Newbee watersport toys question?

[dynamic]

So I am the proud new owner of a 1971 vintage fiberglass v-hull. The boat has a 65 hp motor that seems to run pretty dang good all things considered. After getting her on the lake and making sure it runs now I am thinking ahead to summer and fun on the lake. Fishing is a given, but what about water sports?

I think I'd like to learn to water ski. I know 65 hp is pretty weak, at least compared to modern setups, but from what I have read, it will probably pull someone with 2 skis up. I have seen some cheep skis for sale and was wondering a.) if the boat will pull them, and b.) what I should get – Walmart specials or something else? Also, what about tubes, and a kneeboard? It is going to be the teenage boy, the wife and I on the boat for the most part. I noticed that tubes go from dirt cheep to half as much as the boat is worth. What do you recommend? There just seems to be a huge amount of choices out there and I was curious what some tried and true family fun accessories might be for such a boat. Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[deejaycee_2000]

Re: Newbee watersport toys question?

it will pull 2 ski's easily and a slalom maybe depending of the weight of the person, wakeboard, tube and kneeboard without a problem ..... enjoy ...

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Newbee watersport toys question?

[colour=blue]Ditto what DJC2000 said.

By cheap stuff to begin with, if you and the family enjoy it enough the dearer stuff will come in time.......................................

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Newbee watersport toys question?

i learned to ski with a home made 14' boat and a 15 hp evinrude,.. then as a teenager the family got a real boat with a 60hp Gale. you can ski with 2 skis, and on a single once you learn to start on 2 and drop one. get a harness that connects to each side of the stearn, and short enough it will not drop below the flat plat on the motor. also a plastic float on the ski rope, about 3 feet out, helps keep the rope out of the prop..heres some good reading on skiing.


http://forums.iboats.com/bbBoard.cgi?a=viewthread;fid=1;gtid=1119707;gpid=1119707

 

[ziggy]

Re: Newbee watersport toys question?

yep, what everybody says. 65's enough for two skis for sure. i learned behind a merc 500.
as for other water toys. on the cheap. anything that's flat and ya can plane out on can be a water toy. a few i've tried are a dish pan drainer, (woe is me, it's at the bottom of the lake as it didn't float when i fell off) or a busted up small styrofoam sailboat, hull only, stripped of everthing. i now have just a small 1 person tube type thing. i'd recomend going with at least a 2 person though. the one persone tube is a shade to small all in all. one of them 2 person ones is on my list of things to buy. but the 1 person tube i've had a lot of fun on...

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Newbee watersport toys question?

I have a 66 inch tube.Plenty big for one person.Your boat would pull it fine.
I found it in the local paper,25 bucks,never used still in the box!8)

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Newbee watersport toys question?

i grew up in the dark ages, my dad went to the tractor store, and bought a used tractor inner tube. thats the best tow toy there is. you can get 3 on it, the water comes up thru the hole and drowns you. but damn, it's fun. everybody wants to tube and wake board, take a challange and learn to ski on one ski. it's an art and take talent. then learn on a shorter one. i use to ski on a Ski Scat, it's an 18 inch long single ski. just enough room for both feet. you have to use another ski to get up and then drop the large ski. talk about being able to spray someone. buy the cheapest but decent quality you can. i still have a 50 year old pair of Cypress Gardens ski's, and still use them.