XR6Hurricane

I'm way under the lowest option in the poll. 125-200 gallons in the boat depending on the year, and that includes a lot of joy riding too. About 700 in the truck and 50-75 in the bike.

Nothing like the black carpet on an April day. But I took it out of my boat right away when I moved to Louisiana in 2002. Almost lost my toe prints on it.

Love it...Never saw a Warrior running with the tracking fins visible before. You guys need to come down here to the lower Fox sometime. There are hot outboards, then there are hot outboards that have had the heat turned up a notch...

I'll build on both @bishop8950 and @ToddL's comments...I looked at USAWSA's site awhile back because I thought that maybe joining and trying to get into some entry level tournament skiing would be a good way to have some fun, get better, and meet some new friends. The high costs per pass and the rules immediately drove me away. You fall once, you're out for the day and so is all the money you put into practicing, lessons, and entry fees. To me those are rules for the Reginas and Nates of the world. If you're going to get more people involved at the entry level, then there needs to be a wider margin for failure and the sole purpose should be having fun. I'd venture to say there are more guys (and gals) like me out there.

Part of the problem is just the mentality as it pertains to all aspects of our life - that everything has to be fancy, all out, and to the extreme. Look at the bass fishing industry and what has happened to it. You're hopelessly old fashioned if you think you can go fishing in an 18' bass boat with a 150 Merc on the back. A 21 footer with a 250 is mandatory and if the gel coat is a little faded you'll be laughed off the water. A jon boat with a 10 hp Johnson? Forget it. Same thing I see happening with watersports. It's never really been a poor man's sport, but it's definitely increasingly for the rich. It's what the market will bear...there is too much money still out there, even if it's coming from fewer people. Not having to train for tournaments behind the latest boats, I would not even consider paying $60K+ for a 20' single purpose boat. There are literally dozens if not hundreds of old Supras, Mastercrafts, and Malibus sitting within 20 miles of my home that could be ready to go for a fraction of that.

I'm a free skier and use Accurate World Cup 3/4's. My old kevlar gloves almost wrecked my hands during a week of summer vacation this year and the World Cups saved the week.

Been done here for almost 2 months. I've only skied in October once. Could push it longer but gets too cold for my drivers and fall is the best motorcycling anyway.

Hell, where I come from that boat would still be on somebody's lift or tied to someone's pier for another 20 years. Even with no motor.

Guys who take testosterone treatments are crazy. A lower testosterone level leaves you with a LOT more time and money to spend on boats, motorcycles, cars, etc. Why would you want to screw that up???

If someone told me I needed numbers, observer, etc. on MY PRIVATE PROPERTY I would throw them off my property and if they didn't leave I'd get an attorney. Some of this stuff HAS to be able to be challenged. Citing someone for a watercraft violation on private property would be like the state police giving a NASCAR driver a speeding ticket at the Daytona 500.

Let me try that again.

My friend, this past Labor Day weekend, enjoying the best water of the year in between thunderstorms. She was a little over one year out of open heart surgery, and a day earlier marked her 15 year anniversary of being sober with AA.

Every year I have to remove the village inspection sticker for our local lake, the waterway agency stickers for the Fox River, the neighborhood mooring sticker, and every third year the registration. I don't own a hair dryer (single dude with a buzzcut). I just start them with a razor and use WD-40 for the residue. In Illinois the registration stickers are made so the top layer comes off and a bottom layer remains with print all over it. Those are a real pain because the bottom layer hangs on to the death. I've had to use gas to get those off and then just wash and wax the hell out of the spot right afterward.

At least it missed the little boat. The Response can be replaced, the 2-cycle Evinrude cannot.

@6balls Yep, it's hard to explain to others. The lower Fox is a culture unto itself. There is no better public water to ski on and the diversity of the surroundings would be the makings for a National Geographic TV special.

Both pulled off of a 720-60 GoPro video.

Worst thing to do to anything mechanical is to just let it sit...but I'd try to find out what the story behind the low hours is. If it was stored properly and just not taken out of storage for a few years because of personal issues or whatever, that's a different story. You'll probably be able to tell if it was taken care of as opposed to neglected when you see it. My biggest concern would be whether it sat with stale fuel and used oil in it for most of its life, or not. You'll probably never know but if you trust your gut feeling about it when you look at it you'll probably be fine.

Wakeboard boats make great fishing structure. The crappies especially like to congregate around the towers.

Well, whatever happened, I'm guessing that about 2 seconds beforehand Jackie Gleason yelled "Duck or you're gonna be talkin' outta yo a$$!"

Thanks @ToddL for all of the information and taking the time to type it. I think you're right on the money about how being too wide makes it harder to get into a good position and keep it there. I can tell that when I do the edge change sooner and stay narrow, I'm able to keep my weight centered easier and the wake crossing isn't so traumatic. Things happen more the way they are supposed to. When I get wider it also leads me to throw more weight on the rear foot to get the speed under control, which eventually causes the ski to flatten out. If "straightening" the rear leg, shouldn't you still allow it to flex when crossing the wake? I'm assuming that "straight" is relative and you don't want to lock the knee. One thing I've found is that the wake crossings tend to go much smoother and things flow better when I occasionally momentarily lose my concentration and daydream. I wind up saying, "Wow, now how exactly did I do that again?" That leads me to believe that at least part of it is wake anxiety as was mentioned above. Maybe it's possible to try too hard also...like walking down stairs. If you think about it too much, you'll kill yourself on them.

@mateja I was the guy who stopped by in the red and black Rapid Craft with the Merc on it earlier in the season. Haven't made it back up there yet but maybe will before the season is out. Lower river was perfect this morning. The thunder right before sunrise held almost everyone off. Thanks for all the input guys.

Kentucky Lake has a lot of coves, don't know about slalom courses. The main lake is rough but the coves are like their own small lakes. Plenty of resorts to choose from. I think it would be cool to get some people together with a couple of boats and maybe an RV with a kitchen and stake out one of the primitive camping areas on one of the coves on the Land Between The Lakes side. The ramp is right there and especially in the off season you'd practically have that little corner of the lake to yourself.

Thanks for all of the replies everyone. I have read Than's article several times and I understand everything that he and everyone else is saying. My problem seems to be freaking GETTING IT DONE. I always have fun no matter what, but it's frustrating. What is the secret to forcing yourself into a good position?? Is there one simple thing that I can think of, or force myself to do, that will help bring the missing pieces together? From the discussion above and the reading I've done, many of the problems are related. I'm built well for the sport (5'9", 134 lbs, all muscle), but I have ZERO natural talent. I've been on slalom for about 18 years (though not much from 2002 - 2011) and I've always struggled with the posture. After seeing these pics (have very few closeup action shots of me over the years) and reading the replies I really focused on elbows to the vest and hips forward yesterday and today. Every now and then I hit it right and the wake is almost like it's not there. Just have trouble doing it consistently. Got some video today but it's on analog tape so I need to convert it to post it. Thanks again...keep them coming.

When I was 19 and finally got up after about 30 tries that were made over a period of about 10 years.

I know it's not video, but please tell me what you see, what is good and what is not. I know what I see, but I'm curious what others have to say. This is 30-31 mph @ 15 off. I don't have a good photo of the offside wake crossing; the last photo is the closest thing I have. Thanks.