Great day for a boat ride…

Just a quick note – We will be leaving the dock in Saugatuck at 9:00 this morning to make another run across to Chicago. I am delivering a 402 foot Carver to it’s summer home in Montrose Harbor for it’s owner and then taking the train back. The weather looks perfect for the trip with waves of 1 foot…

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Lake Michigan Crossing

I ran a 33 foot Carver between Saugatuck Michigan and Winthrop Harbor Illinois this week to delivery it to it’s new owners. It was a beautiful day and the weather was predicted to be calm with waves on the lake at 1 foot or less. Of course this did not turn out to be the case but it still…

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Spring 2012

Memorial Day is coming up fast and I still don’t have my own boat ready to go. I have it close, but the weather has been so up and down it isn’t finished up. I don’t have a lot to do, but I need to make sure she’s running at 100 percent before it goes in. I need to…

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An Adventure – Part III

Misadventures on the water always have the potential to turn in to real trouble, even deadly situations, at the drop of a hat. Although we did not get ourselves in to a situation that could have resulted in damage to the vessel or bodily harm one simple decision could have quickly changed the outcome. After running a boat in poor…

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An Adventure – Part II

The boat was in poor condition overall but since the marina it was in was just as bad we decided to try to get it over to Michigan City or somewhere a little farther down the lakeshore. After checking the boat over a bit more I decided it would be safe to make the short trip. It was a clear,…

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An Adventure

I went over to Calumet City to pick up a 32 foot Carver and bring it back over to the Saugatuck area on Friday. The customer had represented the boat as in “great condition” but when we got there to pick it up we found a disaster. The boat was kept at a dump of a marina where no…

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Spring 2011

Spring is here and that means it’s time to get the boat cleaned up and ready to float. The list always looks huge when I first write it out but once I get going most of the tasks seem to fly by. Of course, bottom painting does not count, that never flies by. One of the most important tasks…

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Hearding Snakes

Imagine trying to herd a snake across a busy street. Got a good picture of that in your head? That’s your first glimpse at driving a boat. Boats don’t really handle well. They are just as quick to react to the environment as they are to your commands, and when you ask them to go a different direction than…

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Learning to Drive

I recently spent several days teaching handling and safety to a new boater. I’ve been teaching for somewhere around 25 years now, and truly enjoy it. I love to see the confidence and abilities grow in new boat owners as they start to get a feel for how the boat reacts to their control and heading changes, whether out…

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Slips and Docks

Even though we had snow here yesterday many boaters have set their sights on a date for launching their boat here in West Michigan. The weather is showing signs of improving, and that means it’s time to get to work. Cleaning, tune-ups, oil changes, and more need to be done to make the boat reliable before heading out anywhere…

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