Wow.

What a nice trip. Before we actually got going I was having nervous thoughts about the whole thing. Things going wrong cluttered my head. Would the suburban make the trip towing the boat? Would the boat even start? If it started would it run and not overheat?

You know - typical psycho babble.

But everything went off without a hitch. We left on Friday morning. The drive was not bad at all. I will say however that I get really tense when the wind picks up. The boat turns into a big kite. The climbing was not bad either - the suburban handled everything just fine. And to top it off I had my sister with us keeping the girls company!

First thing that happened was actually getting into Lake Powell. I had to pass the mussel check. Not so much a check as much a cleaning. The boat is now mussel free if it ever had mussels at all. It was a fun joke that day to tell everyone that the boat had no “muscles”.

As soon as we got everything into the room we launched the boat. Rolled down the long ramp, turned around, put her in the water and fired her up. Beautiful. Mom and Don were with us and this was their first ride on the boat. Uncle Don had the house boat out early and everyone was out having dinner. We called Uncle Don and he met us right outside the no wake buoy. What an awesome feeling. Me in my Campbell meeting Uncle Don in his. It was great. I was really, really proud.

Had dinner and then had to hustle back to beat sundown. Big day Saturday.

Quick note on my driving skills. I’m definitely better at putting the boat into dock slips. Up until this trip there were very few opportunities. Now it was every time in and out of the water. I finally got a hang of using reverse properly. There’s no backing up left or right - that’s a luxury for weaker boat owners. Reverse is only useful to slow you down. The trick as I had been told and discovered is to learn to spin to the left. That is, pin the wheel all the way to the right, reverse hard, pin the wheel all the way to the left and forward throttle. Doing this a few times and I can make the boat spin in one spot. Hell - I don’t know. It worked.

Saturday was great. Best of all - I worked up the courage to tow the girls on a tube. Madi and Nola had a blast. Cousin Taylor rode with them and made it fun for the both of them. Then I got to tow my sister. Ha! That was great. Dragging her ass around behind my boat was fun. Sitting around with everyone looking at the boats was also cool. I was very proud of my boat and it felt great to show it off. And to top it off we had a huge BBQ to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa’s 60th anniversary. Great food.

Sunday was totally bitter sweet. The weather was fantastic and we only had 5 hours. I spent a little time sitting with Grandpa talking about Campbell boats. He told me stories of the different boats he built and people he built them with.

I remember sitting there thinking that this was the first of many trips.

And the pictures.

We got the boat to Havasu for a nice weekend.

Man - it all worked out. Nothing wrong. Boat ran great. Weather was great. Beach was great. Kids were great. Hell, even I was great. We also got around the Bridge a bit and enjoyed Hawaiian Shave Ice. (Hawaiian is kind of a thing as you’ll see).

We lucked out and got Rachie’s Cove again. This is definitely our favorite spot. It’s tucked away on the CA side of the lake around the Family Coves area. Close enough to the bridge - but far enough too. It’s cornered in such a way that the waves break and then slowly drift to the beach. The trees are overgrown just enough to create a shade and the beach is long enough that the girls have a full 30 yards to play. The water was up this time (probably 10 feet I would guess). Lots of trees to tie the boat off too and no hidden trees or rocks underwater. As I said last year - it’s a wonderful place to be memorialized in.

And the wildlife. Wow. Jackasses, ducks and of course all colors of bugs.

A new thing we have created is the lunch mommy packs. This time was turkey sandwiches with Hawaiian rolls. Cut strawberries and blackberries. And Coors. Damn tasty.

Of course we ate at Mudsharks. However. Someone needs to let ownership know that “Up River” needs to be on tap from April to October. I don’t know who schedules this shit but they need to get it together. Twice now I’ve had to settle for other beer. No bueno.

Something else to note (mostly for myself): We will be getting a better camera. The iPhone is a kick ass phone but it doesn’t do the quality photos like I wish. All of these photos are from my iPhone. Last year we used our Olympus and I hated using it. Time to spend a little cheddar and get a quality camera. Too many good shots missed.

A good friend of mine just bought a Campbell 24′ Cuddy Cabin. This makes me happy on so many levels. First, we now have someone to enjoy the weekends with. Second, the Campbell line continues on.

For whatever reason that second part has become really important to me.

Pleasant was great. The boat ran really well. It gave us a little bit of a scare right off the trailer. It wouldn’t start and I think I might have flooded the carburetor a little. It eventually started but not before I started sweating.

After we got going I obsessed over the running temperature. It never got hotter than 165. The engine sounded great as well. No problems.

We didn’t get a beach - there aren’t many at Pleasant. We floated back and forth between a small island and some reef buoys. It was great. We had good friends with us and they own a boat as well. It was nice having a rescue boat in case anything happened. A number of times we started the boat and idled back out into the middle of the water.

I was happy the boat stopped/started so often. I’m starting to gain confidence in it again.

No pictures. I forgot my phone in the suburban. Which is OK. This trip was only about 5 hours and there wasn’t a lot to look at.

The best part of the trip (besides the boat doing so well) was my friends 1 year old son. He got tired about an hour after we got out on the water. His mommy settled him down and I made a quick bed in the bow of the boat. He slept under there for close to an hour. When he woke up he rolled up onto his butt and grinned from ear to ear. It was great. Reminded me of myself when I was younger, finding little spots on family boats to lay down and cover up. Hearing the water and the other boats rumble on the hull of your boat is quite soothing. Great memories.

