New R5 at Lake Ouachita

[Luv2HuntAR]

Hello everyone from Arkansas.

I bought a New 2020 R5 the first part of June, and we’re locing it. She’s kept at Mountain Harbor on Lake Ouachita. It’s ebony with a knockout red accent and powered by a Volvo 350. We tube, and we cruise. My 15 year old daughter and her friends appreciate my somewhat aggressive style of towing a tube. My somewhat aggressive style of towing a tube earned me a trip back to the place I purchased the tube with a ruptured bladder after only 2 days of what I described to the manager of the store as “normal“ use (said while shrugging my shoulders and throwing my hands in the air). I learned a few valuable lessons in those two days: (1) don’t put too much air in the tube (2) tighten the tow bar regularly during use (it came off while tubing) (3) don’t let a tube sink or take on too much water - they get somewhat heavy and unwieldy. So far, she has been a great toy for my family to enjoy.

I’ve been around boating all my life, but this is the first boat I have purchased for myself. 10 years ago I purchased a boat for the owner of the company I work for, and I’ve managed her ever since (42’ Silverton Convertible). It’s a salty, and holy cow it’s expensive to take proper care of her. Her biggest problem is that she’s not used enough; only 1300 hours after 10 years. She’s a great boat and still looks great on top of that.

Going into my R5 purchase, I had a lot of questions. I want to offer a big thank you and high compliments to the members of Cobaltchat. Almost any question that came to mind, was answered someplace in Cobaltchat. In fact, I was originally going to purchase an R3, but there was a thread comparing the R3 and R5 that pushed me to the R5. Of course, once I was convinced the R5 was the right choice I thought, now that I’m here, might as well look at the R7. Somehow my wife convinced me the R7 was too much boat for our small family .... not really sure how that happened, but it did.

There was one question I didn’t see addressed here .... Do you keep your boat cleaner than your car? I do.

Y’all take care. Keep her off the rocks.

[AsLan7]

.
Awesome post L2HAR. So glad you found us!

I see you have a warbird chariot. That’s our favorite tube...so much so we now have two being towed behind our boat. Did you blow one of those bladders? We use an air head pump which puts the perfect amount of air in the tube each time so it won’t overinflate. It has a regulator valve.....

.

30371573-1257-4F64-B925-D454C8CC4139.jpeg

.



Loce your pics too.

How about an engine pic?

...and yes, we keep our hot sauce in the storage compartment of our Mercedes for instant access to either the boat or tow rig.

Again welcome aboard mate!

[Big Block Power]

Very nice welcome.

[akorcovelos]

Beautiful boat, and the smiles make it worth every penny!

Yes I keep my car clean as the boat, now my wife on the other hand...she does have the ‘kid hauler’ so I’ll admit it’s a challenge to keep the inside of that clean.

[tgrace98]

Welcome aboard! Great story and great looking r5!

[cmattj]

Welcome from California!
Great intro and may a suggest the Sportstuff booster.
No worries of submarining in take off.
Absorbs loads, and helps the tube over wakes easier.


.

[Luv2HuntAR]

Thanks everyone.

I have that same exact pump. To save time, I let my marina air the tube up for me initially. They filled the replacement too. Now that I know the pump has a regulator, I’ll hook it up and “regulate” before we take the tube out next.

I have to admit, I felt a little guilty after cleaning my boat up Sunday evening. I used some sauce (yet another Cobaltchat pointer I picked up on - trying Babes right now too) to wipe the interior of my suburban down. I’m an old clod hopping farmer boy. I manage the family farm to this day. Washing my truck regularly is an exercise in futility.

I’ll try to remember to get some engine pics this weekend if the weather cooperates.

[Kyboater]

Great story. The smiles say it all. Beautiful boat.

[kas232ca]

Welcome!! I just Googled Lake Ouachita. Looks like a super nice lake.

[kas232ca]

Forgot to add. Yes, boat is cleaner than the cars. In fact, I just installed a security camera so I can watch it in the garage.

[ajcampen]

Forgot to add. Yes, boat is cleaner than the cars. In fact, I just installed a security camera so I can watch it in the garage.

that is fantastic!

