Going back in time....

[Hollywood]

I was looking through all the old CC brochures at ccfan last night and I gotta say, I wish I were in my prime back in the 70s. All the pictures looked so cool and everyone was having a ball. They were ripping up the course just as good back then too, with a fraction of today's advances in the sport. Most of the pictures are of people double skiing, and they beach the boats all the time. It just really made me think how different things are today. I've added a poll, would you rather go back in time and be skiing in the 60s/70s (can't include 80s, as many of you probaly were! haha). Well I sure would.

Or would you even rather be even younger now and be able to enjoy all the new things coming out today and in the near future?

I'll post some of my favorite old time pictures later. I'm sure tryan will vote then, he can't stop bragging about that Separator!

[tryan]

thanks hollywood. i try to live everyday as if it where my last.

your poll sure is a two sided coin. flat wakes and advances in ski design sure improved my enjoyment of the sport, but jet skis, weekend warriors and and the overall increase in the boating population has been detrimental to the serinity being out on the water.

my family lived on lake erie when i was a child and all of out neighbors had powerboats and sail boats, so i have been around 'boating' all of my life. i have sailed the potomac and around montalk which is cool, but i don't aspire to have that kind of lifestyle.

when we moved to tn, some of my friends parents had lake houses and boats. my best friends dad had a 16' tri-hull and we where allowed free rein. my cousins father had a sweet cobalt that would shoot a big rooster tail when he would get under the influence of a little jack daniels. another girls dad had a very nice sea ray cuddy that was fun to make waves in.

i got my greasy fingers on the infamous separator when my brother needed some serious cash for an exhaust manifold for his donzi. i kept her in north carolina on a small lake nestled in the mountains. you could campout anywhere you wanted and burn fuel on some glass all day long. the lady that owned the marina would fix dinner for us at her house and basicly treated us like family. i have a lot of fond memories of 'genuine risk' even when the hour meter was not turning.

i learned how to ski on a pair of dick popes in '74 and worked my way up to a connley hook. i would beg, borrow and steal ski's until i bought a g3 revenge in 95 and spent a summer tweaking the adjustments until my 'off side' was as good as i could get it. i do the wakeboard thing untill i bust my butt and i have yet to figure out the graceful dismount from footin'.

i'm rambling. yes, boating/skiing has changed for the better.( those peolpe in brochures are actors. they where paid to look like they where having fun.)

[Hollywood]

( those peolpe in brochures are actors. they where paid to look like they where having fun.)

Yeah, and so are the ones in today's brochures. It's all relative, sure the wakes weren't as small and the skiis not as good, but for the time that's all they knew, so you just dealt with it. Witnessing the evolution of the sport makes us think that they should have known these things were coming and just waiting around for the next revolution in the sport, but I truely believe they were just living in the moment, same as we are all today. Enjoy what you have, tomorrow is guaranteed to nobody.

Like I said, I would surely go back. Everything seemed simpler.

[redelf75]

Tryan: so did you vote Then or Now?

I must have at least one copy of every CC catalog year back to 1986 including the year of my 1982 Ski, which highlights an exact match of boats colors on the cover!

I was first introduced to CC in 1965 on a then 2 year old ('63) wooden CC. I don;t know the model but it was very similar to the Aqua Skier. It had a foot throttle and a geat shifter on the steering column, a la cars. It had center mounted ski pylon and even boasted two tone varnish!. It was powered by a Chrysler V8 with 135hp. But the coolest thing for me, (age 8) was the way the water shaped around the side of the boat as speed was increased. The water balooned into perfect semi-elongated curves from the stern to the rooster tail. At certain speeds they were absolutly smooth. You could stick a finger in them and it would produce an area void of water in the shape of a Y. Later CC invented Spray Relief Pockets and the dream was killed forever. I've seen a very close copy of my boat on some website. If anyone is interested I'll dig it up.

But that was then and this is now. And there were no towers or sky skis back then. I vote, NOW.

[redelf75]

Sorry about the sunny icon thing, I'm new to this sort of stuff. I meant, age 8.

[Hollywood]

redelf75, if you could, scan those catalogs and send them over to Keith (and myself) at www.correctcraftfan.com, they will be greatly appreciated!

