull. A fellow skier told me to yell out loud what the back of the boat said on my offside pull, this helped open my shoulders immediately, which it turn helped keep me in a stacked position. I didn't even look for the buoy until I came off the second wake. I went way way way wide several times, and blew the pass, but it helped me focus on form and not buoys. To also keep a stacked position pretend there is a $100 bill between your butt cheeks, and you want to keep it there. This helps keep your chest up, and hips forward. 2. As I am getting more and more comfortable with my offside turn and pull, I am learning that a bad pull starts with a rushed or bad turn. I tend to rush getting back to the handle. I am now trying to focus on waiting for the tip of the ski to cross the rope line before coming back, and bringing the handle directly to the hips. This helps me complete my offside turn, and maintain that stacked position. 3. I know a lot of people tell you to leave your bindings at what the factory sets them up as, but a fellow 35' off skier on the club recommended me to push my bindings forward until I had a hard time turning the ski....for me this worked. Before I was getting a lot of "fidgety ski chatter" coming out of my turns (because I was using the tail to turn). I feel like I am now much more over the top of my ski, and using more of the ski's edge to turn, and have completely eliminated my "chattery turns". My ski was not setup by the factory, so for all I know is my ski may now be at the factory settings. I do not plan on increasing the speed of our boat until I have 6 perfect passes at 30 mph. When I first started receiving advice, the course was still very overwhelming. I could only remember what to do on the pull thru the gates and one ball. After one ball all hell would break loose and I would get overwhelmed and all the advice I got went out the window. I am not feeling comfortable enough to focus on the tips thru the whole course. Again I am only a skier at your level, so my advice may not be how to proceed to shortlines, but it really hit home with my skiing.

I believe its apart of Eagal Lakes Resort. I met a fellow skier who is a club member there. If no one is there there is no need to spin, just turn and keep going :). Here's their website...http://www.eagallakes.com/

Off topic...I just learned that my boat was not AWSA approved.

My brother in law just went thru this same dilemma. His fiancee just got accepted to nursing school 2 months before their wedding date. The school was an 8 hour drive away from their place of residence, he was poor and couldn't afford plane tickets. He quit his job as an accountant, and moved to the school location with his newly married wife. It took him over 6 months to find a job. He was not happy with where they were living, how expensive everything was, and how crappy his job was just to pay the bills. It was very hard for him to see his wife go to school come home and study...he was working, and doing everything around the house. With all these crappy things going on their relationship went extremely sour, they were very close to calling it quits and getting a divorce (after one year of living together). 1.5 years of this crappy situation, he ended up getting a job back where they wanted to eventually end up. He had to hire on before the end of the year to be grandfathered into the gov. retirement benefit package. They did the last year away from each other. This was also hard as he traveled to her every other weekend, and spend countless hours on the phone with her. Fights broke out as it is sometimes very hard to read emotions over the phone. It got better when she was super busy with school, and on holidays she was able to spend quality time at his place. Now that she just graduated, and she moved back in with him, they are happy as can be. He has an extremely stable job that he loves and wants to stay at, and has already started climbing the latter. She still has yet to take her nursing test and start looking for a job. But they are both very happy to be living where they want to live. And have a job that does not suck. So a few questions for you: -Do you love where you live? -Will you love the town where she goes to school? -Do you love your current job and line of work? Can you see yourself working there for a long time? Are there positions for a PA there? -How are your communication skills with your fiancee? (To live apart they better be freaking excellent)? -What are her thoughts? -Is there anyway you can work remotely (or partially remotely) for your existing company?

$20K, send me a PM...:) (just kidding my wife will kill me if I brought home another toy this year) Is it an LX, LXI, OB, or CB.

This is what I have, what version is the module (6.4 or 6.5)?. I did not install a paddle wheel. If you course doesn't have magnets, you can use a fall button switch to set up ski speeds. But as MISkier said for slower than skiing speeds you will have to drive by hand, or install a paddle wheel. Did your boat originally have two speedo gauges? Keep one plugged in to the pitot tube and crimp the second one off.

This thread is almost a year old @Skloot1123 how does the lake look? Did you go with two islands or one?

@eleeski, I was very excited she gave the course a try, she is a competitive one and I hope to have many years on the water together. We ski in the dirty Delta. I'm in the honeymoon phase of joining the Diablo Club.

Wish I had pictures or video but here is how yesterday went for us. By 8 AM we had 20-25 mph winds out of the SW and a dropping tide which was horrible for our ski course. My friend drove 1 hour out to come ski with us, so we braved the weather. Once we got to the course the tide was almost too low, but since he came out I made sure he got a set in. As he jumped in the water, the wind started calming down (as it was starting to switch due West...worst wind direction for the course). He finished his set, and I tired to have my wife go before myself, as she has never skied the course. I wanted her to go before conditions took a turn for the worst. But she made me go. So far this year I have only been skiing at 30 mph in the course trying to be sure that my form was good, and consistency was there before changing anything. I ended up running 30 mph 3 out of 4 passes. And decided to bump it to 32 mph for the first time this year (my PB with a boat with perfect pass is 2 a 32 mph the previous year, and I'm sure it was ugly). My first attempt at 32 mph I ran it!! I was early to every ball, my offside turn to pull never felt so strong (this is usually where I blow my 30 mph passes), and my ski felt like it came alive. I was so happy it was silly. My 6th pass with the wind to my back I got around 5 but couldn't make it to 6 in time. I was so happy I'm still buzzing from it as I write this. But then my wife eager to learn how to ski the course, because no one was around due to the bad weather, jumped in the water. I told her just to shadow the buoys and if she felt good to try to go around 6. The first two passes were not pretty, but she was on the course and turning at the buoys, I was excited none the less. After the second pass I told her to not even worry about the buoys, focus on hips to the handle, and ski like you do in the open water. The next four passes I was hooting and hollering louder than she was. Her skiing was awesome, I've never seen her ski so well, holding an edge thru the second wake, stacked position, and making quick turns at every buoy! The last pass she decided to make it around buoy 6 and thru the exit gates! Her giving the course a shot, having a good time, and making it around one buoy brought me even more joy than my earlier accomplishment. What a great day despite the horrible weather. (My friend jumped in for a second set, the tide was really low, and wind now on a due West, after 4 passes he called it quits and we headed home).

