XR6Hurricane

I love my standard layup one that I just got. One thing I notice about it also is that it seems solid and soft through the wakes. I just skied this morning behind my friend's Prostar 195 and at 15 off the wake is usually a real challenge for me behind that boat. Today it was not bad at all. Couldn't figure out what changed and then I realized it must be the ski.

I usually cry AFTER I ski because of how bad I am. I don't have kids so take this with a grain of salt, but it sounds like she just takes it (and other things in her life) seriously and might just be putting herself under a lot of pressure because she wants to do well. I was the same way. I took fishing way too seriously when I was her age and I burned myself out on it. Don't let that happen to her, especially if she has what it takes to be really good. Most of my best and most fun skiing (and fishing) outings came totally unexpectedly. The same thing holds true for my other hobbies. These things are supposed to be fun. The truth is that ALL sports have become way too over-complicated and serious.

@Monkstr6100 It's been probably 7-8 years since I've been on Eagle Spring. I remember it being a little weedy but didn't think it was all that bad. My book shows 4-6 feet deep anywhere you would want to ski so it should be fine as far as depth goes. I wonder if Ashippun Lake off of 67 in northern Waukesha County might not be a great place for a course. Seemed like a forgotten little corner of the world when I was there 20 years ago. I've also ridden past Booth Lake a couple of times on the motorcycle and it seemed the same way, but I don't know if there's a public launch on it and I'm assuming you've already explored that option since you live two minutes away.

I don't know about existing courses, but I've fished most of the lakes in that area and I would think that Eagle Spring Lake off of County Hwy LO would be an ideal place to drop a portable one in. It's about a 300 acre lake with 9 islands in it, so lots of protection and doesn't seem too crowded, at least on weekdays.

@ozski My first ride on my Concept I dumped myself about 4 or 5 times in the first lap around our 300 acre lake. But after that I got the hang of it and fell very seldom on it. e once or twice a year.

+1 on the Turtle Wax & Dry. I like the spray on products like that because regular wax creates a dust when it dries and is being rubbed out, which actually can cause light scratching. The spray-on Turtle Wax has the UV polymers in it and everything.

@andjules I thought the SV23 came out in '94, but you're probably right. I was behind a Response or Echelon (can't remember) that was new enough to have the SV23 and it was definitely better. I definitely would not buy a Malibu older than that.

I'm old school, but you're the guy and you're employed with a great opportunity with someone taking you under his wing. Opportunities like that just don't happen anymore, especially in big corporations. I would never walk away from that in this job market. It's a tough call either way but with the path you're headed down in your job, I think that's where the priority needs to be between the two of you. Not for your sake but for BOTH of your sakes. I relocated for a job once and I would not do it again. I just don't see the point in changing jobs in this market for the sake of the other person going to school for a potential future job. Any time you start a new job there are a lot of unknowns. If you uproot your life and move, what do you do if your new job doesn't work out and then she's still working on her career. True, if you leave your current job on good terms it will help if you want to come back, but there has to be a job opening for you to come back to. All that said, @6balls knows what a PA makes, and I don't know what you're making now or have the potential to make. He makes some valid points too. But I tend to take a bird in the hand. Coming from someone who has never been married and only lived with someone for three months before the crap hit the fan...

I don't know about the slightly newer Sunsetters but I was behind a '94 Sunsetter a couple of times. I'd only been skiing a couple of years at the time but I thought the wake was terrible at 30 mph long line. Worse than the other direct drive boats I've been behind for sure.

Yes, stock fin that only has three positions. It's in the center hole. Left the wing on and at the setting that came out of the box. I don't know the first thing about fin adjustment so it's best I don't touch it and focus more on the skier...

Got out of the truck in the parking lot of the ramp with the motor idling and left the trans in Drive. Usually I set the brake if I get out but didn't do it that day for whatever reason. Started walking back toward the trailer and noticed the rig pulling away from me, headed straight towards a dumpster. I was surprised at how hard of time I had with just that little bit of a head start that it got on me. Catching up to it was pretty easy, but being able to stay caught up to it while opening the door and getting in was a lot harder than I thought, especially since it kept gathering more speed. In another ten feet I wouldn't have been able to get in.

