WRC Guys & Gals,

Because we have been cooped up for the last couple weeks we decided to take a ride and get out of the house to get some fresh air! One of my good friends and member of the club, Bill Mohat and I and his dog Lilly decided to go down to Dillon Lake to check it out as a potentially good place to have a meet, recommended by non other than Mr. Jay Miller of gas tank repair and decal application fame!

Of course any trip to a lake is always a good reason to drag a boat along just on the chance we might be able to splash it and get a better idea of what the lake has to offer! Jay said they have a huge parking lot, so there is plenty of room for everybody!

We arrived at the lake about 9:30 and low and behold Jay and a couple of his friends Sherm Caldwell, Kerry York, Scott Wimbush, Todd Mizen and son Tommy were there already! We sat and chatted for a little while about outboards and boats and what everyone was interested in. I soon decided to put the boat in the water and check out the lake! I had brought my “53” Scott Atwater 16hp mounted on the transom and a backup Merc Mark 25 in the back of the truck just in case the Scott decided it didn’t want to start and run like it had last season! I was pretty sure the old Scott would come to life once it was primed up !

A couple good pulls and it was running like it was brand new! With Bill in the middle seat and Lilly at the bow we were off to see the lake! Bill realized he had run his battery down on his phone and couldn’t take any pictures of the lake so I gave him mine to capture the serenity of the shoreline while we cruised along. One of the things both Bill and I noticed was how high the water line extended up into the tree line, it was at least 20 – 30ft indicating this was a flood control lake, but I didn’t think to ask Jay if he knew the who and what it controlled!

There is a control dam at one end of the 1325 acre lake which has a shoreline of a little over 27 miles and an average depth of 22 ft. and is located in Muskingum County. We cruised for about 20 minutes seeing a good portion of the lake and then headed back to the state park. We tied up the boat docks and went back up to chat with the guys and learn more about the area!

Sherm had brought his 16ft AlumaCraft with a nice running SeaKing or SeaBee 12hp, sorry Sherm couldn’t remember which it was? Kerry had his FeatherCraft with a sweet running Mark 30 on the back that was mostly out of the water when up on plane! Tommy had a little 10- 12 fter with a “58” Evinrude 18hp that was running in the plus 30mph range! And Jay had his aluminum Crestliner with his Sweet running Evinrude Speeditwin! He had Tommy take it out and prove that a nicely tuned 1939 Rude would embarrass may of the more modern motors.

Bill, Lilly and I went out for another tour of the lake and ended up at the other end where there is a nice swimming beach that is buoyed off! I turned the helm over to Bill to run the Scott back to the dock and I think he enjoyed running it! Once back we tied up again and went up to chew the fat again. Tommy had made another run with a different motor that apparently developed some problems and Jay got a call from him that he needed a tow, so I told Jay I’d go get him! The old Scott came to the rescue and towed them back quite nicely!

Once back to the dock, Tommy said he was going to pull his boat and I saw Sherm had pulled out already. Jay’s boat was still tied up to the docks so we towed it over to the launch ramp to pull it also! Bill helped me pull mine and once out, we went back up to chat with Jay, Kerry, and Sherm! Soon it was time to hit the road, we had now confirmed what Jay had told us about Dillon Lake, and I can say it will be a fun place to have a meet!

Have faith fellow members, we will all be back on the water soon. Till then remember:

~~~ Keep the Blue Smoke Flowing !

Gary