Wayne

If you were towing it yourself I would make an attempt with the cover but watch to see if it “flaps” in any areas. This is where damage can occur. So you could pull it off if there were concerns once underway and things didn’t look right.

 

Malibu ships their boats with a shrink wrap type cover. If carefully removed they are reusable. It sounds like you are having this boat shipped by some one and not getting it yourself. If this is the case I would pay to have the boat shrink wrapped. This eliminates all concerns of lost cushions, dirty interior or damage.

 

My first boat had a Malibu towable cover that had straps around the run rail and straps that connected to the trailer.

 

My second and current boat only has a mooring cover so we trailer it open. On the long trips we used to take (about 400 miles one way) I can say the cover kept the interior much cleaner. The wet interior isn’t a big deal, the rain seem to add to the dirt that get kicked up and into the boat.

New tires including a spare, make sure the wheel hubs (seals, bearings and grease/oil) are in good shape, brakes and don’t forget the trailer lights. Other than having all the proper tie downs I wouldn’t have a second thought. We used to travel about that distance twice a year, as others have said if you have everything maintained and in good shape it’s not a big deal.

....don’t mind it. In all honesty if the tower doesn’t interfere with short line skiing from the pylon it only adds capability. Higher tow point helps with new skiers, when I did long line barefoot occasionally the higher tow point was nice and it’s a solid place for a bimini or storage. The high tow point is also nice to open up more seating when towing new skiers or recreational skiers. The tow point on the transom sucks.

@jimmyjamesbrown I thought when the beep occurred the little LCD screen in the tach would show a very vague message. Like “oil low” or “temp hi”. When it beeps look at that. If my memory is correct the warning was only shown when you heard the beep, then disappear and reappear on the beep.

 

My oil pressure beep would only start to occur when I was at speed and keep beeping at idle. If we shut the engine off for a minute then restarted it would not beep at idle. Then when we went back up to speed it would start again.

 

I replaced the sensor on my boat and still had the issue. After grounding the sensor it was fixed. For some reason the threads on the sensor were not a good enough contact (probably from the anti-seize) so a separate ground did the trick. I made a ground wire, sanded a flat on the metal sensor body with some 80 grit to rough up the surface and soldered a wire to it and ran that to a central ground.

 

Watch the dash first to see if you can catch the “beep message” before replacing parts.

@UWSkier I’m not sure that is correct unless it was an undocumented dealer thing. I’ve seen some anomalies out there, some high volume dealers can get special things done on occasion.

 

I had a 2002 Sunsetter on the SV23 Diamond hull. We specifically waited a year for this model because as far as I knew when we ordered it the break down was

 

Sunsetter LXI = SV23 Diamond, 21.5 feet

Sunsetter LX = SV23, 21 feet

Sunsetter = SV23 Diamond, 21 feet

 

I needed the shorter hull to fit in my garage but wanted the Diamond hull.

 

The plain Sunsetter was a Sunsetter LX but had a Diamond hull. Regardless there are 2 visual cues, as mentioned the “step” near the transom on the running surface is usually the dead give away on an LXI. For the LX and plain sunsetters if you look at the transom from the back where the side of the hull meets the bottom there will be a slight “downward hook” which denotes a Diamond hull.

@jimmyjamesbrown another problem from that era that caused a “dash beep” was the oil pressure sensor. If my memory is correct there was a separate sensor for the dash gage and one for the warning beep. They later consolidated to one sensor for both but I cannot remember when. My 2000 only had a single oil pressure sensor and would beep occasionally.

 

Root cause is either a bad sensor or the single wire sensors grounded through the engine block and would have a bad connection resulting in false low readings on oil pressure.

 

My solution was to add a ground to my sensor and the problem was gone.

 

Oh and congratulations.

@skierjp DOT does nothing for trailers that are not for hire(personal use) with regards to tire load ratings.

@skierjp what if the trailer does not have the same load rating tires that the trailer manufacturer put on it? The sticker will be wrong. You always go with what is on the sidewall of the tire.

@pjnyk I skied 34 and 36 MPH behind my Sunsetter. In 2009 I traded it for a new Response LXI. In my opinion (28 off skier) the Sunsetter was not holding me back. The wake is just a tad bit better on my Response but not to the point where I skied better.

Careful with the Sunsetter LX. I believe most of those do NOT have the SV23 Diamond hull and are not the greatest for slalom skiing.

 

All Sunsetter LXIs are on the Diamond hull and ski great as mentioned above. I had a 2002 Sunsetter (not LX or LXI, just a plain Sunsetter which was made only in 2002). It was available with the SV23 Diamond hull or the SV23 Wake hull, I had the Diamond hull version. Exact same running surface as the LXI but the trunk was shorter in the back. Skied identically to the LXI and was a foot shorter so it fit in my garage.

