Finally!

It had been a very long time since we've seen this. The lower road at PCM is finally showing through. It is covered in mud and muck and will remain roped off until the water recedes completely and it has a chance to dry out. We will likely be working with the Pontiac/Price Place Volunteer Fire Dept. to get it cleaned up and ready for traffic again. Stay tuned!

Pontiac Fireworks are today!

Today is the day! Join us for food and fun before the fireworks.

The Sumersets

When we sold our Nixa boat dealership, it was like having a log chain removed from my neck. It was time to focus on the marina again. In 1990, we sold all our rental houseboats and bought five new 64'x14' Sumersets.

One of our new rental houseboats

At the same time, Charles Luna (Johnna's brother) bought a seventy-footer. He had helped me get through the Nixa fiasco, so when we added a houseboat dock for our new rentals, he got a prime spot right next to them. Our rentals slept 10. Even though Charles's boat was bigger, he'd say it only slept two.

We decided to have postcards made that would show our houseboats, so we challenged our customers to submit their best photos. Here are a couple of the winners:

  

We became very efficient when it came to turning over houseboat rentals. Everything was very organized from when the reservation was taken until the final cleaning afterward. I had lists for everything: inventory, maintenance and cleaning included. Each employee had a list of duties. During the busy season we rented boats from Monday to Friday or Friday to Monday. The boats would be due in starting at 9 a.m. on those days, and we had to have them all turned around and back out by 5 p.m. the same day. Mondays and Fridays became known as "Houseboat Hell" days.

Our houseboat brochure.

Becoming a boat dealer was one of my worst ideas. Getting in the houseboat business was one of my best. The houseboat rental business was really good, but it was a maintenance nightmare. I knew if I was ever going to get any time off I had to sell them. So, we started selling them off about 12 years ago. We kept one that we completely remodeled, put new twin engines in it. And now it's for sale. Anyone interested?

Written By Cap'n T Morgan

Kinsey Prop and Marine

Things were going great in the boat business.  With the Champion Tournaments being held here we got broad exposure. I sold the boats, handled the parts and warranty and generally dealt with the customers. Norman rigged the boats, and Dave made them run fast and kept them running. However, with the broad exposure came lots of unrest from neighboring dealers. We couldn't work any boat shows because Champion would not allow it if there were resident dealers in those towns. Pat Duncan operated the Kinsey location and was always the top dealer for Champion. Located in Cape Fair, Missouri near Tablerock Lake, they were considered the Springfield dealership, keeping us out of any Springfield shows. It always seemed we were butting heads with them over boat deals and often being questioned as to our ability to set up a boat compared to them. So, when the opportunity came along in 1987 to buy the Cape Fair dealership, I jumped at the chance.

The once famous Kinsey Prop & Marine, Cape Fair, Missouri.

You know how when you find this restaurant that has really, really good food and service... just a quaint little place that might only have six or eight tables? Then they decide to expand or open a second location and it doesn't work out? Well, let me tell you... same thing can happen in the boat business. The first stumbling block was we were promised the Mercury and Champion lines when we moved the dealership to Springfield (actually to Nixa). We had to file a lawsuit against Mercury to finally get them to agree. 

Breaking news.

Our Nixa store on Highway 160 south of Springfield.

Showroom of new store. Could only show Johnson outboards at first.

We ran through many employees, I ran my legs off between the two locations trying to make it work,, but in the end it was just not meant to be. Worst of all, I misplaced two of my best employees and best friends because of that move. And, I nearly lost the whole business and my happy home in the process. I often think back: "If only I had left well enough alone and just sold a boat now and then... what might have been?"

It was not all doom and gloom in the business. We did sell a lot of boats. In 1989 we were the third largest Champion dealer in the country. In 1990 we were ninth. Then in 1988 we were second! We sold 100 Champions, all with big Mercury or Johnson outboards on them. We bought Mercury's back then by the truckload. We stored them in the building beside Just Jackie's. It was stacked full of motors ranging from 150 to 200 HP. The biggest seller was the 18'4" Champion with a 175 HP Mercury. 

1989 and 1990 awards.

Second Top Dealer Award, 1988.

Champion usually took their top 2 or 3 dealers on a fishing or hunting trip. Mine was to Cabo San Lucas. I really didn't care much about going, but Norman insisted I should go. 

Me in Cabo San Lucas with largest of four Striped Marlin I caught on that trip.
Bill Pace, national sales rep for Champion, to my right.

Maybe this is where my interest in offshore fishing began...

