behindpropellers

Its not a total dynamic shock. The rope catches and causes the boat to dive or turn. Its not like tying a cinder block to a rope and throwing it off of the second story of a building with the other end attached to the roof. It certainly would make a good physics question. I'm not sure what it caught on. I suspect it got caught on the fin in the center of the boat. The boat was a twin rig outboard hydrodyne. I seriously doubt throwing a boat in reverse at 30+ MPH would allow a propeller to catch, and not cavitate. More physics fun. Tim

This happened this summer at a lake we ski on. Driver ran over the guide buoy and it hooked on the boat. 3 people were thrown out of the boat. Were very lucky that nobody was hurt.

Folks, If you host a tournament or other sanctioned event - who is responsible for verifying safesport compliance? Can you be a USAWS active member and not be safesport compliant? Please do not turn this into a debate about the merits of safesport. Thanks, Tim

I installed a course in public water about 10 years ago. Went through the effort to get the permit done. First year we used a portable course...which was OK. The next year I built a course using a stainless mainline and SCH 40 PVC. The balls are attached to the PVC with surgical tube zip ties. The balls are filled halfway with water so the tube ropes glide over them. The course is going on ten years now. The only issue we have had is some issues with anchor hardware breaking last year. Make sure you GPS your anchor locations. If you put the effort into it, you can have a course that will stand up to boat traffic. In all honesty, it is more durable than the course we have on a private lake.

Greed. Just look at the way Vail is operating. Nevele Ski Resort... Do you think the previous owners put money back into improving the resort? Nope. Unfortunately, its all about shareholder value these days.

This engine runs a split system. The raw water has an intercooler (which cools the antifreeze),the oil cooler, and tranny cooler. The raw water also has a thermostat which forces the cats to run warmer (located in the rear/top of the engine). The closed system also has a location for a thermostat (which had one before) in the front of the engine by the "U" which is tee'd off to the heater. Without the thermostat in place the engine runs 120-130. Tim

This is my son. He started on the ski skimmer at 2, then went longline with the ski skimmer at 3. Last year I got him up longline! 4 years 4 months!

We can hook you up with www.boxcast.com if you guys can get the production handled. Tim

Has anybody had any troubles with the smooth idler pulley on their 6.0 PCM? Ours fell apart - seems like failure over time to heat. Caused the belt to slip off and then rub 1/2 of the idler off. I put the automotive steel idler/belt on but it also has bt of wobble and the belt wants to slide off toward the back of the boat. I'm thinking the washer is worn out or the casting is fretted, allowing the idler to move. Mainly curious if anybody has had the same problem?? Thanks, Tim

If you can find a piece of property with a gentle slope parallel with your proposed lake it will be the least costly dig. If possible, keep your elevation change less than 12'. Finding the correct topology is the toughest part.

@RAWSki- Too bad USAws does not share that feeling.

One of my sore spots with USAws. They hardly support courses/clubs on public water.

@EricE - Find a suitable spot for your lake dig. Make it as long as possible. Make the dig as simple as possible. Unless the land is free, find another spot. Do it right so if/when the day comes to sell you can get your money back out of it. Tim

Never have put a "marine" battery in any of my boats. Never really felt that a boat takes high shock loads. Maybe oldjeep takes his over the ski jump.

Skip Home Depot or Lowes: www.mcmaster.com

@boarditup you echo my feelings. What I find very annoying is that they actually called me one day out of the blue. One of my complaints was how tough it was to get and maintain a "rating". They said...."yes we get that alot"

Interesting. I remember @Jody_Seal saying he wasn't going to join or drive in the past. Jody.... Were you a usaws member last year? I agree that there are issues with USAws. If you think it is a simple task to form another organization, your crazy. It will take years. @Horton is correct, people will say they will join, but when it come time...they will not. It probably makes sense to shake things up at headquarters but it would be a poor choice to just start over. My perspective: I have ran a club for the past five years. We have had tournaments, clinics, and provide a public slalom course. The forms and insurance requirements were mind boggling. I would spend 3-4 hours filling out forms for insurance, often times with the same information. Not online forms....paper...then I would fax it over. What a pain in the ass. If you want to host a clinic or tournament....read the fine print. You have to jump through tons of hoops to be "in compliance". And....if I want a rating for something....it takes forever. Once you get the rating its more hoops to jump through. Its far simpler for me to keep my pilots license current. Last year Taryn from USAws called me to ask how it was going. I went through my complaints on how the system needs to be revised from the ground up and our need for insurance for a slalom course was primary but the other club insurance was useless for us. This year I took a different approach. No more USAws. I didn't join. Our club didn't join. We found insurance elsewhere. Tim

Guess it only went out to special people.

Who from "Michigan Waterski Association" made these rules? If we had this "removal" restriction we would not have a course in our lake. Does the DNR require every dock and and any other bouy to be removed from the lake at night?

@Horton‌ Isn't this D1 and D2 stuff just a proposed band aid for other issues? Seems to me like the foundation needs a bit of work before putting another story on top? Also, this is not just a 3 event thing. Its time to do a bit more blending of the towed watersports crowd. I really like your comparison of INT, excellent parallel. Tim

My wife drives all of the time! She is pretty good at it, better than several guys I know.

@Rpc29‌ My perspective is: Waterskiing is an expensive sport on public water. Once you go to private water it is exponentially more expensive. Also... The barriers between the disciplines need to be broken down, the skills learned all cross over between disciplines, for the most part.

@Rpc29‌ My feeling is that usawaterski doesn't really care about slalom skiing. I came to this conclusion after talking with Taryn Garland this spring. The two complaints that I had when I talked to her were both insurance related. One complaint was the inconsistency on how officials & events is handled. The reason I asked this was because I tried to run a club that included slalom skiing and clinics. The paperwork combined with the frustration of calling HQ to answer questions....and them not being able to give a clear answer made me give up. All the club does at this point is maintains a slalom course. Secondly, we have a Slalom course on a public lake. <-How many public courses are there today for people to get into slalom skiing? Insurance to keep some balls floating is about $700 a year. Instead of just having insurance to have a slalom course it is bundled with a bunch of extra insurance that we didn't need. It takes some major dedication to get a course permitted in public water and then keep it maintained. Its a shame that USAwaterski is less supportive than the park district that manages our lake. So with $20K..... Make the insurance system better. Support the public courses and introductory events that are out there. Tim Cochrane Chippewa Lake Watersports Association.

It costs our club about $1K a year to have a course in. Insurance is the most expensive followed by maintenance items. We budget every year for a new set of buoys and 33% of the bungees and other items. Tim

We have course on public water. No problem with buoys being damaged. We lose about 10 a month....mostly because of skiers. Fill them with 1/2 water and use heavy duty surgical tube. No problems. As far as GPS goes- I use the GPS to get the centerline of the course in the spring. Its close but not close enough. You can use a ground based GPS station that is used by surveyors and excavators but they are big money +-2". If you have individual buoys and not a mainline course, drag a chain between two kayaks to find the subs. Tim