Fall is one of my favorite times of the year to ski in Georgia. The water is still warm from the hot summers and the outside temperatures are refreshing. But that’s not the only reason I like to water ski in the Fall. One of my favorite reasons is that most of the boating traffic is gone and you pretty much have the lake to yourself with the exception of an occasional fisherman passing by.

I had been looking to a lot more rope time this year but plans were changed due to low water levels. Here in Georgia and much of the Southeast U.S., we have been experiencing what is described as an “exceptional” drought. The lake levels where we ski are down 10 feet and dropping about an inch everyday. We are fortunate compared to lots of other lakes where the levels are much lower, but at 10 feet down, the course had to be removed in spite of our desire to keep skiing.

Where our course was installed the levels are between 13 and 18 feet deep under normal conditions. But with the lake being down 10 feet, we have been left with 8 feet at the deepest part, plenty of water to float a course but at the other end it the depths at 3 feet made it impossible to leave it in. So what to do without a course to ski on? One option would be to do some open water skiing, but the addiction to carving turns around buoys makes that no fun. So, we decided to pull the boat out and do some off-season maintenance and repairs.

I had a couple of things on the list which have now grown. First one, was to remove the old pylon that has been disintegrating over the years at the floorboard. Large chucks of aluminum have been flaking off and now there is a portion with ¾” deep craters missing from the sides. Probably plenty of structurally sound material to handle a skier load, but it’s always in the back of my mind wondering if it could break.

Then there’s the issue of correcting a worn rudder shaft. The rudder has had some play in it and I’m hoping that a local machine shop can build back up the shaft and turn it back down to original specifications. Both the pylon and rudder have been delivered to the machinist for repair and replacement. The pylon will be replaced with a stainless steel copy of the original and the rudder will be re-machined, unless unforeseen problems develop that prevent the machinist from turning the shaft.

A third and un-planned item is now on the list. Since some of the floor had to be removed around the pylon to get it out, I decided to replace the carpet. After pulling the old carpet out, I found a another small area in the floor that was damaged by water. So, it’s now time to cut out some of the old floor and replace it before the new carpet arrives.

And my list just keeps growing. Time for new spark plugs, oil and fuel filters, oil change, timing check, etc, etc, etc. I’d rather have been skiing this Fall, but the drought forced me into taking care of some issues that I would not have taken care of otherwise. So, out to the shop to get the boat ready for the lake when the rain comes. The only thing that makes me feel content is knowing that I couldn’t be skiing anyway.

Depending on where you live, most of us don’t ski in the colder months anyway. This is the perfect time to take care of maintenance issues starting with winterization. Time spent now taking care of potential problems can allow you to focus on skiing when the lake levels return. So for now, I will just have to wait for the rain.

Kerry Lloyd

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