This year I had 2 “goals” to achieve at Lake Martin, recreation wise.

1. Take my boys fishing 10 times.

2. Take a long boat ride – Kowaliga Bridge to the River Bridge.

Results:

1. Horrible. We fished maybe 5 times at the lake, and that was off of the dock, at night, for carp, with all of the rest of the family.  Hardly the Mayberry-esque jaunts in the boat, where I would impress them with my fishing prowess versus the noble bass and scrappy bream, and somehow tie in  a lesson about life.  Don’t get me wrong, we like fishing off of the dock, though.

2. Labor Day came and went at Lake Martin, and I considered myself defeated on this one, too.  What a crappy dad.

Then I started thinking, why admit defeat?

Why should I let summer skunk me?

Why not take my own advice and come to the lake to relax after Labor Day? Why not double down and do it during the week?

Besides, isn’t one of the perks of real estate supposed to be “being your own boss?”  So yesterday I mustered the wife, our youngest child, and the poodle.  We decided, weather and calendar be darned, we are going for a boat ride.

Kowaliga Bridge to the River Bridge or Bust!

I know that lots of Lake Martin boaters make this trip at least once a weekend, but for us this is a big trek. It means launching the “speed boat” – our term for the ski boat that can go faster than pontoon’s 10 mph. It also means risking a slow leak in the motor’s foot and a dicey idle speed throttle control. No complaints, though. Mooching is better than buying your own, most of the time.

When I called my dad to get final instructions, Summer 2009 tried a couple of final tactics to defeat us. First it sent rain. And more rain. But we didn’t blink. Secondly, I found out that the boat had been winterized already, so I would have to de-winterize it and re-winterize it in the same day. Sounds daunting.

Nice try, summer 09. We did it. We launched the boat at Kowaliga Bridge, cruised the main drag all the way to the River Bridge in the Alex City limits (aka the highway 280 bridge). We went past it, tied up to the railroad trestle just north of it, and ate our picnic lunch. Kicked our feet up. Returned calls on my cell phone. Glorious.

We saw 1 other boat at launch, 2 or 3 going north, 2 at the railroad trestle, and 2 coming back. That’s it for boat traffic on a September Thursday after Labor Day.

We were back home by 3 PM and at a soccer game by 5.

In yer face, summer.

Am I nuts? Does anyone else out there think  a trip to Lake Martin between Labor Day and Memorial Day make you feel like you are getting away with something?

Like you’re cheating summer?

If the word gets out how easy it is…