Interview with pro skier April Coble Eller

On April 1, 2010 I talked with professional water skier and water ski school owner, April Coble Eller. Among April’s many career accomplishments, she is a 26 time US National Champion, US Masters Overall Champion, USA Water Ski Athlete of the year (2 times), USA Water Ski Coach of the year and a regular member on the US Pro Tour. Her slalom best is an amazing 5 buoys at 39 off; she has jumped 154 feet, and tricked 5750 points. April lives in Lillington, North Carolina with her family at Coble Water Ski School.

How did you start your skiing career? Did you start with your family as a child, introduced by friends, joined a team in college?

      April: I started skiing at three years old, because it was what my parents did. I started competing at five years old, I started professional skiing at         18, and in 1995 we started Coble Ski School.

Did you ski on a collegiate team? If so, which?

     April: I skied for UNC - Chapel Hill. When we got there, we kind of the revived team. I also went to ULM, when it was NLU, for once semester and          that semester we won Nationals. I then went back to Chapel High to graduate.

Can you tell me a little bit about your collegiate skiing experience? Did you three-event? Did you win any awards? Are you still close with your teammates?

     April: I skied three events, I won Collegiate All Stars several times - I believe two or three times. In my senior year, they had the first ever                    Collegiate Worlds, where I won and set the Collegiate Worlds record in jump & slalom. The best thing that has come out of collegiate skiing would        be my husband, Chris, who I met in college. He started working here at Coble Ski School as a Sophomore, we then went on and got married!

What is your skiing experience like now? How has it changed from college, to pro skier, to running a ski school, to having a family?

     April: I skied professionally before college when I was 18, then I went to college and in college I had a break in skiing.                                                  The training time was not as intense - when we trained, we worked hard, but I had other things in my life, like school. I did                                            ski on pro tour in college, and since I graduated from college, skiing was taken to a whole other level. I made it my career.

April, Chris, Landis, and Kamryn Eller

 What do you think has changed the sport the most in the past 10 years? Technology, scoring, skis?

      April: The one thing that I think has made the sport better and more fair is cruise control. It really made it fair for skiers and easier for drivers.

Where do you see the sport going in the next 10 years? Growing? In another direction? Do you think waterskiing will ever be in the Olympics?

     April: I don’t think it will ever be in the Olympics. Here at ski school, each year we keep growing. We are water ski/wakeboard specific, and if you          come here you have to want to ski. As a whole, as long as we keep gas prices down, because that can keep people from going out, our sport will          keep growing.

What would you like to see the sport get to in years? More affordable for families? See entry fees and equipment become cheaper?

     April: Yes, all of that. I know that HO is making an affordable ski, which is basically just like the A1, but it is a lot more affordable. Right now, you        cannot get a high-end ski for less than $1200.  With all the new technology, companies are finding new ways to keep performance up and costs            down. I know Masterline used to out source the braiding of their ropes, they now changed it into an in house production. So the qualify of this                equipment is still there, while keeping the prices affordable.

How did Coble Ski School get started?

     April: In 1994, my parents bought the property, and we purchased it as a training site. My dad started to retire, I was graduating from college, my          sister was still in college and we didn’t have the money to afford to keep up the property. So we sold then house where we used to live and we              started teaching people how to ski. We started 16 years ago to try to make money for skiing and keeping the land. For the next three years after,          we tripled in numbers. Before we knew it, it grew out of control, faster than we as a family could take, so we started hiring collegiate skiers to come      work for us as a summer internship. And now we are the largest ski school in the world!                

Coble Ski School Aerial View

What is the best part of coming to Coble Ski School as a skier?

     April: If you are true skier, then we have the very best stuff for you. We have the best boats, the best equipment, the best lakes, the best weather.        We have a top-notch atmosphere with the top-notch people.

 What is the best advice anyone has every given you about skiing?

     April: The first time I ever ran 35 off in a tournament was in Detroit, Michigan.  And my dad said. “We have trained hard, we have worked hard, your      ski is as best as it can be - just keep on, keeping on.” If you keep going and never give up, you will succeed. And that always comes back to me,        “just keep on, keeping on.” Just as in life. I ran 35 and made it to the finals.

If you could plan the perfect skiing day, any amount of money, any place, with any person (s), anything….what would it be like?

      April: It would be 90 degrees outside and the water at 85 degrees. I would be here at my home, with the best boat, on our lake with no wind, with all       my friends and family.

Wondering how to get your boat ready for summer??

