Lighten the Load

The snow finally stopped. I think we ended up with about 6 inches total. Another front is supposed to move through later this afternoon/evening, but hopefully it won't dump as much on us as the first one did. The guys (and gal -- Angie) are still shoveling away. Tim, Josh and Matt are up there, and a big THANK YOU to Gabe, Skip, Angie, Gary & Sue Giavanini, and Bob Gunkel for their help today. (Click the images to enlarge them.)

Enough Already!

I took this pic at 10 a.m. We've gotten 5 1/2 inches already! It has let up a little... but it's still falling... probably be shoveling roofs pretty soon...

White Out

January is going out with a bang, isn't it! Everything was already covered when I first looked outside at 6:30 this morning. By 8:30 we already had 3 inches, and the flakes are only getting bigger and coming down faster. This is the view out our windshield as we turned off Highway W and headed down the road to the new (800) dock.

Interesting article in BoatU.S. Magazine

I found this article in the January 2008 issue of BoatU.S. Magazine. I thought you might be interested in reading it also...

Army Corps Floats Life Jacket Rule

The millions of visitors to lakes and reservoirs managed by the Army Corps of Engineers may have to wear life jackets to go boating, if the agency's chief has his way. The Corps, which has jurisdiction over 456 waterways in 43 states, is currently contemplating mandatory life jacket wear for all boaters on their waters. Major General Don Riley, Director of the Corps' Civil Works, is concerned that despite several decades of safety education aimed at swimmers and boaters, the water-related fatality rate at Corps facilities has not improved in the last few years.

Nationwide, the Corps has a 10-year average of 164 water-related fatalities a year. The majority of these deaths occur among swimmers outside designated swim areas, as well as from falls off docks, banks and land. Boating-specific deaths are approximately 42% of the annual water-related fatalities. This boating category includes deaths attributed to swimming from a boat, falling or fishing from the boat, nighttime capsizing, and capsizing in general.

At press time in late November, Corps staff was conducting research into existing state laws, enforcement capabilities and the effectiveness of education and outreach efforts. If the Corps decides to create a federal life jacket standard for its waters, the proposed change in Title 36 of the federal regulations would require a public comment period. However, if an individual district commander, leading one of the 38 districts of the Corps, decides to implement a life jacket requirement for all boaters in their own geographic district, they can enact this change merely by signing a statement to that effect.

BoatU.S. is part of the ongoing discussions with the Corps; if a comment period is announced, BoatU.S. will post notice at BoatUS.com/gov.

So far we have heard nothing of this proposition. We'll keep you posted if we do hear something out of the Little Rock District--our local district.

What are your thoughts?

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

So the massive cold front finally moved through Pontiac... and WOW! It dropped from 72 degrees to 32 degrees in less than two hours. We seriously had near hurricane-force winds -- fortunately it was blowing out of the north and not the southwest... Bobby Gunkel circled the park and stopped to chat with Tim for a minute, when he looked up to see his own boat sailing across the cove. "Well, there goes my boat!" Sure enough, it had broken loose from the 800 dock and was floating into the far side of the cove. "What do you want to do?" Tim said. "Let's go get it!" Bob said. So the two jumped in the work boat and headed over there. They couldn't do anything with the wind blowing that hard, so they had to leave it. In the meantime, two more boats broke loose from the same dock and floated into the same cove -- all three are still there, as the wind hasn't laid down enough for the guys to rescue them yet (you can see them in the picture above, waaaay back there).

While they were heading out in the work boat, I drove over to the parking lot by the launch ramp to take some pictures of the swells (six-footers at least) crashing onto the shore. When I got over there the wind ripped my car door out of my hand so fast, it nearly took the door off. And that's no exaggeration. It bent it so far back I could barely close it. It's totally messed up. Not to mention when I got out of the car I could hardly stand up. (Tim says it's the strongest straight-line winds he has ever seen. It's certainly the strongest I've ever seen.) Milt Hoefle drove up and we started to chat when the roof started peeling off the dock right in front of us (see pic above). Fortunately, that's really the only damage to the docks so far, besides a few lockers blown over. We haven't had a chance to check over every square inch, but we will. A few folks have been down to check on their boats. If you're in the area it might not be a bad idea to check on yours... but wait until the wind calms down. Hopefully we've seen the worst of it, but I don't know. The dock's still rockin' pretty good. We'll keep you posted.

Oh, of course... now the sun is shining!

The few. The proud.

