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New to here and Boat ownership


ahopkins22LSV

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ahopkins22LSV

I have seen a few posts of this nature so I figured I would follow suit. I just joined here and just recently purchased a new Malibu Response LX with my wife to be. Like everyone else we had a great experience with the Malibu dealer, Skiers Pier, in Eastern Michigan and absolutely love our boat already. This is our first boat and it is a dream come true because I never thought I would be buying a new boat at my current age/status in life. But like other people have said on here it is all of our passions so it is worth it to stretch a little bit! Plus we were shocked on the financing that is available, basically a second mortgage. Oh well, its only money and you can't take it with you!! :biggrin: I am very into slalom and my better half just loves being on the water. If anyone else is in the Eastern Michigan area, we live just off of White Lake and do the majority of our boating on White Lake, but we have a few friends on Duck Lake so we do go over there from time to time since it is across the street.

This forum seems great, lots of good people I can already tell. Good advice too. I am a boat nut, so this place might get me fired from work. Oh well, more time on the water!!

Here are some pictures:

DSCN0565.jpeg

DSCN0535.jpg

I have more pictures, but I am currently traveling on work so those are really the only ones I have on my work laptop.

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Congratulations and welcome to the crew. Take care of her and she will last longer than the payments. (that goes for your better half as well)_

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ahopkins22LSV

Congratulations and welcome to the crew. Take care of her and she will last longer than the payments. (that goes for your better half as well)_

Thank you! I have heard the payments on the better half don't end though... haha

Where's the tower?

What is a tower?? Haha.. I have noticed that the majority of people are wake boarders. I have nothing against towers but the LX is actually too narrow for the Malibu towers, to the best of my knowledge. And I don't like the look of any of the aftermarket ones. The boat was boat to ski with and relax on so no tower. Oh, and don't get my wrong I think the Malibu Wakesetter line is bad@ss. I love surfing behind my friends VLX all afternoon.

  • Like 2
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Welcome! Beautiful boat, do yourself a favor, take a boater safety class. Keep yourself, your friends and family safe by making good decisions. You will get some very good information quickly which will keep you and the boat safe.

Now that my public service announcement is completed, have a great time with that beautiful boat. Slalom rules, (but barefootin is better)!

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You got the boat before marriage but be sure to put the marriage before the boat. Advice from someone who's been married 33 years.

Congrats on both and welcome to the Crew.

  • Like 3
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ahopkins22LSV

Thanks guys. I have been boating my entire life and skiing my entire life, but she is relatively new to it all so she is actually doing the online boater course and we try to get on the lake when it isn't busy so she can get comfortable behind the wheel. I won't be pushing her to drive for me skiing until she is ready herself. I have plenty of friends that are willing to come ski now! Haha.

She is totally on board with the boat, I didn't push at all to buy if now. One day she was just like lets go buy a boat and of course I was already shopping just to look so it all worked out :)

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Hello Hopkins and welcome to the Crew!

I actually live very close to you (just up in Holly), but frequently take our Echelon out in your area (Maceday/Lotus/Big Lake/etc). I also mainly just slalom (although not very well). You will find this forum to be an unbelievable resource for all of your boating questions. I feel like our ladies are about on the same page too. They love being on the water and getting some sun, but are still getting used to the world of boat driving and towing skiers.

If you ever need anything, just give a shot!

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Nice to see another skier buying a boat on here..a lot of wake boarders, glad to see skiing isn't dead yet for younger people. when you get a chance let us know what you have in it...what extras ( zero off ) and what engine, enjoy, both the boat and wife to be...I got the wife first, then we got the boat..29yrs for the wife..almost 20 on the boat! PS..first thing is, get a bimini, the sun will beat you down out on the water all summer!

Edited by Skier007
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ahopkins22LSV

Thanks everyone! The boat has ZO, well technically it is getting installed tomorrow which will be nice to have it done when I get home from my work trip. Not many other options other than that. We will be installing a heater at some point for the spring/fall in Michigan. The engine is the 5.7l Indmar Monsoon 350SS which is perfect for this boat. Great hole shot for pulling up any skier, great pull even without ZO, and it is, to my surprise, quite good on gas. It also runs about 52mph WOT, and sounds amazing. :) The interior is Moonbeam base, with the same Grey and Navy Blue accents as the hull.