Contributed by Mark Grabowski

Spring is finally here.  Finals are fast approaching, flip flops are flip floppin’, and the ice is out of the lakes.  It’s time to get out and take advantage of the water before the official start of the Wally season, also known as Memorial Day.  Since you’ve got nothing else to read and/or memorize this time of the year, we’ll throw you this list of tips to help make sure your first day on the water of the season isn’t wally-rific.

1.    Engine Fluids, Pumps, Batteries, Flux Capacitors, Discombomulators, blah blah whatevers:

Yeah, chances are you (or your Dad, Uncle, Grandpa, Sugar Daddy, etc) paid the dealer or someone else to take care of these.  If by the off chance you do your own maintenance, then I probably would just be telling you stuff you already know (or should know).  We’re just going to try to just whip together a quick list that blankets the largest demographic of readers of this e-newsletter.

2. Do what Stevie Wonder never got the chance to do to his boat – A Visual Inspection of Everything.

We’ll assume you just got the boat out of storage / back from the dealer / out of the repo lot.  Take a walk around it and in it.  Anything look weird / ugly / not right?  Yeah, I thought so.  Let’s see if we can address a few of those issues.

PROPELLER - Your Prop has more dents and dings than Kate Gosselin’s thighs – It goes without saying – your prop is one of the most valuable parts of your boat’s drivetrain.  It’s also more vulnerable than Lindsey Lohan after 8 shots of Kesslers.  Who knows what lurks underwater?  Whatever it was, you / your brother / your Dad / your Haitian refugee hit it.  Even if it’s just a small ding, it can make a big difference, especially if it’s a 3-blade prop.  Most new boat can spin the prop at 5200 revolutions per minute – quick math, that’s almost 87 revolutions PER SECOND.  Just one little ding gets magnified significantly at that speed.  Out-of-rotation props can lead to more than just a vibration in the steering wheel – it can (and will) damage bearings and seals.  Pull it off and put on the spare.  Or if you don’t know how, most dealers will pull it off and install it for free when you pay them.

INTERIOR - if your interior has more plants growing on it than your roommate’s closet shelf, you need to get to work.  Mold & mildew typically doesn’t grow during the winter, but if you left it from last year or if you wait till June to uncover your boat to take it out, then grab your scrub brush.  If you have a newer boat, DON’T reach for just any cleaner.  Check your manual or call your dealer to find out what to use.  Newer vinyl has UV inhibitors in it and when scrubbed with the wrong chemicals, it accelerates the deterioration of the vinyl and threads.  If you have an older boat, Soft Scrub with Bleach along with a nylon bristle scrub brush typically does the trick.  Note, sometimes this can leave light bleach spot on your cutoff jorts – be careful.  Vacuum the carpet (don’t forget to get under the seat and in all the other compartments, slacker), wipe off the dash, and clean out all the Keystone Light cans from the anchor locker. 

Hey, while you’re crawling around check all the 4” plastic vent hoses that are always in the way of the stowage of your prized kneeboard.  These vent hoses, although seemingly useless, actually are very important – the ones in the front deliver fresh air to your engine.  The ones in the back help vent the nasty air from your bilge.  A good fix that will last about 7 minutes would be duct tape.  A better fix would be replacing the hose or fixing it by inserting and clamping a piece of similar-sized rigid pipe.

Don’t jump out just yet.  Giiiirrrl – yo bilge be nasty!  Grab some of your Moms / Stepmoms / Dad’s 22 year old girlfriend’s dish soap (Joy, Dawn, Palmolive, etc) and squirt that in your bilge and ski locker areas.  Give it a good spray with the hose and then scrub as many areas as you can.  Rinse it out and let it drain through the drain plug hole.  Make sure the drains from areas like the ski locker are clear also.  If clogged stick a wire hanger or similar concocted device through it to clear the clog.  If this is clogged, it will hold water in your ski locker and not let it get to the bilge where your bilge pump is.  Hey, speaking of which…

Now is a good time to locate your drain plug and put that in.  Since you’re wasting the water to rinse your bilge out, fill up your bilge part way and make sure your bilge pump works – in both manual and automatic.  Working?  Good.  Not Working?  Check the fuse or breaker.  Don’t know where that is?  Well call your mechanic, but most are either under the dash or by its respective switch.  Either way, if it’s blown, there’s probably something else wrong.

EXTERIOR – Hey, you made your dad / grandpa / blackmailed local politician order your boat in that pink / yellow color combo.  Now show it off!  Get the wax out and hand wax the boat everywhere there’s shiny fiberglass.  Yes, even on the inside.  And yes, even under the boat – especially under the boat.  Also, although it won’t damage anything – try not to get the wax all over the black rubber pieces.  It looks lame.  And your boat is a reflection of you – even if it is pink and yellow.  And don’t use the same wax you used to shine your ’94 Beretta.  Use an actual marine wax.  This stuff is available at marine stores and pretty much everywhere else regular car waxes are sold.

