On Location Tour Continues

At the Great Lakes Conference Championships saw some great outfits in the water!


The cape did not help this guy jump any further, but I think he had a great time.


Brock Carrol had the gayest outfit of the event! He looked far to comfortable in it as well!


Western Michigan had the bibs and the style on the dock, they only had their bibs on the water!


Gar Bradley On Location Tour drive for September and University of Cincinnatti regular team coach left, Chris Van Treese came equipped with his growth of UC branding, just don't ask him to lift his arms and show you the F he has on his right bicep and the K on his left!


Nightfall came to the event and believe it or not, this is a guy!


He was not afraid to show off his Sisters underwear!


Or maybe he had taken all of his Sisters underwear and handed it out to his Team mates!


A College Tournament Team shower, getting ready for the evening festivities.


There were some team talks and tactics being had.


Now there's a sweet moment in time, his and her's matching T-Shirts. You go Jay and Katie!

Location:Great Lakes Conference Championships

On Location Tour Continues

After leaving St Mary's Ohio on Friday evening after coaching at the Dammeyer's Lake, it was time to head over to Van Wert Ohio for the Great Lakes College Conference Championships. We arrived later than planned due to the late start after the field fire in St Mary's. I have never seen so many cars, tents and skiers packed into such a small area, what a very cool experience to be part of this raw yet competitive field.


The weather was great for most of Saturday and then the air temp dropped pretty rapidly, this still did not deter the kids from partying hard and late that night.


I was asked to ski a demonstration set, it was a pleasure to ski and be part of their event!


We set up the On Location Tour bus and shop next to the start dock! We had the full range of Radar Ski equipment on show/for sale along with Masterline and Jodi' Ski Skool products and clothing.


Jim McClure who owns Pleasant Shores has done an amazing job of get this site ready to deal with 200 college kids partying! They skied well into the Saturday night under lights!


I just want to mention that Cowboy, otherwise known as Nick Perrino cooked up the best Prime Rib meat I have ever tasted, man that fella can cook!!!
25 lbs of meat to please the kids!


Cowboy AKA Nick Perrino, a great artist, an amazing cook and a terrible announcer on the microphone! A great guy and a very funny man though!!!!


Two huge party nights trying to keep up with 200 college kids will take it out of you!!!
We are looking forward to attending the Collegiate National Championships in Austin mid October.

On Location Tour Continues

From Dayton to St Mary's Ohio for the Next clinic at Short-line Shores, a man-made lake built by Carl Dammeyer and his family. Carl is a farmer by trade and has 2 boys Kyle and Kevin and a daughter Kristen who all ski very well. The lake is raised above the natural land level so burm's were built up to surround the lake.



We arrived Thursday night already knowing we were going to be dealing with a very windy day - according to the weather forecast. We were up early ready to ski, but the wind was building quickly on us. Diegi and Torrey where getting a little blown around on their sets as the lake soon became unskiable.


Shortly after lunch the wind switched and started blowing out of the west. All of a sudden we were surrounded by heavy smoke from a field fire. This was more than a little worrying as it was heading straight for the lake and farm buildings. 45 mile an hour gusty winds and the ash started to land on the boat, we made the decision to pull the boat out and clear out, you could hear fire trucks coming from all directions, but no one knew how far away the fire was and how fast it was coming. I jumped into the RV to turn her around as Gar and Diego took care of taking the boat out of the water and you wouldn't believe it, the engine would not start! The coach engine battery seemed to be dead. Now things really started to look bad.

The three or four of us, together with Heritage Coaches on the phone, eliminated the things that could be the problem. We ended up connecting the two house batteries up to the coaching engine battery with jumper cables to start the engine. For a few moments there, we were just a little stressed!

During the 30 minutes that we were trying to start the coach, the fire trucks had gotten the field fire under control just in time. They stopped the fire just short of taking out a row of houses and the Dammeyer's farm buildings.


As soon as we were all packed up to clear out the fire was under control and the wind started to drop and the lake became skiable again. It was time to throw the boat back in the water and go skiing. All the students from the college teams that came out to take a set managed to ski right up until sun set, it turned out to be a beautiful evening on the water!


Kyle Dammeyer taking the last set of the day on his own lake, living the dream! Thank you to the Dammeyer family for opening your home and site up for the On Location Tour, we had a very exciting day and can't wait to return next year.

On Location Tour Continues

We were asked to return to Sun Site in Dayton Ohio after coaching there last week on our way though to Michigan. Bruce Brown and Jan Terbrueggen have taken part in my coaching in the past and have also been to my school in Orlando many times before. This was the first waterski training that Mike has ever had in his life, Mike is a very good skier but had mentioned he had not improved for some time now and was stuck at the same level. We switched his grip to the opposite hand to which foot forward and worked on body direction to center him over his ski, this straight away gave him efficiency and balance in the course.


It was great to have Jon Borhurst join the clinic both day, Jon skis at National level for many years. Jon had a five year break from the sport whilst raising kids but has been back involved with the sport for the past year and having to make a few changes in his form to manage the new GPS speed control systems on the boats.
A few little tweaks and he looked great!
Happy 6th Birthday to Kelly his youngest.