Written by Cap'n T Morgan

Beginner Paddle Boarding Clinic

Over the weekend we hosted a beginner paddle boarding clinic with SUP pro Heather Baus as the instructor. We are so excited about the buzz this has created and are looking forward to hosting more clinics and renting and selling boards this year! If you're interested in learning to paddle, please contact us at 417-679-3676.

Charter members of the Pontiac Paddle Club!

The majority of people at this clinic were first-timers. They all did great!

Paddling is great for kids, too!

Lake Levels in the Eighties

The lake level was all over the place in the eighties. In 1980 it stayed pretty close to normal all year. In 1981 it was nine feet low to begin the year and nine feet low to end the year, which were both the "highs" for the year. In between it hit a low of about 637 (17 feet below normal pool) in April. In 1982 it finally got up to normal (654) in February and bounced around that level for most of the year until December when it started going up. It continued up for about 25 feet during that month, peaking out at 680 around the first of the year.

It's always a pain to move the docks any time the lake is going up or down, but in the winter it is extra difficult. Not only did the lake come up 25 feet in December, but then it went down 25 feet in January. That kept us very busy.

The rest of 1983 and most of 1984 the lake stayed between 650 and 660 until the winter of 1984 when once again it went up big time -- around 35 feet over the months of November and December. The last 20 feet of that came in the last two weeks of the year. Norman Eubank was working for me at the time, and I remember coming down one morning thinking we had left the walkway in good enough shape to make it through the night, yet when we got there we discovered only the top of the handrail was visible above the water.

So, after going up 35 feet at the end of 1984, it then went down 25 feet by March. Then back up 25 feet by July. Then back down nearly 40 feet by November. Then up 20 feet by December. I think it was shortly after that that many of the older private docks were either torn down or moved away.

I guess the Corps decided they had punished me (and every other dock owner) enough after that because in 1986 and 1987 the lake bounced between 657 and 645. In 1988 we saw a little up and down in the first quarter of the year, then beginning in May it dropped from 663 to 645 by November. 1989 was almost a carbon copy of the previous year.

Despite the lake levels being all over the place, fishing was pretty good in the eighties. Our old albums in the store are full of pictures, but here are a few samples:

Jim Price

Bill Allen

Left to right: Don Atchison, Steve Powell and Tony Allbright.

Written by Cap'n T Morgan

More on the Eighties

There were a lot of things going on at the marina in the eighties. In 1986 we built our current office. The old office dock was 24-by-48 feet with a building that was 16-by-36 feet. The new one was 48-by-80 feet with a building 36-by-68 feet, so it was more than four times larger than the old one. In case you ever wondered why we have a garage door in the back of the office... well, that was how we got our display Champion boats in and out of the store.

Our first showroom boat. Chris Geroff bought this boat.

Dave Schlicht moving boat to showroom.

Newspaper clipping of new showroom. Dock employees Les Ford and Jamie Teeters standing by.

At the same time we built the 200 Dock. It had 18 double slips, and they were 18 feet wide by 26 feet long. We thought these would accommodate the "big" boats for a long time, and it did for a while, but not anymore...

200 dock under construction.

Even with a boat in the store, it still seemed empty. At the time we had a couple small beer coolers. We had just started selling beer at the dock a couple years prior to that. Quick side story: Before we started selling beer I was at a dock operator's meeting and during the "social hour" I asked the colonel at the time if we could apply for a liquor license and sell beer at the dock. He turned around and grabbed a beer out of the cooler and said, "I don't see why not!" He and I got along well. In 1990 we put in the large walk-in cooler and expanded our selection of cold beverages for sale.

On July 30, 1986 a bad storm hit the marina. In fact, three Fridays in a row we had bad storms that resulted in damage to the docks, but the one on the 30th was the worst.

It was a mess.

The roof was blown off the 500 dock. That dock was then totally destroyed in 2006.

This was actually from a previous storm, which was also a big mess.

Ed Kolaks left of me looking at damage. I think that is Mike Cochran with his back to us in the boat.

The storms kept coming. On July 4th, 1988 we had the worst hailstorm ever. It was the middle of the day, and boats were out everywhere. David Relyea, Goldfire sailboat owner, was anchored up at The Saddle. He would occasionally call in on the VHF radio to report weather and other activities. He first called and said a storm was rolling in, then he said it was hailing, then he said "Listen to these hailstones!" Within a few minutes it hit Pontiac.

Biggest hailstones I've ever seen.

Tom Antoff shows off one of the hailstones.

