wx5svr
New Member
Howdy all,
The last two weekends I have taken my new (to me) 1995 200BR out to the lake. This was a series of lessons and fun times for all. Two weeks ago we camped out so we got to go boating two days back to back. I will tell you, there is nothing like an early morning; rowdy "daddy bought the boat†boat owners are all asleep and the lake is alllll yours. I have come to some conclusions though; as I had speculated in the past, that the more sweat, blood, tears, and MONEY (personal money) one has in their boat, the better one takes care of their boat. One brand new X-star in particular comes to mind. I think they went full throttle to full reverse 4 or 5 times before picking up their group of young underage chicas from the dock. Needless to say their chests were puffed out like mating pigeons and the chicas were oh so impressed.
The weather both weekends was beautiful. Well, aside from the early afternoon thundershower last weekend. Got the boat on the trailer 30sec before the rain started and luckily no close lightning strikes. This just meant we got to go enjoy a nice long Mexican food lunch/dinner :smt038 All the camping spots with docks were taken so we had to use some backcountry ingenuity to tie up the boat at night. We pulled my Tahoe, with Ranchhand bumpers, out onto a peninsula, trailered the trim, pulled the boat onto the mud (the kind of mud you sink 2ft into), and finished the job properly by tying the boat up to the bumper. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of this portion of the adventure and hopefully we won't have to do it again. I got up three times in the middle of the night to check on the boats "mooring". Well, that and to dispose of the prior evenings beverages :grin:
At the end of the first day, a long day of tubing, skiing, and floating, we were attempting to "beach" the boat when one of the girls decided to let go of one of the floaties. Myself and my infinite wisdom, ripped off my shirt, glasses, and visor, and attempted to jump off the side of the boat. Well, with a wet boat, folded down top, and having a few beers in me (I was not driving), my balance was not there. As soon as all my weight was on my right foot, on the side of the boat, I promptly lost balance/grip, and floundered face first into the lake, knocking the heck out of my shin on the way out. :smt038 That was lesson number one: no floatie is worth making a fool of yourself OR hurting yourself. And to make matters worse someone had stepped on my glasses while I was saving a $8 floatie. sigh.
After we got the boat secured I turned around and our friends, who were watching the dogs, were not "watching" the dogs. Mine has wandered to the campsite two down to say "hello". I ran over got my dog, scolded him, apologized to the shady campers, and walked him back to put him on his leash. I got stared at by a very large and not nice looking older "gentleman" from that campsite all the way back to mine. Well not 10 seconds later the camper next to us came over to talk to me. Apparently this "gentleman" was not only extremely intoxicated but he had kicked my dog (unprovoked) and attempted to kick him a few more times before I had gotten over there. I did not witness this but this would explain my dog’s timid behavior before I got to him. (My gf and I have to use kid gloves with him since he was previously beaten. It doesn't take much to put him on the floor in a ball shaking.) Now my dog is a very very very friendly dog and I can understand how some people can get defensive, but this just made me irate. There is no reason to kick a dog that is not making a move on anyone. I know I was in the wrong for not having him leashed, although no leash laws at this lake, but still he should have been in my control. Needless to say I kept a tight leash on the pups.
Just this past weekend we went out on Sunday just the two pups, the gf, and myself. Had a relaxing afternoon putzing around the lake and laying out. Did a little tubing but it was a little choppy and crowded to have too much fun. I had a headache and realllllly didn't want to get thrown. Well, between my gf's love of throwing tubers, the large wake, and the small lake.......I got airborne like I had never been before and thrown sideways grasping for my swimming trunks. After that we decided to take it easy. And from the photos below you will be able to see who decided to join me on an adventure. Never before have I gotten so many looks. Even the lake police on a jet ski floated over to get a second look at what we were doing. I can honestly say it was my best encounter with Johnny Law.
A few things I learned/realized:
-anchors do not like to set in mud....unless they catch on an electrical conduit (discovered when trying to pull up anchor)
-dogs on leash when not on boat, for their protection!!
-fiberglass is sharp, the underside lips of compartments in particular, lake water hurts when in these cuts
-there is NO graceful way to fall off a boat, and yes I have the bruise to prove it.
-I still don't know how to properly dock a boat and I have the scratch to prove it. Luckily the new reg. stickers should cover it nicely.
-ask if anyone doesn't know how to swim and politely request that they wear a life jacket at all times when on the boat. (Yes, I did encounter this problem)
-6 people and 3 dogs is too much on a 20ft boat, especially when one dog has the hots for the guest dog, dogs don't listen!!!
-when a significant other says "I will be nice" towing you on a tube, you might as well get the backboard and neck collar out.
-I need to get an optima blue top x2 with battery switch
...I am sure I have forgotten some others, but that is the short list.
Some photos from the two weekends:
Couple shots of the old lady:
Now you know what I look like.....and what I drink: :thumbsup:
Safety First:
Getting ready to tube:
Tubing (can you spot the husky?):
The "lake":
Pooped puppies:
Sorry the really long post. As you can tell, I am enjoying the living heck out of my Sea Ray.
