Someone else's slalom course Yea or Ne?

[bigwheels]

So here is a quick question for everyone on the board. You launch into a lake you're not too familiar with and you see a Slalom course setup with no obvious owner around. Is it bad form to run it a few times?

thanks

[Lieutenant Dan]

IMO, no. If you cut loose (or just plain cut) some buoys while doing so and don't replace them, that is definitely bad form.

[Rod S]

As a previous portable course owner on a public lake I say use it but don't tear it up. Make sure you replace the balls if you knock them off. Better yet if you go there often have a few extra buoys in your boat in case you kill one. I used to have my cell phone number stamped on all the buoys. People would call me if they found a stray buoy and a few people actually asked if they could use it which was great because I would either offer to show them how if they didn't know or would occasionally give them a pull if they didn't have a proper ski boat. I met two great ski buddies when they pulled up one day and asked me if they could go through the course in their SN.

[Sunapee]

It is ok, only if you have the proper boat and are 100% confident in course driving/skiing. We have had people innocently try to use the course and ding props - or worse. We have also had people drive thru with I/O boats and clip the cable.

I would also recommend that you idle around the area first to try and get a feel for the anchors, rocks, etc. You will often find that courses are placed in areas of a lake that is not considered all that safe to drive. In our case, we are in an area marked as rocky and not navigable. This is to pull us out of the way of others, get closer to shore and wind protection, etc. The good news is that we know exactly where the rocks are.

[mlange]

My take is if you have extra balls, line, etc... to repair any damage that you may do, go for it. If not, wait for someone to show up and ask them who owns it and talk to them. Maintaining a course costs some coin and it's only fair to require people who use the course to have the parts and knowledge to repair damage to it.

Mike

Edited June 5, 2007 by mlange

[Slalom Frog]

All of the courtesies mentioned above apply, however, public lake = public course

[Deke]

I maintain a course on a public lake for our club and don't mind others using it with some exceptions of course. All of the comments above apply, meaning that you should know how to drive and manuver around in a course, replace clipped balls, not ski it if it is not tensioned, etc. Sunapee's comment about knowing the water is right on. Our course also is in a questionable area. Its not bad for the skier but you can definately get your boat into trouble. Like Rod, I get bummed when I see I/O's in there. They are just too deep and wide and when slow manuvering the prop can be like a weedwacker the way it hangs out the back of the boat. I often offer interested I/O folks a pull so I get to explain how things work too. Lastly, not to sound selfish, but I don't really like waiting for people that aren't in the club and helping to maintain the course and pay for permits and insurance. Good etiqette would be asking first and then getting into the lineup.

But if no one else is around...

Deke

[jayjoans]

On my lake in Nor Cal, there is a water ski club that has a very nice long cove all to themselves. They have strung a barrier across the opening, with only a space as big as a couple of boats wide left open to pass through. This cove is at the end of another larger cove, and what ticks me off no end is that they seem to move the barrier into the larger cove further and further each year. As you enter "their" area, they have many signs reading how you cannot be where you are unless you are a member of the club, and all sorts of warnings about trespassing and such. By moving their barrier line into the larger cove, they have made the larger cove almost unusable.

Galls the heck out of me, the course is probably 200 yard from the barrier, and they will still come out and ask me in the larger cove to not make waves for them. Argh. I will move usually, out of deference for my friends on TMC that would shoot me if I didn't, but it really gets under my skin. Mind you, we're there only on weekdays, when 90% of the time nobody is out there but us, but if there is 1 boat in the club they'll come all the way out to hassle me.

Public lake too. pisser.

[Baddog]

Do they have permission to bogart that much of a PUBLIC lake?

[Deke]

On my lake in Nor Cal, there is a water ski club that has a very nice long cove all to themselves. They have strung a barrier across the opening, with only a space as big as a couple of boats wide left open to pass through. This cove is at the end of another larger cove, and what ticks me off no end is that they seem to move the barrier into the larger cove further and further each year. As you enter "their" area, they have many signs reading how you cannot be where you are unless you are a member of the club, and all sorts of warnings about trespassing and such. By moving their barrier line into the larger cove, they have made the larger cove almost unusable.

Galls the heck out of me, the course is probably 200 yard from the barrier, and they will still come out and ask me in the larger cove to not make waves for them. Argh. I will move usually, out of deference for my friends on TMC that would shoot me if I didn't, but it really gets under my skin. Mind you, we're there only on weekdays, when 90% of the time nobody is out there but us, but if there is 1 boat in the club they'll come all the way out to hassle me.

Public lake too. pisser.

