Harbormaster

Our harbormaster , Matt Bentzen, is one of the main reasons we are at the Pettibone Boat Club Marina. He has been the harbormaster there for 25 years. He is responsible for all the maintenance in the marina. He also assists the boat owners in launching their boats in the spring and for pulling them out in the fall. He treats everyone at the marina with great kindness and respect. When ever someone has a problem with their dock or even their boat he is there to fix or lend a hand to solve the problem, if he can't help with the boat, he has many sources to recommend to get the job done. He has a small crew of semi-retired individuals and younger individuals that help him maintain the marina and assist boaters with gas and ice purchases and for pumpouts when needed.

A Crappy Happy Hour

2 beers and a crappy happy hour later, we discovered something wasn't right in the bathroom. As luck would have it, we discovered that the seal along the bottom of the toilet had worn away and started to leak into the hull. This is an older designed toilet from 1987 that is in three parts. There's the throne itself, which is bolted to a small holding tank and the underside of the tank is caulked around the edge of what looks like a removable pan. We have no idea why you would ever want to remove this, but you can. The tank is then hooked to a hose which is hooked to a pump that when switched on removes the contents from the small tank to the larger (main) septic tank in the bottom of the hull until it is time to take it to the gas dock and pumped out. We found a marine caulk that is called, 5200 Adhesive Marine Caulk, this is designed for permanent adhesion under water and anywhere else that you don't want to come apart. It goes without saying, houseboating is full of fun and adventure but also can have some unpleasant surprises.

A Day with the Dogs

A Day with the Dogs Today started out a normal day at the dock enjoying a relaxing time at the boat, when the dogs decided to go out and venture along the dock and got excited when they saw some ducks getting close and they decided to bark and run the dock when we heard a loud splash and only one of the two dogs returned. We discovered one had ran too fast and could'nt stop and into the river he went , now keep in mind these are two sheltie males, I had to reach down and pull the one out, who weighs 40 pounds, and he looked like a wet mop and it didn't even phase him he wanted to get back to barking, no ducks allowed on his dock.The fishing has been slow, but we continue to help the DNR out by catching a lot of 4-5 pound dog fish and disposing of them for fertilizer.

6/6/09

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Fun in the Sun

The weather here in La Crosse, WI finally took a turn for the best, it has been rainy and cool and this last weekend it was sunny and in the upper 70's. Everyone was out and having a good time. The grills were going and a few on shore fires went up as the nights get nice and cool. The fishing is a little slow but we still try, the winds were calm so a lot of boats were out cruising the Mississippi River enjoyng the scenery and parking at the sandbars to do some swimming and relaxing. There is always places to go and things to do and see no matter what type of boat you have they are all out there. There are restraunts to go to, bars to stop at and some have bands playing. People were gong thru the dams to explore other regions and do more sightseeing. It was a fun weekend.

Summerizing Houseboat

This article is about how we go about summerizing our houseboat after a long winter nap. Before we launch it we recommend looking at the bottom of the boat and the sterndrive(s). We look for cracks in the hull or any sign of oil leakage coming from the sterndrives and if any of these problems are discovered this is serious you will need to contact a reliable marine repair shop and have them check into it and make their estimate of the problem and what needs to be done to repair it. Next climb in the engine compartment and look at the engine(s) for any sign of leakage of oil, gasoline. Check to make sure all the plugs are back in properly that you took out in the winter to drain the water. Make sure the batteries are fully charged and in good condition and make sure the connections are tight. Look at the condition of all anodes, which are usually made of zinc, on the boat to see if they need replacing, these help with electrolysis from the water so your sterndrive(s) are not consumed. We would now hookup a flushing device and start the engine(s) and check to see if there are any oil leaks or water leaks. If OK, we then launch our boat into the water and park it into our assigned slip at the dock and then do a final check to make sure everything sounds OK and there are no leaks.
Once at the dock we plug into the electricity and make sure all outlets, lights, refrigerator, air conditioning( if equipped) are working fine. We then fill our water holding tank or if capable hookup directly to water hose, and flush out all the water lines that should have antifreeze in them from storing it, and make sure the water pressure is fine and none of the water lines are leaking anywhere.
Now it is time to stock the refrigerator and get ready to enjoy a fun and relaxing summer season.