Boats

So we took the plunge, so to speak. We finally got a boat. We plopped down a few grand (with the help of my mother in law - Thank you Annette) on a used boat. A 24 ft part barge. A pontoon.

My brother in law, Seth, says that boat stands for Bring Out Another Thousand. Well it is so true.

We took it out for a test ride after we bought it...It was about 40 degrees out and the wind cut right through you. Cold to the bone. But we needed to see what it was like. We launched it, headed towards the Main lake, turned right, took it down aways, turned left, and heard crunch...crunch...crunch. Turned it the other way, got it straight, turned again and nothing. We could not turn any more.

Here we are, Shawn, Cam, Alfredo, Mathew, and myself stuck on the lake. Not even close to the shore. We tried to get another person out on the lake fishing to help us but he never even heard us. Shawn managed to get us slightly turned towards the shore. We could go backward and forward, and that was it. He managed to get us close enough to shore where I could jump out and get to shore and get help.

Ice cold lake (hey just because I live in Texas does not mean the water is a balmy 70 degrees all year...it was freezing) and almost up to my knees I waded to the sandy beach. Went to Rick and Peg's house for help. Rick got his boat out of storage and came to our rescue. He towed us back to the dock and helped us get the boat turned around to get it on the trailer.

We got it out and took it straight to Carlson's boat shop. He looked it over and told us it would be about 300-400 to fix the steering however the Transom was rotten. The transom is what holds the motor up. So we got it over to Price's welding. He looked at it and said it would be about 400 to fix it...OK so we are at 800 now.

However, we also need to replace the captains seat...another 200....ding ding ding...$1000!

So there ya go...Seth was right.

But it will be worth it. Weekends on the lake, with family and friends. Swimming, fishing, grilling (yes I am putting a grill on it), and so much more. Come on summer!