The Boat Fanatic Thread

[Brew 3044]

6 hours ago, Goofyboy said:

I’ve shown up at boat ramps with my board, rope and jacket and asked for rides. I brought gas money, beer and I can drive. Used to work a lot back in the early 2000’s.

A lot of it is probably related to where you ride. I spend most of my time on a smaller lake where most everyone that is out has a house on it. There are always outside people at the beach, but it’s just never come up. For the last 15 years I’ve had kids with me 99% of the time and prior to that we usually always had 5-6 other people always with us, so it’s not like I’ve been looking. I’ve also always been the one with the boat outside of last summer, so I haven’t been looking for rides either. Another thing to add to the list of shit I’ve missed out on since I got married and had kids earlier than most everyone else. 

Ready to get back out and see if I can get the boat turned over to double digit hours. It has done way too much sitting this summer.

Edited July 30, 2021 by Brew

[dlatin 328]

Sailed to Trunk Bay and got a ball. Got to stay on the beach for sunset.

[Cajun 11675]

12 hours ago, Brew said:

A lot of it is probably related to where you ride. I spend most of my time on a smaller lake where most everyone that is out has a house on it. There are always outside people at the beach, but it’s just never come up. For the last 15 years I’ve had kids with me 99% of the time and prior to that we usually always had 5-6 other people always with us, so it’s not like I’ve been looking. I’ve also always been the one with the boat outside of last summer, so I haven’t been looking for rides either. Another thing to add to the list of shit I’ve missed out on since I got married and had kids earlier than most everyone else. 

Ready to get back out and see if I can get the boat turned over to double digit hours. It has done way too much sitting this summer.

I'm out alone a lot.  Sometimes it's b/c I didn't invite anyone and sometimes it's b/c whoever was out there didn't/couldn't stay out as long as I do.  I think if you're sitting solo anchored in a wake board boat rated for 14 it sends out the Bat Signal for the landlubbers to make the approach.

That's my theory anyway.

I've rarely been asked when I've had others on the boat with me already.

[Cajun 11675]

More “hey mister”s yesterday…

[Cajun 11675]

Obligatory- “They’re jailbait Gardner…”

[fattyflattie 4636]

Fuck them reds, I’m buying one of those 250k wake boats. 

[Cajun 11675]

90k landed those “fish”.

[blacklab 11841]

Couple weeks ago we were out and 12yo son asks if we can pick up some friends.  I say sure and he directs me to a 7000 sq foot house on lake austin where we pick up 2 14yo girls from the doc. A few minutes later he asks if we can go to the park and pick up 3 others. I say sure and we head to the park to pick up 3 more 14/15yo girls. 
The little fucker has a whole harem of 14/15 year old girls he hangs out with. 

[fattyflattie 4636]

2 hours ago, Cajun said:

90k landed those “fish”.

Amazing how much cheaper the mob is.  A 90k demobe would be a steal. 

[Cajun 11675]

4 hours ago, blacklab said:

Couple weeks ago we were out and 12yo son asks if we can pick up some friends.  I say sure and he directs me to a 7000 sq foot house on lake austin where we pick up 2 14yo girls from the doc. A few minutes later he asks if we can go to the park and pick up 3 others. I say sure and we head to the park to pick up 3 more 14/15yo girls. 
The little fucker has a whole harem of 14/15 year old girls he hangs out with. 

It’s the way of boat ownership & kids

[Cajun 11675]

Actual invitees out today…

[Hmbre97 6297]

14 hours ago, Cajun said:

More “hey mister”s yesterday…

[Cajun 11675]

Put in at Ramp 2 this weekend instead of my usual Ramp 7 and when I went back this was going on so I decided to send up the drone.  Nothing special, just kind of a different look at aquatic broads doing their best Iron Man impressions...

[Pescado_Rojo 19327]

23 hours ago, Cajun said:

Obligatory- “They’re jailbait Gardner…”

Black bikini sitting down looks like she's angling for sugar baby status. 

[Cajun 11675]

She's teetering on the edge of "Play Ball"!

[Cajun 11675]

They sure got their pose game down pat.

[fattyflattie 4636]

2 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

Black bikini sitting down looks like she's angling for sugar baby status. 

My wife’s exact words. “So I guess you want a fucking ski boat now?”  lol. 

[dlatin 328]

Driving to the marina to turn in the boat . We sailed a 42’ Fountaine Pajot Austrea catamaran for the last week or so, 4 bedroom 4 baths. We stayed on mooring balls just off some of the prettiest beaches in St John for 9 nights and we spent 1 night on a ball off Great St James that is just off St. Thomas. We originally planned to sail British waters too but stayed in US waters due to Covid. We spent 3 nights at Maho, 2 nights at Trunk, 2 nights at Salt Pond, 1 night at Little Lamshur, 1 night at Honeymoon (STJ), and 1 night at Christmas cove. We’ve been coming to STJ for 20 years and it was great to see it from a different viewpoint.

