Happy fall, y'all!
Good Monday morning. Just a quick update about what's happening at PCM, campground and Lake Harbour Resort on Bull Shoals Lake...The store is now open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. We will maintain...
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How We Got Here
In the late sixties my parents decided to buy some land. They along with my Dad's cousin, Larry and Mildred Winkler, purchased 15 acres from Guy Johnson, part of which Matt and Jabet's house sits on,...
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The Seventies
The early seventies saw some more expansion to the docks. With our new office dock in place we converted the old office to a shop. Phil Petars had been working in Theodosia for a year or so but came to...
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More on the Seventies and Early Eighties
It would not have been possible for Johnna and me take over the dock had we still owned The Galley. The restaurant had consumed almost everyone's time except mine to operate it. I spent all my time at...
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The Blowout
Not long after taking over the business, we realized we needed to do something around the end of July or first of August to encourage people to come to the lake and to reward our annual dock customers....
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THE EARLY DOCK HANDS
In the beginning we didn't have the money to hire much help so I worked most of the hours myself and we were open from 6am to10pm in those days. My Dad would spell me occasionally. Some of the early...
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THE BREAKWATER
With the docks turned perpendicular to the shoreline, it was much easier to maintain the docks but the ones on the outside were left very vulnerable to the wind. We had tried building an uncovered...
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Jet Powered
Wet Bikes, Surf Jets and WaveRrunners. We've tried them all. In 1983 we had 26 rental boats and 12 motors, which included a ski boat and one or two pontoons. Jet powered personal watercraft were...
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A GAIN AND A LOSS
In 1983 after a couple seasons as our water patrol Norman was going to be transferred to Smithville Lake just outside of Kansas City. It was not exactly what he was hoping for. He came to me and asked...
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Pontiac Cove Marina
I was working the St. Louis Boat Show in February of 1984. While on a break from our booth, I was wandering around looking at the boats and came upon this neat pontoon houseboat called a "Boatel." It...
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The End of an Era
Anyone who has visited PCM regularly over the years knows Josh. He has been a staple at Pontiac Cove for nearly two decades. An institution, if you will. I often thought he might be here forever. That...
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THE CHAMPION TOURNAMENTS
Not long after the Gutweiler boat deal, John called me and wanted to start a Champion owner's tournament and he wanted to run it out of Pontiac. I was all for it! Thus the First Annual Champion Bass...
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More photos from the Champion Tournaments, etc.
Linda Dunsmuir shared some pictures with me after I published the post about the Champion tournaments. Here they are. Enjoy.Early morning, just before takeoff. All the red, green and white lights...
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More pictures...
After bringing the big rental tube "Weenie" back to life in pictures, Norman Eubank dug through his old pics and found a few more and shared them with us. Pretty hilarious!Norman and his friends...
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ANOTHER PAST GUIDE, CLARENCE SHOCKEY
Clarence Shockey started guiding on Bull Shoals Lake as soon as it filled up. He knew where every creek came in, where every dropoff was and all the honey holes without using a GPS. That's because he...
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The Champion Dealership
After the first Champion tournament, I had a chance to sell another boat. I talked to John Storie again and this time he said: "I guess we need to set you up as a dealer if we are going to keep having...
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The First Houseboats
We had great success with our first houseboat, so in 1985 we purchased a second "Boatel." Many of our customers were really interested in renting houseboats, but they wanted bigger boats,...
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The Dive Shop
Back in the early sixties when my family first took over the dock, my brother Dan and I both learned to scuba dive. The closest and about the only place to get tanks filled was at Theodosia Boat Dock...
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More on the Eighties
There were a lot of things going on at the marina in the eighties. In 1986 we built our current office. The old office dock was 24-by-48 feet with a building that was 16-by-36 feet. The new one was...
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Lake Levels in the Eighties
The lake level was all over the place in the eighties. In 1980 it stayed pretty close to normal all year. In 1981 it was nine feet low to begin the year and nine feet low to end the year, which were...
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Beginner Paddle Boarding Clinic
Over the weekend we hosted a beginner paddle boarding clinic with SUP pro Heather Baus as the instructor. We are so excited about the buzz this has created and are looking forward to hosting more...
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Kinsey Prop and Marine
Things were going great in the boat business. With the Champion Tournaments being held here we got broad exposure. I sold the boats, handled the parts and warranty and generally dealt with the...
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NEW HOUSEBOAT FLEET
With the log chain removed from my neck when we sold our Nixa boat dealership, it was time to focus on the marina again. In 1990, we sold all our previous rental houseboats and bought five new 14' x...
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Pontiac Fireworks are today!
Today is the day! Join us for food and fun before the fireworks.
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Finally!
It had been a very long time since we've seen this. The lower road at PCM is finally showing through. It is covered in mud and muck and will remain roped off until the water recedes completely and it...
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