Hard to believe it’s already October since it seems like I was just putting my boat in for the summer; however, it was a great boating season and hopefully we will have some good ice on the Pond for ice boating and ice skating/hockey games. I remember when I was a teenager out here one would see go-carts pulling several sleds over jumps and to my amazement every so often someone was brave enough to run their old truck up and down the lake. My favorite was to skate the whole lake at night; the winter sky was amazing.
As we wind down into fall, homeowners are gradually pulling their watercrafts off the lake and winterizing them either themselves or with a local marina completing the work. Big point to remember, if we should have one of those “all of a sudden” freezes, don’t panic. I’ve known several individuals have pulled their boat not winterized and left it on a trailer thinking it’s okay out of the water. (I’m talking about outboard motors.) Most of our outboards are 4 strokes; I usually keep a fuel stabilizer on hand and run it through the gas for a few minutes and it is okay on the lift. Several homeowners keep their boats on their lifts all year long, I’m old school and always take mine out of the water, clean it up and wrap it up for the winter.
If you have a dock box, check it and remove anything of value. I always have a lock on mine all year round. If you are a weekend warrior, I would make sure a lock is on the box or remove everything to be safe. Vandalism and theft have been low this summer, but one never knows when they will strike.
The Wooden Boat Show was another bit hit this season, only the weather didn’t cooperate at times. Cloudy skies, sun and then cloudy skies; however, the temps held well for Saturday and Sunday. The beautiful crafts were moored at the Marina Grog for everyone to see and there was a great turnout of onlookers. The wooden masterpieces toured the lake in a parade late Friday afternoon and again Saturday afternoon. They even ventured down into Sunset Cove motoring by the wedding of Jeff Needles and Ren Cooker…….congrats to the new couple. Great weekend observing these wooden boats glide over the water. Hopefully we will see these and some new attendees next year.
As I mentioned in my last column, I keep seeing more and more dock license plates either worn or painted over with several coats of paint and not being visible at all. I even observed one last week hanging upside down. If your plate is not highly visible, you will receive a friendly warning stating you need to purchase a new one or take the time and refurbish the old one where it can be seen. Yes, I have heard the story, “I can see it with no problem, what’s wrong with you?” Usually these are ones with five or more coats of paint covering it.
The weather in October can be toasty warm or down right cool, but there is still great boating time left on the Pond.
See ya