Let's hear your inboard biography

[M3Fan]

There is a reason that we all have chosen an inboard boat in one way or another. The same reason that made us put a boat as a priority- measure garages of new houses, tuck away money for boats, pay attention to tow capacites of any vehicle we look at buying... how did you get the disease?

Growing up in the 80s I had close family friends that were all part of the Chain Skimmers ski team in Eagle River, wi. during the 70's. Their parents still had a lake house with the team's 77 nautique when I went up there for a few summers with my parents in the late 80's. They taught me how to ski one summer in say, 87 or so. I recall really loving the boat, espeicially, for one reason or another. Anyhow, my family never had an inboard ski boat, ever. We had no spare money for toys like that- we always had old cars and just tried to make ends meet, as well as pay for 3 kids worth of college in cash, and braces, etc. We never had a lake house, and knew nobody with an inboard. No extended family with boats, nothing. Just that 77 up north. The boats were like, "legend" to me. Every time I saw one, I'd think it was the coolest thing ever.

So, when I was 23 I bought my 90. First inboard I ever even drove. With my own loan and cash. It has served us well for 3 years and will be someone else's first boat soon. I suppose I have had the "hard knocks" pass into this hobby- no growing up on lakes, no summers with ski teams, no "uncle with the boat", or anything. Had I not done all this myself, I would never have even driven an inboard.

[bkhallpass]

Interesting thread M3.

We were not a wealthy family either. 4 kids and dad was a mechanic. But, my Dad did have foresight to buy a small house, on the water, right in the middle of the San Francisco Peninsula, back in 1960. In 1962, he bought the inboard, a 1958 mahogany Trojan Sea Bea. I was born in 63 and learned to ski in 67.

In the 70s and 80s a slew of neighbors moved in with modern ski boats, CC, MC, Supra, and American Skier were popular. Even had some world class competitors in the neighborhood. I was particularly a fan of the Ski Nautiques.

I mostly fell out of the sport in my 20s. Business travel and other interest kept me away. I'd only get out 3 or 4 times per summer on friends boats. Then, at 34 I bought my first waterfront home, and six months later, a brand new ski nautique. No looking back. Boats and being on the water are definitely a priority focus from here on out.

BKH

[NautiqueJeff]

Mine is probably not the typical story either (or maybe it is). Back in the early eighties, my mom and I didn't live anywhere near a lake, and certainly didn't have the cash for any boat, much less an inboard. We would camp at Kerr Lake in NC with family friends several times each summer, and I learned to ski there when I was eight years old behind that family's late 60's Sears brand boat with a 65 HP Johnson. They had upgraded the engine from the original 45 HP a couple of years before we started camping with them. This was not a boat meant for skiing. It did the job though, and I was hooked.

This continued for years, and eventually they upgraded to a brand new 1987 Bayliner Capri with a 128 HP I/O. We all thought we were in heaven. During those years, I was reading Waterski Magazine every chance I got, and I was totally impressed with the Nautiques. I knew that I would eventually have one. I followed all of the tournaments (anyone remember Hot Summer Nights?). I wanted to ski more and more, but the opportunity just wasn't there for me to hit the lake as much as I wanted to.

Finally, when I graduated from college in 2000, I (painfully) sold my 911 convertible, which I loved and paid for myself while in college, to buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee so that I would be able to pull a Nautique when I found one. It didn't take long. Less than a year after graduating, I found my 1994 Ski Nautique down at White Lake. I remember driving down and picking it up on a cold rainy day in the winter. I started my season very early the next year. I was out on Lake Anna starting in February that year, and was in the water, trunking it, in March!

That boat was wonderful. The only trouble I ever had was the starter relay, and that was easily replaced. Eventually my wife and I decided it was time to move into a bigger boat. We found our current 2003 210 up at Mid-Ohio, and bought it on October 4, 2003.

Now... if I only had a lake house...

