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The boat entry???
#1
Just curious on some methods of entering the water on a donut if you are entering from a outboard boat??? Or is it better to be dropped off at shore???? There is some places as Jordanelle this weekend I want to tube, but would take all day to hike or paddle over to. SO hopefully I can hitch a ride on a boat over to them, just want to know how to enter the water from that point????
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#2
[cool][font "Arial Narrow"][size 4]Hey polokid,[/size][/font]

[font "Arial Narrow"][size 4]Here is what you need! Don't need to rely on getting a tow no more[/size][/font].[sly]
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#3
Dont tempt me!!!! I am already in deep consideration of selling my 19 ft boat and fully outfitting a 9 ft pontoon. I cant exactly wakeboard on the back of a pontoon, but I am starting to waiver the benefits of not having to deal with a boat though!!!
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#4
Get a pontoon boat and small electric motor and you'll be able to get to any place on the lake. I've still got a U-boat but I'm going to get a pontoon boat for the easy launch's and high and dry position for easy casting and fishing. The only problem is filling the bladders and transporting it to and from the lake.
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#5
I have a water skeeter 7' and it actually is not that hard to get in and out. Just remember according to USCG and DMW if you put a motor on it you have to register it.

My friend has a 9' pontoon w/an electric trolling motor and was stopped by Harbor Patrol because he had no numbers on it.

I am still checking into that but my friend said it only cost like $7.00 for the year [cool]
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#6
I'm with you polo, my next purchase will be a pontoon, then a trolling motor.
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#7
[cool]I agree that a 'toon is great for many fishing situations. But, for a "lifeboat" strapdown and relaunch on the lake somewhere, a donut makes more sense...unless you're hitchin' a ride on one of Donald Trump's yachts.

It used to be common to see tubes strapped down on houseboats and even bass boats down on Powell. They would power back into a good fishing area and then pull up on a beach, get out and launch.

That's the best way to do it. Unless you are Spiderman, with super flexibility and strength, it is extremely difficult to make safe entry and exit into a tube from a boat...even with a good stern ladder or platform. One slip and you can get wet and lose gear over the side.

Yep, sweettalk someone with a decent sized boat into letting you hitch a ride. Then, make sure you really have it secured, because a fast ride down the lake will suck that craft airborne in a hurry. When you reach your chosen fishing spot, get out of the boat and then lift out the tube. Set it on a good launch spot, set the fins down inside FIRST and then step in and secure them. Man, I laugh myself silly everytime I watch the amateurs try to get into the tube with their fins already on their feet.

IMPORTANT: Make sure your ride is clued in on where and when to pick you up...or launch where you know you can make it back okay without help. Know what the wind patterns are, so that you can use the weather to help you get back, rather than having to fight current or waves all the way.

By the way, you can use an adaptation of that wherever the roads meet the river or lake. You can have someone in a car or truck drop you off upstream and you can float down to where you have left your vehicle. Or you can park and float, and then try to hitch a ride back to your car. If you are all fishy, sunburned and nasty though, you might have to hijack a car to get back.

And, all that is much easier with a tube than a 'toon.
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#8
Here in Utah do you have to register a pontoon with a electric on it??? Or is it just for gas powered engines????
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#9
[cool]I think that is a better question for the Utah board. But, I did hear something that you do have to register electric powered boats and other craft...and find some way to attach the numbers on the side of your 'toon.
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#10
In the State of Utah, any boat that is powered by a motor must be registered. Even if it is a donut, it must be registered if you use a motor. Also, any boat over a certain length must be registered even if it doesn't have a motor -- but I'm not sure exactly what the length is. Hope this helps.
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#11

Hey there polokid,

It that horsey polo or water polo?

Exert from United States Coast Guard booklet 'Federal Requirements and Safety Tips for Recreational Boats' "All undocumentated vessels (watercraft= boats in their eyes) equiped with propulsion machinery must be state registered" California defines a craft or vessel as anything that floats. A 'personal watercraft is anything that is less than 13 feet long and 'propelled by machinery'. Kayaks that are powered gotta have a number here in California too. It's really funny seing a float tube with a state mandated white running light on its' bow at night! I put red and green lights on mine too. Don't forget red light for port and green for starboard. ha ha ha

So the feds have ya first and the state gets ya second. ha ha Lots of good comments.

JapanRon
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#12
I didn't hear about the lights but I know since I am putting a trolling motor on my pontoon I need to register it with the DMV ( In California )

Basically any watercraft the uses other then oars or paddles to propel itself need to be registered.

Alot of people do not do it on small pontoons and tubes but if you get caught by Harbor Patrol they can impound your tube and motor until you register it. Next they will require insurane too.
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#13

Hey there TubeDude,

Here's a story you'll like. This relates to the ol' so dumb this can't be true catagory. But it's true.

Got out on the water via a nice dock used by fishing boats in a fishing village harbor in Japan. The entire harbor is newly walled beautifully as well as the coast line for a couple of kilometers up and down from the harbor.

The distance between the water level and the deck of the dock is only about 8 inches so I just scoot off the dock on the seat of my pants and onto my uboat.

To make a short story long, the waves started to kick up so I high-tailed it to the only dock on the harbor (the one I have gotten into the water from) and now the deck of the dock was two feet from the water surface. I felt like a poor little rat trapped and in danger of possible drowning.

First the village head comes to look at me, net the fishing co-op head, then the only policeman in the town, then the fire department. Twenty people are crowded are on the dock looking down at me 'the dumb alien drowned rat' and the rescue operation begins and my body is saved but my dignity is totally destroyed.

