LAKE ACTION

With the boat in the water for the next several weeks, many of our coming days will be spent out on the lake. We picked up Bob & Diana a little before noon, and drove down to the Lake Havasu Marina. When we cruised out of the protected marina, the wind was blowing enough where the lake was a bit on the choppy side, but not enough to create whitecaps.

There's something going on almost every weekend, and now that we're starting spring break, the activities will only increase. Yesterday, we watched a whole bunch of Hobie Cat Sailboats, that were taking advantage of the moderately windy day. They were tacking around a course that was set up near Windsor Beach.

After watching the little sailboats, we cruised into the channel, and parked at about the same location as we had the day before. The kids were starting to gather, and the party, with the music? was getting cranked up. The channel was relatively empty when we beached the boat, but by the time we left, about an hour later, parking places were at a premium.

We watched Lake Havasu City's finest pull this boat over right next to us. There were 18 kids in the boat which is about 8 over it's limit. When they were asked how many life jackets were in the boat, they came up with about 9 or 10. The driver wasn't ticketed, but 8 kids were left temporarily on the beach.

Across the channel, the kids and the boats were gathering in about the same spot as the day before. The stereos on some of these boats would put a rock concert's sound system to shame! When one of the boats started to play some music? where almost every other word was the F-Bomb, I decided it was time to check out some other scenery.

I pointed the boat south out of the channel toward Thompson Bay, and decided that the wind wasn't bad enough to keep us from going across the lake to Copper Canyon. Before we got out of the no wake zone in Thompson Bay, we spotted this guy dressed up like an astronaut. It looked like he had a jet pack on his back, so, with more than enough curiosity, we stuck around to see what was up.

After he got in the water, we noticed that he was attached to what appeared to be a floating pump, that took lake water, and sent to the contraption on his back. For a short while, he was completely in the water, cruising slowly around this pontoon boat.

Then, he increased the amount of water being pumped through the jets on his back, and he began to rise farther and farther out of the water. There were a few times when his feet were way above the lake surface.

None of us had ever seen anything like it, and it almost reminded me of one of those James Bond Movies, where all kinds of high tech contraptions are blended into the story line of the picture.

This was kind of cool to watch, but I thought that if I wanted to get some elevation above the lake, it would be a lot more of a thrill to go para sailing behind a boat.

From water jet man, we rode over to Copper Canyon where there were a few boats rafted together, but it wasn't a huge party scene. One of the attractions of Copper Canyon is a vertical rock that rises about 50 feet above the lake, and for the thrill seekers, it's a popular spot to jump into the water.
When we first got there, we watched one kid who didn't quite have the nerve to jump. As more kids climbed the rock, especially with lots of people watching, he knew that eventually he would have to make the leap, and he finally did. There were a half dozen kids who jumped while we were there, and it's some action that we've seen many times before. One of the more daring youngsters did a front flip off the top of the rock.

The last jumper was a young gal, who got an "A" for bravery. "No guts, no glory".

From Cooper Canyon, I drove around Friendly Island, then headed back to the marina. We spent about 4 hours in the boat, and it was another beautiful, sunny, warm day.

Today, the installation of our residential solar system is due to begin. It will take a few days to complete the job, so I should have some pics of the project as it unfolds.