By the way BKH, my grandfather had a 1967 28' Trojan cruiser on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire during the 80's. That was a great boat. All wood, and very beautiful. I guess that was the first inboard that I was ever on. That boat broke free from the dock during a storm one night, and wasn't found for several days. It was pretty well beaten up when they did find it, and he ended up trading it in on a Bayliner cruiser... Not cool. I never cared much for his new boat, but that Trojan was a classic! I wish I had that boat now.

[GRskinautique]

I think my story is probably even less typical than anyone elses.

Ever since I was a little kid, I have always been fascinated by boats and boating. As a teenager, I had a subscription to Boating Magazine (which I still get and love to read) and knew all about different makes and manufacturers of boats. As a kid, I can remember bugging my parents to get a boat for like ever. Finally in eight grade, my dad bought a 14' aluminum row boat with a trolling motor. I loved that boat but it didn't have a trailer, we had to load it on top of the station wagon so it was hard to get out and use.

After graduating from college and getting my first job, I ended up in Detroit, Michigan and after about a year I bought a 1984 23' Chapparal sport cruiser. I kept that boat docked on Lake St. Clair and used it for fishing and cruising. After getting married, I ended up selling that boat because it just became to hard to use it anymore.

Fast forward a few years, we had a chance to move to Grand Rapids, Michigan and buy a house on a private 200 acre lake. Of course we needed a boat so I bought a brand new Yamaha jet boat. I had never waterskied in my life although my wife loved water skiing. After a year of her skiing behind that boat and me trying to drive it, she told me that sooner or later we would have to sell that boat and getting something easier to use. With that, the boat was for sale and within a few weeks it was gone and I bought a 1995 Malibu Echelon LX. After one summer of owning an inboard, I finally decided I needed to learn how to waterski. That was last summer and my first time up on two skis was my 35th birthday. Well within 2 months I was skiing on one ski and then I then I skiied behind my neighbors 1997 Ski Nautique......I fell in love. Last August, I sold the Malibu and bought my current boat, a 2000 Ski Nautique. My wife and I now ski probably 3 or 4 times a week all summer long and I am loving every minute of it.

[CHassmann]

Good stories! Mine probably isn't as exciting, but here it is. My grandfather bought a lot and built a house on a small (220 acre) private lake in Willard, OH a few years after the lake was built. My dad bought the boat. A 1970 Chrysler 229 Courier. I was four years old then.

I learned to ski when I was 6 or 7 after riding the "Zip Sled" for a couple of years. I don't remember how long it was before I was on a slalom ski, but I couldn't ever get enough skiing. Unfortunately, it was only a one day a week opportunity at a weekend house. (My family worked on Saturdays.) I was really getting the bug to do some "competitive style" skiing when I was in college. My dad let me trade in our "family boat" and I bought my first brand new Ski Nautique in 1987 with money that I had saved. (I wored in the family business. Also, gotta love those high interest CD's in the lates '70s) I loved that boat! I can still hear the sound of it going across the lake.

Well, anyways, I had taken the boat over to my parents house during the summer of '93 to do some work on the carburator. Just so happens that while the boat was sitting in the driveway near the garage, a kid started my parents garage on fire as a gang initiation. My dad said that the cover of the boat had just started on fire as the firemen were coming up the driveway with the hose. They doused the flame but the heat from the garage fire caused the gelcoat to peel off the entire port side of the boat. The insurance totalled it out and sold it to Ron Overberger.

Being relatively newly married with one child, I wasn't in the market to buy another new Nautique at this point. I ended up buying a used '91 with 16 hours on it. Again, another awesome boat!

I decided to upgrade to a 2002 when I got a little taste of the boat business. I helped Mid Ohio Nautiques do a couple of boat shows. I did find out that it is true that you shouldn't make your hobby your business. The business isn't easy and it takes many, many hours from your family. While, I'm not associated with Mid Ohio anymore, I have the utmost respect for all of them and the work they do. They're great!

All of us have a different story, but we all have a common bond in the hobby we love. I wish all of you a great "off-season". I'll enjoy reading your "inboard biographies" while dreaming about Spring!

