First Time Boat Owner

[sunedog]

You will find a lot of Lake Murray folks on here - reach out and we can connect. We are across from Shoal Island, around the corner from Jake Knots bridge. Agree with the boater course suggestions above, and suggest learning the green bacon lights and buoys on the lake. Each green light has a different blinking sequence which helps when you are making your way back home at dusk/dark.

Good suggestion 6kidsurf. Another thing I learned that really helps for night navigation is to learn the major islands. You can spot them even on a completely dark, no moon, night because they will be black interruptions to the lights you see on shore. As long as you know generally where you are on the lake, you can pretty easily figure out, for instance "that must be Wessinger and that must be Bomb so I need to head that way to get to my corner of the lake."

And you can see the lights and the long straight horizontal profile of the dam from a good portion of the lake. That can keep you oriented.

 

[Lake Murray SC]

I live on Lake Murray in Gilbert and am on my 3rd Bennington. I am happy to help with any questions you may have.

Probably should have just gone to Clemson . We just closed on a place on Marion and bought sellers 22’. First pontoon ever.

safety course won’t hurt, but can’t beat experience. Luckily, lakes are, typically, more forgiving than the open ocean. Just take it slowly and go ahead and put the first scratch in her. Makes the rest a little easier to digest.
Good luck and enjoy in good health

I definitely could have saved some heartache in the fall if I would have.