I try to keep the skiing young by getting my friends involved, but they seem to either want to learn so surf/wakeboard or just hangout. Which is fine because then they can buy the bigger more expensive boat! :lol:

I do get a lot of looks one the lake, I don't know if its because people think that I am "some young spoiled kid with Dad's boat" or if they aren't used to seeing a nice clean slalom boat. I love how sweet the new Wakesetters are and the options you can add, but IMO nothing will ever beat the clean simple lines of a Response.

Edit: MALI-MONSTER, if you are ever on White Lake come find us. And if you would like to ski shoot me a PM. How is Maceday/Lotus Lake? It looks beautiful and we have talked of going there for the day too.

Edited by ahopkins1988
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Thanks everyone! The boat has ZO, well technically it is getting installed tomorrow which will be nice to have it done when I get home from my work trip. Not many other options other than that. We will be installing a heater at some point for the spring/fall in Michigan. The engine is the 5.7l Indmar Monsoon 350SS which is perfect for this boat. Great hole shot for pulling up any skier, great pull even without ZO, and it is, to my surprise, quite good on gas. It also runs about 52mph WOT, and sounds amazing. :) The interior is Moonbeam base, with the same Grey and Navy Blue accents as the hull.

I try to keep the skiing young by getting my friends involved, but they seem to either want to learn so surf/wakeboard or just hangout. Which is fine because then they can buy the bigger more expensive boat! :lol:

I do get a lot of looks one the lake, I don't know if its because people think that I am "some young spoiled kid with Dad's boat" or if they aren't used to seeing a nice clean slalom boat. I love how sweet the new Wakesetters are and the options you can add, but IMO nothing will ever beat the clean simple lines of a Response.

Edit: MALI-MONSTER, if you are ever on White Lake come find us. And if you would like to ski shoot me a PM. How is Maceday/Lotus Lake? It looks beautiful and we have talked of going there for the day too.

Welcome to TMC and congrats all around. I agree I love the way the Response looks too. The Response is like looking at a sports car on the water and pigged out wakeboarding boats are like looking at big SUVs.

  • Like 2
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Congrats on the new boat! I can't believe you've tried surfing and still bought a ski boat, but I'm glad you are fulfilling your passion with your wife to be. Have fun on the water!

She is totally on board with the boat

i-see-what-you-did-there.jpg

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Hey Hopkins. I just might have to get in touch to see if we can arrange a time to ski.

Maceday and Lotus are great. We usually launch on Maceday at about 8:30-9:00 AM on Saturdays and sometimes don't see another boat till 10:00 or 11:00. It tends to get busy by about 2 PM, and that is when we usually pull the boat out and head to lunch somewhere. The launch is small and can get crowded, but my wife is great at handling the truck and trailer. Maceday is very deep and clear and colder. It is not uncommon to see schools of little fish swimming by 20-30 feet beneath your boat when you are floating in Maceday. The north end of Maceday towards the canal to Lotus gets shallow but passable. The north and west end of Lotus is shallow and full of stumps so after you go throught the canal stay towards the south shore as you head east and around the corner. Also, the area between the island on Lotus and the shore on the east is very shallow ... like 3 inches deep. It is hard sand bottom and a good place to swim (but not try to drive through). There is a slalom course on the south end of Lotus that is installed weekdays and pulled on the weekends, if that is your thing. I have never talked to the owner, but they have a yellow Malibu Sportster.

Enjoy your new toy, and, like I said, if you need any help just give a shout.

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ahopkins22LSV

Congrats on the new boat! I can't believe you've tried surfing and still bought a ski boat, but I'm glad you are fulfilling your passion with your wife to be. Have fun on the water!

Surfing is fun, and is great to be able to do in the middle of the afternoon when the lake is completely torn up. However, in my honest opinion nothing will every beat the acceleration and speed that you yourself create slalom skiing. Plus I am a very competitive person and in reality, the course always wins. You can set your personal best at a tournament and win the tournament, but you still could have got one more buoy. That drives me. I know there is always a new trick to be mastered, but that's just not for me. Why they make ski boats and wakeboarding boats. :)

I also for got to mention an interior option:

DSCN0542.jpg

DSCN0563.jpeg

The never ending supply of dog hair... and you get a little glimpse on the interior colors.

Edited by ahopkins1988
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