Motor Boating!

I'm proud to report that the M's bought their first boat last week! It's a 13 foot Boston Whaler.

While I've always wanted to own a boat, this is definitely something that has caught me out of my element. We never owned a boat growing up so I have zero experience with these suckers. We're kind of in a period where we're finding our comfort zone.

Today was the first day out on the water. I took the boat out this morning from the local boat launch.

I backed the boat down the ramp all-the-while fearing that my car would slide under murkey water. I unhitched the boat, got on board and pushed away from the trailer, floating freely. I turned the key to start the motor. No start. I played with the fuel line for a second and tried again a few more times. Nothing. I'm starting to sweat as I float down the river with no motor and no paddle. I tried a few more times with no luck and finally the panic set in - I hand paddled it over to the floating dock nearby. Luckily no one was there to witness my motoring failure. It would have been a bad blow to my ego.

After pulling the car and trailer up the ramp, I fiddled with the motor for a while and finally figured out what the trouble was. The engine purred to life. Hooray!

I took the boat out on it's sea trials with only one notable occurance. I was cruising along pretty fast and all of a sudden the boat lost power and a big murky cloud of water came up behind the boat. I thought " Oh no! The drive system blew up!!! How could this happen on the first trip out!?! I'll bet the guy who sold it to me knew it was dying and screwed me over! What am I going to tell my wife!? She never even rode on it! How am I going to get a ride back!?! I'm miles from anywhere without a paddle! "

It turned out that the motor hit a submerged sandbar and didn't damage it. I was able to raise the motor up and slipped right out. I learned that lesson- luckily without breaking anything. We need to get a depth finder to avoid 'sanding out' in the future.

I got the boat back to our dock and declared the maiden voyage a success.

After lunch I took Stephanie and Katie out starting from our dock - This time we took a kayak paddle! Katie was scared when the boat went fast. Both of the girls were scared when we hit some choppy areas. The bow hatch was a little loose so it thumped when we hit the big bumps adding to the drama. I'm hoping they will get a little more comfortable with the boat and bumps as time goes one.

Stephanie did not get sea sick which is one thing I was pretty happy about. It doesn't take much to make her green. Luckily no pukie.

Overall it was a good day out on the water - we saw a local marina and also some residential areas we hadn't visited before.

Most importantly everyone got home safe and sound!

In this part of coastal georgia it is customary for boats to have names. Now that we've had our maiden voyage, I've been contemplating what name fits this boat.

Should we call her the BOBO? Maybe the SandWitch after today's hicup. The jury is still out on the name. We'll think of something before we take her out again.