96SNEFI

My pet peeve are the ones spending the equivalent amount of money as for a house and quibbling and questioning whether they should spend the extra thou on some gadget option on it. Just get it with everything! You're already spending a fortune. It's a luxury toy. Sparing that thou will barely make a difference in the overall expenditure. Get over it.

I used to always just anchor. Then I discovered whips. Stern out. When the neighbor came back with a surfer in tow and slowed and turned, the pushed wake washed over the back of my boat into the inside. One boat lift later I couldn't be happier. No more wave action wearing through chains (another neighbor very nicely pulled the boat back out to the anchor from shore after a chain link wore through). No more having to go out and get it and put it back. No more worrying about the boat getting swamped. No more bathtub ring.

I've been having issues. Wrote about it on correctcraftfan. Replaced the coil. Done. Simple automotive version found just about anywhere. I haven't run it much since though. I also replaced the 10 buck relays just because.

skibrain has my comment. I also used a snowmobile trailer. But it was too wide. I got a permit to haul it. Had to flag each corner. Learned afterwards that you're even supposed to get permits for towns you're going through. And from pick-up to drop-off. No stopping in between. Piffle. One permit was enough red tape for me. For some reason, hauling this thing ... sucked... gas. I even ran out and coasted down a hill into a gas station. It was a 4 hour haul.

@DangerBoy: I think it would be a regulatory nightmare trying to piece such rules together to satisfy everybody. There's just no way. I have to think that you can't possibly be being realistic on that. It's public water. I wouldn't want some other user group carving out their own preferential times on a public lake so I can't expect it for my own wishes. All users want to carve glass on whatever stick they prefer. And then there's enforcement. There are laws for towing after dark though. Unless these people are just tooling around out there in the dark not towing with their music blasting. Some people just have no clue nor respect of the existence of the other 8 billion people on the planet.

@FLeboeuf : I did. No response. Nothing. Maybe I should send again. I gave them sample text for the reg too, not just yeah hey how about a mirror.

@FLeboeuf: Well gosh darn gee willickers...um...I knew I was right. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't know it was right. (it seems ? ) But hey thanks for confirming. :)

Thanks @MS.

Thanks for that @aspski.

A couple mentions of hockey here. So what's the "hand" in holding a hockey stick? MS said shoot from left. Is that right high, left low, stick out to the left? That's how I hold a hockey stick. Which "hand" is that? I'm motor-skills right and LFF.

@FLeboeuf : There were 2 crimes. Towing without a spotter and towing after dark. Both have been removed (as of the 17th). The spotter one still exists in Transport Canada regulations. But it's not a crime there. I didn't look for the after dark one in Transport Canada. I'm fine with it if it's still there. But neither are a crime as of the 17th. So if jayski is all gung ho on things, maybe he could add lobbying to his list. I will be sending something to the Minister of Transport suggesting my idea after the 17th.

Ok. I'll say something. I don't know if anyone is aware of this but next Wednesday the 17th it will no longer be a CRIME to tow someone without a spotter. Yeah...that 17th. It still remains a regulatory offense though. I'd like to see that changed to like what many jurisdictions in the states have as allowing a mirror OR a spotter. As it is now we need a spotter.

@skimtb : I had a look at one of those air bag lifts. It appears to need some kind of mat or something to protect it from the gear. But that was just one brand. I stopped looking. I used to use whips. They worked great. Then came the surfers. Like someone else wrote where they got water over the bow. I preferred bow in so I had over-the-transom washes. The "euro" rear of the NWZ didn't help either. Not fun. Now I'm on a lift. Couldn't be happier watching the rollers come in and seeing my boat high and dry.

skimtb: I seem to recall (so I didn't look now) that the front fins, prop and rudder are kinda in the way. I seem to think there's a term for all the under water stuff in marine-speak but it fails me now. :)

Keep in mind that the authorities, just about wherever you are in the world, are all over regulating these things due to idiots flying them idiotically. Get caught or complained on a fine could be pretty hefty.

Well shoot. Sorry to add more to this. Turns out Wyoming also needs correcting. It should be: Wyoming,person,yes,yes; Their site had two confusing pieces. Apparently I only read one that apparently wasn't complete. They have a link to regulations and a link to a brochure. The brochure appears to be more complete with more regulations than the regulations link and includes and duplicates the content of the regulations link. Odd and confusing. So...every state needs a spotter and less than half let you use a mirror instead. Half give a minimum required age of the spotter and the other half don't specify.

