Boo3636

SkiSafe has the cheapest rates I have found.  I also had to use them once, and I can say they were very easy to work with, and my rates did not go up much even after the claim and new engine...I used progressive before that, and did not have any problems with them, but never had a claim.  I switched to SkiSafe based on the recommendations on this forum, and boy was I glad I did.

I had a little scare over the 4th of July weekend myself. I couldn't get the boat to turn over at all, and I checked the safety kill switch and neutral(been there and done that before).  Still nothing.  Had the battery tested and it was fine.  I had the boat in the water the week before and everything ran great as always.  Then we started digging into and checking the wires to the kill switch and throttle.  They looked fine.  We could get the boat to turn over by jumping the the solenoid.  After about 4 hours of looking we found there were three wires that run from the transmission to the starter/solenoid area.  Those wires were very loose and after tightening the nut, the boat started first crank... I guess they are somehow linked to the neutral, but nonetheless I never had one problem and put over 30 hours on my boat the rest of that week.  Luckily my dad and brother in law were there, because I know absolutely nothing about working on vehicles. 

Thank you for this post. It can't be emphasized enough -- EVERYONE should wear vests when in the lake, regardless of ability. We were at PK for the 4th of July fireworks, which were supposed to start at 9. We found out at 10:30 that a 27 year old female had gone missing and was presumed drowned. this is in the middle of hundreds of boats/swimmers. It is so preventable, which makes it all the more tragic.

Yes, unfortunately I was there for that one as well. Well kind of. We left Hells Gate an hour before dark, and drove our vehicle over there to watch the fireworks. I was tied up on the far east side of Hells gates away from all of the crazies, but it looked pretty crazy where the majority were tied up. So sad and preventable.

On a side note, my wife's cousin was fishing from the shore in Arkansas last year, and he ended up falling in Lake Ouachita and drowned. I thought she might learn to swim after that, but hopefully this will get her to learn.

Thanks, and no offense at all. I have been trying to get my wife to learn to swim for 11 years. She sits on the shore or in the boat with her life jacket on. After we got home last night she said to me what if that boy would have been under the water and I was the only one out there with him. I said you would have had to try to go under with your life jacket on. She said to me that she is ready to learn how to swim. We have had two different pools built, and both times we had to stop at just uder 5' deep. She called to not sign up but to get info on swimming lessons today, so that is a good start.

Just wanted to share a scary moment from yesterday. We were tied up swimming at Sandy Beach at Possum Kingdom Lake and I was beside the boat swimming with my 9 year old son and our 10 month old puppy. My wife was up on the beach in front of the boat and I heard her start sceaming at the people about 30 yards down the beach. I was directly beside my boat and had no clue what was going on, but I knew it had to be serious. I swam up to the front of the boat and I saw the group next to us not even paying attention to her. As I got to the front of the boat I could see a small (aproximatley 4 year old) boy struggling to stay on top of the water. I then see his head go under and all you see are his hands barely above the water. My wife can not swim at all. She was on the beach, but did have her lfie jacket on. She started running out there to save the boy as I tried to swim that way. As she runs out there the kids parents look over to see what she is running and screaming about and that is when they saw him go completely under. The dad ended up getting to him right before my wife was able to get there. He pulled him out and he was fine, but was shaken up. I will never understand how parents can let their young kids in the lake without any life jackets or flotation device at all. My son is 9 years old, can swim like a fish, was within three feet of me the whole time, and he was still wearing a life jacket. I have given my wife grief for years for being overly cautious when it comes to water safety, but I can assure you I will never give her grief over it again.

On July 7th of this year a 3 year old boy drowned at this same beach while swimming with his father without a life jacket. I truely believe if my wife was not there it would have happened again as the family did not even look up until she started running out there.

Looks like I need a box anchor. My next sucessful anchoring will be my first.

whats a floater?

I am pretty sure if I see a "floater" right behind my boat I am getting out of there as quick as possible.

