Wayne

@Cnewbert I had a meniscus tear when I was 17. Unfortunately they had to remove about 20% due to a very poor decision made by the ER to splint my knee with my leg straight until I could see a specialist. I had a second clean out surgery done when I was 37. After that I had about 40% of my meniscus remaining and osteoarthritis. My surgeon at the time said “if you were over 50 we would be discussing a replacement” but advised to protect it and preserve what I had left by modifying my behaviors. That has carried me to now, being 46 and still active but running for exercise is out of the picture. Until the pain or ability really starts to limit activities I was guided to hold off. Maybe that has changed and I should go for a consult.

@Cnewbert thanks for posting this. I’m nearing some type of knee replacement The impact to being able to ski again keeps me in the mindset to delay it as long a possible. This is some useful information to have going into discussions with orthopedic surgeons and a reminder that we need to be medical advocates for ourselves.

I had a lanyard wrist strap like this when I jetskied (I know I know, I was young). It was easy and quick to put on or take off but stayed on your wrist when you needed it. And it floats! We don’t use the lanyard much, usually only rough water or if we’re playing around but both are rare occasions. Knowing about the new law and if I make it more convenient we will be compliant.

Seems to be trade offs for every location and a personal preference. I’ve used a tower mounted mirror on a friends boat. It was more or less directly infront of the driver so you had to mount it above your line of sight for driving. My peripheral vision is better side to side so looking up was a distraction and messed with me holding a “straight” boat path. The center mount on the windshield is more or less the same location as in a car so the muscle memory is pretty intuitive and not distracting to my driving. I’ve never noticed a non symmetrical view unless I don’t have the mirror adjusted to my seating position regardless of where the mirror is mounted. Unfortunately I’ve never used a PTM 140 so I can’t make any comparisons.

@swbca can you find any markings on the coupler or trailer hitch mechanism regarding the make or model? Last time I looked Mastercraft was using Phoenix to make their trailers. Phoenix uses UFP mechanicals, the picture you shared of the coupler doesn’t look like the typical UFP A-60 which uses a 2-inch ball. Knowing what coupler you have would rule out the ball size. Also how old is your trailer ball? Might want to check its diameter, they are a wear item should be replaced if their diameter is below specifications. Most of the newer couplers are not adjustable, I’m not sure I would be comfortable with 1/4” of play between the ball and coupler. Glad you ruled out one area of play on the receiver. That can cause damage as well if left unchecked.

@dave2ball granted I’m one data point but I have not had an issue with blistering on the gel.

The last set of bunks I refreshed I sanded all of the 90 degree corners to ease the edge a bit more and put two layers of carpet on when I recovered them. This seems to reduce the wear and tear on the carpet and my gel coat quite a bit. Regarding squirrel, my redneck in-laws recommend pan-frying with garlic, green onions, mushrooms and a little olive oil. @igkya I would still carpet lift bunks that touch gel. I’ve seen some wear from bare wood but that was on larger boats and probably not using an ideal bunk location/angle. I’m not sure if it’s the wood against the gel that caused scuffing or if it was from sand trapped between the hull and bunk.

I thought a Radar Vector might be big enough but they list the XL only going up to 14. Give Wiley’s Water Sports a call. They have an XXL size and probably could advise you on a solution.

I made the switch to a RTP due to knee issues on my back leg last year. I start with both feet in so I cannot comment on dragging a foot and kicking in. I run my RTP so tight I doubt I could kick in anyway. With regards to skiing, I should have made the change years ago. For me the transition was extremely quick and easy but it’s probably due to the fact o can get my body in a good position again without cringing pain in my knee. Sucks getting old.

@Jody_Seal I can see your point for covering any possible liabilities.

Skis, usually June (birthday). Most everything else is off season around December.

“Not a baller but I have his deposit”. Now that is a person with no regrets.

Since it was established that draining the oil isn’t much different than when the engine just sits. How is draining hot any different than shutting off a hot engine and just letting it sit for 3 weeks? I’m of the opinion that pre-filling the filter, fill the engine with oil and just start it up will be fine. The only time I’ve taken the precaution of priming an engine oiling system was on a completely new engine build or one that has sat for a duration measured in months or years.

After this thread came back it got me thinking about the Happy Days episode. I had to go back and watch the episode but Henry Winkler did all of the skiing except for the jump. I found his comments about the beach landing pretty amusing.

