Do's and Don't's

[kaneboats]

Nice work! Always good to help the others out and especially to set a good example for the little kid (and adults, for that matter).

And bad karma will come back and bite you-- always better to be several points to the good.

[smokedog2]

I’ve had my boat 12 years. The kids are driving now, working summers and not hanging with me much but they get out a little. The first year or two you will be so excited to share you will not expect much, I’d still think about some early rules for guests. This was actually published somewhere years ago ( I wrote it), it is lake house focused but has a few for the boat as well.

Some tips for Guests from a regular Lake House Host:

I am not a one-man Bed, Breakfast and Board shop. One boy I know actually declines to come out because everyone works at my house – but not his.

I have noticed a trend of adults leaving before teardown. I’m fine with once in a while “having” to get back but not participating at all in teardown all summer is getting old. I took Friday off to setup on my own, that was my choice and I like the quite time but for those of you that are guests, we hosts eventually notice who is there when stuff needs to be packed, unpacked, cleaned and stored.

Maybe is not an answer. I have other friends. I also have limited space, bedrooms and boats. I need to know who is in and who is out. I’m asking if you would like to go, not if you would like an option to go that remains open up to and including the day of arrival. A maybe cannot be asked to bring or do anything. They are total baggage.

It is a bit unpopular but my solution to this is first come, first pick of a room. Maybe people are mostly also late people. Maybe Blueberry Hill will have a cabin.

If you are coming out a day late to a lake house ALWAYS call twice, once in the am and once at the store to pick-up what is forgotten, that is also a small thing that helps a lot when it is 40 minutes to Wal-Mart.

If you are a first time guest you may be told to just bring your suit and a towel - that is what I tell folks.

Here are some things you can bring that have made a great impression on me, - frozen bottled water, it works for ice and you have drinks for the boat that do not stain, I allow coke etc. but some folks do not. In fact, never show up to any boat without at least a bag of ice.

Bring your own cleaning rag and bottle of vinyl cleaner – even if it is not Aero 303 - I am always out and will use any good brand in a pinch.

If you ride with anyone on a regular basis and they say don’t worry, I’ll clean the boat when I get home – find out when and stop by to help. I can assure you, you are an army of one. By this point in the summer, even the rabid boaters are tired of solo boat care.

I have some regulars that just step up and handle stuff like food planning, who will bring what – it is a huge help.

I’ve had a boat for years, every winter I buy about 10 rash guard shirts ($15-$19), I consider them essential, and I am down to four – I do not know where they go. Rather than cash (which I have never taken) - plex goggles or a nice rash guard shirt or two will get you remembered.

If you ride tubes with someone a lot, think ropes. I switch out my 4 man lines every year and buy 4 at a pop so they are all the same length. I snapped a little rope once and it came back into the boat. I’m big on big new ropes every year or so.

I’ve also gotten a rope swing, framed water pictures and even a toilet paper holder (a moose with a spare role box under it). If it was a gift, I know who it was from. One guy made custom t-shirts for everyone, nice design, nice shirt, very thoughtful.

Watch the rope. If a kid is having trouble getting suited up, ask if you can pull it in. Watch the boat traffic, if it looks odd, SPEAK-UP!

I don’t “expect” this or that from my guests, but it is remembered when they take a little time to show their appreciation.

I volunteered with a crew at school for years (Bingo), they have been coming to the lake for years. They are some of my favorite guests. They are there early for set-up, they bring all the food, run every meal, don’t leave until I get in my car (stay to the end, see what lock up really looks like), and leave cash in the cupboard for gas because I won’t take it.

All of this takes more time than an ATM but if you are hitching a ride, someone has more than a little time vested in you already. Having been a host a number of years I realize that I was never a very good guest – which may explain why I wasn’t one all that often.

Still, if you are riding in a boat you have never bought a tank of gas for, you’re doing it wrong.


Additional thoughts on Guest kids:

They have never been a problem. One mom thinks I shouldn’t make the kids work so much (roll eyes here). I asked a kid on his first trip this weekend (after teardown) if it was too much work to come back. Three hours to put up four boats and put the lake house in order plus empty the garage & clean the floor so 8 other boys could sleep there when they arrived next week – not trivial work. He would LOVE to come back.

I treat them all like my own and often the parents are a little surprised at the kids’ capacity.
E. g. after a fall you do not ask - are you ok? Are you ok? Are you OK!? . . . You ask if they have another run in them, they will tell you if they are not ok.

Kids are on KP every night (ages 8-14), never perfect but getting better, they cannot learn by watching you work. Usually someone helps finish up but they are getting pretty good at it.

I have been known to let some kids sit out KP, if he is hauling the boat stuff out, wiping down the boats, helping the younger kids etc. I’ll give them a pass for seeing what need to be done and doing it. Of course most of my guest kids are Boy Scouts and they end up helping their buddies anyway.

In other news my son at age 12 took a boat to and from the dock on his own for the first time a few weeks ago. I noticed three other guest boys had taken the boating course and were being taught to do that this weekend. I consider boating a great place to train responsibility.

I have rules -- for safety, care of equipment, and shared workload. Generally, take the kids, leave the parents behind.

[deerfield]

"Teaching my kids to Ride, Shoot Strait and Tell the Truth"

Good man.

[Dan]

Had this wonderfully beautiful boat of mine tide up to the courtesy dock, the no wake buoy is about 15 yard out in the water and this bass boat came flying up and shuts it down right at the buoy. This creating waves and such, rocking my boat up against the dock (had 3 fenders out). Did not mess my boat up but I gave him a glare that would start a fight in most bars. Q; how do you tell these folks to slow it down about 100 yards out with out getting into an argument?

[trayson]

Had this wonderfully beautiful boat of mine tide up to the courtesy dock, the no wake buoy is about 15 yard out in the water and this bass boat came flying up and shuts it down right at the buoy. This creating waves and such, rocking my boat up against the dock (had 3 fenders out). Did not mess my boat up but I gave him a glare that would start a fight in most bars. Q; how do you tell these folks to slow it down about 100 yards out with out getting into an argument?

If they're outside of the no wake zone, you can only appeal to their reason...

But if they're in the no wake zone, I get on my Wet Sounds PA System and yell "NO WAKE ZONE DUMBASS!!!". I've done that to more than a few guys on Waverunners that don't think they put out a wake...

[Connolly_Crew]

If they're outside of the no wake zone, you can only appeal to their reason...

But if they're in the no wake zone, I get on my Wet Sounds PA System and yell "NO WAKE ZONE DUMBASS!!!". I've done that to more than a few guys on Waverunners that don't think they put out a wake...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[keweaver13]

Sweet looking boat! Congrats.
I do not think it was mentioned, keep an eye on the weather. It can get real ugly real fast on a larger lake.

@SmokeDog - great post!

[jmb]

Sometimes I'm by myself and have to back down, drive off, tie up and then move truck

[zabooda]

Had this wonderfully beautiful boat of mine tide up to the courtesy dock, the no wake buoy is about 15 yard out in the water and this bass boat came flying up and shuts it down right at the buoy. This creating waves and such, rocking my boat up against the dock (had 3 fenders out). Did not mess my boat up but I gave him a glare that would start a fight in most bars. Q; how do you tell these folks to slow it down about 100 yards out with out getting into an argument?

If the no wake zone is there to protect boats at the dock then the responsible organization needs to move the buoys out further.

[Dan]

If the no wake zone is there to protect boats at the dock then the responsible organization needs to move the buoys out further.

That's kind of what I was thinking. Some folks just don't use their head and it is annoying.