ShipStore.com Beacon: One Last Waterski, Marine Manuals & Lights
Issue 97, October 25, 2006
http://www.ShipStore.com
Floating your boat since 1982 TM


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IN THIS ISSUE:
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~ WELCOME ABOARD: Our Final Waterski Run of the Season
~ CAPTAIN'S TIP: SELOC Marine Manuals
~ CAPTAIN'S TIP: Aqua Signal Marine Lights, Horns and More
~ CAPTAIN'S SPECIALS: Marine Manuals, Marine Lights and More
~ CAPTAIN'S CONTEST: "Win a Shopping Spree" Drawing

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~ WELCOME ABOARD: Our Final Waterski Run of the Season
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I'm writing to you from the front passenger seat of the car, traveling 65 mph southbound on NYS Route 87, headed to the Big Apple for a couple of days. I drove the first leg, between Westport and Lake George where we dropped off the Ski Nautique at the dealer. Now my wife's piloting us sans nautical caboose, so I've been able to fire up my laptop and reconnect with the world via wireless card. Aaahhh... That's better.

Why are we only dealing with winterizing the ski boat on October 25? As we see it, boating in the North Country should be at least a six month long obsession each year, so we aim for a May through October boating season.

We went for our last ski on Sunday. The boat cover was sagging under the weight of two frozen pools that had collected during several downpours last week. We cracked up the ice and uncovered our faithful stead. Our friends, Chris, Michele and Tommy Maron, stood on the dock wearing winter parkas, scarves and hats. They watched as we loaded piles of towels and fleece post-ski warmups into the boat, and I began to suspect that they had come along just to see if we were really crazy enough to ski when the ambient temperature was only in the mid-thirties and puddles were iced over.

I tossed a wetsuit to Chris Maron. "You're not REALLY going to ski, are you?" His wife, Michele, seemed to be pleading more than asking. Tommy, their seven year old son, sat in the boat buried beneath a fleece blanket, only his wide eyes peering out between hat and scarf. We pulled away from the dock, admiring the glass flat water. The sky was grey black, the sun totally obscured by threatening storm clouds. A large formation of Canada geese flew south over Lake Champlain and the distant rapport of a gunshot reminded us that it was opening weekend for deer rifle hunting.

My wife, Susan, insisted on going first. (She maintains that this is the only way to convince the men it's alright to get in the water.) She donned wetsuit, winter ski hat, gloves and an ear-to-ear grin. She assured us that the water was fine, but then again she says the same thing in May when the water's still under forty degrees! She arced gracefully back and forth across the wake, silhouetted against the colorful autumn foliage along the Split Rock Wilderness shore. Our enthusiasm grew in proportion to her euphoric smile. One perfectly executed slalom turn after another, she offered up an impressive end of season performance then signaled that she was finished.

We circled back and I replaced her in the water. Brrr! The water was FAR from fine in my humble opinion. Nevertheless the steadily numbing sensation creeping through my extremities was eclipsed by a tidal wave of adrenaline as I rose onto the water's surface and made my first cut. A little reserved at first, then more aggressive on the second turn. Within a couple of seconds I was feeling confident. The world around me was monochrome and darkening quickly, but my head was racing with vibrant colors. Aside from the chill of wind on my wet face, the conditions couldn't have been finer. I found my rhythm and sliced from side to side, leaning a little further with each turn. Could next spring really be a full six months away? Soon enough I realized that my energy was failing and my turns were becoming sloppier. So I wrapped up and "passed the torch" to Chris Maron.

I knew Chris would follow through and actually ski despite the fact that the temperature was dropping fast. But he stunned us all by pulling a marathon session of confident, fast slalom turns. Like the Energizer bunny, he just kept going and going and going. The first misty precipitation had begun to fall as we loaded a still energetic Chris into the boat to head back to the dock. Not long after the cover was snapped back on, the skys began to spit sleet, and a chilly wind began to whip up the water into a full chop.

So there you have it, a full play-by-play eulogy to another waterski season past! Now the boat's being prepared for hibernation, and we're off to the city to celebrate birthdays and brag about our final ski of the season.