[NautiqueJeff]

I learned to ski when I was 6 or 7 after riding the "Zip Sled" for a couple of years.

Yeah! The zip sled! We had one of those. It was made for use on water OR snow!

[bkhallpass]

By the way BKH, my grandfather had a 1967 28' Trojan cruiser on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire during the 80's.

Sound like a great boat. Ours was actually a runabout. 18 ft long. Had
a dedicated ski bar (precursor to pylons). Much like the CC Skiers
of the same era. Wake was huge by todays standards, but we
ripped it up on our old Mahas and Obriens.

BKH

[caudo]

I was in 7th grade growing up in Waterford MI and there were lakes everywhere, hence the township name,"Water"ford. That year I met a new friend who ended up being the best man at my wedding exactly one year ago today. That's right members, it is my anniversay today and thank god my wife had to run and errand so that I could check in.

I went over to his house the first day we met on the first day of school. His family had a beautiful home on lake Oakland and a Malibu Sunsetter parked in back. We went out on the boat that day and as far as I can remember, we went out every day that there was not ice on the lake all throughout the rest of junior high and high school.

We both had grown up on skateboards. I cannot remember what season it was, but one day I showed up and he had to show me something. No, it wasn't a new skurf board, rather it was a brand new wakeboard, an HO BIGGUN. No twin tip and 3 enormous fins on the back. I really didn't care though, we had always dreamed of surfing but we were just born in the wrong state.

We were immediately hooked. We still sprinkled in some slalom skiing during first hour throughout high school. I once had 56 absences in Chem I. We entered a few INT wakeboard competitions here and there and even started wakesurfing. When we were seniors in high school, one of our close friends was accepted to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida to become a pilot. The first thing he did was buy a surf board and we started wake surfing behind the boat, finally we were able to surf after waiting years to do so. We still think to this day that we invented this...

We then all went away to college and would hook-up here and there during the summer between working and taking summer classes. I missed the high school summers of wakeboarding and water skiing every day horribly. All throughout college I dreamed of getting a Malibu. I met my wife to be working as a lifeguard in the summers during college. I could not have asked for a better companion. She gew up waterskiing as well and was also a collegiate downhill ski racer for Rocky Mountain College in Billings MT. Sorry for being so sappy but it is my first anniversary and she is great.

To make an even longer story short, we have spent the last few summers together skiing and boarding behind the father in law's sea ray outboard. It was fine to be back in the water on a consistent basis, but lets face it, It is no where near the performance of an inboard and even more so a Nautique.

We finally got serious about getting a new boat and the first place we went was the local Malibu dealer. We thought the boats were nice but we wanted to check out the competition. We looked at Supra, on the trailer they look cool but in the water we were disappointed. We never liked mastercrafts, for no great reason just personal preference. We were out skiing on the old sea ray, the father in law was making me look like a chump (thank god he doesn't wakeboard) and we saw a nautique SANTE and knew we needed to check them out.

We went to Silver Spray Sports in Fenton, MI and got to know Doug and the gang. We loved them and the boats. We had the classic debate 210 vs 211. My wife wanted the 211. We ordered and 2006 211TE and can't wait for it to get here in Jan.

Caudo

[97sport]

I started skiing in 1977 and only behind i/o's. It wasn't until my wife and I bought a place at the lake did we really not like i/o's anymore. A neighbor has a Supra and took us out in it for a test drive/ ski run's. Thats all it took to sell me on inboards. Of course we both liked Nautiques and looked at the other ones but the Nautiques is the only one that I would own. I to remember owning a zip sled. When the thing would flip over it would dive to the bottom of the lake. Broke alot of ropes with that thing. to bad it didn't stay stuck in the mud.

