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submersing slallom course


JohnDoe

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Well since accu-float (or sink, whatever) is no longer, I don't know what to do. I am very happy with the insta-slalom course I have in the lake that gets left up all the time, but I want to get another one, but not leave it floating, and I sure as heck don't want to bring it all the way back in the boat each time. I have heard of people just unclipping the buoys and letting the course sink to the bottom. That sounds fine, but then I got concerned about sand and junk getting in the pipes which might mess up the flotation balance. Does anyone have any experince with doing this or suggestions for leaving the course up, but not with all the buoys showing so all the wally's don't feel the need to race jet skis through and lose my magnets? Back on MBO there was a good thread on winching it down, but my lake is not deep enough to pull it down. Thanks!

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Ah...the joys of a slalom course on a public lake. Ranting.gif

I have a permanent course on a private lake and for the most part don't have to worry. Except for the fisherman that also use the lake. I have found that a bass boat going about 30 mph can do a number on buoys.

What would happen if you put a cap on the end of the pipes to keep the sand out? You might also think about taking the gates and turn bouys out, when not in use, to lessen the appeal to the jetskiers. Like I said, I dont have any first hand info on portable courses. Hopefully someone else does and will chime in.

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I like the cap idea, but the problem is that they have a verytouchy neutral bouyancy (slightly heavier than water), but I think soem kind of cap thing would work, and just leave small holes on the end for water movement.

I was actually thing of taking all the buoys off and just letting the whole thing drop down. I would have a rope attched to the dock so I could find it agian. the pull it up from the rope and reclip the buoys.

Thanks for the input though. I think that what I'm talking about will work fine, I just didn't want to hear from someone saying that that would cause big problems or anything, or horror stories that the course got damaged on the bottom (which I can't imagine happening, but then again, my old friend Murph shows up wayyyy too often!)

Edited by wakebrdgod
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I know guys that do it that way. Depending on the water depth one guy just swims along side the boat, dives down about 4 feet and grabs the riser cords and puts on the buoys. It's less hassle than taking in and out a course but doesn't really save that much time.

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We have left ours in year round for the last 3 years. In the fall we just unclip the bouys and let the whole system drop. We are in about 7 feet of water. After the ice clears and the lake level stabilizes we go out in a fishing boat with a potato hook and grab the pipes to pull them up and reclip the balls.

On heavy use weekends where we figure people will screw with it (July 4th, opening weekend of racing season, labor day) we go out & unclip & let it drop again. I'll have to admit that we never have pulled the whole thing out to totally inspect it, but everything appears to be functional.

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I have to agree with Rod S. We have maintained a portable slalom course on a public lake for a few years now. Removing the balls is less trouble than pulling-up the whole course, but putting them back on takes twice the time as setting-up the whole thing. When we are on top of our game, we can set it up in 40 min., and take it down in 20. We built a PVC rack for the poles that sets up on the platform so the sand/mud doesn't get in the boat. When we are skiing, we set it on the bank. Over the years we have found this to be the best soln. I have even seen the course torn-up when we have removed the bouys and let it sink. The only sure fire way to protect it is to pull it every time. Good luck. Rockon.gif

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It wasn't damaged by dropping, it's just that fishermen, trollers, alligator gar, or something, have always been able to get hung-up in it and cause damage. I think too that some deep draft I/Os are able to stir-up the water enough to get hung in it, especially if you use the river adapters. Mad.gif

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Our lake is quite rocky (shale bottum) - some muck, but mostly weeds. Don't know how sinking it in sand etc will affect the system.

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same here. one thing i saw done on Lake Jordan in NC is everyone just carries their own turn bouys. the boat guides are left in, and there are subbouys about halfway out to turn buoys. when you want to use the course, just clip your buoys in place. makes it more boring for the jet skiiers, so their is less damage to the course.

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We still get the fisherman that anchor onto the boat guides and the jetskiers trying to hop em.

Guns.gif

Edited by Rod S
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We are pulling our course up tomorrow with the hook method. We pulled the balls off 12/12/04 and let it sink in about 10' of water. We will pull it up, clip the balls and adjust the sub bouys and be ready to roll. I have not been part of this process before, so I am looking forward to seeing what happens over 5 months of submersion.

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We are pulling our course up tomorrow with the hook method.  We pulled the balls off 12/12/04 and let it sink in about 10' of water.  We will pull it up, clip the balls and adjust the sub bouys and be ready to roll. I have not been part of this process before, so I am looking forward to seeing what happens over 5 months of submersion.

How did it go?

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