At the lake

Yesterday I began the day by heading to Saguaro Lake with 3 of my sons and a jet ski. Let me back up - my brother Shad had purchased a Sea Doo watercraft with a friend of his (Aharon) when he was living in California. When Shad moved to Arizona, another friend of his (Freddy) had agreed to buy out his interest. This transaction never occurred so Shad asked if I would like to buy Aharon's interest. I have always enjoyed spending time on the water so I agreed. Shad brought the Sea Doo to Arizona and here it has sat during the winter.

With the summer heat quickly arriving, I had a desire to use the Sea Doo. So I called Shad and asked him what was needed to get it up and running. He didn't think it needed much but wasn't certain since it hadn't been used for a while. I have a couple friends who own jet skis and one of them (Matt Winters) offered to help. Shad brought the Sea Doo to my house a couple weeks back and I began to get familiar with what makes it run. The battery was dead so I removed it. Matt said that Wal-Mart carried this type of battery so that's where I headed. Now my experience with batteries has been as follows: battery doesn't work, go to store, have battery tested, battery is dead, buy new battery, take it home, install new battery in car, trailer, flashlight, remote control, etc., all done. This all went to plan except for when I got it home. I opened up the box which contained the battery and a container full of electrolyte fluid, better know as battery acid. The instructions indicated that I had to fill the battery with the fluid and then put an initial charge on the battery. Small problem - I don't own any type of battery charger. So back to Wal-Mart where they had an assortment of battery chargers. I had been advised to purchase a trickle charger so I'm searching on the labels for something that says trickle charger. Nothing. I find someone who works there and fortunately they had a clue regarding batteries and chargers. A trickle charger is one that charges the battery at a slow rate. Armed with this knowledge, I was quickly able to purchase an appropriate charger. I got the battery charged and installed. Matt suggested that I changed the plugs and directed me to a cycle shop close by where I could purchase a pair. I changed the plugs without incident and was ready to see if the Sea Doo would start. I tried to start it and didn't have any luck. I made arrangements for Matt to come over and see if he could find the problem. He showed up and started the Sea Doo in about 5 or 6 seconds. I don't know exactly what I was doing wrong but I was relieved to learn that it worked and wouldn't require any additional repairs.

So yesterday was the first run of the Sea Doo by our family. The weather was warm but not unbearable. The water was a perfect temperature and the lake was not too busy. Chase, Jordan, and Tanner each took turns driving the Sea Doo with me holding on for dear life and wondering quietly why I thought this was such a great idea. Jordan wanted to try to wake board so we spent some time trying to get him up but ran out of time before he was able to get completely on his feet. We had a great time and I'm sure we'll be back many times this summer. And next time, I'll make sure to get some photographic evidence of the experience.