My club has a no hassle policy and we're also not roped off so we're extremely exposed. We've just had to learn patience over the years. The tough part about slalom on a public lake is that you basically can't do it at all if there are any rollers. Most people don't realize how far away they can be and still affect it. Then, you can't ski the slalom course anywhere but where the course is, negating the possibility of looking for better water. And to cap it off, you might only have a one or two hour window of good water. After that you're done. As far as people trying to do other sports like wakeboard go, we ask them to get into our lineup/que and take a turn skiing right along the course if there is nowhere else to go. That way everybody takes turns and everybody gets good water. Of course everybody won't cooperate that way but at least we try. I feel like this is good etiquette in open water too rather than just trying to drop your rider in before the other boat and drive all over the place ruining all the water. It's much better to keep using a consistent line and try to get into an alternating rythym with the other boats. We learned a long time ago that hassling and chasing people away or waving them off just pisses them off and nine times out of ten they don't even know why you're doing it. Then we get blamed for having an "elitist" attitude AND don't get good water!

Deke

[CLOUT1]

So here is a quick question for everyone on the board. You launch into a lake you're not too familiar with and you see a Slalom course setup with no obvious owner around. Is it bad form to run it a few times?

thanks

IMHO...tear it up!!! 90% of the time if you have a BU and/or want to go through the course you probably know how to ski and won't take any of the balls out. The course I use in Maine is owned by my brother and a friend of his and it stretches in between about a dozen camps. They allow anyone to use it as long as it is being used for it's true purpose. When a jet ski or jet drive heads into the course we generally talk to them about the course and how they can do some serious damage to the course if they turn into a ball and pull the cables. If it is treated with respect I wouldn't worry about it...good luck!!!

[RTS]

IMHO...tear it up!!! 90% of the time if you have a BU and/or want to go through the course you probably know how to ski and won't take any of the balls out.

What takes the balls out, the boat or the skier, generally speaking?

Personally, I steer clear of the courses that are set up on my lakes. But I have a regular guest who can make the course at 32 MPH, first section off the rope (whatever that is) and I do not hesitate to run him through the courses.

However, I won't go near the course if anyones using it, and prior to pulling him through, I survey the course to see if there are any buoys missing. When I'm (he's) done, I do the same thing. We have always left the course in the condition we found it (as far buoy count, anyway), and I've had discussions with my guest that if we (he or I) mess something up, we'll leave our phone number in a plastic bag attached to a boat guide and offer to pay for the damage, as I would have no clue how to attach a buoy myself.

I do enjoy idleing up to within a couple hundred feet and watching guys/gals ski the course. I would like to learn to do it some day. 7 times out of 10 whoever is skiing will notice me and come over and ask if I want a set, which is nice of them.

[Lieutenant Dan]

I would have no clue how to attach a buoy myself.

Zip ties usually....those plastic do-hickies for tieing wire bundles together...you probably carry some in your toolbox

[CLOUT1]

IMHO...tear it up!!! 90% of the time if you have a BU and/or want to go through the course you probably know how to ski and won't take any of the balls out.

What takes the balls out, the boat or the skier, generally speaking?

Personally, I steer clear of the courses that are set up on my lakes. But I have a regular guest who can make the course at 32 MPH, first section off the rope (whatever that is) and I do not hesitate to run him through the courses.

However, I won't go near the course if anyones using it, and prior to pulling him through, I survey the course to see if there are any buoys missing. When I'm (he's) done, I do the same thing. We have always left the course in the condition we found it (as far buoy count, anyway), and I've had discussions with my guest that if we (he or I) mess something up, we'll leave our phone number in a plastic bag attached to a boat guide and offer to pay for the damage, as I would have no clue how to attach a buoy myself.

I do enjoy idleing up to within a couple hundred feet and watching guys/gals ski the course. I would like to learn to do it some day. 7 times out of 10 whoever is skiing will notice me and come over and ask if I want a set, which is nice of them.

If you have ever driven a boat down a course there isn't exactly a lot of "room" for error...the driver drives and that's it. I have seen guys turning around to watch the skier and tried to avoid a ball and taken it out. I have also seen a lot of guys not know how to turn around to pick up a skier who has fallen and taken a ball out with the rope or hitting a ball with the boat trying to turn at 32/33 and not slowing down or simply not turning hard enough. in between bouys.

Side Bar: I'm not nearly as good as many of these guys on the board but a good way to start is to "shadow" the buoys at first...ski up to them but not around them to get the timing down...then start to go around the first few sets and shadow the rest...just a suggestion. GOOD LUCK!!!