Ok, I have a question. I hit a sand bar at very slow speed (dang drought) and now I sometimes have transmission fluid when I empty my cooler. It is normally not enough that I can see it when I pull the plug, but I can see it on my driveway afterwards. Every now and then I can see it coming out in clumps when I empty my cooler and it is coming from the front of my boat somewhere. So could this just be my shaft seal leaking, or is this another problem? I have no vibration or anything else noticeable while I am driving the boat.

Well guys after I made these posts, I sat in my office for about 30 more minutes, then marched into my supervisors office and told him I was leaving and heading out to fight fires. He didnt argue, so I called my fire chief, got my bunker gear and met up with the guys that were already out there. All I can say is WOW. I have seen lots of fires in my time, but nothing that could compare to this. So far there has been 149 confirmed structures lost. The fire is currently larger than Rhode Island. We have had lots of supplies delivered by people to help us out in our effort, and for that I am thankful. We have the fire 35% contained as of now. It just now started raining(storming), so I had time to stop and update. Now I hope it rains enough to finish putting out the fires. Now off to sleep as I have only had about 3 hours since I got here.

Wow, just spoke with my buddy who is on the fire department who is currenty assigned to the PK fire and so far 147,000 acres have burned. Crazy

Thanks for the well wishes, I have not heard one thing one way or the other in reference to my lake house, but sadly it is being reported that all of the houses in the world famous Hell's Gate area are gone. The fire has now burned over 63,000 acres and unknown how many structures. This is truely sad. Those were some of the nicest houses you can imagine. The lake may never be the same. There is now 1300 fire figheters from 34 different states helping fight the blaze. They say the fire is only about 20% contained at this time. There is rain in the forecast for Thursday and Friday, and they say there is no way to put the fires out, only hope to minimize the loss until the rain hits.

Having been a volunteer fireman myself for over ten years I sit here in my office feeling helpless. I know the firemen are working 15 hour shifts in 95 degree weather and trying to sleep two or three hours at a time. I ask that you keep them and their families (who they are going to be away from for at least two weeks) in your thoughts and prayers. The homes can be replaced, but I sure hope they all stay safe. One volunteer fireman lost his life, and four others were injured last week battling the wild fires, and I pray that no one else is injured.

Well I received a call stating that the huge grass fires that are all around Possum Kingdom Lake are approximtaely 1/2 a mile south of my lake house, and headed north. I am pretty bummed out right now. I have been trying for two days to go get all of my valuable items out, but all of the roads are closed by Texas DPS and they are not letting anyone in. When I got the call I was told they didn't have any firemen to send to that area and they were all tied up in other areas. Not sure how things are going there, but feel pretty hopeless. So far over 50,000 acres have burned and they have no idea when they will be able to stop them. Last I heard there had been 18 homes, and 2 churches already burned down. They are now evacuating all houses around the lake. My cousin and my best friend are both paid firemen from the metroplex that have been sent to help out with the volunteers in that area too. I guess one good thing is my boat is at my house right now and not out there.

Well looks like you guys were right. I had a crack in the cap, and that was the problem. thanks

got a case of bad gas?

That is what I thought it could be. Would that cause it to cut out that much? I really initially thought that is what it was.

No I havent had it tuned up, I didnt think with 130 hours it could possibly be bad plugs or wires. They still look brand new.

Ok, I was at the lake on Saturday. I put the boat in and I had about 200 yards of no wake zone. I get out to the end and curise to what is called "still island" to do some boarding. I put my 6 year old son in the water, got the rope out and take off. I get up to about 19 MPH and my boat starts cutting out bad. I am looking at the speed and it is going from 19 to 17, and almost feels like it is going to die, but then goes right back up. This continued for a while, until I finally stopped. I limped it back to my truck and tailered it. I took it to the shop the next day and the guy tells me it sounds like it is the water fuel separator, and I can easily change that myself. So I changed it. I went back out on Sunday and it was still doing it. I called him back and he said it was probably the in line fuel filter then. I changed that too, but I am scared to take it back out there becasue I dont want to cause more damage. He said as long as it wasnt giving me the buzzer it would not hurt it.

Two questions: first does this sound like something other than a fuel filter problem, and two do I need a new mechanic? I have a 2005 Lightening C4 with 130 hours. I have the Mercruiser 350 scorpion 330 hp.

