Here They Come!

Once again fisherman, swimmers, skiers, tubers, and joy riders are pulling those old boats out. They are coming out from under covers, carports and garages across America and after routine checks, the water is splashing up and over the wheels of trailers everywhere.

I feel that Old Boaters have it the best. This is only my view, but after all, we’re the ones that have the money to spend on gas, drinks, fuel additives, and new tubes. What I call New Boaters, well you’re the ones paying anywhere from $192 a month, to several hundred a month in boat payments! Most of you are paying that year around!

Sure, we may have the occasional motor that fails to start, or our hulls may leak a little more after thousands of more hours on the lake. For us, those fixes are one-time payments. We don’t have the on-going payments. Oh, and did I mention that we also don’t have the repairs and payments during the off-season? Well, we don’t!

I like nothing more than zipping my faithful 1975 boat down the ramp and into the water. A quick adjustment and that motor fires right up and I pass that wonderful new speedboat sitting right next to me cranking, and cranking, and cranking just to get the blue smoke to puff up.

So, salute those Old Boaters everywhere. Whether it’s a wooden, aluminum, or fiberglass modern classic, it’s an old boat and it’s going on the lake. My 1975, see the picture in other articles, is counting thirty-years of lake time now! I can count that time because we’ve already been out this season. Here’s to many more seasons of a payment free old boat and this Old Boater!