It depends on the load range of the tire which will be on the side of the tire as ScottScott said. In general:

load range C is 50 psi

load range D is 65 psi

load range E is 80 psi

 

 

I’ve been looking at floating RX glasses for skiing but have backed out several times since many places can’t guarantee that they will float with stronger prescriptions.

 

What brands are people using? What is your correction and do they float?

 

Sorry for the thread hijack @MickeyThompson

@Wish where is your course located? Any way to isolate the traffic that comes and goes or viewing spot? Do you have any deer hunting friends? If they have a trail camera, the device @OldboyII mentioned you could have it set up for the ski season (which is mostly out of hunting season) to see if they come back this season. Based on your comments, I’m guessing that just using the course is enough to provoke them especially if you can get it back up again quickly.

@Horton darn, I was trying to make it a double triple panda thread.

The only thing that would make the 200 better is if it was a v-drive.

Higher output alternator. If you add a second battery as a buffer the standard alternator would not be able to charge both batteries sufficiently anyway.

What (and what size) are you using for a front boot? Just to get a perspective of what fits.

The two examples leave me wanting to see more of what was once pioneering ideas. Anybody have any more?

@Such_a_brett in my circle of friends we had an idea that skiing was dying due to the required learning curve (once you get past the expense of buying a boat). Wake boarding is initially easier so it seemed to gain popularity (again a theory). Then surfing might be marginally easier than wake boarding initially. Obviously there is a steeper learning curve to do tricks and get air but compairitively slalom skiing has the steepest learning curve just to get up out of the water.

 

Surfing seems to add a social aspect the others don’t have. The rider and boat crew can interact verbally while you are doing it. At least in our area the socializing while surfing seems to be the catalyst.

 

With that said I don’t see it dying for a while. However for your development why not put in one of the surf pools? Like the ones you are on cruise ships. Seems like it would address the surf enthusiast and reduce lake requirements.

@oldjeep most ski schools in Orlando run $50-$75 for a set which is 6-8 passes. Some places include coaching for that price.

 

$22 isn’t robbery.

@Such_a_brett based on the historical pictures I’ve seen of the area, Hidden Lakes shape was more determined by what they excavated for the mining operation. The developer just did some contouring then did riprap on the shore.

 

I’ve been on it when 2 v-drives were running boarders and it’s a fricken mess. If you want quality water it’s a one boat lake. One wake boat will rock the marina. The moored boats get bounced all over the place.

 

Based on your 2 lake design are you planning to run more than one boat per lake? 220 feet wide isn’t enough for more than 1 boat at a time per lake.

I feel the lake will need annual shoreline and bottom contouring work after being subjected to the wave action from a v-drive. Even the current crop of 20-foot v-drives unballasted throw a big wave running 15-24 MPH. If you want to keep the long term maintenance costs down I would forget about sandy beaches for property owners adjacent to the lake. Just the winter freeze, even with lowering the lake level, will form a curb at the shoreline.

 

There is a lake community here in Michigan (Hidden Lake near South Lyon) that is very similar to what you plan but I think lot prices are $300k and most homes are over $900k plus there are condos. Some homes have private boats and there is a “marina”.

 

The shore is all crushed rock lined. However the lake was formed by reshaping a gravel pit and is pretty deep. Most of it is over 20 feet.

 

It had a pretty slow start but got caught up in the 2008-2009 housing market crash. I think it’s doing well now.

@WideManiv based on how you opened this thread it looks like you will be making a purchase without taking the opportunity try a few different skis. All of the ski manufacturers have great options that perform well, you almost cannot go wrong when at your level(s) with any brand. I’ve seen and experienced good customer service from Radar, HO and Connolly. They each have their own way but no negatives.

 

Will you and your girlfriend go to a local shop for the purchase? If yes, I would follow what @gsm_peter said and choose bindings you are comfortable with then go with a ski of that manufacturer. There are some cross brand compatibility but it’s easier at your level to have a matching ski and binding manufacturer. Bindings you are not comfortable with can ruin what could be a great ski.

 

After that, ski, ski, ski! Nothing better than time on the water with people you care about.

As others have mentioned the Sunsetter LXI really seems to fit your needs and price range. I had a 2002 Sunsetter and traded it in for a 2009 Response LXI. If it weren’t for zero off I would have stayed in the older boat.

 

Something else that could be enticing since you mentioned a medical condition for your wife. The drivers seat on the Sunsetter has a pivot function, I’m not sure if all years had it. However it can make ingress/egress to the drivers seat much easier.

Personal preference is the c-clamp style. I’ve heard a few cases of the harmonic style not working. If you ever shear a drive key off a c-clamp puller is pretty much mandatory.