Monthly Archives: August 2015

Just a Few Things Left to Do

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I’ve been pretty lazy about working on the boat this summer. Fact is, it has been really hot outside, and I have had other things to do! But, I am making slow progress…

After I finished painting the topside, I took a look at the bottom and realized it needed a bit of work. Fairing the decks had been pretty hard on the hull, so much of it needed to be smoothed out, resealed, and re-primed. So, while I was at it, I figured I would put a couple more coats of white paint on the bottom.

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Cleanup required!

Next big step was to hunt for a motor. I needed something as light as possible – ideal would be an older 2-stroke outboard, short shaft, 20 or 25 horsepower, weighing less than a hundred pounds.

After a few weeks of lurking around on Craigslist, I found what I was looking for — a 1986 Mercury, 2-stroke, 25 horse, manual everything, short shaft. It was about an hour away, at a used boat/motor store/junkyard in Stockton. Drove out there, chatted with the guy a bit, and came home with it.

I put the motor on the boat this morning, looks pretty awesome, don’t you think?!?

View from the front

View from the front

View from the rear

View from the rear

View from upstairs

View from upstairs

So now, just a few things left to do, at least one of which I dread. My punchlist is as follows:

  • Set up a steering wheel and rig for the motor,
  • Obtain and hook up a deadman throttle system,
  • Buy or build a trailer, and
  • Take the whole kit and kaboodle to the DMV and attempt to get it registered.

Can you guess which bit it is that I am dreading?

My Favorite California Lake

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I have always been a lake guy. Lots of people prefer the ocean, but I’ll take a nice mountain lake any day. It’s in my blood, I suspect…

Once I had kids, I decided that it was my moral obligation to share this love of lakes with my family, so I started looking at California maps to find an appropriate lake within striking distance. Of course, I was well aware of Lake Tahoe, and had been there many times. And Lake Tahoe is incredibly beautiful, and has lots of fun stuff to do. But, my goodness, Tahoe is crowded, incredibly expensive… and has casinos. I envisioned a lake that had neither crowds nor casinos.

I got a big map of Northern California, and started looking for my lake. My gaze settled on Lake Almanor, a good sized, heart-shaped lake well north of the Tahoe madness, near Lassen National Park. As summer aAlmanorpproached, I talked Karen and the kids into taking a camping trip up that direction. We had a really nice time, and Karen started to swing towards my lake-oriented point of view. Lake Almanor was beautiful, nice for swimming and boating, with deer, grebes, big beautiful pine trees, and osprey everywhere.

After a few more camping trips, we rented a house a couple times, and started thinking about maybe getting a lake place of our own. Our requirements for a lake house were pretty simple. It needed to have a really good view of the lake (on the shore was out of the question, way out of the price range!), had to be usable year-round, and had to have good access to fun things to do. Above all, it had to be an inviting place for the family to spend time together.

Calm lake and puffy clouds.

Calm lake and puffy clouds.

Bill and Ines Haas, previous owners of 806 Lassen View.

Bill and Ines Haas, previous owners of 806 Lassen View.

We looked around for a while, and actually ended up buying a place. It was a little more than we were looking for, to be honest, but the view was spectacular and the retired couple that were selling the place were so sweet that we simply couldn’t resist! So, in September of 2003 we became the proud owners of 806 Lassen View Drive.

We’ve had lots of great times there over the years, as you can see from the few pictures I have posted below. Sad to say, with the boys growing up, it has been a couple years now since we have been there as a family. However, Karen and I still make it there when we can; it is still a wonderful place to visit on a long weekend, and the house itself is filled with great memories!

Sunset on the lake.

Sunset on the lake.

Winter provides epic toboggan runs!

Winter provides epic toboggan runs!

Fishing expedition. Didn't catch anything!

Fishing expedition. Didn’t catch anything!

A forlorn herding dog watching part of his flock.

A forlorn herding dog watching part of his flock.

Winter snowshoe expedition.

Winter snowshoe expedition.

Hors doerves on the porch, a nightly institution at the lake.

Sunset dinner on the porch, a nightly institution at the lake.

Winter wonderland.

Winter wonderland.

A dog and his boy.

A dog and his boy.

Lake Almanor, from a kayak's point of view.

Lake Almanor, from a kayak’s point of view.