Until next week,
George Davis, Beacon Editor
editor@shipstore.com

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~ CAPTAIN'S TIP: SELOC Marine Manuals
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Seloc marine tune-up and repair manuals are the only marine tune-up manuals to be certified by the engine manufacturers as accurate and complete.

http://www.shipstore.com/SS/HTML/SEC/00-INDEX-SEC.html

Seloc uses easy to understand step-by-step illustrated procedures for the complete dismantling, repair, and assembling of marine powerplants. The illustrations are mainly photographs taken during the actual work. Each numbered step procedure is accompanied by the same numbered photograph or illustration making Seloc manuals easy to follow. Seloc chapters are divided into complete areas of work such as Electrical, Ignition, Fuel, etc. making it much easier to find the procedure for the job to be performed. Seloc Marine offers a full line of manuals complete with diagrams, maintenance schedules, specs, and complete "How To" instructions.

Seloc manuals are not only the smart choice, they are the only choice in complete and updated repair manuals. Select your manual from the list below, or use the Engine Manual Locator (available from ALL Seloc item pages) to find the correct manual for your engine. Note: You may need to turn off Pop-Up Blockers on your browser for this function to work. It will open a small window for you to enter your engine information.

Each numbered step procedure is accompanied by the same numbered photograph or illustration making Seloc manuals easy to follow. Seloc chapters are divided into complete areas of work such as Electrical, Ignition, Fuel, etc. making it much easier to find the procedure for the job to be performed.

To find the manual(s) you need, select your engine from our product finder here:

http://www.shipstore.com/SS/HTML/SEC/SECMANUALS.html

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~ CAPTAIN'S TIP: Aqua Signal Marine Lights, Horns and More
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ShipStore.com is now carrying the entire line of Aqua Signal lights, horns and replacement parts!

http://www.shipstore.com/SS/HTML/ASL/00-INDEX-ASL.html

For over 130 years, Aqua Signal has been dedicated to the development and production of special-purpose lighting systems and services, primarily for marine applications. From the very beginning their most important customers have always come from the shipbuilding and offshore industries.

Today, Aqua Signal is an internationally active supplier of lighting technologies for marine applications. They are the world leader when it comes to lighting systems for vessels and they cover the full spectrum of needs for the boating and shipbuilding industry.

In addition to leisure and pleasure craft, Aqua Signal designs, develops and produces controls and total lighting solutions for commercial and naval vessels, cruise ships, ferries and offshore drilling platforms. Aqua Signal products include: navigation lanterns, controls, floodlights, searchlights, outdoor lighting, indoor lighting, emergency lighting systems, computerized illumination systems and decorative lighting.

Check out the full range of Aqua Signal marine lights, horns and replacement parts:

http://www.shipstore.com/SS/HTML/ASL/00-INDEX-ASL.html

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~ CAPTAIN'S SPECIALS: Marine Manuals, Marine Lights and More
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SELOC Marine Manuals with Sierra parts finder
http://www.shipstore.com/SS/HTML/SEC/SECMANUALS.html

Aqua Signal Marine Lights, Horns and More
http://www.shipstore.com/SS/HTML/ASL/00-INDEX-ASL.html

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~ CAPTAIN'S CONTEST: "Win a Shopping Spree!" Drawing
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Win a $100.00 credit at ShipStore.com. To be eligible for future "Win a Shopping Spree!" drawings all you have to do is subscribe to the Beacon. All current subscribers are eligible for the random drawing. If you're not already subscribed, then visit http://www.shipstore.com and scroll down the light blue column along the left hand side of the page until you see the link "Win a Shopping Spree!". Click on the link. A new window will open with an email addressed to beacon-on@list.shipstore.com and "Subscribe" written in the Subject Field. All you have to do is hit send.

You'll be sent a confirmation email which you must respond to in order to activate your subscription and be added to our mailing list. This double opt-in procedure enables us to prevent accidental subscriptions and spam. As soon as your confirmation is confirmed, you will be entered into the "Win a Shopping Spree!" drawing for a $100.00 free merchandise from ShipStore.com. Good luck.

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COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
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