Tower OR Flyhigh Pole for use with Barefoot Boom?

[dwsilve]

First time poster, here.

I have a 2004 Ski Nautique 196 closed bow. Use it for 80% ski course, 20% recreationally (teaching friends to ski etc, wakeboarding, some tubing). Some barefooting off the boom (deep water once I get a suit).

So my problem is that I need to figure out the best way to move the rope UP so that guests can sit in the back seat while watching someone knee board or something. Two clear optioins... Fly high pole or tower. Problem with Fly High (unless someone can help me!) is that my barefoot boom mounting bracket is in the way- already on the pylon- and would need to be removed every time we want to use the fly high pole. Problem with the tower (unless someone has a good suggestion) is it would be in the way of the barefoot boom, it decreases the value of the boat (IMHO), and the "foot pads" on the gunnel of my boat are *right* in the way of where the tower would need to mount.

So has anyone come up with a good solution to this problem on my model of boat, specifically? Is there a way to have a fly high pole and a barefoot boom mounted simultaneously? Is there an idea brand or placement of a tower that allows for everything to work well together?

Cheers!

[SilentSeven]

....and this is why sold my '97 Ski and purchased a 206 with factory tower.

IMO - If you really want to be able to have a high pull point and and boom, I think you have to go to a tower. Never seen a fly high and a boom co-mounted.

I can run a boom with my tower without a problem. I have to angle the boom forward a bit to get in front of the rear tower leg but it's not a big deal. Doing that also helps keep you out of the chine spray. I'd look at different towers if the mounting foots don't land in a good location...sorry I can't recommend a specific brand.

BTW, an additional benefit of the tower is that you can put a couple racks on it and hang some gear...freeing up some boat space.

[dwsilve]

Thanks... .yeah I'm going to keep your point as another reason to upgrade someday

Getting some racks up is another good reason to go tower. Since my post, I have seen a couple pictures with boom and fly highs mounted together.

I've ALSO seen a couple crazy looking pylon bimini mounts... which actually I really don't hate the look and it would be nice to get the bimini supports off.

[SilentSeven]

lol....with enough time and effort, anything is possible.

Are you hanging your boom off the drivers or passengers side? Passenger for me.

[dwsilve]

Yep passenger...just to keep any water spray away from the dashboard.

[Tom_H]

Most of the extended pylons I've seen don't go all the way to the floor (but have a through-bolt or similar that rests on top of the pylon). If you've got a contour boom and can go low with your clamp, you can probably clear it, and they can coincide. If you're running a straight boom, you might be SOL to coexist with your boom clamp. For me, I'd go tower all day, every day, but we do such a variety of watersports that the high tow point is a must, and the boat rolls much much less with a tower versus an extended pylon. Getting crap off the floor and playing nice with a bimini are the other reasons. That T-top extended pylon mounted bimini isn't made any longer, and BI has no intention of restarting production. Once towers became commonplace, the demand for them became so low that it didn't make sense to bother anymore.

For the 196, the best looking towers are probably a New Dimension FCT (which would be the factory replica) or Roswell Aviator. Samson also makes rock-solid towers, but not sure which model would be best with a 196.

[dwsilve]

Checked out the tower made by New Dimensions........that is probably going to have to be where things end up. they look solid, thanks for the recommendation!

It will be nice to get the skis off the floor too

[MN Ryan]

Skis can be tough to fit in traditional wakeboard or surf racks (at least when you have big feet). Not sure if they make a ski-specific rack for a tower, but it's something to be aware of.

[SilentSeven]

There are tower ski racks. They get a bit tricky if you have a double high wrap boot.....sometimes the rear boot make the binding too long to fit in the rack. Maybe the newer racks solve this problem? But we don't put the good slalom ski's in the rack anyway. It's where the kids skis, low use skis, etc go.