Holiday Weekends and Houseboat Trips

Episode 9:  In today’s episode, Molley and Chad are going to talk about making the most of your special boat trip.  These events typically involve a lot of people.  This episode includes tips for guests to help out the hosts.  Let’s jump in!

Memorial Day and the Fourth of July are big holiday weekends.  There are tons of boaters, lots of guests and plenty of kids.  It’s important that as a boat captain, you do your best to maintain boat safety.  This involves how you drive and how your guests cooperate.  The following will provide some helpful advice.

Planning is a necessity.  Meals often take up a lot of time.  When there are extra people around, you have additional mouths, but also additional hands.  Don’t be afraid to ask your guests to put those hands to work to ease the burden on you.  The key is to make sure there’s a plan in place to ensure things run smoothly.

We’ve all seen the TV shows that highlight the family stress brought on by relatives and related pressures.  That’s not too far from reality.  It doesn’t have to ruin the weekend.  Go into these weekends with the proper mindset.  You know issues are going to creep up.  They always do.  Just be ready to roll with those issues, as best as you can.

Molley likes to have a plan and review it with her guests.  Everybody gets a small part of the overall effort and it generally makes it much easier. 

Chad’s best advice is to simply relax.  The ramp is going to be a mess.  Expect it and sit back.  There’s not much you’ll be able to do until it’s your time to launch or load.

It’s important that your guests understand your focus is on their safety.  Take time to explain issues to your guests.  There are times that take a lot of concentration for the captain, but once it’s over, it’s time to enjoy the outing. 

Houseboats

Depending upon your situation, you may decide to spend the trip on an actual houseboat (often a rental craft).  If you’re going to rent a boat, take time to understand the peak season and off-season pricing.  There can be a significant difference.  Early fall is a great time to rent a houseboat.

Be mindful of your alcohol consumption.  When situations get stressful, this never helps.  Again, try to just roll with things as they come up. 

Knowing your group is important.  Most of the time you’ll be out with people whom you know well and may have done previous trips together.  Often there are some others.  Just do your best to explain a few key issues and ask others to help out the rookies.

The Chore List

Molley has developed a pretty good system for big holiday outings.  The basic idea is organization.  There are any number of chores that have to be done.  She has every guest pick a slip of paper out of the hat.  This assigns them a simple job to do, but it’s something the captain and host know needs to get done.  It’s not necessary for the boat owners to have to do everything.  This process gets repeated each day.

Make Sure You Have an Experienced Houseboat Driver

The marina staff is helpful in getting you underway.  The issue is they are usually understaffed for the amount of boats they are launching.

The staff will do a quick orientation with you, but there’s a lot to remember.  Make sure you know where the key electrical components are located.  Chad recommends doing a quick walkthrough to make sure you actually know where the components are.

Pro-Tip:  You’re usually going to have to have a smaller boat to go along with your houseboat.  Use the smaller boat, to scout out a good location, rather than relying on the slow-moving houseboat.  This can save fuel and time.

Find a place to tie-off that’s out of the wind.  Remember, you have to tie-off 4 points.  Knowing your knots and how to leave a little slack in the line to avoid snapping the lines, when you finally find the right cove.

Prepping Your Meals

This task can be handled relatively easily.  It’s something people can do while the boat’s moving, so when you get to your location, the meal is ready to be made.  Again, the key is simple organization and planning.

Creating Some Space

Houseboats seem big when you first board them.  However, with a lot of people the walls can feel like they’re closing in.  Try to create some space by locating a beach so people can get off of the boat and relax.  It might be that pressure-relief valve to keep the outing going smoothly. 

Plan Your Route

Know how to read the GPS coordinates on the radio.  It’s how you know your location on the water.  The next step is to get familiar with the general route you’re planning.  This can make your time more efficient.  You’ll want to make sure you have a map of the lake, before you leave the marina.

Assign the Sleeping Areas

It’s a good idea to take a look at the layout of the boat and to begin thinking about where people are going to sleep.  Labeling the bunks and beds make it much easier when people begin to arrive.  This can also ease the burden on the captain and/or host.

The Big Board

Molley recommends using a giant Post-It board with general information, including the daily menu plan.  It can really limit the ongoing questions and let everyone know what’s coming up and who’s responsible for specific activities.

Expect to Take Kitchen Items for the Trip

Most of the time, the kitchen utensils, pots/pans, knives, cutting boards and even the coffee maker are not exactly what you saw in the brochure or on the website.  Just pack some common items, but remember to take them with you when you leave. 

Bed Linens and Pillows

Don’t be afraid to take these items.  However, understand what you’ll have to lug from your car to the boat and back.  Take extra items, but don’t go overboard (see what we did there?).

Chad recommends waiting to unpack until you get the houseboat underway.  It gives people time to get used to the new environment and to relax a bit.

Understand Your Time Limits

Make sure you plan your days, especially the first day and last ½ day.  There’s a lot going on and the more you can prepare for, the easier it’ll be.  There are many ways to expedite the effort.  There’s a lot you can store in the smaller boat.  It’ll save time when you load or off-load.

Plan Your Meal Supplies

People are going to graze during and after a day on the water.  Go ahead and bring more food than you think you’ll need.  No one wants to run out of food and have to disrupt the trip for a run back to the marina.  Also, if you have special dietary needs, communicate it and be prepared to have other items for everyone else.

Time Management

If you’ve been invited for a houseboat trip, communicate any potential scheduling issues.  If you have to leave earlier than everyone else, make sure you’ve made arrangements so it doesn’t ruin the time for everyone else.  Be flexible and make a plan so everyone’s on the same page.

We know this sounds like a lot of work.  Actually, following a simple plan can make EVERYTHING go more smoothly for you and your guests.  Remember, this is supposed to be fun!

That’s a wrap for this episode.  We hope you found it helpful, insightful and maybe a little entertaining.

Thanks for Listening!

If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider sharing it with your friends.  We hope to see you out there soon.  Until next time, here’s to warm weather and calm waters!

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