[troph 24548]

Sailors … learn me about hunter sailboats, specifically this one ….  a friend is looking at it.

https://m.sailboatlistings.com/view/91530

https://m.sailboatlistings.com/photographs/91530

Edited August 1, 2021 by troph

[G650 13990]

17 hours ago, troph said:

Sailors … learn me about hunter sailboats, specifically this one ….  a friend is looking at it.

https://m.sailboatlistings.com/view/91530

https://m.sailboatlistings.com/photographs/91530

 

Hunter's have been around a long time. Quality can be a bit hit and miss.

[davidg 4025]

23 hours ago, Cajun said:

Put in at Ramp 2 this weekend instead of my usual Ramp 7 and when I went back this was going on so I decided to send up the drone.  Nothing special, just kind of a different look at aquatic broads doing their best Iron Man impressions...

No other place on the whole lake to do this other than right in front of the ramp?

[blacklab 11841]

54 minutes ago, davidg said:

No other place on the whole lake to do this other than right in front of the ramp?

The best place to wakesurf is 20 feet from the boat ramp so I assume close to the boat ramp would be the best place for this too. 

[Cajun 11675]

3 hours ago, davidg said:

No other place on the whole lake to do this other than right in front of the ramp?

Oh, don't get me started.  

My favorites are the people who park their cars on the ramps and work their dogs retrieving in the water.  True heroes.

And the annoyed looks on their faces when you start to back down the trailer is quite a nice little bonus.  Yeah, because I'm the asshole here, launching my boat on the BOAT RAMP.

[dlatin 328]

Oh, don't get me started.  
My favorites are the people who park their cars on the ramps and work their dogs retrieving in the water.  True heroes.
And the annoyed looks on their faces when you start to back down the trailer is quite a nice little bonus.  Yeah, because I'm the asshole here, launching my boat on the BOAT RAMP.

The running beef I have on our lake that started a few years ago with all the newbies coming here is the peeps that decide the best place to float and swim is right in the middle of the lake by the damn. We are on a small lake so this puts them right in the middle of all the traffic, toobs, surfers, etc. Not just off the edges or back behind areas coves buoyed off for boating. If you look around, you would notice where all the other boats that are just floating/swimming are parked. It pretty obvious.

I had this one guy literally swimming across busiest part of the lake. I barely caught his small head popping above water and it freaked me out how easy it would be to run him over, again, this is a small lake. I stopped to tell him what he is doing is extremely dangerous. He just waved me off. We didn’t see him a bit later and I was convinced he had indeed been run over and I was sick to my stomach. We did end up seeing him. That was crazy.

[Cajun 11675]

@dlatin

They do the same near the Canyon Lake dam.  

Dudes will swim out 400 yards and you are lucky to see them.  I can't believe I haven't witnessed a Darwin winner receive his award yet.

[utee94 15742]

Boaters on Lake Austin have been doing this for a few years as well. No attempt at all to find an inlet or cove, just dropping anchor (or not) in the middle of the lake, in the midst of all the traffic.

 

[fattyflattie 4636]

1 hour ago, Cajun said:

My favorites are the people who park their cars on the ramps and work their dogs retrieving in the water.  True heroes.

Tell me this hyperbole. 

[Cajun 11675]

1 hour ago, fattyflattie said:

Tell me this hyperbole. 

Wanna know how I know you haven't been to Walsh Landing on Lake Austin?

[Cajun 11675]

Video I took those stills from for those interested.  If you didn't have to tether those things to a f'n SeaDoo I'd pony up and procure some of that.  I can't imagine the boat candy I could haul in if I had a pair of those boots on the boat...

 

[blacklab 11841]

I think it’s gonna rain

[Cajun 11675]

Either that or you're getting ready to experience butt stuff...

[troph 24548]

1 hour ago, blacklab said:

I think it’s gonna rain

Whoa y’all make it in ok? It rained hard just south and east of there.

[blacklab 11841]

Barely. 
kids are in wakeboard camp and I got a call that the boat broke down so I went to get them. Dropped off two of their classmates at Steiner ranch and started back home. Took the picture just after dropping them off. About 5 minutes later started to pour. By the time we got to the boat ramp we were all completely soaked. 
 

Boat ramp had about 3 inches of water running down it. Backing up the boat was an adventure as the rushing water would turn the trailer about 45 degrees with the slightest touch. 