[skiinxs]

My first boat (of my own) was a 74 SlickCraft with a jet pump. I was doing a lot of slalom, jumping, footing and tricking at the time and that was REALLY a bad boat for tricks. 4000 rpm at 16 mph with the nose up in the air didn't make it very easy for anyone to give me a good steady speed. I saw a picture of a barefoot boom in “Spray” magazine, so I built one that bolted to the pylon. Used that a lot. Started skiing tournaments and discovered inboards. Ditched the squirt boat for a used 78 MasterCraft. Great boat, very few inboards around at the time.

In 82 I decided to open a boat dealership (grew up working for my dad in his boat dealership). I sold and promo'd Supremes and did a lot of outboard service for several years, and then just promo'd for several more years. I had a total of 13 Supremes (had two the first year until I found another promo, they wouldn't use your promo back then unless there were a pair to pull all events) In 92 Supreme came out with a new hull, much bigger and a great wake, but it was a very high drag bottom and was a horsepower hog. I was the only one able to get mine set up properly and pull a regionals (Pro Boss engine, and got PCM to send me a second, much stronger engine. The first engine was probably the 285 hp they claimed, but not enough for that hull to pull the strong jumpers.)

It really was a great boat, but Genmar bought the company after the bankruptcy and had wally's making decisions. They sent a boat to the boat test the next year with a green 260 Mercruiser. It flunked the acceleration test, end of story for Supreme as a tournament boat. They quit production the next year. I kept that boat for three years, deciding to quit the promo grind.

Bought a 95 MasterCraft, assuming that it would really be a great boat, since they had redesigned the excellent '94 hull. Doh! At least they did make a spray improvement along with the steps backward everywhere else. Three years later I decided that they couldn't possibly make the same mistake and bought a new '98. DOH DOH DOH!!! I guess I was taking stupid pills or something. It was a 30th Anniversary edition and looked good. Had knee surgury that fall from the 22 roostertail. I still had my '95 and actually parked the ’98 in the garage and used the '95 until the training wheels and new rudder finally got there. (winglets on the sides). Kept the 98 for four years and watched everything fall off, the trailer break in half, etc.

Then I saw the new tsc2 hull at a fall tournament in '01. I drove and skied it. Really great boat. Then I watched all of the little kids pulling all the way through the wakes at really slow speeds (20, 22, 24). All of the kids were blowing thier personal bests away because they were pulling through the wakes for the first time in their lives. At those speeds all they could do before was pull to the wakes and let up. I decided to get back on the promo trail and ordered a new 2002 196 (Inboard #17 for me). When I received it, it was PERFECT! In all of those years of inboards and all those years of promoing, I had NEVER had a boat that I didn't have spend a couple weeks working on to make into a decent ski boat. No grinding the rudder, no grinding the bottom, no add hook to the bottom to make it run level or get the bow down. No adding a plate to get rid of a rooster tail. No spending a half day realigning the engine or moving the location of the shaft log to get the engine to the middle of the boat. No shooting silicone between the innerliner and hull to take up the empty void, no changing throttle and shift cables to red jacket supreme and reworking the throttle box to make it smooth. No rerouting the steering cable to make it steer easy. No unhooking secondaries to stop a surge, No swapping out speed heads, no shimming and moving speedo pickups to get them to work correctly. No swapping engines to get enough power. No reworking carb linkages. No reglassing and constantly tightening pylons. No playing with a half dozen props. I think you get the picture, these are just a few of the things I have done in the past to my other inboards to get them to work the way they should have when they left the factory. Once again the '02 Nautique was PERFECT operationally, driving and skiing. In '02 the 6 liter was available, so I ordered with the 6 liter. Once again PERFECT! I hooked it up to the truck, took it to the lake and skied with it. The '04 (another 6 liter) came and once again, other then adjusting the rudder tab the way I like, perfect. Do you see a pattern here? My '05 came in December of '04 the week before I left for a two week vacation in Florida leading up to getting married New years day. I was so confident that I didn't even run the boat before the trip. Hooked it to the sub, took it to Florida. 1,100 miles later backed it in the water, put some break in hours on it in the Butler chain and skied. As all of the other it was perfect. I didn't even take a toolbox with me. Now the '06 is being built. It will be inboard #21 for me and I am sure it will be ready to use. It is another 6 liter (I love that engine) Limited with the stereo upgrade, hydrogate, PP, and pretty much everything else you can get. Long story, but hey, you asked about inboard biographies.
Dave

[SGY]

My autobiography goes like this.