Been on this ski 5 times now (only twice in good water with the correct boot) and have to say that I really think it was a great choice for the type of skiing I do. I'm a 30-32 mph, 15 or 22 off open water guy but am a real lightweight who skis in really rough water at times and therefore was not interested in the wide ride stuff. Coming off of a 15 year old Concept I had no idea what to really expect. The offside turn is pure joy, and the shapes of the turns on both sides are just a ton of fun. It seems like this ski forces me to use better technique. If you try to overload the rear foot, nothing happens and you're dead in the water. It really forces you to get the weight more balanced and once you do, it holds the edge really nice through the wakes. Where the Concept would explode into a Z turn if you poured the coal to it, the Co-X smooths it out into a solid, predictable S and has a seemingly wide margin of error. It gives the impression of being heavy and deep in the turns, but in a good way and without a lot of effort. Of course, as anyone knows who has been on one, the carryout is best described as "holy sh**"...

I tried a Basis boot on my new Co-X, which is very similar to the Attack except it doesn't have the top-most eyelets for the top lace. With the top lace set for safety, my lower leg was rattling all over the place and I almost crashed several times. Just my opinion but I still think a good fitting rubber binding has a better balance of safety and performance than these shoe type bindings.

The weather here in the Chicago area has been nothing short of a freaking disaster this year. The river and the lakes have both flooded twice now and the first time was into 50 year territory. Emptied out for a month and then we had another 5"-7" of rain dumped on us in a few hours last week. When it's not flooded, we've had 90 degrees with 20 mph winds from the south or 65 degrees with 15 mph winds out of the northeast. Amazingly I've managed to ski about a half dozen times in between the floods. Just got off the phone with my dad, we were going to put the fishing boat in to watch the fireworks tomorrow but it's supposed to be 58 for a low with northeast winds so we said screw it. Might as well watch from shore with hot chocolate. I've always said Chicago is the worst possible place in the country to live if you like outdoor activities but it seems like the whole country is dealing with it this year.

I've got a foot throttle in my boat and surprisingly I like it better for pulling skiers than most of the hand throttles I've used. It's actually easier to momentarily slow down for boat wakes and then move back to the speed you were originally at. Hand throttles never seem to have as smooth of motion and are therefore harder to dial in, at least in the outboard world. But I'm talking about driving manually without PP.

Thanks guys...appreciate all the input. For the moment I have the Animal on the ski and will definitely stay with rubber of some type. I tried a Basis boot on the second time out just to see what the new style of "shoe" type bindings feel like since I'd never tried any of them. One thing for sure, I WILL crash more often if I use that damn thing and it was harder to get onto my foot than the Animal. No support around the ankle and lower leg unless you tighten the hell out of the top laces and that's exactly what they don't recommend. Had about 3-4 near crashes on it the first time out. Perfect example of the wrong binding contributing to the fall in the first place. Took it back to the shop with the river water still dripping from it and had them swap the Animal back on. It's coming off easier too with the quick jerk like @Skijay suggested. Much better control and comfort than the Basis. Just my preference.

Here in the Chicago area, NO ski works on the less than ideal days, be it wind or other boat wakes. In light open lake chop, a narrow tunnel concave ski always seemed to me to take it better.

Hope the weather holds...we had some hail and a lot of thunder in the pre-dawn hours and a bunch of rain in northern IL and it's moving kind of ENE...looks like there's another patch to the west but future radar shows it clearing off.

