power boating.. my first time.

[OtisBlkR1]

I have a mile long stripper pit (lake) in my front yard. Up untill now ive used a trolling motor and a marine battery on my 8ft boat to get around the lake for fishing ect. My new neighbor and now friend has a 16 ft river (john boat) with a 25 hp on the back. As this neighbor doesnt have lake access himself (he lives a few hundred yards through the woods behind me) he asked if he could dock his boat at my place and in return we are welcome to use the boat at our leasure.. AWESOME... we took the powerboat out and what a treat it was, swiming, fishing, just cruising the lake... im hooked now and will eventually have to buy one myself.. most likely a pontoon boat. Ive been in a few poer boats but never operated one myself... just loved it..

 

[Turk]

Yep, I've fished for 45 years & have a nice boat.

What kinda fish??

 

[OtisBlkR1]

Originally Posted By: tpitcher
Yep, I've fished for 45 years & have a nice boat.

What kinda fish??

mostly bass, capppie, gill fishing.. but ive had a few things online that were fairly unusual..

 

[simple_gifts]

Just remember, power boating suffers from the same deficiencies as down hill skiing; you often run across the "type of people" you took up the activity to get away from. This has been my experience.

 

[oilboy123]

Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Just remember, power boating suffers from the same deficiencies as down hill skiing; you often run across the "type of people" you took up the activity to get away from. This has been my experience.

That is a good one, and true.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

Originally Posted By: oilboy123
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Just remember, power boating suffers from the same deficiencies as down hill skiing; you often run across the "type of people" you took up the activity to get away from. This has been my experience.

That is a good one, and true.


I like that, good advice, Luckily for me and my neighbors its a mile long lake, its a private lake, and there is no public access.. only way you can launcha a boat is from one of our private propertys.. ive lived out there for 2 years now and i can count on two hands how many people ive seen fishing.. frankly the lake needs fished more.. but thank you for the advice, im sure on public water this could be a real problem.

 

[oilboy123]

I say go for it. Boating is great fun. I have a project Arima boat I'm working on myself. Did not mean to sound pessimistic with my humor icon above.

 

[morris]

use someone else boat? useing other peoples equipment is asking for trouble.

 

[Samilcar]

Originally Posted By: morris
use someone else boat? useing other peoples equipment is asking for trouble.


Heh. Last month I hit a floating log going full speed in my mom's boat (25HP Honda outboard). Had to spend $1,200 to replace the lower unit. Kinda put a damper on the vacation.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

Originally Posted By: morris
use someone else boat? useing other peoples equipment is asking for trouble.


Normally id agree with this but his boat is a all metal 16 footer so im not going to sink it

and his 25hp outboard is probably a 60-70's model, the motor could easily be replaced with a even newer 80's model for a few hundred bucks if need be..

I think its a fairly good trade/agreement. he has access to the lake whenever he likes, and i have access to use a powerboat whenever i like. win/win

 

[NHHEMI]

IMO regardless of how old the boat and motor are I would be cautious of using someone else's boat. Actually, older boats and motors are more prone to problems and you could wind up with lots of repair bills. If it doesn't bother you go for it but I would be cautious. A 16' John boat can be sunk if you hit a rock or other obstacle pretty easy if under power.

Other than that...

Make sure you have all the required boating certifications to use that boat for your state. Most states now require you take a safe boating course to use boats above certain lengths and with more than a certain HP level. Operator age can play into it as well.

My state ties boating infractions to your driver's license now so getting nailed for no boating cert would be points on my driver's license.

EDIT - I just looked and Indiana does in fact require certification.

 

[bullwinkle]

Certification is a good idea-but somehow I don't think he's going to run into the water patrol on a 1 mile long private lake!

 

[Barkleymut]

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Certification is a good idea-but somehow I don't think he's going to run into the water patrol on a 1 mile long private lake!


lol, you should be more concerned about running into a gator in Indiana

 

[nwjones18]

Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
Originally Posted By: morris
use someone else boat? useing other peoples equipment is asking for trouble.


Normally id agree with this but his boat is a all metal 16 footer so im not going to sink it

and his 25hp outboard is probably a 60-70's model, the motor could easily be replaced with a even newer 80's model for a few hundred bucks if need be..

I think its a fairly good trade/agreement. he has access to the lake whenever he likes, and i have access to use a powerboat whenever i like. win/win


As the owner of a 16ft metal jon boat with a 1975 25hp I can assure you there is plenty that can go wrong.. haha. I've been having a steep and expensive learning curve. That being said be careful and have fun.