For years I raced shifter karts. It was my release, it was my life, after work and family. Spent hours working on, tuning, and racing those things. On the few "off" weekends, I had the opportunity to spend time with a buddy that owned a 1988 SN 2001. Also, every year my family spent a week up in Grand Lake, Colorado. Everyone loved boating behind my brother in law's 1969 Orlando Clipper with a 55hp Johnson outboard. When the boat ran, we could all ski. I learned to slalom behind that boat--at 9,000 feet. Got used to getting dragged halfway across the lake. Because of the fun we had every year, I always thought then that if I ever gave up racing, I would buy a boat for the family.

In 2001, I decided that I'd had enough racing. The local racing gig had changed slowly over the years and it was becoming more and more about the money. My buddy with the 1988 SN 2001 decided that he was going to upgrade and mentioned that he was looking for a buyer for the old gir. I jumped at the chance. Bought the 88 SN for $10,000. It was perfect. We ran that boat for a year and in 2002 I was looking for something a little newer. Got lucky and found a 99 SNOB in Kansas City being sold by a retired promo guy. Again the boat was perfect. Never a problem. Sold the 88 to a doctor in Wisconsin for $11,000 and kept the 99 SNOB for two years--2002-2003.

In late 2002 I saw that CC had come out with the new 206. Then I ran into Jeff Gamble (JJ on this forum a Correct Craft promo driver/skier) in the spring of 2003. I was obviously curious about the 206 and met up with JJ in March of 2003 while in Kansas City visiting my brother. He was nice enough to give me a ride--too cold to ski. But at that time, I didn't dream I could get away with buying a new boat after having the SNOB for only one season. The 99 SNOB was paid for and was running great. I loved that boat.

As the summer of 2003 went on, I became more and more interested in the 206. And, under constant attack from me, my wife was softening. In the fall of 2003 and for my 40th birthday she agreed to "let" me buy a 206. So, I went out to CC in Orlando in October of 2003 and test drove and skied behind a 2004 206 with Jeff Warner. Jeff is a great guy. Funny too. As I was putting on my ski on the ski platform, he stated: "You know, there are aligators in this water". I didn't know that. Needless to say, I was a bit distracted. When I got in the boat and indicated "that wasn't too bad, no aligators", Jeff promptly indicated, "yeah, the aligators are fine, its those pesky water moccassins (sp?) that worry me." Maybe it was because of my fear of reptiles, but the test, I felt, had mixed results. The wakes were not bad, but I guess I expected them to blow away the wake behind the SNOB. I really didn't want to spend all that extra money unless the wakes were alot better. But I loved the way the 206 drove and the extra room. The 99 SNOB was a bit small for the family.

Perplexed, I got home and skied behind the SNOB to compare to my notes on the 206. At that time I realized that in fact the 206 wakes were a better. I also realized that the 206, driving wise, was way better. I then skied behind the closed bow TSC2 boat and came to the conclusion that the 206 wake was as good. With the extra room and awesome driving performance of the 206, I was sold. In November of 2003, JJ and I struck a deal. I sold the SNOB for exactly what I'd paid two years earlier and now we are enjoying an awesome 206.

[Hollywood]

I'd say our whole "lake" experience started with family vacations. We'd rent a house every summer on a little lake up in southern WI. While up there on vacations, we'd go to the neighboring lake and watch there show ski team. I was blown away by the barefooters and jumpers and would constantly tell myself "someday" I'd be doing that. My father knew about the lake from fishing trips. Obviously the rowboat that comes with the house isn't enough, and the parents bought an old pontoon boat. The boat was cool, it had enough power to pull a skier and we spent many years on that thing. The boat would stay docked on some private land where we'd go up on the weekends and enjoy the lake also. As we grew up and were responsible enough to operate boats ourselves, parents purchased some leftover new Yamaha PWCs. These once again offered many years of fun on the water, but once again we started growing out of them.