When you run out if fresh water in the RV, it's time for the boat shower built into the back of the MasterCraft.



It was such a pleasure to meet Kandy Richardson formerly (Bright). Kandy skied at National level back in the 60's, Kandy, now a dog trainer, belongs to a dog club next to SunSite and came over to chat after seeing the On Location Tour Rig.
Kandy Mom Bunny Bright was National Senior Ladies Jump Champion and her Father was the first person ever to jump over 100 feet in our sport!
Kandy spent the summers between 1963-67 skiing at Cypress Gardens and skied at the Worlds Fair in Seattle back in the 60's. I was so cool to meet a true pioneer of our sport!

Location:Sun Site Ski Club Dayton, Ohio

On Location Tour Continues

We drove over from East Michigan to Grand Rapids on the Westside. Lake Summerwood in Hudsonville, near to the MasterCraft dealer - Jerry Brauwer and Action Water Sports. Jerry set out 5 years ago to build this great site, I walked the land when he first bought it when he showed me where he planned to build the lake tucked back in the trees of 40 acres of woodland.


With the 50 high trees surrounding the lake, it takes a great deal of wind to even get a ripple on this water!


Looking across the MasterCraft 197 at the glass we were about to shred!!


Jerry Brauwer has done an amazing job of looking after his client base across the State of Michigan, with three dealerships, Hudsonville, Travers City and Fenton. These guy's really know what going on and how to take care of the very loyal customer base. The best boat dealerships Around!

Location:Lake Summerwood Hudsonville MI

Well they don't call it Hidden Lake for nothing, Fred & Son Brent Triplett have one of the nicest single man-made private sites I have seen in while. Hidden Lake is near Clio, Michigan and well worth the drive.


We awoke to a beautiful fall morning over looking a glass calm lake. This site is 14 years old and looking like it has always been there, apart from the small rocks surrounding the shoreline. Perfect gradient and zero backwash.


Brent a college student about to take his first set prior to heading to school for his classes, Brent had a great set working on finding the middle of his ski and a bunch more efficiency and balance in his skiing.



Diego was not happy about taking the first set of the day and having to get in 65 degree water after having skied in 85 recently!



It was time to clean the Tour Bus, Gar was scrubbing and Diego was armed with the hose just spraying everything.


Gar thought I was in need of a wash, well we have been on the road for two months now!!!


Thank you to the Triplett family for a great time at your beautiful site, we can't wait to return on our 2011 On Location Tour!

On Location Tour Continues

Next Stop for the Tour was Tivoli Gardens in Lindon Michigan for the Rip Fest Collegiate Championships. The man-made site was built by a Danish gentleman named Paul Boel who named this beautiful site after the famous Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Paul has done an amazing job of creating a beautiful landscape around his lake.



The Rip Fest event is now in it's 3rd year at Tivoli Garden and plays host to 9 of the Michigan College Teams, 100 College kids at an event is pretty crazy I can tell you, but this is an amazing part of the sport in the US that really gets kids fired up and builds a sense of belonging and Team work.



We awoke to very heavy rain on Saturday morning, the air temp was pretty cool but the atmosphere under the Grand Valley Ski Team tent was bubbling!


They had plenty of Cider and Donuts to keep them happy!


The boys were keeping warm around the BBQ at Lunchtime.



The weather improved throughout the day and Sunday was better with plenty of sunshine. I have to say that the blazing sun did not help the blazing hangover, man these college kids know how to have a party in evening. All the drinking games, flip cup, beer pong and the shot ski were all in play last night. I don't want to see another beer for a while.

On Location Tour Continues

We arrived at Gar Bradley's Mothers house in Cincinnati last night at 10.00pm, what a lovely lady, it was a pleasure to meet her and Robert his Brother.
We headed over to Extreme Ski Club and set up camp for the night. We were ready to rock at 7.30am this morning.


Greg Kenning arrived bring and early for the first set of the day, Greg is the President of the Ohio Water Ski Federation and Head Coach of the Ohio State University Water Ski Team. Greg was ripping it out there on the smooth water this morning. Great job with your new stance Greg!


Kurt Mechler, Dane Mechler Father who is a Chiropractor gave a little adjustment to Diegi Reyes this morning before he took to the water for his training sets.
Dane Mechler did a great job of standing better on his ski and becoming more efficient.


By 11.30am we were back on road a heading to Dayton in time to pull some sets at Sun Site Lake by the highway. This two lake site has beautiful colored water and a great bunch of skiers.


I met Bruce Brown many times before in Orlando and out at the Extreme club in Cincinnati on previous clinics. Bruce is also a Chiropractor in the Dayton area and a great skier to match. Bruce is also loving his new stance and efficiency!


Gar's good friend Yvonne Austin come out to ski even though she was a little under the weather and not feeling great. Her ski and binding set up needed some work, so after working on her ski and having dinner in the parking lot of Ace Hardware, she would be ready for Wednesday when we will be back in Dayton for another clinic day!


It was a pleasure to meet Kevin from the local restaurant who stepped outside for a break!

Location:Cincinnati & Dayton Ohio