Written by Cap'n T. Morgan

The Dive Shop

Back in the early sixties when my family first took over the dock, my brother Dan and I both learned to scuba dive. The closest and about the only place to get tanks filled was at Theodosia Boat Dock (they were just a boat dock then, too). We were about their only customers so they sold their compressor and air bank to us. We started handling U.S. Diver equipment. It was pretty much state-of-the-art at the time.

Our old dive manual and equipment service manual.

We had to replace our original compressor sometime in the seventies and then again in the eighties. Then had to do a major overhaul on that one later in the eighties. The dive shop was NOT a high profit center. When the 1969 office (now known as "the dive shop") was replaced in 1986, I was approached by Jim Turk to set up a "real" dive shop in the old office building. He offered lessons, sold and serviced gear, and filled tanks. Many of our current customers, including my wife, Johnna, and Dave Schlicht, got certified by Jim.

As you can see from the card, Dave also became an instructor.

After a few years Jim gave up the business. We ran it as a dive shop ourselves for a short time until we were approached by Cliff Mashburn, another dive instructor, who came in and ran it as a full-service dive shop for a few years. Jabet and Caldwell took their first dive lessons under Cliff and earned their open water certifications as young teens.

Cliff Mashburn's dive shop sign.

Next was Amy Bean and Randy Graham. Amy was running a shop in Lebanon called Blue Water Divers, and Randy was going to run the shop in Pontiac. Amy and Randy's partnership did not last long. Randy took over and opened Pontiac Dive Service in our building. Randy did a great job. He moved a houseboat here and lived on it all summer while he ran the dive shop. He was open daily, offered lessons, dive trips, sales and service and had an air station.

Randy's old houseboat, Parrothead. It's mine now, and that's another story for another time. :)

Randy could teach advanced open water diving, deep diving, and other classes all the way up through Dive Master. Caldwell and Randy hit it off, and Caldwell took all the classes Randy offered and became a Dive Master. Matt and Jabet took their advanced open water class through Randy. Unfortunately, Randy gave it up after a few years, too. We have since gone back into the airfill business, and we have a few scuba accessories for sale. No lessons or equipment rental at this time. Below is a picture of our current compressor. I suppose this is our fourth or fifth, and hopefully it will last a long time.

Our current compressor.

As for the Dive Shop building? It sustained some damage in the storm of August 2013. I wanted to tear it down - or give it away - but Jabet insisted we keep it. We now use it for storage and for our summer Docktail Hours. Join us for our first Docktail Hour on Saturday, June 6.

Written By Cap'n T. Morgan

The First Houseboats

We had great success with our first houseboat, so in 1985 we purchased a second "Boatel." Many of our customers were really interested in renting houseboats, but they wanted bigger boats, air-conditioning and more amenities. I started looking into a company called Great American Houseboat Company. It sounded too good to be true. Sure enough it was. The company, Master Fabricators, was building the boats in Arkansas, selling them to investors in California, then leasing them to dock operators like me to rent for them. The company went out of business, and I lost my deposit. The boat was sitting at the factory in Arkansas. The factory was also left holding the bag so I made a deal with them to buy the boat anyway. It was a fifty-footer.

Boatel left, Master Fab right.

1985 was quite a year in Pontiac. Some of you will recall that was the year the FBI and the ATF raided the CSA camp just across the state line in Arkansas. Johnna and I drove in one evening pulling a Champion bass boat, and there was a roadblock set up at the junction of Highway W and Highway 5. I thought I would just wave at them and drive on through, but I did not see anybody I recognized in the group. They told us if we had anywhere else we could go until the standoff was over that we should go there. So, we took the new houseboat out and spent the night out on the lake. We could hear the plane watching the activities at the CSA camp flying overhead all night. Click here for more details on the CSA (Covenant, Sword and the Arm of the Lord).

After our first year with the Master Fab, I was at another boat show and I saw my first Sumerset Houseboat. It was a sixty-footer. I met with the owner of the company, Jim Sharpe, and he offered me a really good price on a rental. Mike MacPherson was with First Home Savings and Loan at the time. (Looking back, I think he was way too easy too borrow money from.) Shortly after that, our new Sumerset arrived for the 1986 season.

The first Sumerset.

Everyone wanted the bigger, nicer boats that accommodated more people. So, we sold our two Boatels and in 1987 bought our second Sumerset. One of our original Boatels is privately owned (see below) and is still at the dock today.

The Lynda Sue.

Written By Cap'n T Morgan

The Champion Dealership

After the first Champion tournament, I had a chance to sell another boat. I talked to John Storie again and this time he said: "I guess we need to set you up as a dealer if we are going to keep having the tournament there." So, in 1985 we became a Champion dealer. Boy was it fun handling those shiny new boats and motors and rigging them up. We didn't have a shop back then, so we used a hoist in my father-in-law John Luna's garage to hang the motors. We even made a hoist for the back of my pickup.