Needless to say after getting lectured, I slink off with my uboat on my back. Some kids are chanting behind me kame san kame san! It means Mr. turtle!

You see they had a lot of cargo on the dock when I launched and the dock sat down in the water. When I was fishing the fishing boats had loaded up with their supplies and the floating dock came up out of the water. Duh!

Moral of the story is 'be careful you can get out of the water where you launched'.

JapanRon
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#14

Hi fishfather,

Right on the money. I didn't mention it but I was told to be careful by a US coast guard auxliary person at the Fred Hall show last year that some insurance companies DON'T PAY UP if someone in not wearing their PDF in a boating accident and injured or killed. What ya wanna bet they would love to use the number thing too. Truth is, if you've got a number on your watercraft, you've got to up your safety equipment and their level to meet stricter regulations. rules, rules, rules.

JapanRon
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#15
Fact: Those small anoying powered scooters you hear screaming around on the sidewalks and everywhere else that use gas do not have to be registered, nor do the riders have to be licensed. They pollute the air but that is acceptable.

Fact: A tube or pontoon using a electric motor has to be registered with the state of california. If you are out at night you have to have required lights on the vessel.

Fact: The laws are all screwed up. I have seen several accidents with these scooters in which they struck or were struck by a motor vehicle. Now the other vehicles had insurance, were registered and the drivers were licensed.

Not the operator of the scooter. They had nothing. Not even safety equipment, yet the state has done nothing to correct this.

Since those scooters have been around there has been 25 deaths as a result of accidents and something like 100 accidents with motor vehicles.

Pretty crazy state we live in. You have to be at least 16 to operate a motorcycle which has to be registered,insured and rider must wear a helment.

But this kid they took away in an ambulance yesterday was 12 with no safety equipment and was struck by a vehicle after he jumped off the curb and lost control of his scooter.
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#16
[cool]Hey, JR, that was a good story. You not only lost face, you almost lost a good chunk of your "cheeks" too. But, how could you have anticipated the weight and displacement thing? You can be excused the oversight.

The greatest launching and beaching story I know of was a guy that wanted to fish a "quarry pond". It was a water filled pit with rock walls that went straight down. No beaches. There were some big fish in there, but it was difficult to hook them and bring them up the rock walls without breaking the line or having them tear off the hook.

The closest you could get to the water was about 12 feet...straight down. Like polokid, this guy was a jock and in good condition. He also had some basic training in climbing and rapelling down walls. So, he rigged a harness to hold the tube up around his waist, while he rapelled backwards down to the water in his donut. Then, he lowered his rod and tied it in place with a light line, to retrieve once he was on the water.

I would have loved to watch that launch. He was rapelling with his fins on, but he did make it into the water without killing himself. He had tied off the rapelling line to the front of his 4X4 truck, and it held well. He even caught some nice bass, to make the trip worthwhile.

He discovered the flaws in his thinking when it was time to get out. After tieing the rod to the retrieve line, he paddled over to the rapelling rope. He quickly found out that pulling himself and his soaked gear back up was not as easy as lowering himself to the water under tension. The fins were the final straw that made him decide he wasn't going to be able to "PULL IT OFF".

After several attempts to get up the wall, he decided he would have to admit defeat and suffer the consequences. He had to open the crotch strap and slip out the bottom of his tube. Luckily, it was summer and he was not wearing waders, which would have filled up. He worked off his fins and tied them and the tube to the bottom of the rapelling line. Then he hauled only himself to the top and pulled up the rest of his gear.

I first laughed when I heard the story, but then I shivvered when I imagined myself doing something foolish like that...as I have been known to do. By going by himself and putting himself at risk he could have very well become food for the crawdads in the little lake, with nobody even knowing he was there for who knows how long.

Man, the whacko things we do just to enjoy floatation fishing. Of course, we know that we are immortal and impervious to the perils of mere mortals.
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#17
[size 2]Knowing my friends that would of just yelled "canonball!' an dove in, then figured out how to get out later [cool][/size]
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#18
I am a water treader, egg beater, waterpolo player!!! I should have my friend post picts of me float tubing with out a tube!!! It is hilarious. I am just waiting to be doing that and snag into my first tiger muskie[cool] Family and friends tell me I am a californian at heart, even though I havent lived anywhere else but SLC UT. I love the surf, the sand, the women of the california land, but I stay here for the mountains in my back yard!!!d

Thanks for the info on registering boats and what to register!!! I am in constant debate on what I want to do with my boat!!! I am hoping that in a week or two, to be able to borrow/rent a pontoon to maykbe help persuade me one way or the other!!!
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#19

Hey there polokid,

I figured your name came from waterpolo although it would have been cool if it had come from you being a player on an elephant polo team.

With all the traffic on the Utah board surely someone there will lend you a float. I believe it was TubeDude that mentioned that sometimes local retailers were willing to let you 'try before you buy' but not sure. That ain't happenin' here in southern cal.

This is a quasi off the wall suggestion BUT do you have a Cosco chain outlet in your neighborhood. I believe they sell sporting goods. They have a no-questions-asked return policy here in California unless there's a special event that's centered around trying stuff out. Cosco might sell 'em.

JapanRon
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#20
[cool]Hey, PK, did you ever PM EmuScud? Got an email from him that he is in the process of getting a "Wayak", so he can take his kids out better. He has a nice 'toon that he would probably let you check out...or buy cheap.
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