@onamission Don't know if you've done any of this yet, so if you have please don't take it as condescending. Just trying to help. If you've got trouble with your guts in any way, shape, or form...first take a close look at anything you might be eating with aspartame, artificial sweeteners, fillers (like the lunch meats), or MSG. The GI docs generally won't volunteer these as potential causes. Take it from someone with horrible acid reflux who had the camera down the throat (yep, you've got acid reflux alright), was living on Dexilant, couldn't even eat plain chicken, and had no real answers. I was so sick a couple of years ago I could hardly go to work some days and I was only 34 years old. Thought I had Crohn's or something really serious. I eat yogurt to boost my immune system - been a habit since I caught mono a few years ago. I tossed the light yogurt with aspartame and switched to Greek yogurt. Didn't think it could make that big of a difference but I was desperate. Stopped buying Hillshire Farm pre-packaged lunch meat and coughed up the money for Boar's Head. Those two things changed my life. I still have some flareups but nothing at all like before. MSG will give you the runs, and in some people (like me), heart attack symptoms to boot. It's amazing to me that stuff's even legal, but I'll leave that soap box for another day...

Appreciate the input from everyone. For the hell of it I had the dealer swap out the Animal for a Basis boot today. Goes on and comes off a lot easier but it's totally different than anything I've used before so we'll see what it's like to ski on. Took a three day weekend so I'll give it a shot tomorrow. Really like the ski so I'm determined to get the right boot setup. Starting to realize all of the changes I've missed in the last 10 years or so.

How do the Wiley's high OR mid wrap front boots compare to the H.O. Animal in terms of their ability to release? I finally got on my new Co-X yesterday and love the ski but the Animal has me scared sh*tless. I can barely get it off of my foot after I drop. Even grabbing the ski tip and trying to pry it off with the rear foot barely works. It's not the tightness as it is comfortable when skiing and goes on OK with Moose Juice. The grip is just too sticky once the lube dissipates. I have hairy feet and lower legs so maybe that's contributing to it. I'm a size 9 and this is a Large which is supposedly too big. I could not get my foot into a Medium at all. Laces in the back are loose. My old ski had a cam adjustable version of whatever the Connelly mid/high wrap was in '99 and it gave me all the support I need at my level. Wondering how the Wiley's mid would compare to that. Doesn't seem to be any other lighter duty options out there anymore. Thought of trying an Attack also but not sure about the stiffness of it. My main concern is being twisted out of it if I go down coming across the wakes. I have one injury that I blame on that type of fall already and was in a much wimpier boot.

I learned to ski at 19 and have almost no inherent athletic ability or balance. I learned in August and was on two skis the rest of that year and the year after. The following year I made the transition. I'm one of the oddballs who just simply could not master dropping one because I always did a faceplant before my rear foot could find the strap. I finally realized the only way I was going to get on slalom was to take one ski to the lake with me. Got up in about 5 tries and was on my way. So I'd say it's a matter of the individual and personal preference. If learning deepwater slalom starts, I'm also an advocate of using minimal power. Drag 'em a bit and make 'em suffer until they have what works and what doesn't drilled into their head. Having too much power at their disposal allows bad habits to form. Simulate the power of a 50 hp Johnson so they learn the goods and bads and they'll have it for the rest of their lives and be able to get up behind any towboat with any driver.

I wouldn't say the motor is worth over 4K @Bulldog. My 2005 Merc 150 isn't worth that much. Old crossflow Johnsons are a dime a dozen, but a clean 235 is probably the most desirable among the high perf guys. It's a 25+ year old Johnson, so if it brought $2500 I'd be surprised. But if you can get an entire rig for 4K that runs and is a ton of fun, I'd jump on it. Hell, a new trailer is a couple grand alone. @efw People who slalom behind inboards ski in tournaments and have responsibilities. People who slalom behind high perf outboards have fun.

LOL @otisg and @SDNAH2OSKIER. That era of horrible wakes lasted a lot longer than most guys will admit, especially for long line, slower speed recreational skiers. I remember getting pulled by a '78 Nautique at about 28 mph. Thought I was gonna die.

@ral I've got an old Connelly cam adjustable front boot. That is going to change shortly though because a Coefficient X with an Animal boot is on the way. I'm sure I'll have to sit on the side of the boat and use lube for that.