Norman and I rigged most of the first boats, but he soon became the only rigger. When I first met Norman, I wasn't sure he knew which way to turn a wrench. Next thing I knew I was turning him loose with power tools, and he was drilling holes in expensive boats. We needed a mechanic to help set up and service the boats, but Phil Petars, our mechanic at the time, didn't want any part of these high-powered rigs, so I ran an ad in the paper. I requested the responses be mailed so I could screen the applicants before meeting or talking to them. But then one day I got a call, and the guy on the other end asked if I was the one looking for a mechanic. I said I was, so we set up an interview. I didn't have to think about it long after I met him. And that's when I hired Dave Schlicht.

Dave Schlicht, the best mechanic I know.

As our sales grew, we built a shop on the hill by my mom's house, and our new business became "Pontiac Cove Marine Sales."

A couple of new Champions outside our shop (what we call "the barn" now). The sign posts are still there today.

Seeing the picture of the boats above reminds me of a story about their design. My old buddy, Quentin Moore, bought a Champion from me. Quentin was a civil engineer, and after taking delivery he called to tell me the boats weren't symmetrical. I asked him how he knew. He said he had bought a special set of numbers for the side of the boat and was going to put them at the exact same place on either side of his boat in the "arrow." Well the arrows did not match. I didn't believe him at first, but sure enough, he was right. I called Champion, and they weren't surprised. They told me that each hull mold only fit certain top molds. They concentrated on how the boats handled and let a few other details go. That was changed later as all the molds were redesigned so any top would fit any hull, and then everything was symmetrical.

The pink stripe on the boat pictured above is called the "arrow."

The boat and motor business was really fun. It was very exciting back in those days to sell something worth $15,000 and to be entrusted to custom rig it for each customer. We really wanted to get out and market our new product, but the venues for showcasing our custom rigs were few and far between. Norman and I worked the boat show at the fairgrounds in Mountain Home. One year they had a couple of Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders there, and of course, we had to have our picture taken with them.

Written by Cap'n T. Morgan

Clarence Shockey: Another Past Guide

Clarence Shockey started guiding on Bull Shoals Lake as soon as it filled up. He knew where every creek came in, where every drop-off was and all the honey holes without using a GPS. That's because he walked the riverbanks and fished it before there was a lake. In fact, one of his favorite things to do was noodle for catfish. In case you don't know, noodling is where you swim down and look for a catfish hole under a ledge or a stump and reach in and try to stick your hand in the fish's mouth and then drag him out of the hole. Clarence was said to have been able to hold his breath for upwards of four minutes. In doing a little research on the sport I'm sure Clarence must have been doing it in Arkansas as noodling has been illegal in Missouri since 1919.

Left: Flo Haege (I think) and Clarence, 1970.

Clarence loved top-water fishing. According to his son, Joe Shockey, Clarence's favorite baits included the frog colored Lucky 13 and the Baby Zara Spook. But, when fishing got a little tougher, he would go to the creek and catch some big slick minnows and use those for bait. Joe said he caught his best fish that way.

Clarence on right, 1970. (Not sure who is with him.)

Clarence liked to fish in Cowpen. In fact, some of his favorite spots were from Cowpen on up the White River to Music Creek. Those Music Creek trips had to be special and well-planned back in those days, as you didn't just run up there in your 10 HP Johnson for a few minutes of fishing. If you went that far, you'd take your lunch and spend the whole day.

Clarence, left, and again, not sure of the others.

One of Clarence's fishing buddies was Uncle Johnny Harlin. He had a 15' Lonestar boat and 7 1/2 HP Johnson. Joe told me that Johnny traded for a 20 HP and that Clarence told him the first time he saw him come around the corner with that boat he could not believe how fast he was going. It was one of the fastest on the lake at the time at nearly 20 miles per hour.

Clarence with Irene and Blackie Kutilek.

Written by Cap'n T. Morgan

More pictures...

After bringing the big rental tube "Weenie" back to life in pictures, Norman Eubank dug through his old pics and found a few more and shared them with us. Pretty hilarious!

Norman and his friends getting ready to take off. Norman is the end, far left in this picture.

All four still hanging on and doing great.

Look just left of the tube and you'll see the first guy going in the water.

Second one bites the dust.

And the last two hit the water.

No more passengers!

Proof of Norman standing on his head on the Surfjet.


Written By Cap'n T. Morgan