Sheesh, who would ever thought you could have so many mishaps in one day of boating…and still have a good day? John was up bright and early all gung ho and ready to go. I, on the other hand, was in dire need of a cup of coffee (which I never got, by the way) to get going. But, we were off...

No wind, bright sun, and a successful rescue–an awesome day on Our Family Boat! I had some trouble getting out of bed after working all night. Michelle sent Bridget to wake me up twice with no result. Michelle finally came upstairs herself and exhorted, “Do you want to go boating ...

For Las Vegas, May’s weather has been unseasonably cool and windy. We had planned to go boating on Memorial Day (fighting the crowds the whole way), but there was just too much wind. We decided instead to go this Sunday, and even with some wind, we had a good time. On my way home from work...

I went to the storage yard and easily put in the new fuse, completing the repair on the blower. Next came the installation of the new bimini pole, but I found another bimini part was missing that I didn’t know about. Back to see Earl again with the matching part from the other side of the...

I went back to the storage yard and removed the bimini pole from the other side so that I could get another one cut to size, and then I poked around in the engine compartment a bit looking for the blower motor. I wasn’t able to see it immediately, so I looked underneath the helm and found...

After a brief doctor’s visit to review my latest blood test results (turns out that I have dysfunctional cholesterol), I drove down to the Marine Center to see my buddy Earl. They’ll be able to cut me a new bimini cover pole from stock without any trouble, but I didn’t have the matching...

We approached the dock at Callville Bay, and given our previous experience with Michelle backing up the truck, I decided to handle the trailer end this time. I pushed the boat away from the dock and Michelle took her out into the bay to await my return. I started the trek up the hill (a huge...

We arrived at Virgin Basin, applied some sunscreen, and tossed the tube in the water. I relaxed for a moment in the open-bow section of the boat, which Bridget named “the comfort station.” Bridget got in the tube and we towed her for a little while. She had a great time! I went into the...

Today marked the maiden voyage of our boat. The good news: we didn’t sink. We did run into several problems, but it wasn’t a total disaster. Some good things happened too. I picked up the boat from the storage yard after getting off work around 4 AM. Removing the cover with the new straps...

We’re #1! Someone out there reached this blog yesterday by typing “pros and cons family boat” into Google. Out of curiosity, I did the same search and discovered that for this particular search term, OurFamilyBoat.com is the #1 listing in Google! I thought I did a pretty decent job...

Michelle called Stuart at Boulder Boats and although he had the bimini parts I needed, he suggested we go to Marine Center of Las Vegas because it was closer to us. I went down and immediately found the parts I needed for a total of around six bucks. I also picked up vinyl letters to put the...

Well, I managed to break the boat before we have even had a chance to use her. Bridget and I went to the storage place to install the new license plate on the trailer. She hadn’t seen the boat yet, so I took the cover off and let her explore. There didn’t appear to be a preset place on the...

The boat sales guys told us that the Department of Wildlife would be so much easier than the DMV. I believed them. I went online before I went to see exactly what I needed so I wouldn’t have to drive all over the country to complete this simple task. The website said that I would need a...

My duties in this whole “getting a boat thing” were to get the appropriate licenses and registrations to make everything nice and legal. FUN! This included going to the Nevada Department of Wildlife to register the boat and to the ever-popular Department of Motor Vehicles to register the...

Michelle hit the DMV today to register the trailer, but unfortunately the outlook for Sunday’s weather isn’t very encouraging for our planned inaugural voyage.     As excited as we all are to get out on the lake, it wouldn’t make sense to try to fight 50 mph wind....

I rode my bike to pick up Bridget at school and on the way home, we ran into a garage sale. Bridget ran over to explore before I could stop her, so I parked my bike and checked it out with her. Against the wall, there were a couple of pairs of water skis, one pair for adults and the other for...

There was quite a lot to do before picking up the boat. First stop was Wal-Mart, where I grabbed four of those ugly-ass orange lifejackets and one good ski vest each for myself and Bridget. I bought a wiring harness kit from Autozone for around $40, and installation took about twenty minutes....

Michelle and I discussed the boat again the other night and her big problem with it is that we won’t get to use it as much as we’d like, and probably not enough to make it financially worthwhile. After a long discussion…okay, argument, I surrendered and we decided not to buy it. I called...

There is always a selection of boats on Craigslist in Las Vegas, but I’ve decided for my first boat purchase, I should probably go to a dealer. I am sure I will pay more, but since I know so little about boats, I hope this way I can get a little guidance and end up with a quality boat at a...

Last year when we rented a boat a couple of times, I discussed the possibility of buying our own with my wife Michelle, who is often less impulsive and generally shows more common sense than I do. When I brought up the subject again the other night, I pitched her all the reasons that we should...

Before I plunk down a large sum of money on what is really a luxury, I thought I might list some of the pros and cons of owning a boat I’ve learned from others that might sway my decision. Reasons for my family to own a boat: Family fun – boating, waterskiing, tubing, quality family time...

I’m not so much concerned with exactly what type of boat to buy so much as I am with actually making the decision to push forward and do it. I’ve read up a little on the experiences of boat owners and many of them seem to be religious subscribers to the saying, “there are only two happy...

I’ve wanted a boat for several years. Our Las Vegas home is literally minutes from Lake Mead and it’s been my feeling that we’re missing some incredible recreation opportunities right in our backyard. Renting a boat seemed to be a good way to dip a toe in the water, so to speak. Last...