coolhand502

sounds like we need to all gather up one weekend in august and ride. I have heard billy gibbons from zz top runs his boat on ouchita

TX_Instigator

Coolhand,

There is a site called www.crowniehq.com that I go to, that have a lot of people from AR. and live just down the road from Greers Ferry. They are a bunch of great people and a lot of fun to boat with. The site is mostly Crownlines but I have a Nordic and there are a lot of other boats on the forum. It's for anyone that wants to participate. We just got back from a 10 day trip to TableRock Lake that was put together from the Crowniehq site. We had around 20 boats. Give it a try. It's a great site.

37SR

Donnie,

We have been told to look at some other marinas on Ouchita but not given any specific names or places. Mainly looking for one we can & at and has a good group of people, like to cut loose at the lake. What other marinas might you recommend for us to look at? If we could find a slip this fall or winter, we might go ahead and move it, then get on the waiting list at one of the big ones.

We are talking about coming up sometime in September to rent a ski boat or something to get a feel for the lake and look at any places you give us as a reference.

We are heading to GLOC and E-Dock to party over Labor Day. My buddy owns the Jesse James Active Thunder and has it runnin' hot! Wish I could have gone with them to LOTO


Thanks again for the help.
Rob

PS: Anywhere to buy your stuff local before I head to the lake next Thursday, would like to try it on the Sea Ray, God knows it needs a good cleaning!!!

marineclean

Hey Rob,

Crystal Springs, Shangri La and Ouachita Shores. All are a little bit smaller, but they do have a few big docks.

I think everyone is out of stock until September. I'm back in production to replenish.

Get in touch when you guys decide to head this way.

Donnie

37SR

Will do. Thanks for the info.

1stfntn

Rob,

Should have weighed in earlier, sorry. I'm sure Donnie thinks I fell off the face of the earth; he's a great guy. I've been in Japan for work for several weeks and don't usually look in this section of the board. Shame on me.

I feel your pain. I was in your exact situation last year and had a hard time finding info here on the board for us AR boaters. I moved from D Dock at Cherokee to Mountain Harbour last winter. Had been doing the drive back to Cherokee from Little Rock every weekend for the summer prior. Even in the 'vette and leaving at lunch on Friday, the drive got OLD real, real quick. Love the lake, the marina, the bars, the restaurants and the crowd (including the crazy E Dock guys), but just too damn far.

I wound up buying a mobile home (let the AR jokes begin) in the Mountain Harbour trailer park as I've got a 38' Fountain and from what I could determine NONE of the marinas on Ouachita have any kind of reasonable bathroom (especially shower) facilities for slip renters that would allow me to continue to stay on my boat. Nothing like Grand, we were all definitely spoiled up there.

My observations on Ouachita marinas were that Brady has the nicest and newest docks and is probably located on the most "open" but crowded water on the lake. Mountain Harbor is a nice place to be and I love it, but I will tell you that the docks are old and all wood (even the underwater bracing is wood!!) and dock maintenance/improvement isn't exactly the primary focus of the management team IMHO. I'd compare it to Port Carlos on Grand from that perspective if that means anything to you.

Ouachita is a beautiful lake. Really clean water, almost never crowded and tons of nice people. There's really no social cove (YET!) and it's mostly houseboats and runabouts with some cruisers and go fasts. The reality is most people go to Ouachita to get away; if you want to party, bring it with you and you'll have a great time. I do. Lake patrol is easy going, which is a nice change. However, if you want a social scene like Cherokee/Grand, you're probably better off at Hamilton (assuming you are OK w/ the size of the lake, personally it was way too small for me). I checked out Greers Ferry heavily as well, but after a lot of visits and consideration I decided it also seemed on the small side and facilities there aren't really any better (except for maybe Lacy's, but even their facilities are limited).

I'm on J dock at Mountain Harbor and Dolf has his 38' Donzi there when he's at Ouachita (which seems to be about once a month based on the times we were both there this summer). I'd be happy to talk more if you're still interested. Just let me know. 501-358-8847.

Brad

37SR

Brad,

Sorry for the month and a half late response in saying thanks. For now we have decided to leave the boat at Harbors View on Grand. Just a hard lake to leave for many of the reasons you stated. Not interested in a port carlos type of Marina - I know exactly what you mean. The drive is old, but we just got a new Megacab that makes the trip somewhat more tolerable with the kids. If we decide to sell it and buy a go-fast I think we will just do the trailer thing for several years. Just hard getting used to southern Ark where their are limited lakes when your used to Grand and all the other big lakes in NE OK. If Greers Ferry has the offshore race again in '08, I bet we will make it.

1stfntn

Rob,

No problem, I completely understand. And I hear where you're coming from. Tough decision. If you ever want to come check Ouachita out, just shoot me a PM. I'd be happy to show you the lake. It really is fun when you get used to what it is (and isn't).

Brad

37SR

Cool - we may just have to do that!!

Hypnautiq

hey everyone, we boat in Arkansas, and live in Texarkana, TX, just not too many lakes around here. our home lake is Greeson, about 70 miles, and also hit Lake Hamilton few times and also Greers Ferry, got some good friend there, just wish it as closer.

Does anyone know anything if the OffShore race will happen again in Greers Ferry for 08?