I too have one of those ladders. I bought it monday morning. I fell off the top of my boat while it was on the trailer on sunday night. I was detailing it, and slipped. I fell straight on my back on the concrete. So on monday morning after I was finaly able to crawl out of bed I went and picked one up. My 14 year old step son came around the corner laughing at me, and my 6 year old son came around there crying(im with the 6 year old on this one). I had to get up to prove to him I was ok, but hadnt quite convinced myself yet. Luckily when I fell my back hit the concrete, but my head landed in the grass.

Great story Boo, and I loved possum kingdom. I learned to ski there back in the early 80's then got deep water certified there in the 90's. I have not been back there in forever. How is that lake doing? Does the military still rent ski boats and lake cottages there? Lots of memories there!

Thanks, and Possum Kingdom is great. It had been several feet low for a couple of years, but it is now full and has been all summer. There is now huge houses everywhere and you wouldn't even recognize it. We bought our place in the mid 80's and there were not many places on the lake at that time. We also have a place on lake Bridgeport, but I drive right by it on my way to PK almost every weekend!!!!!!!!!!! I also learned to ski on PK in 1984 or 1985. I dont see the military there anymore, but the cottages are still there.

Not sure where that is but I'll look it up. I am moving to Highland Village (right near Lake Lewisville) in two weeks.

 

There are a handful of us out in that area, we'll have to plan something.

 

T

I live 30 minutes west of Lake Lewisville, and Possum Kingdom is about 30 minutes west of me.

Very good story and Congrats!

 

Where in TX are you?

 

T

I live near D/FW, but I am usually on Possum Kingdom Lake since that is where our lake place is.

I was athletic in school and always at the lake and always playing sports. When I went off to college, I started gaining weight. I went from about 190 pounds solid muscle and last summer I hit my all time high of 318 pounds. Seeing as how I grew up at the lake and was always on the lake, I decided I wanted a boat. My kids were finally of age to enjoy it. I started looking, and looking, but all I could find in my price range were ski boats. Well, I wanted a wakeboarding boat. I went to my parents and told them since we still have the lake house we needed to get a boat so I could give my kids the same type of enjoyment that I was given. So I asked mom and dad if they would be willing to go in halves on a boat so I could get one I really wanted.

Mom said let me think about it. She called me back the next day and asked me to come over to her house and see what we could work out. When I got there they asked what kind of price range and what kind of boat and all of that, and when I told them mom said "I have a deal for you". She said if you get back down to your high school weight, I will buy you the boat. She went on to say that she would give me one year from the date to lose the weight. This was on June 6, 2009.

So the next day I started my diet and exercise. I found the motivation I had been needing for about 10 years. The better I ate, and the more I worked out the easier it got. On March 16, 2010, I had reached my goal. 190 pounds and I could not believe it. So she went through with her bet and bought me the boat. She later said she did not think it would be possible, and would not have to buy the boat, but she was wrong, and she said she is glad she was wrong.

So not only did I get a free centurion wakeboarding boat, I also got no telling how many years added to my life!!!!!!!!! Mom had been worried about my weight for years, and seing how diabetes, and heart disese was in our family history I should have been too, but I wasnt. I can never thank her enough for what she has done for me and my kids. After I hit my goal weight I told her she did not have to buy me the boat, that saving my life was good enough for me, but she refused and purchased the boat anyways. At that point I didnt see how I could say no.

I did meet her halfway though I found a 2005 with only 21 hours, and so I settled for a used one.

I am 30, married and have two kids. My kids love the water, my wife not so much. I was born and raised on the lake, my wife will barely get in the boat. My kids love sking and my oldest just learned to wakeboard. My boat is my first boat, but we always had a boat growing up. Oh and I won my boat on a bet, so it came with NO payment. That even made it that much sweeter.

Well, I just purchased my boat in May, but thank goodness for the good weather in Texas, I have already put 96 hours on the boat. I bought it with 21 hours. and now it has 117. Good thing summer only last a few months, I am not sure how long I can keep putting gas in it!