2014 Getting Ready for the Lake

Drug her over to Bayer Marine here in Tulsa to see if they can replace the rear main bearing in the motor. They said they will take a look and see if they can do one that old. Hopefully yes. Everything looked good and towed well driving over there.

Hot Springs 2013 Boat Show

Loaded the boat on the trailer and took it Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs for the March Heartland Classics show. Wonderful day at the show. Lake was smooth weather was cool and the boat ran great.

Bluffs Landing

Took her out to Bluffs Landing on the Verdigris River and put her in the water one more time. That is one busy ramp. Easily two dozen fisherman through out the morning. No problem with that, but the ramp is narrow and fairly shallow. Trailer was bumping over something on the ramp but never seemed to get stuck. Once in the water, the water was perfect and smooth. Little cool with the wind, but motor ran good and strong and water was smooth.Putting her back on the trailer got the oil slick on the transom again. Confirmed  that the up line on the starboard side is leaking. Next weeks task is to replace the lines and winterize the motor and drive.

2012 ACBS Boat Show

WOW !!!

110 Boats all in pristine condition. I was just honored to have my boat there so I would have a place to sit in the shade when I was done looking at the show boats. Wood boats, fiber glass boats, new classic boats, old classic boats, etc. Check out http://www.heartland-classics.org/2012/09/2012-acbs-photos/ for pictures from the show. Also on the http://www.heartland-classics.org/ site there is a report.

The down side, as I put the boat on the trailer I found an oily film on the water behind the boat. Hmmmm what could this be? Got her on the trailer and pulled up to the parking area. Started looking around and found that one of the right hand side hydraulic lines was seeping. At least that is what I think. There is an oily film on the line. Guess that will be the next project.

While we were on Tablerock lake we ran from Big Cedar up to Indian Point. The Floating Cafe has been completely redone and still serves excellent food. The round trip is 16NM. Check out the floating cafe website at http://www.indianpointmarina.com/cafe.html

Last 3 Weekends

The last 3 weekends were great !! Got the boat on the water all 3 times with no problems Spent some time on Lake Keystone and Lake Ft. Gibson. Introduced a girl scout troop to boating and tubing. The ladies had a great time. For an inexpensive tube check out  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004F3UIYG/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00 This turns out to be an inexpensive alternative to the OBrien Le Tube. I picked up the Kwik Tek and hooked it up behind the boat. Pulled easy and the girls loved it. Only problem is after about 3 runs you need to drain some of the water out of it. Other than that it pulls great. Easy to slide it in and out of the wake. Riders get good air from time to time. Anyway, next several weekends will be busy with non-boating stuff. Bummer.

Clean Drive

Sanded down the stern drive. Masked off the bolts and hydraulics and hit it with some Phantom black. Looks better and hopefully will continue to hold the surface corrosion at bay. If all goes well headed to the lake tomorrow.

New Cabin Windows

I finally pulled out the old platic windows and took them to the glass shop. The tech there convinced me that I should go with cast glass similiar to what they use in car windows. He made four new pieces and was able to remove the rub strip from the olds ones and install it on the new windows. Once back at the boat the windows slipped in easily. They look great and seem to slide smoothly as well.

Hotter than all get out in the midwest and south. Have not had the boat in the water since the M&C show in early June. Got to head to the lake soon.