On the Water

There’s a lot to do every spring. Yardwork to complete, spring sports to attend and my personal favorite, preparing for fishing! Last week I performed a key task before getting on the water, servicing our boat.

As you can tell from this week’s featured pic, our boat is nothing extravagant, but it does exactly what we need it to do. Scoots us around the lake quickly and safely to the next fishing spot! The boat is a 13’6” Boston Whaler.

Whalers are legendary for their performance as bay boats. Although small, the fiberglass boats are designed to be very stable in choppy water. The Whaler’s unique foam filled hull design reportedly makes them nearly impossible to swamp or sink. New boats are expensive, that is why I went with a slightly used one. Our particular vessel was built over 50 years ago…it is older than me!

I was very excited in 2015 when the Army assigned us to a post located on the banks of the Tennessee River. I shared last year, some of my fondest memories as a youth were fishing on the same river, not far downstream from where we live now.

When deciding what boat to look for, I chose a Whaler for safety and stability. My wife and oldest son don’t care for the water much. It’s really only me and my youngest who enjoy fishing and boating, so we didn’t need anything really big. My first inclination was to just buy a little aluminum Jon boat with a 10hp motor.

But I had enough experience with small boats growing up that I knew a Jon boat might not be the safest option, especially on the Tennessee River. During the summer, the river gets crowded and depending on how high it is, there can be a lot of chop. There are local news reports almost every weekend during the summer about boating accidents.

A friend who knows a heck of a lot more about boats than I do, suggested I look into Whalers. He owned one and I was impressed how stable and quick such a small boat could be with a 30hp motor! After almost a year of searching, in 2016 I located one for sale.

I got a great deal on the boat, but it needed some work. Not so much on the hull, but rather the motor and the trailer. The 80s something pull start, tiller steer outboard started every time…about 50% of the time! And the trailer looked like a home build project gone bad.

It’s taken a few years but I’ve got the boat in good shape now. My family got me a new motor as a retirement gift from the Army in 2019. I built up a helm with steering, added a Bimini top, rub rail and got the trailer a lot more user friendly.

Some folks say that boat really stands for bet on another thousand and that is probably true. The annual services I mentioned earlier, cost over $200! But keeping the vessel maintained and in good running order is key. The Tennessee River can be unforgiving of mistakes.

I store the boat not far from the ramp where we usually put in. Over the past few weeks I’ve made sure it is ready to go. Currently, with all the spring rain, the river is very high, flowing fast and full of debris.  More than me and my son want to deal with.

But in a couple of weeks the conditions should be just about right to go on that first fishing expedition of the year. We usually always catch something, even if it’s only a couple of bream or a catfish.

Of course, it isn’t always about the size of the catch. Being on the water is about enjoying the majestic beauty of one of our nation’s largest rivers. Also, skimming along at almost 30mph in the morning when the water is like glass is pretty awesome too. But most importantly, just spending time with my son is the best. I know the days of the weekend fishing trips won’t last forever.

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Views, opinions and biases expressed in this blog are the authors and do not reflect those of the U.S. Army or Department of Defense.

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