All the while my brother and I admired those with inboards. From the earliest I can remember, "Ski Nautiques" always were stuck in my head. The looked so cool, and sounded even cooler. I started picking up on details, and was able to tell the years apart of the 2001s on the lake. onthewater was always partial to MasterCrafts, and we argued all the time on which was better, just like kids do. While sitting on the pontoon and watching everyone tool around the lake, we decided it was time to sell the PWCs, combine our savings and go buy an inboard.

I made it perfectly clear that I wasn't going to spend a dime on anything except a Ski Nautique (preferrably '88). After one more season with the PWCs and then selling them, we finally were inline for our first inboard. I was so excited, especially since I've never skiied behind one, but longed for so many years to. Brother and I looked for '88 2001s all around the country, and settled on 2 to purchase. A gray/white one in Maryland, a red/white one in Virginia. We decided to check out the one in VA first because it was a private seller and the guy seemed really straight with us. If the Virginia one fell through, we'd swing by Maryland and pick up that one. After getting new leaf springs installed on onthewater's 1992 Jeep Cherokee, we hit the road. We took off first thing in the morning and got to VA pretty late that night. We decided to go drive buy the guy's house just to check things out, even though he wasn't expecting us until morning. Next morning he took us for a test drive out on his local lake. Everything went great, we decided on a price and hauled the thing home that night.

The boat still runs as good as the day we brought it home, doubling it's hours in only 4 seasons. We plan on upgrading to a TSC in the next few years, but have no plans on getting rid of the '88.

[roadkingpuck]

Our story is a little different. When we were growing up, our family rarely went to the lake. We were totally into golf and hockey. So, we had very little experience with boats. And this is in the land of 10,000 lakes-Minnesota. That changed one evening in January of 1987 or 1988. ESPN was covering a waterski tournament. The skiiers included the LaPointe brothers, Carl Roberge, Andy Mapple, Sammy Duvall (and sister Camille), Mike Kjellander and others. We had to try this sport. So, we obtained a slalom instructional video that featured Joel McClintock. And the boat used in the video was a Correct Craft (not sure if it was a 2001 or prior model). We watched that video almost every night. And of course if we were giong to learn how to waterski properly, we had to have the same boat that was in the video. So, I bought a new 1987 2001 - best purchase I have ever made. We soon found out that negotiating a slalom course was not quite as easy as it looked. But like the 30 handicap hacker in golf who plays every day, we were hooked on skiing. Note: wakeboarding was not on the radar in the 80's. We would have loved to have tried that as well. Since, most members of our ski group have passed the half-century mark (which must sound ancient to most members of this forum), our bones probably would have a tough time handling the learning curve. But we enjoy watching the young bucks on their boards. Our current boat is a 90 SN, which we really enjoy due to the smaller wake. Our goal is to keep skiing until we are at least 70.

Note: for those of you who are not sure about an occupation that would allow you to ski or WB, I would recommend looking into dentistry. This profession will allow you to ski or WB as much as you would like. We ski four mornings a week. We would do more except that age thing sort of slows us down. Good luck.

[Mikeski]

Ok, I have some time to kill...

First summer I was alive my parents made a makeshift crib between the seats of thier early 60's Trailerboat with a 115hp Mercury outboard (BlackMax). In the mid 60's dad sold the Trailerboat and bought a bare hull from Mr. Keaton in Sacramento. He marined and installed a junkyard motor (Olds 425, the 455's little brother), the boat was finished in 1967. The Keaton had a center engine, velvet drive trans, and large center fins like today's tournament boats. That was the boat I learned to ski behind in 1968, at that time Dad was already tournament skiing. My dad's approach to teaching was to toss me over the side and pull me until I got up on double skis. It took a few outings but I finally started skiing towards the end of that summer.

