Questions for the boaters out there....

[mostly_gas]

Code54, I would recommend you use the boat for a while, any money you spend you are not very likely to get it back on resale.

 

[Depmandog]

Lake of the Ozarks will make you cringe or angry, with the free for all attitude there. :shocked::thumbdown:

There is no way I would put that boat onto Lake of the Ozarks! Well, maybe if I never left sight of the dock, way way up the lake towards Warsaw!! Can you imagine a 16' boat with ten horses crossing the lake at Grand Glaize? Swamp city!

 

[Ted Summey]

BOAT - Break Out Another Thousand! I love mine!

Check West Marine (sometimes expensive). Boatfix.com (better prices) for your motor control throttle/shifter. The dash panel is something you can make with a piece of lexan and a hole saw set, you can use plywood but make sure you seal it well with epoxy and then paint. Starboard is a composite waterproof material that is UV stable that machines with woodworking tools-it can be used for your gage panel. Even a sheet of aluminum cn be used.

Learn to operate the boat safely, know its and your limits. There are "rules of the road" for the water, learn them. There's nothing worse than having someone who doesn't know the rules and looses his/her life or kills someone else.

 

[Lou66]

I live on the gulf coast and I have had many boats in my life,, from a 12 ft. john boat for running the bayou to 38 ft with twice cumin diesel for the gulf.. Pete Judd gave you good advice.. take a boating class or two.. know what you are doing before leaving the dock.. good luck and congratulation on the boat.. Lou

 

[dmccarty]

Please take a boating coarse. Learn the Marine "Rules of the Road". You may find several in you area, for about 20 bucks, and 2 days. I hold a 100 ton coastguard master ticket and have a 46 ft sail boat, and see people out there that have no Idea of what they are doing on the water.

What Pete and other have said. Take a boating safety class and learn the rules of the road. Course your state might require this already.

I used to spend quite a bit of time dealing with boating safety laws and inspections. Carry the right equipment with the boat. When the scat hits the fan on a boat, it hits fast, and you need the safety equipment close at hand. I have seen some exceedingly stupid things happen on the water.

A child and pregnant women killed last weekend when their pontoon boat was hit by another boat. The first report said alcohol was NOT a factor. The faster boat just did not see the pontoon boat and went right over the top if it. I have spent hours and hours in a 17 foot sea kayak and I am basically invisible to power boats especially if they are up on a plane. I plan my routes to take into account this lack of invisibility by staying close to shore. I figure they might not see me but hopefully the boater will see the shoreline... I have been almost hit TWICE by power boats trying to beach their boats on the shore. No way they could not see me, I was with 20-30 feet of their boat wearing a bright yellow PFD while paddling a bright yellow boat.

Safety equipment for boats is not that expensive. I view it the same way as I do chainsaw chaps, helmet, steel toed boots, gloves and eye glasses I use when running a chainsaw. Add up the cost of that equipment and it is nothing compared to the cost of a visit to the ER. On kayak trip we did was in the late afternoon and the sun was setting when we were pulling into the boat ramp. There was very little wind and a sail boat was barely making way and they did not have an engine. We passed them and landed our boats. Two wildlife officers were checking boats for safety equipment as they arrived at the ramp. The officers had seen us on the water wearing PFDs and we had already turned on lights that were hanging from the PFDs. They did not bother to check us for safety equipment because they could see us wearing it. :laughing::laughing::laughing: The sail boat was a different story. They had PFDs but what they were missing was a light producing device aka a flash light. The officers were showing how effective a flash light beamed at the sail can be to light up a boat. I don't think the officer's wrote up the violation. I don't think the people meant to be on the water after dark but the wind died. But that is also the point of carrying the equipment. You don't know when you will need it...

One problem with boating, is boating fatigue which is simply being tired after being exposed to the waves, boat wakes, sun, heat, wind, noise and vibration. I think we can get the same tiredness on a tractor especially from noise if not wearing any or good enough ear protection. Boating fatigue slows reaction times and its effects are similar to drinking. Boating fatigue is supposed to increase the effects of alcohol essentially doubling what one drinks.

Every spring and early summer we have a few drowning deaths which seems to be from cold water gasp reflex which is an involuntary gasp for air when ones head or body goes into cold water. If your head goes under cold water, and ye gasp, ye have a problem. During the spring, the air temperature can be in the 80's or even 90s but the water temperatures are still cold. People go swimming or fall in the water while fishing and drown. Two weekends back, a man was out tubing on the lake, fell off and drowned. I could not find the water temperature but I know the water temperatures are still cold because we have had very cool weather this spring. Gasp reflex might not have caused the man to drown but one has to wonder. More than a few years ago a grandfather took his grandson fishing. The grandson fell into the water when trying to tie the boat to a bridge piling. The grandfather jumped into the water and drowned. The grandson was helped to shore by a guy bank fishing. It is almost certain the grandfather had a gasp reflex when jumping/diving into the water after his grandson. A fair number of people drown every year when they fall off the boat while taking peeing...

All of this and more should be covered in a boating safety class. NC requires a boat safety class for engines over 10 HP and for people under the age of 26.

Later,
Dan

 

[Code54]

Thanks for the info!
I am trying to get into the boater course as we speak so hope to have that covered soon but thank you all for mentioning it.
As for the 9.9 hp - where we go everything is limited to 9.9. Mainly little lakes - some only 10 acres and the bigger ones in the 300-400 acre area - nothing huge.
Last week I canoed the one lake we are going to be on the most and there was a total of 5 boats on it - these are not real busy lakes so I figure they are good to start on. I just wanted something fairly stable to take the kids and wife on to Bass fish - not really too concerned with going very quick but the part I liked was I could get a bigger motor down the road if I want to try out the small rivers.
Thanks again and any other advise and ideas are welcomed!!!

 

[Western]

Scott, I didn't read this yet in other reply's (my have missed it), if you get insurance on your boat, you can get a discount after your boating class:thumbsup:

 

[bigtiller]

There is no way I would put that boat onto Lake of the Ozarks! Well, maybe if I never left sight of the dock, way way up the lake towards Warsaw!! Can you imagine a 16' boat with ten horses crossing the lake at Grand Glaize? Swamp city!

I went through that "Y" intersection one day when they were doing practice laps with racing catamarans and chase helicopters with a 19 foot bass boat and 115 hp merc. TALK ABOUT SCARRY! We watched it for 10 minutes hoping it would calm down but it never did.

 

[gwdixon]

Can you guys still use 2-stroke outboards?

Most places here in California have banned them for years... especially any freshwater lakes.

Not really.

Explanation of Two-Stroke Vessel Engine Regulations and Restrictions

 

[ultrarunner]

Not really.

Explanation of Two-Stroke Vessel Engine Regulations and Restrictions

Appreciate the link... I must have only been on the 11 lakes mentioned as banned... I was hoping they would name them...

For all my life my best summer memories were boating at Tahoe... I took the family boat out on the last day before the ban hit and a magazine did a story about it in the late 90's

I would go to local lakes like Echo and Fallen Leaf... also now banned plus some of the East Bay Lakes like San Pablo Reservoir...

4 right there...