We’re going to hit Lake Pleasant today with some friends. Washed and waxed the boat last night.

Really wish we could have hit the Spring Round up, but too many things happening all at once.

Pictures of the trip (good or bad) soon.

We made a quick trip to Havasu this Saturday after the walk to pick up the boat. It was a nice getaway. The drive was nice; the girls slept the entire way. The weather was nice with exception of the wind - when is that going to stop? We ate at Mudsharks of course and the food was great. So was the beer. And on top of that Kimberly believes the Hampton now knows who we are.

The boat was dirty. I hate seeing it that way. Dust and cobwebs. It was about 5pm on Saturday and I didn’t want to rush to put it in the water. So we just parked it and decided to take it to Parker on the way home on Sunday.

I put it in the water at the Cienega boat ramp. It was nice and quiet there so I sat it with the butt in the water and let it run. Ran great. But it always does. I let it rev at 2500 RPM for about 20 minutes. Temperature never went passed 165. I could also feel the cold water running through the new hoses on the water pump. Even the thermostat was cold to the touch. Well … we’ll see.

I think our next outing is going to be the Campbell Spring round up. It will give me time to wash and wax.

Two other nice things happened on our trip. First at the hotel in the lobby I ran into a really good friend. He was on a work trip and just happened to walk through the lobby. Might have missed him otherwise. It was great to catch up. Second, we stopped at Badenoch’s on the way home and as we were leaving a San Bernardino County fire engine pulled up. A tall man got out and says to me “that’s not your old Campbell is it?”. I replied “yep”. He says “cool, I have a couple myself.” A couple? Turns out this guy is Steve Sipes the owner of “Numero Uno” and “Geronimo”. We chatted for a minute and said we might see each other at the round up.

Say it: “dee ay gee toe”

A lot of times I forget that I can walk. I can talk. I can swallow food. I can laugh. I can cry. A lot of times I take it all for granted. “dee ay gee toe”.

The next time you feel like you don’t want to do something for sheer laziness - say it: “dee ay gee toe”

Diegito taught me more than anyone could ever “say”. He has shown me that even the smallest and most frail can fight. They can win.

Diego Jason Jimenez is my nephew. He is terminally ill. He can’t do any of the things I can do. But he shows me how everyday.

That’s why I’m walking and raising money. Will you help me? Click on the big purple banner above.

Donate. Or walk. Because you can. “dee ay gee toe”.

I just got off the phone with Ed at Campbell. I definitely hydro-locked the engine. And their initial thoughts about the water pump being restricted water due to plumbing seems to be the culprit. It makes sense and I hope it’s the solution. I don’t mind replacing impellers - once a year.

The oil coming out of the dipstick also seems to be from the fact the engine isn’t breathing. I’m no mechanic so this is a little out of my league, but it makes sense. Adding breathers and some hosing to the valve covers is what they’re quoting for me now.

They’re working on her. Putting her back together, better, faster, stronger.

Not very happy about it. It’s at Campbell right now getting looked at.

We had a great day on the water. Boat ran like a champ all the way up to the dam. Beached it all day. On the way home it ran hot. I turned it off and it dieseled for a bit, then I put it in reverse to stop it. I heard water boiling inside.

I’m sure the impeller went out again. The guys at Campbell are starting to suspect my water pump plumbing might be the problem. It’s a mix of hoses and pipes with a bunch of hose clamp connections. It may be restricting water flow or letting air in. Both bad circumstances.

Not sure I can keep doing this. We’ll see what they say after they look at it more. Right now though my thoughts are to get it fixed and running again then sell it. I can’t have my kids and wife stranded out on the boat every time we go out. I can’t wait with anxiety every time I turn the key praying and hoping it will start.

It’s a dream boat. It’s a damn beautiful boat. It runs great - really great - when it runs. One part. A cheap part totally ruins every trip.

I hate impellers right now.

Well we finally got a better towing vehicle. We found a used Chevy Suburban and got a smoking deal on it. It’s on ‘04 with 53,000 miles on it. Same engine as the truck so the towing power should be close to equal. The real win here is obviously the extra seating and comfort. With the baby girl on the way I really needed to do something fast. 4 women traveling 4 hours at a time requires heavy planning and consideration.

Also - it looks highly likely that our first trip of the season is going to be this weekend. We are considering Branson’s in Parker this time. But we can always fall back on the Hampton/Havasu trick that we know so well.

The boat’s ready. The suburban’s ready. I’m ready. Damn - let’s go.

keep looking »

Recently Written

• Lake Powell 6/12 - 6/14
• Lake Havasu - 5/16
• New member to the Campbell Club
• Lake Pleasant - Good trip
• Lake Pleasant today
• Boat’s back
• Diegito
• The boat engine is fine - there is hope
• Boat overheated - again
• New tower and first trip

Categories

• Boat Stories
• Book
• Lessons
• Maintenance
• News

Archives

• June 2009
• May 2009
• April 2009
• March 2009
• February 2009
• October 2008
• September 2008
• August 2008
• July 2008
• June 2008

Other Places

• Campbell Boat Owners
• Campbell Boats
• Clint’s Blog

Admin

• Log in

Search