More photos from the Champion Tournaments, etc.

Linda Dunsmuir shared some pictures with me after I published the post about the Champion tournaments. Here they are. Enjoy.

Early morning, just before takeoff.
All the red, green and white lights looked like a giant Christmas tree.

A little later and a little closer to the action.

A little later again, with several boats already out.

A high water shot back in the early eighties.
The big tree on the second road (far right) was still standing.

Just Jackie's was "The Galley Restaurant" in this photo, and the fuel tanks were still in their old spot.

One of our many "rental items" over the years.
While this was a rental item at Pontiac Cove, a water patrol once stopped and told me that there were many pending lawsuits on Lake of the Ozarks that involved injuries from riding one of these things. He strongly suggested I sell it before it happened here. So I did.

Back in 1980, a distraught young woman and her very young son showed up at the dock. She told me she was out of gas and had no money, and I'm not sure she knew where she was. She asked if I would give her $5 worth of gas and promised to bring the money back later. She even offered to leave her son, Scott, as collateral. I had done this for someone once before, and I am pretty sure I never saw the guy again. But, I wasn't sure what I would do with them otherwise, so I took a chance on her. Well, she came back with the $5 and has been a friend and PCM customer ever since. In fact, after almost 35 years calling Linda my friend, my grandchildren, Lola and Finn Henry, now call her "Nanny." :)

Brian and Serena Dunsmuir (Linda's husband and daughter) in the boat that Linda and Scott first showed up in.

Written by Cap'n T. Morgan

The Champion Tournaments

Not long after the Gutweiler boat deal, John called me and wanted to start a Champion owners tournament, and he wanted to run it out of Pontiac. I was all for it! Thus the First Annual Champion Bass Tournament was held in October of 1984. What an incredible event! The entry was very simple: If you owned a Champion bass boat you could enter, and there was no fee.

An early morning take-off.

One of the first tournament weigh-ins.

There were 205 boats in the first tournament, and the planning had only begun earlier that summer. Over the next few years the tournament grew to a record-breaking tournament with 816 boats in 1991. The planning for the next year's event would begin immediately after the current one ended. We would have a meeting with Champion to discuss how the tournament went and how we could improve it. Champion not only sponsored the greatest tournament, but the customer support was amazing.  Factory representatives from Champion were there to tend to any problems owners had with their boats. Reps from Trailer's, Inc. (now E Z Loader) were there walking around checking trailers and fixing any problems they found. There were also support teams from Mercury Marine, OMC, and all the electronics people. It was a first class event.

Awards ceremony. John Storie, left, and Bill Pace, right, walking off stage.

We, along with the help of Verne Cubbage, raised money to help offset the cost of the banquet that was free for all participants. Verne sold advertising specialties and printing. The tournament was much larger than our small resort area could handle. so we reached out to surrounding areas for support. We sold ads around a map of the lake to resorts and restaurants and marinas so the participants could see where they would be staying in relation to where the tournament was held.

Verne Cubbage's tournament map in 1991.

In order to make as many boat slips available as possible, we would ask our annual stall customers, primarily pontoon owners, if they would allow us to pull their boats out for the tournament in exchange for a free winterization. We also built a special weigh-in platform that would allow the boats to swing by and weigh their fish without having to leave the water. Our crew would spend a solid two weeks leading up to the tournament getting ready and then another two weeks after putting things back to normal.

One of the earlier weigh-ins.

Our local fishermen did quite well. Doc Klayman and Gary Arthaud took second place twice. They won boats in the second and third tournaments. Lots of other prizes were taken home by other participants.

The winners of the second annual tournament. Recognize those two guys in the lower right corner?
Gary Arthaud, far right front, and Doc Klayman next to him.

Eventually the ownership changed at Champion, and the tournament was broken down into other areas and left Pontiac. We were sorry to see that record breaking event go.

Written by Cap'n T Morgan 

The End of an Era

Anyone who has visited PCM regularly over the years knows Josh. He has been a staple at Pontiac Cove for nearly two decades. An institution, if you will. I often thought he might be here forever. That as long as Pontiac Cove was around, Josh would be around, too.

So, it's with a bit of sadness this morning (even though he irritated the heck out of me sometimes) that I announce he is no longer with the company. He was offered another job, and he decided he was ready for a change. We fully support his decision, and we wish him all the best in his new endeavor. He isn't moving, which means he is still right down the road. And he will likely still do a few side jobs for us in his free time.

Josh started working at PCM as a kid nearly 20 years ago. It was a summer job at first, but over the years his role evolved and grew into a full-time position; in fact, he's the only full-time employee we have besides family. He has a lot of skills and talents, and his dedication and loyalty to our company has been truly admirable. If there was a storm, he was usually one of the first ones here to check things out. If we had a big snow, you could find him on the roof of a dock with a shovel in his hand.

So, as you can imagine, we're now on the hunt for his replacement! The job description is lengthy, so I won't post it all here. It's a jack-of-all-trades kind of position. In short, this person will oversee the maintenance on all the docks, campground and at Lake Harbour Resort. There will be routine duties and maintenance as well as spur-of-the-moment fix-it situations to be handled. Close proximity to Pontiac would be a major plus. If you or someone you know is interested in the job, please call us at 417-679-3676 or 417-989-0688 or email info@pontiaccove.com for more information. The marina isn't open for the season yet, so please do not drive down here without talking to someone first - just in case we aren't around. You can also pick up applications at Ozark County Gas in Gainesville.

Pontiac Cove Marina

I was working the St. Louis Boat Show in February of 1984. While on a break from our booth, I was wandering around looking at the boats and came upon this neat pontoon houseboat called a "Boatel." It was 12 feet wide by 40 feet long, slept six, had a full bath and a kitchen. I convinced Johnna we needed to get in the houseboat rental business, and thus began a new era in rental boats at Pontiac Boat Dock.

One of our first houseboat rentals on its way out for the weekend.

Around that time, Norman said to me: "This is more than a boat dock now... this is a marina." Being a former water patrol, I figured he should know what a marina was. We decided it was time to rename the business. My friend from college, Quentin Moore, was the one who came up with the name "Pontiac Cove Marina." He was also the guy who got me to move to Kansas City from Knoxville, Tenn., which was just another step toward moving back home. It's funny that most of the commercial docks on the lake are called "marinas," but the largest one back then and still today - Bull Shoals Boat Dock - is still a "boat dock." I've always admired the Eastwolds. They never got hung up on their name... they just take care of business.

No longer a boat dock.....we were a marina :)  

We put a 90 HP Mercury outboard on our new houseboat. It was the biggest motor I had ever bought from Mercury, but that was about to change. Ted Gutweiler stopped by the dock one day and said he was ordering a new Champion bass boat with a 150 HP Mercury. I asked Ted if he would let me give him a price on the motor. He agreed. I didn't want to make a lot on the sale, I just wanted a chance to sell a big outboard. Well, since I had known John Storie, the owner of Champion Boats, for many years, I thought he might let me sell Ted the whole rig. John agreed but told me to not tell anyone, as the dealer Ted was talking to, Kinsey Prop and Marine, would not like him doing a "back door deal."  I made the deal with Ted but told him to keep it quiet. A couple days after the deal closed, John Storie called me all put out. Pat Duncan from Kinsey Prop and Marine had called him and was mad because I had cut in on his deal. I asked Ted about it, and he said, "I got such a good deal I just had to tell some people!"

Ted Gutweiler, my first Champion customer. (I could not find a picture of his boat.)

Written by Cap'n T Morgan