After You - Bear lake

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An epic voyage. With a full battery I took the boat downlake to the channels which lead to the dam at the end of the lake. The goal was to see how far one can get on a single battery charge.

When my parents first got the cabin it came with a small motorboat and a 6 or 9 horse motor. Just enough for fishing. We once took the boat down to the end of the lake through the channels - rowing a bit, poling a bit, motoring a bit. Jim was in charge, I just remember thinking it was super awesome cool. We'd never been down there since. We took the latest, new, big motor speedboat down there this spring just me and my family, but only entered the channel and turned around. A taste to inspire.

So while I needed to know how far I could go, I also figured this would be a great opportunity to see how well the After You could manage in thick weeds, winding channels and an electric trolling motor. I was expecting every kind of trouble short of flipping or sinking. I came close.

Heading downlake was awesome. Another epic voyage across a massive sea -- well, it feels like that with a small motor on a good lake. Only took 45 minutes or so, if I recall correctly.

Entering the channel was exciting. The boat slipped through like it was built for it, and the motor was holding up just fine. Being near-silent, sneaking up on wildlife was a routine matter and this trip was no exception. I followed the Great Blue Heron down the channels for about half an hour. Every time I got closer he'd move down another hundred yards. On the way out I saw two of them together in the same spot. Sorry for spoiling your date, dude.

By the time I got to the second (last) bridge the battery was already running slower. I was tired of pulling it and dropping weeds off the prop - though that was really quite easy. All I had to do was bend over the motor a bit, tilt it forward, back, forward and then wait for the boat to drift over the massive pile of weeds I left behind. Once it cleared I dropped it and we were off again. Sometimes for another hundred feet, but more often just another ten feet.

I took a turn rowing through the weeds as well. I wanted to see how feasible that was, as well as preserve even a bit of battery. I was thrilled (but not surprised) to find the motor simply lost power gradually. If I turned it off for a bit it seemed to come back a bit stronger. But it definitely was starting to slow to a speed that wasn't completely efficient.

Under the last bridge there was some semi-submerged pilings and I decided that was enough to turn back and call it a success. Maybe I'll head down there again some time, but probably in the spring when the water is clearer. And operation "underwater cam" would really apply nicely here as well.

So I turn back and head back up through the weeds. But the time I got to the part of the channel which was fairly clear and just a long run up to the lake I was running short on travel hours. The plan was to call Jill from the boat radio and she'd come down in the big boat and give me a tow back up the lake as much as I needed it. It depending on the staying power of the motor, really. Cell phone was backup, as this was a bit of a stretch for the boat radio, as well.

The radio was barely getting static so I reached for -- oh wait, where's my phone? Console box, right. No... it's not there... Maybe I dropped it in the cabin. Not in there. Frantic search later and I'm realizing that my Super Awesome Nexus One Android Phone was lost at sea! Had I seen it go overboard I would have gone in headfirst after it. Looking at the GPS track later it appeared to be right by one of the bridges. I will go visit the spot from time to time as a memorial.

Finally got Jill on the radio as I coasted into range. All I had to do was cover about a hundred yards of channel, but it was uplake and into the wind. So I spent most of my power on keeping in the channel and out of the lilypads. Jill showed up and had to wait for me to limp out to her in the bay. We hooked her up to the big boat and we were towed up the lake at record speed. Well, record for the After You. Was kinda fun to see this wake behind her:

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After You - Bear Lake

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An impromptu spin around the shore near the cabin as the girls went canoeing at dusk. Quiet, calm water, beautiful evening light and a full battery spinning me silently around as they canoe for a short while. More bliss.

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After You - Calhoun

Jill dropped us off at the lake and we headed through Isles, Cedar, and finally to Brownie and back. Lily needed a pit stop on the way, so we stopped at the public beach on Cedar Lake for her to use the potty. There was a dock and everything!

Her entry in the ship's log has something to say about duckies.

The entrance to Brownie Lake is a culvert about 5 feet wide, which leaves us 6 inches or so on either side of the boat. But it's spooky cool!

After You - Long Lake

Another Solo outing. Sadly, few pictures. Nice lake, going uplake was easy and fine. Wanted to see how far up the creek I could get. Made it to the first pool and it just got too shallow. It least now I know. :)

Downlake there were a lot more jetski and larger boats. Learned a lot about making it through wakes without slamming the hull into the next wave. Launch and retrieval went well for being alone.

After You - Bush lake

My first solo cruise. Took a bit to find the lake, but the landing was a nice one. No dock, but it was concrete and had fair parking for the size. Lake has a motor limit of 6hp, which is good to remember.

It was a beautiful Wednesday evening and I got out on my own. It was at the time of day when the lake it like glass. Hot, however.

This is a dinner cruise. sammich from SuperAmerica, some pop, and a candy bar stashed somewhere. If you don't finish the sandwich...

... you feed the ducks.

Once I reached the end of the lake (upwind) I slid into the lilypads, pulled up the motor, and just hung out a bit. It was really hot, but there was an awesome breeze through the cabin. The wind took me slowly out of the lilypads and I headed back downlake. It was so nice to have a spell of just drifting with the sound of the water around. Peaceful!

The flag hardly moved in the light breeze, but just enough. That's also my captain's chair - a thin bench which will someday get some sort of cushion. It's removeable and can be placed on either side of the cockpit and used as a step.

There were a lot of birds and it was fun to see them take off as I plowed (slowly) through their landing zone.

Another beautiful evening.

The thermometer on my "dash" is notoriously high, but I think this might have been one of the more accurate readings!

Motor plugged along the whole time with no issues even though it was quite hot.

Little boat, big landing.

Yup. Hot!

After You - Twin Lakes

Jill was visiting her folks for the weekend so I took the kids out on the boat. I found Twin lakes via google maps. The landing is not as well publicized as some others, so I call it the "secret" lake. It's up in Robbinsdale but you would think it was further out for all the wildlife. We saw a pair of eagles, a couple turtles, and more than a few locals. A great collection of small lakes, I intend to return for more exploring. I think we've seen it all by now, however.

This was also a test of my ability to launch and recover the boat all by myself. Lily helped a bit, but for the most part I feel comfortable doing the whole boat thing by myself. The trailer needs some work tweaking settings and benches, but I'm really excited about the concept of heading out for quick launches with just one kid or even alone!

Eli spent most of the ride in the cabin reading. He seemed to have a good time, regardless. He took a turn in the "bow seat" but that was mostly just to keep "even" with Lily.

Lily would spend the whole journey up in the front if she could. She sits with her back to the window and her feet in the front hatch - it's quite safe. She lets me know about obstacles and waves to other boats. She helped build this boat and really seems to love riding in it with me. She's an awesome first mate!

On our way back to the landing we discovered the bridge we passed under earlier was a railroad bridge! We passed about two feet under a moving train. Lily even got them to wave before we got to the bridge. Very exciting, but a bit scary. For me. She didn't even flinch.

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