[NautiqueJeff]

Sorry about the sunny icon thing, I'm new to this sort of stuff. I meant, age 8.

Fixed it for you.

[lcap]

I have learned not to fight improvements. Last summer, a friend of my sons brought some magazines over to our house and when I pulled out my Waketech 69 he said "wow, you board on a classic!" I didn't think I was old enough to have anything classic, but he showed me the cover of one of the wakeboarding magazines with the picture of the 69 on the cover with a caption that read, "The Classic is Back."

Refusing to accept the new and improved was any better than my "classic", I promptly got my hands on the "best" board for my style to demo. I then set off to prove it. I made my usual cut to the wake, as I approached the peak of the wake, I was going twice as fast as the classic. Being too stupid to be scared, I hung on, hit the peak and launched higher than I have ever been on anything on water before or since. As the boat came back around, all the kids were still laughing, I asked them what was so funny. Apparently, when I launched the words immediately came out of mouth, "ohhhh sh.ttttt"

The "classic" is now in the sports room hall of fame, along with a skurfer, the last wooden water ski Wiley's ever made, several pair of non-parabolic snow skis and a few old Duke footballs.

Those days were great, but the new stuff makes alot more things possible with a lot less work!

[M3Fan]

I step back in time every time I get on my 14 year old boat. At least CC was ahead of their time so I'm not completely in the worst boat out there, but let's face it, I own the time machine baby.

[tryan]

i didn't vote. i'm a pacifist. NOT !

i voted now. lcap, hit the nail on the head.

Those days were great, but the new stuff makes alot more things possible with a lot less work!

[yellowdog]

Started making a list of the good's and bad's of the 60's. First thing I realized is that Dr. Tim should have held on a few more years, the brain cells do re-generate.

Anyway, what's important is that each time is unique to itself. As a college student back then, we thought we had the world by the tail; execpt for Lyndon trying to give us a free vacation to SE Asia and the fact that you couldn't talk to a black guy without getting your tires slashed or worse. Friday night beer and Saturday night submarine races, what more could a guy ask for aside from the fastest car in town?

Man, more rabbit trails, gotta get over those flashbacks. . . . Where I am going is that was then and this is now. And for that I am gald.

My '68 Dodge Charger with the 375 hp, 440 wedge is no match for the performance cars of today, but is does get looks. Our '74 & '75 TR-6's are considered cool today only because there are so few around. The '78 Nautique with its whopping 240 hp is a snail compared to todays boats, although it still pulls with the best of them (skis only, no boards).

Is the old stuff better, no way. Why do we keep it, nostolgia? Yeah, probably. Would I give up my '03 Ford truck or the wife's new Lexus, never.

One thing that has changed for the better big time is the medical world. If I had needed the kidney transplant that I had in 2001 back then, I wouldn't be writing this now.

As I said, each time is unique, and for that I am glad. While the what-if's are fun, today is where we're at so let's enjoy.

Don

[AbunDiga909]

I never got to wittiness "then" but i can imagine that it was a lot less crowded on the lake!

[FUN-9C1]

There's a whole lot of things better about now than then, but a lot of things are worse, too. As far as boating goes, I'd rather have a '70's CC in the '70s than have a new boat today. Yeah todays boats have a better wake and less maintanance, but you could go skiing on the weekend back then. Maybe different other areas, but around here you literally CAN'T ski on weekends. Every moron that has enough money for a boat has it out on the lake and hasn't got a clue about boating etiquette. Rollers covering the whole **** lake. Back then most people would take the time to learn how to drive before they took the boat out themselves. Lakes are WAY too crowded now. And I think the older boats have a little more character than newer ones, but maybe that's just nostalgia like yellowdog said... but above all else- the new ones are too **** QUIET!! Bring back the dual exhaust glass packs!!!

[redelf75]

redelf75, if you could, scan those catalogs and send them over to Keith (and myself) at www.correctcraftfan.com, they will be greatly appreciated!

Sorry Hollywood, I don;t have a flatbed scanner. Maybe in the future. However, if there is something in particular you are looking for, I might be able to do one at work.

[Hollywood]

redelf75, no hurry on those brochures, but I'm sure there are people out there that could eventually use the information.