Wish I had checked the radar before I went to pick them up. Had I known that storm was coming I would have let them wait for the tow boat. 

[Cajun 11675]

Murder Hornet ain't SKEERE'ED!!!

[Cajun 11675]

Next family adventure right square in my crosshairs...

 

[longhrnfan 61]

On 8/1/2021 at 2:39 PM, dlatin said:

Driving to the marina to turn in the boat . We sailed a 42’ Fountaine Pajot Austrea catamaran for the last week or so, 4 bedroom 4 baths. We stayed on mooring balls just off some of the prettiest beaches in St John for 9 nights and we spent 1 night on a ball off Great St James that is just off St. Thomas. We originally planned to sail British waters too but stayed in US waters due to Covid. We spent 3 nights at Maho, 2 nights at Trunk, 2 nights at Salt Pond, 1 night at Little Lamshur, 1 night at Honeymoon (STJ), and 1 night at Christmas cove. We’ve been coming to STJ for 20 years and it was great to see it from a different viewpoint.



 

So, are you going to stick with the sailboat in the future, or go back to hotels and whatnot? 

[blacklab 11841]

The wake board/surf camp my boys were going to got canceled due to the boat breaking down. They did at least learn to get up on a surfboard on the one day it did go.

Yesterday I got the first people to wake surf behind the boat. Of course the first one was a 12 year old girl that's friends with my kids. My 12yo got up on the wake after she did. One of the tanks doesn't seem to want to fill up but I did manage to get a pretty good wave going. Need to just go out by myself and mess with the wedge to get it right.

 

[dlatin 328]

So, are you going to stick with the sailboat in the future, or go back to hotels and whatnot? 

This is our 2nd bareboat charter. I would do sailboat every trip if I could but it can be a bit pricey. We eventually plan to live on a boat. This trip taught me I need a lot more practice on a Catamaran. Not sure if it was the boat or what but I thought it was challenging. When we chartered the Mono in ‘17 I essentially handled that with no issues the whole 10 day trip. We sailed the entire time absent 1 day we had to motor due to no wind.

The water maker we had on this boat was a game-changer. It will be hard to charter a boat without ones. I think most boats out of STT have them, not so much out of the BVIs.

[dlatin 328]

I’ll also say I felt a bit of pressure being responsible for 9 (2 families). I didn’t sleep as well on this trip as I was always listening, feeling, getting up to check on things. We also had a pretty dicey situation on Day 9 that made me really need to step up and take charge with decisive quick decisions as we got caught in a pretty big storm as we were sailing down wind with a lot of sail out. The winch set up was challenging and they were lacking clutches I thought was needed to perform tasks efficiently. Then at the end of that same day we had another crazy situation I had to handle that was for me just as scary if not more. I learned a lot about my abilities and was proud of how i captained the boat.

[troph 24548]

That’s awesome to hear!  Congrats on leveling up! 

[longhrnfan 61]

2 hours ago, dlatin said:

This is our 2nd bareboat charter. I would do sailboat every trip if I could but it can be a bit pricey. We eventually plan to live on a boat. This trip taught me I need a lot more practice on a Catamaran. Not sure if it was the boat or what but I thought it was challenging. When we chartered the Mono in ‘17 I essentially handled that with no issues the whole 10 day trip. We sailed the entire time absent 1 day we had to motor due to no wind.

The water maker we had on this boat was a game-changer. It will be hard to charter a boat without ones. I think most boats out of STT have them, not so much out of the BVIs.

Growing up we always did sailing vacations with the fam - but never had a water maker! In the beginning we didn't even have generators or AC. They are amazing vacations, and I think especially amazing for kids. My oldest has gone to the BVI, but my two youngest still haven't had the chance, although they have enjoyed a lot of center console boating in the keys.

Living in a boat takes a certain type. My parents intended to do the great loop this year on their '79 Hatteras 58ft Yachtfish, but soon realized that most of the loopers are boaters, and not yachtsmen. My dad is the type that keeps the boat pristine. Nothing out on deck - tied up a very particular way, stickler for the rules, etc. He has his 200 ton license. He considers himself at yachtsmen. Snobby? Probably... but still.  So, they abandoned that idea to just stick with the ICW. They are currently in Maine and will soon work back down to go to the bahamas, and then to Marathan for a few months. I posted it before I think, but here's "Gus" docked in Manchester by the Sea (not a traditional name to be sure). She was there while we fished out of Gloucester for tuna. 

