More steel in a boat lift means a longer warranty

Boat Floater Industries, LLC has not only been manufacturing boat lifts since 1974, it has actually lengthened its warranty on new lifts.  Other lift manufacturers are actually cutting their warranty from lifetime to 3 years in the industry.  The bottom line is that with more steel you get more warranty.  As one of our customers said, “I suggest you buy your last boat lift first!”

Call today for a quote on your lake or become a dealer!

I shall try to keep this entry non political.  For those of you who know me…it will not be easy!  While in the middle of boat show 10 to 12 hour days, living on hot dogs and living out of hotel rooms The President opened mouth and inserted foot.  Many in the marine industry are up in arms about the comment “you don’t go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage.” 

The first thing that popped into mind was “Well Mr. President, obviously you don’t have a boat.”  I have lake water running through my veins, as do the rest of my family and friends.  We make our living off of the water around here and both of my children went on their first boat ride when they were only days old.  Many others in the industry went bananas and there are many, many blogs to read about it.  I promised you, I would not make this political. 

A boat (and boat lift) is the most wonderful investment you can make for your family and for yourself.  My best memories were made on the water and my parents didn’t have a lot but we always took the boat and went to the lake for the weekend.  We did everything as a family and I truly believe there is so much of that missing today.  Now, I am not saying run out and buy a boat if you cannot pay your mortgage but I do think the boat will give you and your family and friends more enjoyment than any other thing that you can buy today.  You never see mad people at the lake!  Boaters wave at people they don’t even know!  Should God ever decide to flood the earth again, boaters will have flotation!  So, without making this post political…I guess if you don’t have a boat, don’t have friends with boats and talk down to the boaters and boat makers (Noah),  you might be in trouble.

Spring = Golf! Mark your calendar today for the The Wayne Hamilton Spring Golf Classic at LedgeStone in StoneBridge Village , 18 Holes of Golf, Awards & Prizes, not to mention tons of fun. The event has the best sponsors in the area which means great prizes. Call Brooke today to reserve your spot!
For more information contact Brooke Patterson at 417-739-2564 or logon to www.visittablerocklake.com

Hey fellow boaters!  I’ve blogged before about getting your 17 cent per gallon road tax refund in the fall or during the winter.  Now, my marina makes it easy for me to receive my refund but if you’ve a good first mate you can get your check usually in about two weeks. 

In case you’ve forgotten how easy it is…here goes.  Simply save your boat gas receipts, along with anything else you buy gas for and add up the gallons you’ve used.  I recommend that you do this when you winterize your boat.  The State of Missouri does not want your receipts if they are over 1 year old.  The forms are available at http://dor.mo.gov/tax/business/fuel/ 
As you look over these forms don’t get yourself all confused.  For the most part you will only fill in your name and your gallons of gas and do the math.  The remainder of the form is for farming and other uses.  It will take you about 5 minutes unless you use a lot of gas, which you should!  Your check will arrive in just a couple of weeks and is a nice gift to yourself in the middle of winter.  It is 22 degrees here at the Overland Park Boat Show in Kansas and I don’t even want to know what the temperature is in Tampa where my other half is at the moment…

We will begin in Kansas City at Bartle Hall on January 15 through the 17th.  www.patrihaproductions.com or www.mid-americaboatshow.com are great sources for you to plan either that weekend or the following weekend January 22 through the 24th.  The Springfield Boat and RV Show in Missouri is also the weekend of January 15-17.  www.megarvshows.com. 

From Kansas City, we will travel the long road down to The Overland Park Convetion Center for the Lake of the Ozarks Marine Dealers Show on January 28 through the 31.  Show times can be found at www.lomdaboats.com  This is a great show with easy parking.  What a great time to escape the cold and dream of boating!  The Tulsa Boat Show begins on Febuary 1st and runs until February 7th.  If you have attended this show you have probably already made it a tradition.  If you haven’t, this show has fabulous food and drink, family activities, many, many booths with about everything you can think of and naturally boats and Boat Floater Boat Lifts, the best boat lift the world with the best warranty!