Graham
The last two weekends I have taken my new (to me) 1995 200BR out to the lake. This was a series of lessons and fun times for all. Two weeks ago we camped out so we got to go boating two days back to back. I will tell you, there is nothing like an early morning; rowdy "daddy bought the boat†boat owners are all asleep and the lake is alllll yours. I have come to some conclusions though; as I had speculated in the past, that the more sweat, blood, tears, and MONEY (personal money) one has in their boat, the better one takes care of their boat. One brand new X-star in particular comes to mind. I think they went full throttle to full reverse 4 or 5 times before picking up their group of young underage chicas from the dock. Needless to say their chests were puffed out like mating pigeons and the chicas were oh so impressed.
The weather both weekends was beautiful. Well, aside from the early afternoon thundershower last weekend. Got the boat on the trailer 30sec before the rain started and luckily no close lightning strikes. This just meant we got to go enjoy a nice long Mexican food lunch/dinner :smt038 All the camping spots with docks were taken so we had to use some backcountry ingenuity to tie up the boat at night. We pulled my Tahoe, with Ranchhand bumpers, out onto a peninsula, trailered the trim, pulled the boat onto the mud (the kind of mud you sink 2ft into), and finished the job properly by tying the boat up to the bumper. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of this portion of the adventure and hopefully we won't have to do it again. I got up three times in the middle of the night to check on the boats "mooring". Well, that and to dispose of the prior evenings beverages :grin:
At the end of the first day, a long day of tubing, skiing, and floating, we were attempting to "beach" the boat when one of the girls decided to let go of one of the floaties. Myself and my infinite wisdom, ripped off my shirt, glasses, and visor, and attempted to jump off the side of the boat. Well, with a wet boat, folded down top, and having a few beers in me (I was not driving), my balance was not there. As soon as all my weight was on my right foot, on the side of the boat, I promptly lost balance/grip, and floundered face first into the lake, knocking the heck out of my shin on the way out. :smt038 That was lesson number one: no floatie is worth making a fool of yourself OR hurting yourself. And to make matters worse someone had stepped on my glasses while I was saving a $8 floatie. sigh.
After we got the boat secured I turned around and our friends, who were watching the dogs, were not "watching" the dogs. Mine has wandered to the campsite two down to say "hello". I ran over got my dog, scolded him, apologized to the shady campers, and walked him back to put him on his leash. I got stared at by a very large and not nice looking older "gentleman" from that campsite all the way back to mine. Well not 10 seconds later the camper next to us came over to talk to me. Apparently this "gentleman" was not only extremely intoxicated but he had kicked my dog (unprovoked) and attempted to kick him a few more times before I had gotten over there. I did not witness this but this would explain my dog’s timid behavior before I got to him. (My gf and I have to use kid gloves with him since he was previously beaten. It doesn't take much to put him on the floor in a ball shaking.) Now my dog is a very very very friendly dog and I can understand how some people can get defensive, but this just made me irate. There is no reason to kick a dog that is not making a move on anyone. I know I was in the wrong for not having him leashed, although no leash laws at this lake, but still he should have been in my control. Needless to say I kept a tight leash on the pups.
Just this past weekend we went out on Sunday just the two pups, the gf, and myself. Had a relaxing afternoon putzing around the lake and laying out. Did a little tubing but it was a little choppy and crowded to have too much fun. I had a headache and realllllly didn't want to get thrown. Well, between my gf's love of throwing tubers, the large wake, and the small lake.......I got airborne like I had never been before and thrown sideways grasping for my swimming trunks. After that we decided to take it easy. And from the photos below you will be able to see who decided to join me on an adventure. Never before have I gotten so many looks. Even the lake police on a jet ski floated over to get a second look at what we were doing. I can honestly say it was my best encounter with Johnny Law.
A few things I learned/realized:
-anchors do not like to set in mud....unless they catch on an electrical conduit (discovered when trying to pull up anchor)
-dogs on leash when not on boat, for their protection!!
-fiberglass is sharp, the underside lips of compartments in particular, lake water hurts when in these cuts
-there is NO graceful way to fall off a boat, and yes I have the bruise to prove it.
-I still don't know how to properly dock a boat and I have the scratch to prove it. Luckily the new reg. stickers should cover it nicely.
-ask if anyone doesn't know how to swim and politely request that they wear a life jacket at all times when on the boat. (Yes, I did encounter this problem)
-6 people and 3 dogs is too much on a 20ft boat, especially when one dog has the hots for the guest dog, dogs don't listen!!!
-when a significant other says "I will be nice" towing you on a tube, you might as well get the backboard and neck collar out.
-I need to get an optima blue top x2 with battery switch
...I am sure I have forgotten some others, but that is the short list.
Some photos from the two weekends:
Couple shots of the old lady:
Now you know what I look like.....and what I drink: :thumbsup:
Safety First:
Getting ready to tube:
Tubing (can you spot the husky?):
The "lake":
Pooped puppies:
Sorry the really long post. As you can tell, I am enjoying the living heck out of my Sea Ray.
Graham
