Rough Weather - 5/18/2008
So, the weather has not been ideal for water skiing so far this spring. I've still tried to ski, despite the extremely chilly mornings, but it's tough to get stuff accomplished in low-40's temps on the slalom course. Weekends have generally been blustery and/or cold- yesterday we had high wind gusts all day and today has been low 50's and windy. Our boat has only been out twice- once for a spring shakedown cruise after changing my strut bearings and shaft seal, and another for time trials with a couple props- that's it. So, sorry for the lack of front-page updates but things have been slow around here. Looking at the weather (above), looks like things may be improving. I'm really sick of skiing in 50's water and 40's air temps.
I don't know about the rest of you but Brett Yager's death really hit home for me. Pictures of him days or hours before his death, quotes from him on the dock just before his last runs, etc. just yank at the heart strings sharply because we can easily put ourselves in his shoes. I've never met the guy or heard of him before I read about his death in Acapulco early this May, so perhaps I'm not even qualified to talk about it but it certainly had an emotional impact on me so I thought I'd bring it up. We can all relate to how much fun we have on the water and how awful it would be to have our favorite hobby lead to our demise. Imagine a fun day on the water with friends and family ending with an incident like this. I feel terribly sorry for everyone that knew Brett and everyone that was there when it happened. Although it was a freak accident, there has been lots of discussion on TheWaterskiForum.com regarding a protective insert for handles. I'll be purchasing one of these ASAP. Freak accident or not, this will not be happening behind my boat if I can help it in any way. This incident is a brutal reminder that you never see coming. I'm sure as Brett hopped off the dock or raised his glass at dinner the night before that the had no idea that it would be the last night on earth or the last set of all time. You've just got to live every day like it's your last because you just never know what's going to happen next. My condolences to the Yager family.
Comments:
greg scherer, 5/19/2008: Brett was a great guy and I was glad to have known him for the short time I did while we coached together at Ski Paradise. This is truely a tragedy and especially so for those closest to Brett that will miss him the most. I think it is equally tragic to treat his accident as a venue for promoting personal agenda's whether it be to use a different handle type or as a means to ban new technology. I do believe that those who needs to know the details about this accident will investigate and if there should be a rules change than that will happen. I put my arm through the handle several years ago and was lucky enough to come away with only bruising, yet I have not intention to cahnge my handle. I think it comes down to our own ability to know the envelope in which we can ski safely and to then let go when we feel we are out of that zone.GT, 5/19/2008: I couldn't agree more with that last part. "Live like it's your last day because 1 of them is going to be." I'm hoping my last words are YAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOO! Splat!
All the talk of handle mods is inevitable and I'm more conscious of where the handle is now, but it's not going to keep me off the water for 1 second. I hope it never happens again to anyone.
Ski Hard, Ski Often!
MS, 5/20/2008: Welcome to the midwest. If we do happen to get a warm day, the wind is blowing at 30mph down the lake. Please bring back global warming. If gas was not so expensive, I would leave my truck run all day long to help out the cause.
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