Oh. Rats. It seems I can't edit my main list. So New Mexico should be: New Mexico,person,yes,yes; Again...they say "device". Surely they mean a mirror. Maybe a camera pointed out back and a screen in view of the driver. That might work I suppose. :)

Read my most recent post where I describe my list a little more. It says Florida,observer,yes,; which is to be interpreted as needing an observer OR have a mirror and no mention of flag. Although admittedly I may not have gone into all the detail about a flag on all states seeing as how Canada doesn't need one. Maybe I shouldn't have included mention of a flag at all. I'm not sure why I'm getting an adversarial sense from you though. I'm just some amateur hobbyist anonymous shmoe on the interwebs who spent some time putting a list together after digging into the sites of every state and figuring maybe it would be helpful information for others. At the end of the day you get what you pay for. Sure it's nicer to see this information in a nice table but some of that USCG terminology is quite inconsistent. Then...what's the complete story with Arkansas? I see that they need a 12 y/o or a mirror. Are Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming no longer a part of the union? I see that they have their own laws/regulations too. I can't find mention of being able to use a mirror in DC. I do find mention of being able to use a mirror in Hawaii. I do find mention of needing a spotter in Louisiana. I will correct my list with New Mexico. They do in fact appear to need a spotter or a "device"... presumably a mirror. I'll call it a yes under that column. I do find mention of being able to use a mirror in South Carolina.

I guess I could describe my list a little more too. The observer column would have anything if an observer is required and showing the term they use or the age (which implies required). The mirror column is "or" from observer. The flag column is if a flag is required. There are some different requirements for use of a flag but I don't get into that.

Jmoski: I don't think I like the idea of no one required to look out for the skier either. That's not my intent. My intent is to add the OR mirror option. I'm not sure I like any of this being a CRIME in Canada (albeit just a summary conviction but still).

Yes thank you liquid d. I saw that list and noticed a couple holes. For the criteria I was looking for, my list is more complete. I got my information from each state. Obviously linking to a website with a nice table is more attractive but I wanted completeness and currency and I didn't want to build a whole nice table to put here.

This is the youngest thread I could find to add to :). I don't know if a list is needed seeing as how laws can change but I made one anyway and thought I could share it. At least it's as of this writing. In Canada, it's in the national criminal code to require a "responsible person keeping watch". I would like to go about trying to change that to allow a mirror. Having heard that different states have different rules, I investigated what they all have on their books. My list lists just the rules for public-water free-skiing. Several states relax some rules if you're in a tournament or using a recognized course. I'm not listing those specifics. The list will be state,[observer wording or age],[mirror],[flag];. Oh look...pretty much a csv. :) Use the semi as a line break...if that works. :) State,Observer,Mirror,Flag;Alabama,12,yes,;Alaska,12,yes,;Arizona,12,,yes;Arkansas,12,yes,;California,12,,yes;Colorado,person,,yes;Connecticut,12,,;Delaware,competent person,,;DC,12,,;Florida,observer,yes,;Georgia,person,yes,;Hawaii,competent person,yes,;Idaho,competent person,,;Illinois,competent person,,;Indiana,person (Ohio riv 12),(Ohio riv yes),;Iowa,responsible person,,;Kansas,12,yes,yes;Kentucky,12,yes,;Louisiana,competent person,yes,;Maine,12,,;Maryland,12,,;Massachusetts,12,,;Michigan,person,,;Minnesota,person,yes,;Mississippi,10,,;Missouri,12,yes,;Montana,person,,;Nebraska,12,yes,;Nevada,12,,yes;New Hampshire,13,,;New Jersey,competent observer,,yes;New Mexico,,,yes;New York,10,,;North Carolina,observer,yes,;North Dakota,person,,;Ohio,10,,;Oklahoma,8,yes,;Oregon,observer,,yes;Pennsylvania,competent observer,,;Rhode Island,12,,;South Carolina,person,yes,;South Dakota,competent person,yes,;Tennessee,12,yes,;Texas,13,yes,;Utah,observer,,yes;Vermont,12,,;Virginia,observer,,;Washington,observer,,yes;West Virginia,12,yes,;Wisconsin,competent person,,;Wyoming,,,yes; North Carolina appears to not need anything if the skier is wearing a "life preserver". Indiana seems to let more go on the Ohio River. Nevada has a little age thing depending on the age of the driver or something.

I wrote a long story over here: my external link write-up if tl:dr then Shelby 5850 worked for me. More details in the post obviously.

There was one about mid-lake north of an island that is not set up as of today. Unfortunately, they were inclined to put a block buoy (or whatever they're called) in front. Maybe that's the one that's been moved....I don't know. There's another one nearer the south end that is owned by people that have a place in the bay that the course is in front of. It has learner buoys (or whatever they're called) also and is pretty good and straight and no block buoy. I once went by it and noticed a missing buoy and simply replaced it the next time by. I actually rarely use the course but I thought that would be a decent thing to do. Seeing as how this is a public lake and I'm not sure of the etiqeutte in announcing these kinds of things so I'll just go ahead and say it...yes as of today it is in place.