Advice from all the houseboaters

[cedarcreek216]

We are leaving Sunday for a week on Lake Ouachita in Arkansas and have a couple questions.

1. What is the best way to anchor the boat when we are on the houseboat? I have the anchor buddy and a good anchor but do I anchor of the front and tie the back to the houseboat or not tie to the houseboat? Could get a bad storm so worried about that.

2. In regards to bad storms, what about the bilge? It seems you have to leave the perko on for the bilge to work, true? If so, should I leave the perko on one battery or not worry about it?

Any other advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


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[79nautiquenick]

If your anchoring the house boat i would tie the boat off to the house boat. Or if you have bow an stern anchored on the house boat anchor the bow of the nautique off with a bumper tied 3/4 of the way to the boat on the anchor line, and stern tied off to the house boat. When your ready to get on the nautique pull the stern line in and the bumper will sink. Let go of the stern line an the bumper will pull the boat away from the house boat.

[migs]

I always tie up directly to the HB. I do use some big bumpers when I do.

[cedarcreek216]

If your anchoring the house boat i would tie the boat off to the house boat. Or if you have bow an stern anchored on the house boat anchor the bow of the nautique off with a bumper tied 3/4 of the way to the boat on the anchor line, and stern tied off to the house boat. When your ready to get on the nautique pull the stern line in and the bumper will sink. Let go of the stern line an the bumper will pull the boat away from the house boat.

It sounds like you fabricate your own anchor buddy. The anchor buddy is supposed to do exactly what you described. This is the direction I was thinking about going but wasn't sure.

What about the bilge? Leave the batteries on or not worry about it unless storms roll in?


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[robertdodson]

Tie off to the house boat with your boat and buy a couple HOPPITY HOPS!!!! Have rope to time them off. GREAT buoy and keeps your boat really safe. If a big storm hits...just be ready to move to an anchor. As long as you are not in the line of big waves...the boat will be fine on the HB.

[Bansheein]

Once my houseboat is all anchored and set, i take my Nautique out directly behind the houseboat 100-150' and throw out the anchor buddy, then slowly go backwards getting the anchor set. Then throw a rope to someone on the houseboat. I use the back cleat, and tie off to somewhere behind the houseboat. When it is calm and people and (beer) needs to be loaded we pull the rope in and tie off so that the swim deck is really close to the houseboat swim deck. When we leave, I have a ball buoy on the anchor buddy, and we just hook the rope and the anchor buddy together. If it is stormy or windy at night, we tie the rope so the boat goes out 50' or so. Only when it gets really bad, I will buoy the Nautique right to the back of the houseboat. Something about the buoys slamming against the graphics all week long, makes me a bit skiddish. Hope that helps.

[Bansheein]

As far as the bilge, I don't leave it on, unless you are expecting a good rainstorm.

[azeus17]

Advice for Lake Ouachita specifically...be very careful of shallow spots. We were there a few years ago and there are several very shallow areas...in the middle of a huge lake. Some of them were only inches under water and we only saw them because of the waves breaking. Most have bouys, but I seem to remember some that did not. As with any dam controlled lake, I am sure the time of year greatly effects this.

We always tied the nautique to the houseboat. My '89 at the time did not have an auto bilge, so I just kept an eye on it. It would have to rain extremely hard for a long time to sink it.

One more thing. Not sure if you plan to tow the nautique with the houseboat, or keep it tied to the side when you move (our rental company would not let us keep it tied), but if you tow it, make sure the rudder is straight before you start. Otherwise, you end up with the nautique way out to the side and keep fighting it.

Have fun...I love houseboating!

[cedarcreek216]

I am an anal weirdo so I will drive the Nautique while the houseboat company drives the houseboat. I don't trust pulling it behind even though I know people do it all the time. I don't anticipate the ride out being that long and even if it is, I'll enjoy the time on my boat listening to good music and just chilling. We will have two wake boats and I suppose we will both drive our boats out.

[NautiqueOasis]

When moored, I like migs tie directly to the side of my houseboat (I use four 10" x 28" bumpers). Protects my ski boat very well even with large boat rollers in our cove. When transporting the houseboat, I would never tie any boat directly to the side of the houseboat; I have seen boats flip up on the houseboat rails when a lot of traffic out on the lake or large boat rollers. I do drag my ski boat behind the houseboat when taking our houseboat out on the lake. I do not routinely leave my bilge on overnight out on the lake unless I am aware of impending storms.