Closing Down the 2012 Boating Season-- Part 3

I put maybe 50 gallons of gas in the boat over the course of the season and not bad.  Some of the bigger boats on the Chain go through that in a day or less.  Of course, when most of the time we putt out to the middle of a bay or lake, turn the engine off, turn the radio up and float, that just doesn't use up a lot of gas, except when we drift too close to a shore and have to turn it on and putt back to the middle.

I generally read a magazine (newspapers are too hard to read in the breeze) and Liz works crosswords.  She is usually in the bow and I'm at the stern.  Should there be too much sun, we put up the Bimini top.

Another favorite thing is to boat over to McDonald's for breakfast and then eat it out in the cove.  This always draws a lot of mallards, Canadian geese and seagulls begging for food.  And then the squabbles begin, much to our entertainment.  There are not many places where you can boat into a McDonald's, but you can here in Fox Lake, Illinois.

The first several times out, we had an added bonus and were able to go over to the bald eagle nest on Fox Lake and watch the two fledglings and two adults.  Unfortunately, they soon left and didn't return for the season that we could see anyway.

We had to replace the mooring cover as the old one was nine years old, so that cost $850.

The fuel gauge didn't work for most of the year, but occasionally would.  We have it on order to be fixed at Midwest Marine in the spring.  Its kind of nice to know how much gas you have, especially when out in a boat.  It's not like you can walk to a nearby gas station.

And, speaking of gas, I go to local gas stations with my two 2 and 1/2 gallon containers and get gas.  As expensive as gas was for automobiles this last summer, it's always at least a dollar more on the water.

All-in-all, a Pretty Good Season of Boating.  --RoadDog