 

[dlatin 328]

Growing up we always did sailing vacations with the fam - but never had a water maker! In the beginning we didn't even have generators or AC. They are amazing vacations, and I think especially amazing for kids. My oldest has gone to the BVI, but my two youngest still haven't had the chance, although they have enjoyed a lot of center console boating in the keys.
Living in a boat takes a certain type. My parents intended to do the great loop this year on their '79 Hatteras 58ft Yachtfish, but soon realized that most of the loopers are boaters, and not yachtsmen. My dad is the type that keeps the boat pristine. Nothing out on deck - tied up a very particular way, stickler for the rules, etc. He has his 200 ton license. He considers himself at yachtsmen. Snobby? Probably... but still.  So, they abandoned that idea to just stick with the ICW. They are currently in Maine and will soon work back down to go to the bahamas, and then to Marathan for a few months. I posted it before I think, but here's "Gus" docked in Manchester by the Sea (not a traditional name to be sure). She was there while we fished out of Gloucester for tuna. 
 

That’s awesome. It definitely takes a certain type to live on a boat, even vacation on one. We are pretty laid back low maintenance so it limits who we would consider spending time with in such little space. We thought this family was probably one of the rare few. It ended up being about as good as it could be expected, rolling with your own tribe on the boat is greatness however. I actually enjoyed it because I’m a doer and this was their first time in St John so I had a group I you could share it with while my wife was content just chilling on the boat uninterrupted.

My kids loved both sailing trips, this is probably my favorite picture from our trip to the BVIs in 2017 (moored at Cooper Island). They were 10 and 12.

[Viking 299]

On 8/4/2021 at 11:58 AM, dlatin said:

I’ll also say I felt a bit of pressure being responsible for 9 (2 families). I didn’t sleep as well on this trip as I was always listening, feeling, getting up to check on things. We also had a pretty dicey situation on Day 9 that made me really need to step up and take charge with decisive quick decisions as we got caught in a pretty big storm as we were sailing down wind with a lot of sail out. The winch set up was challenging and they were lacking clutches I thought was needed to perform tasks efficiently. Then at the end of that same day we had another crazy situation I had to handle that was for me just as scary if not more. I learned a lot about my abilities and was proud of how i captained the boat.

If the boat still floats and the crew is all alive then you did good! What was the second crazy situation?

Most casts lack backstays, so sailing deep down wind just freaks me out. The swept back shrouds just don't seem like they are back enough to provide that much support for all of the forward forces on the rigging. Yet somehow the masts don't fall down. Fucking magic I guess.

[dlatin 328]

44 minutes ago, Viking said:

If the boat still floats and the crew is all alive then you did good! What was the second crazy situation?

Most casts lack backstays, so sailing deep down wind just freaks me out. The swept back shrouds just don't seem like they are back enough to provide that much support for all of the forward forces on the rigging. Yet somehow the masts don't fall down. Fucking magic I guess.

We stayed on the beach late and dinghyed in at near dark.  I drive the dinghy and my buddy normally secures it to the cleat.  Later on I am at the back of the boat and realize the dinghy is gone.  I yell the dinghy is gone, he comes back and is saying we need to go find that dinghy.  We look and we can just make it out in the distance floating off.  There isn't much wind so we both dive in to swim to it.  It is pitch black behind us and we can just barely make out the grey dinghy pretty far off.  I quickly recognize this is a bad idea and turn to swim back to the boat and there's a slight current making it difficult to swim to the boat so i yell to throw us noodles.  We get back to the boat and i go to the front to assess our mooring ball and decide I'm not comfortable leaving our ball at night, I'm not sure if we'll be able to find it again at dark.  While I'm assessing this my son who is 16, and a lifeguard, dives in after the dinghy, I yell NO!  I know he will not be able to get it and he'll not be able to safely swim back.  We now can't see my son, I know he will soon be tiring and I know I have to go get him.  I run down to turn on the navigation lights and search light, start the engines then run up to take a mental note where the ball is relative to boats next to me and lights on land.  We release the lines and we search for him by the sound of his voice and some small flashlights.  We retrieve him and we then go grab the dinghy.  I now head to hopefully find the ball in darkness.  My buddy is pointing me off to the right but I know exactly where I'm headed and with my group with flashlights up front I pull right up to the ball and we tie off.  Son back in the boat, dinghy retrieved, back safe on the ball.  I had to make quick decisive moves, directing my crew, while keeping calm.  Once back on boat I sat on the back and broke down.  I relived that scenario over in my head many times since then.  Still makes me a bit emotional thinking about it.  Day 9, 2 crazy situations, one in the morning, one at night.  Every other day was all good.  I checked the lines every time after that.  I always double checked the lines for our mooring before, but I made sure that dinghy line was good thereafter.  Before we went to bed each night we put the dinghy on the transom and lift out of the water, but we normally left it off because we liked to watch the tarpon come swim our boat attracted to the underwater lighting.