I'm a beginner too, so take it for what its worth: How is her turn offside turn on open water where there isn't a buoy to force her to turn? Is she dropping a hand or still two hands on the handle around the turn? Is it her turn initiation or finish that she seems to have trouble with? Is she real tail heavy thru the turn? I was having a hard time earlier this year finishing my offside turns when I got tired and received a pointer that seemed to help me. I was coming back to the handle too quickly and not letting the ski finish the turn and skiing down course before getting back on edge. Fellow skier told me not to come back to the handle until the tip of the ski comes across the rope. Also I don't like messing with gear or bindings, but sometimes if you rotate the rear binding to generate a more open stance this can help a skier with their offside turn.

Wow those are beautiful! Once my money tree grows a bit more I just may order one for my house. If my wife gets to hang antique snow skis in our house, then I shouldn't have a problem hanging a beautiful water ski!

Still can't connect the dots for 6 straight passes. Did get 5-6 on both Friday and Saturday, so I feel like I'm getting closer.

I really don't think I will ever ski seriously. But this summer I am finally filling all the requisites to be considered to be "skiing More seriously", but still don't think I will ever "Ski Seriously". I think of my time on the water more as a hobby that you can spend quality time with your family and friends...and a heck of a good workout.

How is she with her deep water starts? If she is getting up every time on the wide body, wants to go faster, and is naturally competitive I'd say go with something like the Strada, or Vice. If she is getting up 70% of the time and is looking to get on the course, have fun, and spend time with you on the boat, I'd look at something a little wider, like the Lyric. You want her to be happy with her new ski, and if she has a hard time getting up, she's not going to like it....believe me I know. I'd also recommend getting her some bindings that fit her feet well, are comfortable, and easy to get in and out of. My wife uses a Connely F1X (shaped a lot like the Lyric) w/ Radar Vector bindings (small), she loves the setup.

@waterskigirl that looks amazing. I am going to try to make it to Sunset Ranch sometime this summer for a few lessons.

That's why West Coast is the Best Coast!

@ShaneH I had a free sample of hot sauce a while back and liked it better than the Babes I was using. When my gallon of babes runs out I will be sure to pick up some Hot Sauce next. @bogboy chips are not allowed it two of our other ski buddies boats, but I haven't had an issue in our boat (maybe that's because we don't have kids yet).

@GAJ0004 That boat looks beautiful for almost 1700 hours!! I agree with you, keep what you have nice and it will last. Its just as of lately I have spend more time on the water than normal, and last year seemed to neglect my boat a little. @Andy You wax the bottom of your boat while its in the water? You must do it all by hand, because I'd be scared out of my wit of dropping the buffer in the water and electrocuting myself. And for all those that voted Gas and Go, I now have a list of who not to purchase my next boat from :).

That is awesome. She has to be so proud, you have to be so proud, hell I don't even know you and I'm proud for her too!!! Can't wait to get my wife on the course this season, her work schedule has been a bit hectic.

Take 15' off and run at 28 mph. Keeping it at 15' off bump your speed up to 30, 32, 34. I wouldn't bump up in speed until you can ski all 6 buoys consistently. I've also cheated a bit for people and gone 31 mph to help bridge to 32 mph pass. For your friend, how comfortable does he feel, how old is he? Tell him to shadow the real buoys (in other words ski between the two but closer to the real ones). See if he can run the real buoys with the full length rope at 26 mph. Then take 15' off at 26 mph. If 15' off and real buoys are too hard again have him shadow the buoys. And again don't be in a rush to bump up speed, everything happens a lot quicker, I found I developed bad habits just to get to the next level. This summer I plan on not bumping the speed or taking line off until I get all 6 buoys every time, I feel like my form is really getting better this year by holding back.

For a good family friendly ski boat, I think the Response LX or LXI are the way to go. Depending on hours that seems to be on par for prices that I've seen in CA. I'm a slower speed skier and feel like the LX wake is better than the SN 206 (but the SN 196 is so far the friendliest I've ever skied behind). The wedge is a great way to get a slightly larger wake for wakeboarding or surfing. The free board on the Response seems to be a bit higher than some of the other DD of that era (safety for the family). But that ad scares me a little. A 351? I don't like the fact that there are small pictures. His grammar is only a step worse than mine (that is scary). Some of the pictures have the Malibu decal on the side, others don't. All the new things he replaced make me a little suspect of him trying to offload a problem. If you are really interested I'd ask for better pictures before even driving out there. I would also not even look at it unless you agreed upon a water test.

Good to hear I have fallen off the OCD and into the norm of boat care. After a good buff, polish, and wax she is back to a new luster. I have been using Babes for the past two years, but had a sample of Boat Bling, I may be switching to that stuff because it smells better. I smile a little when my an almost 20 year old boat looks nicer than some of the 5-10 year old boats. @MattP thank you for voting Bacon, if it wasn't my stupid pole I would have too.......bacon. I'm a little out of the loop on quotes... Boat Rule #3: "Be aggressive"

@Horton, so its 96 F in Bakersfield, and winds are still light...no excuses. Hows the Freeride ski?