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River Demographics

SuperDave013

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I not one to complain about it, but it just doesn't make sense to me...Why have a boat with a huge engine to only be able to go fast for 200' at 6 in the morning? To me, they are the Honda Civic rice rockets of the river (loud, fast for short distance,etc.). Am I missing something?

I liked Revell models as a kid. My flatbottom is my adult Revell model. The cool thing is it's scale 1 to 1 and every now and then I get to drive it. Also I can tow it with a 1/2 ton truck. It's small and fits in one parking space. It's like a 1,000 HP skateboard, aka fun to olli over wakes n shit. :D It's sitting front and center in my shop so I get to enjoy it all day like I did my hot rod models as a kid. Sometimes polish it up even though it's already spotless just to show it some love. :D
 

cofooter

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I not one to complain about it, but it just doesn't make sense to me...Why have a boat with a huge engine to only be able to go fast for 200' at 6 in the morning? To me, they are the Honda Civic rice rockets of the river (loud, fast for short distance,etc.). Am I missing something?

Yes, you forgot the part about investing $30,000 in a boat you may be able to sell for $10,000 lol. Seriously, its old school cool and if you grew up on the river, it's in your blood.....
 

Thunderhead1

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I not one to complain about it, but it just doesn't make sense to me...Why have a boat with a huge engine to only be able to go fast for 200' at 6 in the morning? To me, they are the Honda Civic rice rockets of the river (loud, fast for short distance,etc.). Am I missing something?

Yes...your missing a lot of boating history and what was the norm in the 60's and 70's...early very early 80's. tight boats and loose women were all you needed...

I wasn't there either,,,but 2 generations of my family before me helped stimulate the economy of Parker and Havasu since 1964. I as the 3rd and my kids as the 4th generations will continue to keep the dream alive...

Iam pretty sure there are some old River Rats that would roll over in their grave if they knew some one just compared their boats to a Honda civic.
 

Englewood

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I figured it was a nostalgia thing, now I know. I'm not hating on them, just giving an outside perspective of someone who has only been going to Parker for 10 years.

As long as you are on the water having fun, a boat is a boat. I personally enjoy the "Parker Alarm Clock", just didn't know the roots of it.
 

SuperDave013

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5:45 AM heading up river getting a little heat in the oil, zoomies, blower surging like a bitch. No one on the shoreline at all. About Buckskin spin it around and sure as shit there's always at least one guy in his tighty whites that ran down to see a flatbottom pass! essence of the river .... :D
 

spectra3279

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I've never owned a flatty. Love to watch them, love to ride in them, love the sound. To me they are more like a go-kart on the water than a skateboard. But you ain't even getting me on a cheerleader at 545am.
 

lebel409

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Flatties are ski boats...50 years ago they where done when the wind came up, but you always looked for "your" cove to stay out of others wakes. Today you have to get up before the tuna boats, waking their owner is just a bonus.
 

RodnJen

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Getting back to what I believe is the essence of the thread, are things changing, yes, but they are always changing and that's always going to be the case. Fifty years ago as a baby I started camping out with my parents, grandparents and my dad's coworkers at Foxes and Red Rock. That property seemed massive to me at the time as a grew old enough to wander around and set a drop-line off the gang-plank to catch blue gill. It was 17' outboards and v-drives. Once in awhile one of the squirty things would go past making a lot of noise and a big roost. They didn't go very fast but they made a lot of noise and looked pretty cool so we all watched and enjoyed it because we all loved boating.

The people that made up boating at the river were largely working-class folks. While that still is partially the case, that has changed little too. There is clearly more a case of the haves and the have-nots now more than ever. The divide is more a reflection of the economy rather than it is who we are as people.

I love boating but find myself spending very little time with fellow boaters. As a kid we stopped going to Parker on the weekends forty years ago because we didn't like what was going on and it actually got in the way of what we wanted to do. For us, back then, it was about skiing, tubing, rafting, fishing etc. and today it still is.

I just returned from another 5-day trip with my wife and kids, 12 and 9. We didn't launch on Saturday because I don't like the "demographic". It isn't so much about ethnicity or wealth as it is about behavior. If the shit you do on a weekend gets in the way of the shit that I want to do on a boating trip than one of us needs to adjust. I can't keep you from being an drunk, shit-for brains, cool-guy so I'll just launch on a Sunday and hope to avoid the mess. This is the same thing my parents did in Parker 40 years ago.

That being said, I saw some really bad decisions being made by families pulling towables the last three days on the water. None of these decisions can be attributed to demographics. I saw a number of families of all ethnicities and levels of wealth doing dumb things. Many of them were in pontoons, some were in rented boats, some were in production deck boats and others were in "performance" boats.

I had to change my course, at 30 mph, more times that I thought possible in a three day stretch due to people making selfish decisions with no regard for their passengers, their children being towed or for the people around them.

Like I said, this is nothing new. But, as more people have access to the lake, more people will make decisions that will likely impact those around them, good or bad.
 

H2O

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Carlin explained it all 40 years ago, and it still holds true today.


Carlin.jpeg
 

AzGeo

Fair winds and following seas George.. Rest Easy..
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I not one to complain about it, but it just doesn't make sense to me...Why have a boat with a huge engine to only be able to go fast for 200' at 6 in the morning? To me, they are the Honda Civic rice rockets of the river (loud, fast for short distance,etc.). Am I missing something?

YES ...........
 

never happy

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I not one to complain about it, but it just doesn't make sense to me...Why have a boat with a huge engine to only be able to go fast for 200' at 6 in the morning? To me, they are the Honda Civic rice rockets of the river (loud, fast for short distance,etc.). Am I missing something?

^^^what the actual f**k?? How do you think you found out about parker?? The Honda civics are the wakeboard boats destroying the strip right now!! Parkerstrip was made famous by these "loud obnoxious big engine boats" and now they have to make their passes at 6am before all the toolbags and their 12 passengers wake up from their drunken stupor!!! Smh....[emoji30]
 

Outdrive1

Outdrive1 Marine Sales https://www.outdrive1.com/
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^^^what the actual f**k?? How do you think you found out about parker?? The Honda civics are the wakeboard boats destroying the strip right now!! Parkerstrip was made famous by these "loud obnoxious big engine boats" and now they have to make their passes at 6am before all the toolbags and their 12 passengers wake up from their drunken stupor!!! Smh....[emoji30]

Lol. It hate wakeboard boats. Unless I'm on one. [emoji51][emoji51]they are a floating party. I get it. I have fast small boats and they fuck up the water like nothing else.
 

boatdoc55

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I not one to complain about it, but it just doesn't make sense to me...Why have a boat with a huge engine to only be able to go fast for 200' at 6 in the morning? To me, they are the Honda Civic rice rockets of the river (loud, fast for short distance,etc.). Am I missing something?

One has NOT lived until you go over 80MPH in a 70's flatty or fast jet boat. I know I'm going to take some flak for that!!
 

nowski

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So we only run at 6 because y'all fuck it up for us the rest of the day. :finger lol
I just call it natures alarm clock. In case I'm having a bad dream, I hear that early morning roar and it reassures me I'm at the river knowing everything's going to be all right...
 

LGETT

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^^^ I think this is the answer right here.. I bet the people that have fully paid off boats/toys are the ones that cause the least "river problems."

Easy to Want, Easy to Sign......

Its so easy to get away from living within our general means and ask for forgiveness then start over 7 years later only to do the same stupid shit again.

Staring 40 in the face in just a couple of weeks, having 3 children, owning a small business and working for another just to live a comfortable life has me re-thinking about this precious time with the family that cant be bought.

I think its Lake time with the Family!!!!
 
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