While living in Maui, I decided to return to Minnesota in May to buy a boat and live on it for the summer. The boat belonged to my Cousin's Grandma and it had sat for six years. Before returning, I ordered over $1,000 in aftermarket parts for the jetski. I had all the parts waiting for me at my brothers house when I returned. I flew into Minneapolis on May 7th and bought the boat May 15th. I put together a grocery list of parts and work that needed to be done. Almost every day for a month straight I worked on it; rain or shine. It rained for 19 days straight in May which made it tough. When it got dark outside, I worked on the jetski in my brother's garage. I would wake up, work on the boat, work on the jetski, then go to bed.  That was my routine. The amount of repairs and work needed was over-whelming and there was no end in sight. Problems arose with the boat faster than I could make repairs. The jetski had a few unexpected problems also. It seemed to be a never-ending cycle of setbacks and frustration between both projects. The boat was actually ready for the water before the jetski was. Finally the day came when my dream of living on a boat came true and the best summer of my life was about to unfold.

    June 21, 2005 was a long day. The day was spent getting both the boat and the jetski in the water and the trailers put away. I didn't know too much about boating, but I quickly learned the ropes. I was reacquainted with many of the people I had met while living on The Depot. While living in Maui, I had saved some money while working two jobs. Taking the summer off was my reward for working so hard while living in paradise. I had never felt so free in my life, almost like a temporary retirement. My days mainly consisted of tinkering with the boat, jetskiing, and fishing. The summer of 2005 was hot and dry. The weather couldn't have been any better. I witnessed pretty much every sunset from the river and experienced a couple of nasty thunderstorms. I was always in tune with what was going on with the weather. Thunderstorms and high winds were always very exciting to me. A bad day on the river is better than a good day away.
 
 

    The boat I purchased is a Sea Ray 240 Weekender. It has running water, a toilet, ice box, an mp3 player, and plenty of storage space. I was living in luxury compared to a tent. The jetski sat perfectly on top of two bunks I attached to the swim platform. It was easy to pull it up from the side and easier to roll it off into the water. I attached hooks beneath the platform so I could tie strap it down. The jetski was locked to the back of the boat running a cable lock between the jetski and the tow hooks at the rear of the boat.  I bought a bmx bike to commute down the dike to my car. The bike sat perfectly on the bow of the boat and fit in the backseat of my car. Everything worked perfectly. The boat was pretty reliable throughout the summer, having only a few minor problems. The jetski on the other hand was definitely showing signs of an over-used, over-abused machine.
 
 

   "The summer of Jetski Repairs." That would be one way to describe my summer. A crankshaft seal blew out in early July meaning I would have to pull the engine and make repairs. It was down for a day. A couple weeks later a lower connecting rod bearing came apart and completely destroyed my entire engine. (I had to swim it to shore and walk it along the shoreline back to my boat). Once again the engine was pulled.  I rebuilt the entire motor myself and it was only down for 9 days. The engine performed perfect all summer after that. During the rest of the summer, a ride plate shattered, handpole broke, fuel filters clogged, new battery went bad, bilge pump failed, life jacket broke, and my jetski boots came apart. During a sub maneuver, my hood flew off as I went beneath the surface. Somehow, I managed to grab the hood and maintain control of the jetski.  I held onto the hood with one hand and held up the rear of the jetski with the other 95 percent of the jetski  underwater. I was hyperventilating. Luckily, some people in a pontoon rescued us. 
 
 

    The camaraderie between boaters on the St. Croix River is amazing. A few others also lived on their boats in the same area. I never worried about my boat when I left for the day or weekend. Not to my surprise, I don't believe anything was ever stolen from my boat. I definitely had better luck than the previous summer. The other "River Rats" kept an eye on it while I was away. It worked both ways. If one of them left, I would help look after his/her boat. They're all cool. I would get into deep philosophical conversations with a couple of them that seemed to last for hours. They were my neighbors and it was fun. They are all very interesting people and I'm glad I met them.
 
 

   Like the summer before, I met the greatest people while living on my boat. Scott Hayne was one of them, http://www.scotthayne.com  One day while my boat was beached on the dike, he pulled up on an SXR. After that, he made it out a couple times every week and we tore up the bay together. He also taught me some freestyle tricks and I am forever grateful. He's good on a standup and we got into a few arguments over who is better. I won't say who is better, but he definitely needs practice jumping waves (or a faster jetski). The dike is also a hotspot for sun-tanning. I met quite a few woman and was always eager to convince them to take a crack at riding a stand-up. It was entertaining. One morning while beached on the Depot, I awoke to two guys drinkin' beer next to my boat. I introduced myself and hung out with them for a bit. I was on a tight budget and had very little to eat in my boat. They left, and came back with 30 tacos from Taco Bell. It was hilarious. Sean and Dan hung out a few times after that and we always had a blast. They referred to me as "the boat guy."
 
 

Sundays. Sundays were the most important days to be on the river. Everything had to be running and working properly. I didn't care what it took. I donated plasma a couple times for gas money. One Sunday morning I left the boat to go fishing in Coon Rapids with a friend. I was so anxious to get back to the St Croix I got a speeding ticket. All actions revolved around Sunday afternoons. I wouldn't miss a Sunday afternoon for any reason. It was the reason I lived out there. Hundreds of boats flock to the islands and the dike for the weekend. All of the islands are in "no-wake" zones. All the boats seemed to leave around the same time on Sunday afternoon to head for home. I had to be there. Just to the north, the "no-wake" zone ends and the boats plow before reaching plane. Many would plow for an extremely long time to produce waves when they saw me. To show my appreciation, I waved to every boater before I jumped their wake. Holiday weekends were sometimes chaotic. Dozens of boats would leave at the same time. They created a maze full of huge wakes and it got crazy. It was an obstacle course of boats and waves to jump. If there were a good set of rollers, nothing was going to stop me from hitting them. I'm blind to everything but waves. People were clapping, screaming, waving, and taking pictures. It was like a show. Some would circle around and make waves until I couldn't ride anymore. I would do subs and fountains for people that made really good waves. I'm guessing some of the waves reached 7-8 feet. Hitting a wave that size on a stand-up, going at a moderate speed means you're going to go really high. I couldn't get enough of it. It made everything worth while. 

     Towards the end of the summer I got a job and it totally killed my spirit. I had scraped up the last of my savings. Life just wasn't quite so sweet with a job and my plans to take off the entire summer backfired. It was a tough adjustment to go back to reality for the first time in almost four months. But I was fortunate enough to have a schedule that allowed me to have time to jetski and fish. I eventually learned to really enjoy my job and I was glad to have it.  I fished almost daily and spent countless hours casting and trolling for muskies. The more frustrated I got, the more determined. With all my efforts, I still didn't catch a musky. (That picture shows how happy I could've been this summer).
 
 

    All the action died down in the middle of September. It was getting colder and the leaves were changing. Oct 13th I jumped off the bridge and dealt with that. The water was cold and it was freezing at night. I used a Mr. Heater to warm the cabin, but it was cold and damp when it wasn't on. I would get "home" from work and literally have to dry out my sleeping bag and pillow. It was miserable but I didn't care. The best summer of my life was coming to an end and I was in denial. I wasn't ready to leave so I just stuck it out. I probably would have stuck it out too long if I hadn't received an e-mail from someone after the jump. The denial ended on Nov 12th when I pulled the boat out. Summer was over and it was time to move on, leaving behind a summer full of good times and memories with no regrets.