Neighbors & Boats

My neighbor is not like many people. He immediately paid for his portion of the fence previously posted. I actually never doubted his intent but it made fun text. I would say that he is a gentleman and a scholar (he actually is both of these in life).

I have picked out a small 16' utility boat that will suit my need for fishing nicely. It is difficult to determine the exact fees that I will charge for people to get in my boat. I would expect that various rates should be used depending upon their being family or not. Different categories could easily involve the capabilites to row, bait hooks, net fish, designated operator, launching, and other activities as defined by me. I am open to suggestions for line items as we all know that the more items you can list, the more you can charge. I have learned this from some of my doctor/hospital visits.

Boat shopping has been fun and very similar to auto shopping. Hold tightly to your wallet and watch your back. I would start off saying that I wanted a package deal with boat, trailer, motor, etc. I would then receive quotes back that had to be carefully examined as they would typically be missing a trailer, motor, or other significant item.

Salesman: Oh, did you want a gas tank with that motor?
Me:Gee, what do you think? Do I really need one? Will it run on methane?

Salesman: Did you want a spare tire for the trailer?
Me:Gee, I figured that I would just carry the whole thing on my back.

Salesman: Do you want oars?
Me:Yes! Darn it, what do you think "package" means?

Me:Don't you need lights at night?
Salesman: If the boat is under 20', you only need the white transom light.
Me: Are you sure?

He was sure and he is very wrong. The regs say that if the boat is powered it will have the red/green bow and a white transom light. I wanted to be current in boating regulations and brush up on navigation rules so I took an eight hour boating safety class at the AZ Game & Fish Department. I may be the "old guy" to some but I am not always stupid. Rules and regulations do change over the years and sure enough, a couple had involving PFDs and age restrictions.

This was a very good course to take, it was free, and reduces the cost of your insurance. There were only a couple of people that didn't enjoy the course but they had bad attitudes after being ordered to attend by the court.