[troph 24548]

Good work! Man ain’t no dinghy worth that near catastrophe.  Your son needs an ass whooping because you love him and don’t want to lose him.  That was way to close. You did the right thing though, especially making sure you knew where to return. Observation when boating is key. And having crew that knows how to tie off on a cleat … mother of god almighty. 

[Viking 299]

The % of sailors, even seasoned sailors, who don't know how to tie a cleat hitch is way higher than you'd suspect. They think that a cleat hitch keeps it on but it's the wraps that do. Thin dinghy painter + big cleat = you need lots of wraps. Every year in the Bahamas a couple of dinghys get lost. The owners blame the locals on facebook ("Our dinghy was stolen!!") and half the time the dinghy is found days or weeks later by another cruiser on an island with outboard still attached.

I never let another boater tie off my painter for that reason. Except one time this year I handed my painter to a buddy who's been a liveaboard for 6 years. I figured he for sure knew how to tie a cleat hitch. We were drinking in the cockpit of his boat (a monohull) and two hours later I noticed that my dinghy was gone. Fuuuuck. We grabbed a flash light (it was around midnight) and set off to find it in his dinghy. Even that alone was a big risk as if his outboard went out then we'd be turbo fucked. It took us an hour but we finally found it about a mile up the island. The current from the outgoing tide kept it pretty close to land fortunately.

 

[dlatin 328]

The % of sailors, even seasoned sailors, who don't know how to tie a cleat hitch is way higher than you'd suspect. They think that a cleat hitch keeps it on but it's the wraps that do. Thin dinghy painter + big cleat = you need lots of wraps. Every year in the Bahamas a couple of dinghys get lost. The owners blame the locals on facebook ("Our dinghy was stolen!!") and half the time the dinghy is found days or weeks later by another cruiser on an island with outboard still attached.
I never let another boater tie off my painter for that reason. Except one time this year I handed my painter to a buddy who's been a liveaboard for 6 years. I figured he for sure knew how to tie a cleat hitch. We were drinking in the cockpit of his boat (a monohull) and two hours later I noticed that my dinghy was gone. Fuuuuck. We grabbed a flash light (it was around midnight) and set off to find it in his dinghy. Even that alone was a big risk as if his outboard went out then we'd be turbo fucked. It took us an hour but we finally found it about a mile up the island. The current from the outgoing tide kept it pretty close to land fortunately.
 

I definitely learned some lessons on this trip. Before we left the marina I talked to the whole crew about a man overboard situation and I was pretty proud how the 8 of us on the boat jumped into action and worked as a team to get my son on the boat, get the dinghy and a ball picked up.

I had not planned to leave the ball in the dark in that situation until my son was out to sea not visible.

[troph 24548]

#goals 

 

[LocoDino 12]

Long time lurker of this thread for both dlatin's trip (absolutely amazing) and also the wakesurfer boat gang (of which I'm a member).  Forgive me if this is thread hijacking but I almost never take my boat to other lakes as ours stays in our boat house year year round and, quite frankly, I've been too damn lazy to trailer it and take it anywhere since I can simply drop in with the push of a button.  That being said, we are planning on venturing down to Austin to meet some family visiting for a few days next week.  They're renting a house for the week in Round Rock and the wife wants to take them out on the water.  I have not been out on Lake Travis nor Lake Austin in almost 25 yrs so I was looking for advice on best places/ramps to put the boat in the water, recs on going to Travis vs Austin, random thoughts and comments for someone unacquainted with these lakes knowing that our primary activity will be surfing.  If it helps, we're a bunch of olds and we'll have kids that are 12-14 in age so not looking for the party scene.  Thanks in advance for any advice.  Oh and I know the rules.  To keep this on topic, boat pics or GTFO.

 

[troph 24548]

Such a thread jacker omfg. How dare you come in here with MORE boat pics!?! Of a shitty Air nautique? Jk.  Really nice colors. 
 

im partial to lake Travis and coming from RR I’d think it’s better too for you. LT has it all. But for surfing I’d want to be early or late and off the main channel of the lake from the dam to at least hurst creek. About the Lakeway resort and marina it starts to calm down as you move around toward Lago vista on the main channel.  
 

closer to the dam I’m less familiar but back up past volente and that first creek/cove past the damn headed to rivera marina I think might be good. 
 

most public boat ramps should still be open, but we have a slip and I haven’t trailered our boat once.

srop lurking and start fucking posting. You’re hoarding all your good pics.  Not fair to the rest of us.

Edited August 7, 2021 by troph