Carrie Kohler recently graduated from U.S. Marine Corps basic training in Parris Island, South Carolina. Carrie is the daughter of Lisa Luna and step-daughter of Charles Luna. Lisa, Charles, Brittany and Kirstyn (Carrie’s sister and niece) all made the trip to see her graduate. Carrie took them on a tour of where she had lived for the past 13 weeks, obstacles she had completed, and the rifle range, where she had learned to shoot. Carrie was home for about a week, and currently she's working in a recruitment office in St. Louis, before she heads to Camp Geiger, North Carolina, for her MCT (Marine Combat Training). Carrie is a former Pontiac resident. She graduated from Gainesville High School and spent summers working at Just Jackie's. We're very proud of her! And we'll keep you posted on where she lands.

Running on Empty

Folks, I wanted to let you know we are currently selling premium unleaded gasoline again at PCM, which is what we always carried until just a few years ago when we made the switch to regular unleaded. And here's why: Some of you may already know that as of January 1 gasoline is required to contain 10% ethanol. However, marine fuel is exempt from that law, but only for premium unleaded gasoline. We've heard reports about what ethanol will do to outboard motors... we needed to get a load of gasoline... so we went with premium (91 octane) to avoid the ethanol, until we can determine what is going to be the best scenario for the majority of our customers.

What are your thoughts?

It's snowing in the desert!

Mike Cochran sent me these pictures this morning. He is currently working in Iraq. He said when he went to bed last night it was raining and when he woke up it was snowing! Not something they see too often where he is. As he put it: "Hell has frozen over!" Anyway, other than having a cold, Mike is doing well. We hope to see him soon.

Whew! All is well in the OC!

Well, I'm sure some of you are curious about whether Pontiac was in the line of severe storms and tornado touchdowns that went on for about 12 hours in southwest Missouri. I'm happy to say it all missed us. We were very lucky. The folks in the path of those storms, however, were not so lucky. Geez. What a mess. I hope any of you reading this were safe from the storms last night and did not suffer any property damage.

Yesterday it was 70 degrees. Last night there were like 50 tornadoes, this morning it rained so much many areas are flooded, and tonight it's supposed to be in the 20s, with possible snow by Sunday. Mother Nature must be stressed. Someone get her a beach, a fruity cocktail, and a hot guy named Sven to feed her grapes and fan her.

New Aerial Photo?

I'd really like to have a new aerial photo taken of Pontiac Cove once the addition to the new dock is complete this spring. Does anyone know anyone who could do this for me???

Upcoming Events

I don't have all the details, but you can at least mark your calendars for these Spring 2008 events at PCM:

April 12: Verne Cubbage Memorial Fishing Tournament: Last year we hosted the first ever tourney in Verne's honor. And we're doing it again this year. It's a one-day fishing tournament, with cash prizes for winners and LOTS of door prizes.

April 26: Third Annual Blessing of the Fleet: Can you believe this will be three years!! This event kicks off the 2008 boating season, with a boat blessing, costume and boat decorating contest, food, drinks and live entertainment. You won't want to miss it!

(FYI, 2008 hunting and fishing licenses are now available.)

The first post of 2008!

Happy New Year, everyone! (a few days late...) I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are now counting down the days to boating season! It will be here before we know it! (It really will...) As you can imagine, there isn't much happening around the dock these days. I do see some of our local fishermen -- especially on a day like today. WOW! Makes me long for spring already! It's 60-something, partly cloudy, and tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer! We had better enjoy this weather while we can... winter is coming.

We'll continue to maintain our winter hours through the end of February. You can (almost always) catch someone at the dock from 8 to 10 a.m. -- and often later in the day. We were closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas day, NYE, and NYday. And if we're planning to be closed any days in the next couple months I'll try to give you plenty of notice.

We, at PCM, are already gearing up for the 2008 boating season -- we've ordered new t-shirts and hats, and we'll be ordering bait and tackle soon. If there is something you'd like to see us carry this spring and summer, please don't hesitate to make a suggestion! Whether it's tackle, food, boating accessories, or (I'm sure we're not all giving up these vices for the new year) beer and tobacco products... I'm definitely open to new ideas!

Here's an interesting little tidbit for you before I go... A couple months ago I glanced at our customer accounts to see where you all call home! I discovered that 1/3 of you live in Pontiac/Ozark County; 1/3 live in the St. Louis area (including the 'burbs on the Illinois side); and 1/3 are from towns all across Missouri (i.e. Ava, Mansfield, Hartville, Mountain Grove, Springfield, Cape Girardeau etc.) And eight of you are from states other than Missouri or Illinois, including Arkansas, Iowa and Colorado.

Have a great afternoon!