Something Fishy is Going On (Saturday, June 3rd, 2017)

I have been working a lot today, and Steve decided that it was time to get me out of the house for a few hours, so we jumped in the car and headed down to the boat ramp to see if anything was going on.

As we stood on the ramp, we noticed that there were a lot of fishing boats coming in all at once, which is very unusual this time of year. So we started watching a little more closely.

All of the fishermen were bagging their live fish and taking them over to a tent in the parking lot.  We walked over to see what was going on, and it was a bass fishing competition.

Under the tent, they had horse troughs full of blue water.  We assume that they were medicating the fish to help them survive the ordeal.  Each fisherman would hand over his fish to the official "fish weigher".  He would yell out the total number of live fish and the total weight of each fishermen's catch.  Most of the fishermen had five (the limit) live fish weighing somewhere around 16 pounds total. 

There were some really nice looking fish.  They would also weigh the largest fish individually for the fishermen if they requested it.

We've never really been into fishing, so this was something new for us, and pretty interesting.  By the time we went back to the parking lot, it was full of Ranger fishing boats.  

Havasu has something for everyone!  Whether you are into extreme sports, fishing, hiking, or just hanging out in great weather.  

Maybe next time well head out on the lake and watch the fishermen in action.

Maintenance in a Small Town (Thursday, February 23rd, 2017)

Our boat is a 1995 Conquest that has been well cared for, but also a little bit neglected...darn!  We have needed a new gimble ring on our boat for a long time, but just haven't had time to do it, so while we are in Arizona, we decided to get it in for some much needed maintenance.  We have been using the mechanics at Quality Marine for many years, and they have always treated us and our boat well. So of course, we went back when we needed this work done.  

When we were here in early February, Steve made the appointment to get it fixed, and we delivered it to the shop a few days ago. When they work on the gimble ring, they have to remove the engine and the drive to put the new transom assembly in, so it seemed like the perfect time to buff out the back of the boat. 

Steve asked them to give him a call once the engine and drive were out so that we could go get the boat and do a little work of our own to it.

When they got the boat emptied out, they gave Steve a call, and Gary told Steve to "come on down".  Steve said he'd be right down with the trailer, and Gary said "you don't need your trailer", you can just buff it out in our garage.  

So we took our buffing equipment down there, and they had moved our boat into a bay by itself, where we could work on it while the mechanics worked on the transom assembly in a different bay.  We couldn't believe that they would let us work on our boat right in their shop.  Now that's what we call great service, and that's why we keep coming back!

Unfortunately, the gimble ring wasn't the only problem with the boat.  It also needs some upholstery work.  So while the boat was in the shop, our friends Alan and Linda re-upholstered our back seat cushion.  Alan and Steve cut and varnished a new board for it.

And Linda did the upholstery work.  It turned out beautiful!  We're not fond of the original upholstery with it's purple, teal and pink stripes, so we had her match the pattern, but in all white.  We're thrilled with how it turned out, and the white will be nice and cool on hot Arizona days. Maybe some day we can get the rest of the upholstery done in all white too, but for now, we love our new seat!

Top View

It's the little things in life that seem to make us happy.  A repair shop that knows how to treat it's customers, and good friends who make us a beautiful new seat.  Life is good in this small town!

Lake Havasu City - Bridge Water Channel and Sunsets (Wednesday, December 2nd, 2015)

Both nights in Havasu so far we have had the most beautiful sunsets. It is one of our favorite things about being down here. At home we really don’t ever have good sunsets, probably because we are so close to the mountains. They block the view that would create the sunset.

Here are a few pictures of last night sunset.  We set up our evening appetizers in the yard so we could sit and enjoy it.

Setting up appetizers for the sunset viewing

Enjoying a beautiful sunset, Havasu style

We got a call from our friends Alan and Linda this morning, and they were going down to the boat ramp to test out some propellers on one of their boats, so we decided to head down and see them. They had their little white boat out, and were running it for speed with different props.  It is a beautiful boat that they have put a lot of work into.  Steve calls it the surf-board with a jet engine on it!

A picture for the boys

A picture for the girls

Making a minor adjustment

When we left the boat ramp, we took a walk through the channel and enjoyed the sights and the gorgeous weather. The English Village along the channel and the London Bridge are all decorated for Christmas, making it really fun to see.  

The Lake Havasu Outrigger Club out practicing

As we were leaving the channel, we noticed that a nice sunset was starting to form, so we decided to head over to the boat ramp at Windsor Beach and watch.  

As we were walking onto the beach, we saw the most interesting seeds laying in the sand.  We couldn't figure out what they were, so we decided we'd have to do a little research on them.

They turned out to be the seeds of the screw bean mesquite tree. They fall to the ground, and then screw themselves into the sand.  Kind of a fun find while we were waiting for the sun set!

It started out slowly, but did not leave us disappointed!

After catching our breath, we headed back home for the night, but such a relaxing night wouldn't be complete without a night time look at the London Bridge all decked out for Christmas!