[Luv2HuntAR]

Welcome!! I just Googled Lake Ouachita. Looks like a super nice lake.

Thank you.

Arkansas is usually near the bottom on most lists that some think matter. We’re usually just above Mississippi in things like education, per capita income, standard of living, obesity, etc etc. We have a saying in AR ... Thank God for Mississippi. But, Arkansas is blessed with fantastic lakes, tail waters, and rivers. Lake Ouachita, Greers Ferry, Bull Shoals, Beaver Lake, and Table Rock are all beautiful places to be on the water.

[Krob1114]

Welcome!! I just Googled Lake Ouachita. Looks like a super nice lake.

Thank you.

Arkansas is usually near the bottom on most lists that some think matter. We’re usually just above Mississippi in things like education, per capita income, standard of living, obesity, etc etc. We have a saying in AR ... Thank God for Mississippi. But, Arkansas is blessed with fantastic lakes, tail waters, and rivers. Lake Ouachita, Greers Ferry, Bull Shoals, Beaver Lake, and Table Rock are all beautiful places to be on the water.

First of all, welcome to cobaltchat.com. Looks like you've already got a wealth of information here.

Second, I'm boating in Arkansas, but live in Mississippi. I tried to get my daughter to look at Arkansas State because I wanted her close to home and they waive out of state tuition for any county that borders Arkansas. She said, "Dad, I don't want to go to school in Arkansas. The people there are backward." I said, "People in Arkansas say the same thing about people in Mississippi." Lol.

Third, I read some stats that rated Lake Ouchita in the top 5 for cleanest lakes in the whole country. (For those looking for help with pronunciation, it's like Wichita, except with a watch."

Fourth, agree on the Sportstuff tubes. Air them up once a year.

Again welcome...love your boat.

[Krob1114]

Hello everyone from Arkansas.

There was one question I didn’t see addressed here .... Do you keep your boat cleaner than your car? I do.


I pay $39 a month to a place called CarWash USA for unlimited car washes, so I hardly wash my Mercedes.
Boat is always cleaned, vac, covered and out of water.

One day after cleaning boat, it dawned on me: I should take care of myself as well we take care of our Cobalt!
Hasn't happened yet.

[Luv2HuntAR]

Welcome!! I just Googled Lake Ouachita. Looks like a super nice lake.

Thank you.

Arkansas is usually near the bottom on most lists that some think matter. We’re usually just above Mississippi in things like education, per capita income, standard of living, obesity, etc etc. We have a saying in AR ... Thank God for Mississippi. But, Arkansas is blessed with fantastic lakes, tail waters, and rivers. Lake Ouachita, Greers Ferry, Bull Shoals, Beaver Lake, and Table Rock are all beautiful places to be on the water.

First of all, welcome to cobaltchat.com. Looks like you've already got a wealth of information here.

Second, I'm boating in Arkansas, but live in Mississippi. I tried to get my daughter to look at Arkansas State because I wanted her close to home and they waive out of state tuition for any county that borders Arkansas. She said, "Dad, I don't want to go to school in Arkansas. The people there are backward." I said, "People in Arkansas say the same thing about people in Mississippi." Lol.

Third, I read some stats that rated Lake Ouchita in the top 5 for cleanest lakes in the whole country. (For those looking for help with pronunciation, it's like Wichita, except with a watch."

Fourth, agree on the Sportstuff tubes. Air them up once a year.

Again welcome...love your boat.

I have family and great friends from MS. They’re quick to send lists when MS tops AR. Both are rural states suffering from a lot of the same problems that are difficult to fix. A-State is a good school. Much more tight knit student body than UA-Fayetteville. Arkansas has been doing the border state waiver for a long time. To my knowledge, no other state has reciprocated. There’s a message in there I’m sure.

There is a group of cyclists from Hernando that come to Little Rock and ride the Big Dam Bridge 100 every year. For 4 or 5 years straight I have ended up riding with them at some point in time on the course. They are really nice folks, and they’re fun to ride with.

We were torn whether to put our boat on Ouachita or Greers Ferry. I love it there too. It’s hard to beat a piece of pie or cake from Janssens.