At the same time we are in Tulsa, half of us will again travel to Springfield Missouri for the Springfield Super Boat Show which will be held in the Old Circuit City building.  The show dates are February 4 through February 7.  This should serve as a handy venue to many restaurants and shops too.  What’s this?  A week off?  Actually, ten days off!  Our final show will be the Northwest Arkansas Boat and Sport Expo in Rogers Arkansas on February 19 through the 21.  Visit my friend’s website at www.nwaboatexpo.com for a look at times.  The area of Rogers has some excellent restaurants like my favorite Carabas!  The show is also surrounded by great boutiques.  Dan makes the Northwest Arkansas show fun for kids and the John Q. Hammons Convention Center is beautiful.  www.jqhhotels.com.  These are the shows we are doing but many of our Dealers and Distributors will be traveling to many other shows such as Atlanta, Grove and Phil will be attending IMBC January 28-31st.  www.marinaassociation.org/imbc/

Gentlemen…and Jenni…start your engines!  It’s the boater’s version of NASCAR and its coming to Lake of the Ozarks on September 25 – 27, 2009. 

Boat Floater Industries, LLC has sponsored the husband and wife team Under Destruction Racing for its second year and Mark and Jenni have not dissappointed.  With first place wins at Lake Cumberland Kentucky and Biloxi Mississippi and a 2nd place win at the Super Boat International in Sarasota Florida they are in first place for National points and a mere 13 points from second place! 

Come join us as we cheer Team Under Destruction Racing to another checker and also enjoy many other acclaimed race boats such as Bud Light, Miss Geico, Team CRC and more.  The boats will be everywhere for you to get a close up look.  Food, Music, Beer and Racing at the Horny Toad and Shady Gators at Lake of the Ozarks.  What could be better than that.?  Check out the BoatFloater.com race boat at www.underdestructionracing.com and for race details check out www.offshoresuperseries.com and www.talkoffshore.com  We will see you there!

We recently took a group of 7 kids to Talking Rocks Cavern near Branson for a birthday party.  The kids had a great time climbing through the cave simulators, screening for crystals and exploring the cave.  This is a great place to get a lot of fun for your money.  They also have a mini golf course but we simply ran out of town.  Thanks Stephanie S. for taking 100 questions (from each of the children)!  Wonderfully fun and educational!

Under Destruction Racing sponsored by BoatFloater.com Boat lifts will race on July 5th in Sarasota.  For event and race schedules click on to http://suncoastoffshore.org/ and for more on this team click on www.underdestructionracing.com

Choosing lodging at Table Rock Lake in the Branson Missouri area can be tricky.  There are just too many choices and you never know what your going to get until you get there.  My favorite is Lighthouse Lodge http://www.lighthouselodge.com/floorplans.htm  The resort is right smack dab in the middle of the largest marina on Table Rock Lake, The Port of Kimberling Marina, minutes from restaurants and Branson.

Now I am a local, so I have never spent the night there, but everyone knows that “locals” know the best spots!  I have spent countless evenings there with family and friends and they are all repeat customers at Lighthouse Lodge.  In past years we have had three family reunions in the Main Lodge which afforded us a fully equipped kitchen and plenty of room to visit.  We cooked out on the BBQ and also in, enjoying all of our meals there instead of a noisy restaurant where it is impossible to catch up on family goings on.

The Main Lodge features separate lock out rooms and family members stayed in other units on the property as well.  Even more recently my family from Texas stayed in a smaller but spacious and well equipped one bedroom cabin which was spotless.  The two queen size beds were very comfortable. 

Obviously this reasonably priced lakefront resort with boat rentals, pool, game room and more, sitting in the middle of the beatufully maintained Port of Kimberling Marina which boasts its own many amenities books up so check out their website today and make your reservations for Table Rock Lake.  After all, “Our Lake is Your Lake”. 

BoatFloater.com sponsored race boat featured on KY 3, Springfield.  Click on http://www.ky3.com/home/video/48299397.html to view the story of husband and wife team, Mark and Jenni Dunbar with Under Destruction Racing featured on KY 3.