The whole family starting competing in 1969, I learned to jump in 1972 at ski school. In 1972 at the Nationals my father met Walt Maloon Sr. at the Nationals, the Maloon's liked the idea of having a skiing family on the west coast on their promotional boat program. We picked up our first Ski Nautique at the end of 1972, a 1973 model year. For the next 10 years we got a new boat each year, sometimes two in one year. We left the program in 1983 when my parents bought a house on the delta and moved the boat from the trailer to a lift on the water. Putting the boat back on the trailer for tournaments had become too much trouble.

The 1983 handled our needs for 15 years. In 1998 a buddy sent me an e-mail with a picture of the 1995 SN he was selling so I decided to sell dad's boat and make up the difference for a joint purchase in the new (used) boat. As my nephews interest in wakeboarding grew so did the weight we were putting in the 1995 SN trying to create true wakeboarding wakes. One day we were loaded with 1300lbs of water/sandbag load plus a crew of another 800lbs, after taking water over the bow, over the transom, and over the side, I decided it was time to get a new boat before I sunk the 1995 SN.

In March I took delivery of the 2005 SV211. I will probably keep this boat for 10+ years like we did with the 1983.

[NautiqueOasis]

More time to kill...

My wife and I were married in 1975. During the summer of ’76 we spent a week at Woodsen Bend, a golf resort at Cumberland Lake, KY with 2 other couples. During the week we decided to rent a runabout and spend a day on the lake. After that day on the lake my wife and I decided we were going to buy a boat that fall. We bought a 14-˝ ft open bow runabout with Merc 115 HP, which happened to be owned by a member of a local family water ski club. We joined the club and spent the next two summers with the club on several summer trips to lakes in KY & TN.

One of the members who routinely skied the slalom course had a CC Mustang. We were use to an outboard wake and my wife and I would just get launched skiing behind the Mustang. However, our competitive drive overcame our wake fears and during the winter of ’79 we purchased a new SN for $10,800. I still have my hat that my dealer gave me with the logo “Love Me, Love My Ski Nautique.” We thought we were in heaven; we were so proud of that boat. It didn’t take use long after a few crash and burn sessions to learn to keep our shoulders back. That was the start of my love affair with CC. Although the MC boats at the time had a much softer and smaller wake, the driving characteristics of the CC compared to the MC kept me a devout CC owner. We upgraded to a new ’85 2001 that winter as well as expanding our family with our first child. That summer we took out the corner piece of the front loveseat to install a child’s car seat with seatbelt restraint. Our second child, born in ’89, also enjoyed the special cockpit for their first summer on the lake. We spent a lot of time around the ski course improving our skills. We never did get involved in tournament skiing; just loved skiing the course, competing against ourselves and enjoying the wonderful lakes down in KY & TN.

During the next winter, we upgraded to a new ’90 SN. IMHO CC finally came on par with MC with wake characteristics and continued to maintain its driving superiority. During the next few summers our skiing profile changed significantly. Our many hours hanging around the slalom course all day gave way to recreational skiing, teaching our kids and the many friends that were fortunate to make the trip with us to ski, kneeboard, barefoot, and wakeboard. We enjoyed that boat for seven summers until upgrading to a new ’97 SNCB. The TSC hull was fantastic and the ’97 provided great enjoyment for the family through eight wonderful summers. However, we finally outgrew the interior layout of our beloved direct drive boats.

This past March, I took delivery of our new 2005 SV211. My kids fell in love with the wake characteristics of the new boat for their wakeboarding and wakesurfing. The cruising comfort and storage is outstanding compared to the direct drive boats. I miss the sports car feel of the 196 and my wife still misses the slalom wake of the 196; however, the open interior was delightful and the slalom wake was tolerable for a V-drive. Considering our current boating style, we made the right choice and we hope to keep this boat for 8+ years similar to our other CCs. We have certainly done our part in keeping the boating economy strong!