Speaking of lame, how about your teak platform?  They sell fancy kits to restore these, which do work well.  However, if you’re broke because you blew the subwoofers out in your Dodge Neon, there’s a cheap and quick way to do this.  First, get me an ice pick, a snorkel, and some tin foil.  Next, get yourself a hard-bristled scrub brush.  If you can, take your platform off the boat.  After that, mix up some bleach and water (usually a 50-50 blend does the trick).  Scrub the platform with the bleach water being careful not to get any on your jorts.  Let it dry, and now use the Teak Oil or Teak Stain that you bought / lifted from your local boating store / hardware store / Wal-Mart.  Rub that on with a dry lint-free towel or paintbrush, and you’re back in business.  Thanks for the ice pick, by the way.

TRAILER – One of the more vital pieces of equipment for your boat, and often the most neglected.  Check the tire pressure.  Most trailer tires are supposed to be set at around 50-55 psi.  Check your sidewall for your rating.  While you’re hanging around by your tire, give it an once-over.  Any cracking on the sidewall?  Any screws in the treads?  Any cats underneath?  If yes, then you may want to consider having your tires (and / or cat) replaced.  BTW, never have a trailer tire plugged – they should always be taken off the rim and patched from the inside.

If by some chance you actually have a grease gun, then go ahead and give the bearing a few pumps.  However, you should always repack your bearings every few years or so (or have someone repack them).  Pumping grease in through the bearing buddy is a good maintainer, but it doesn’t get grease to everywhere it needs to be.  Have a newer boat?  Many newer trailers have oil-bath bearings which are sealed and don’t need grease.  Make sure you can see the oil in the hubs.

Grab your can of WD40 and spray the trailer wire connector.  Make sure all the metal contacts are clean.  While you got that can in your hand, go ahead and spay all the moving parts – winches, latches, rollers, etc.  Stop for a minute and spray some ants and light them on fire.  Go back to lubricating the trailer.

TOWER – So you have a tower, or as old people refer to them – “cage-thingies”.  Whatever they’re called, they, like redheaded step children, need love too.  Remove the knobs or bolts that you normally remove to lower it down.  Put some anti-seize lubricant on the threads (available at any auto parts or hardware store).  Don’t want to buy the anti-seize lubricant?  Use your WD40.  Assemble everything.  Make sure all mounting hardware is nice and tight.  Make sure all of the 1,200 speakers you have up there are also secure.  God knows you wouldn’t want one of those falling and hitting you on the dome piece.  Make sure your board racks are secure too.

DASH – Sit down and play with all the switches like you’re a 6 year old at a boat show.  Make sure everything works or lights up.  The last thing you want is to be idling across the lake at 2 am with your friends singing Miley’s “Party in the USA” and have someone rip across your bow because your lights weren’t working.  That song would never be the same to you again.

ENGINE – Calm down.  You don’t need to know what you’re looking at.  Just look at it.  You may be a Women’s Literature major, but you still know that a hose clamp shouldn’t be broken and hanging, a wire shouldn’t be exposed and blackened, a hose shouldn’t be cracked, or a belt shouldn’t be frayed, etc.  If it doesn’t look right to you, take a picture with your iPhone and send it to your dealer asking them what they think.  See, your iPhone is good for other things besides games and sexting your significant other!

PRE-LAUNCH - Ok, so you did everything, hooked it up to the Tahoe and are headed to the ramp.  Stop on your way and fill it up with fresh gas.  You can use Dad’s credit card – I won’t say anything.  Finally you get to the ramp.  I know you and your buddies love to do the quick launch where you unhook everything, back down real fast, hit the brakes, and throw the boat out into the water while all the Bayliner couples watch in amazement.  There’s a lot wrong with that, but I won’t complain – you get out of my way faster.  But for the first launch of the season, take your time.  Put the plug(s) in, back the boat in to where it’s just floating in the back and start it up.  Open the engine compartment.  Make sure there is no water pouring in.  During most winterizing procedures, the engine is drained, and sometimes the correct hoses / plugs don’t always go back where they belong.  Run the ballast system pumps (if so equipped).  Check the bilge and make sure there’s no water leaking in.  Let the engine run for a few minutes and watch the gauges making sure everything looks normal.  Finally, put the Def Leppard Hysteria CD in.  Does it sound ok?  No, it doesn’t sound ok.  It sounds f*ckin’ awesome.  Now enjoy your spring sets.