The platform brackets show signs of sitting in the water a LOT. I saw the pictures of it on another site, the wedge and under water running gear have the same signs. I’m curious why no engine pictures were posted. Seeing the cosmetic shape of the bilge and exposed metal parts on the engine might also be an indication of how it’s been treated. My assumption is the pictures make this boat look better than what it will look like in person. I would put some due diligence into checking that one out if you are serious. As was mentioned, a compression check and a water test at minimum.

How much do you want to spend? Throughout my career working in the auto industry I’ve seen devices like what they sell on powerpusher.com used. There are some other brands but I’ve seen this type of set up used on everything from smooth concrete to corse gravel to move passenger cars and trucks with ease.

@2Valve I sent you a PM, I live out in the sticks but have a ski box you are welcome to.

@OldboyII canting a binding is where you lift the “inside” of the binding so instead of the binding foot hole pointing straight up, it’s at an angle. You can twist your foot in rubber bindings to the same effect. When I was on Animals I always noticed I would cant my foot so all my weight was on the outside edge of my foot. I went the opposite way you did and switched from double Radar Vectors to using a Radar ARTP due to knee pain. I’m missing 60-80% of my meniscus in my left knee. I ski RFF. I noticed both a full binding or a 3/4 boot limits the ability to rotate my heal. So when I get into position for my off side wake crossing, it puts a twisting moment on my left leg. My knee takes the brunt of it and I can feel it twist which makes it unstable. My skiing days were probably coming to and end of it wasn’t for switching out my rear binding. Same as you, I had lots of pain from skiing with double bindings. My observations from this season are that I could probably go to a rubber rear binding with a lot of flex, like the new HO venom or a wileys) or stick with the ARTP. The ARTP offers the most freedom so I’m sticking with it. I’m a large supporter of “if something causes pain, you need to stop”. You can try canting your binding but if you still notice any pain, stop. Switch to a different set up and reassess. I won’t go into detail, but I should have switched to a different binding setup 10 years ago due to discomfort and more recently pain.

Can you navigate through the electronic dash settings and find what fault codes are being set? This feature has been in place for a while and will narrow things down a lot.

You can retrofit an adjustable fin. You might need to get longer screws for mounting the fin block to the ski. I cannot remember if the adjustable fin block includes the mounting screws or not. Do you have an Alloy already or are you buying a new ski? The adjustable fin is $90 and the price jump to the Graphite is $100. I’d go for the graphite over adding a fin block to the Alloy if you are buying new.

Contact Acme or OJ directly, they can advise you on a prop and set expectations for what you will get from it.

I’m inclined to agree with Jordan if you cannot find a replacement. Repair the pitting with body filler and cover it with something. Since it might be really hard to fill things in you could have it upholstered to something that matches your interior colors.

The Sunsetter LXI with a monsoon is a fairly trouble free boat if it was maintained. I had a 2002 Sunsetter with the same engine. A few small nitpick items come to mind. - The multi function gage (temperature, oil pressure, fuel and voltage) can occasionally fail and take some searching to find a replacement. However if that one works if should be ok for a long time - The fuel gage in my boat never read right, it was consistent but I cannot remember if it was always higher or lower than the actual fuel level. - When filling the fuel tank you will usually have fuel spit out the vent before the pump kicks off. Malibu Crew has a “how to” for installing a fuel air separator. Never understood why Malibu didn’t do it on their own. - Check to see if the oil pressure sending unit has 1 wire or 2. The 1-wire version uses the block as a ground and can give funky readings. That blue cable is bothering me. I can’t remember if my boat was like that or not and I don’t have pictures of the engine to use as a reference. If that boat checks out for driving and usual mechanics checks with a reasonable price it will make for a very nice family boat. They ski great and with a few extra passengers and a fly high extended pylon can serve wakeboard duties.

I recalled this incident after seeing this thread https://www.dbbwc.com/high-profile-cases/mastercraft-boat-found-defective-by-a-butte-county-jury/ I remember this incident lighting up the wake boarding/surfing boat forums too. If I’m correct we have the same incident with two very differently designed boats. What I struggle with is how a prop strike can be the fault of the manufacturer? The situation seems to be operator induced. Granted I recall in some expert whiteness classes I took in college the professor said “it’s not about who’s at fault in a death and dismemberment law suit, it’s about who will give you the biggest check”. Terrible incidences and the families needs to feel whole some how, but as an outsider looking in this is this the right way?

I did the same thing happen (on a vacation too) and mine healed fine. The first few days I was really worried about permanent damage but slowly over time things went back to normal.