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Lillipad Diving Board

Wow, that could be dangerous.  Not only for jumping in but even for shoreline cruising
 
For shoreline cruising

Link, on our lake there is no shoreline cruising unless you like looking at 70' of limestone cliffs.  We have a Lake front house that is right on the C.o.E. boundary line and we are 90' above the water.  You can drive 50 miles up the lake and not "see" more than 100 houses.  It's one reason it is a great houseboat lake.  Thousands of places to tie up and nobody around.  

Google earth 554 Sellars Road Nancy Ky and you see what the lake looks like.  You can see our pontoon stored next to a tree on our extra lot

Your lake is probably like Lake Crescent in WA that my parents have a house.  People boat to the neighbors for cocktail hour.  They put canvas pads on the shale beach and you run the boat onto the pads. 
 
Remedition I did google your address.  I also read up on Lake Cumberland on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Cumberland  Our lake is also a reservoir that was built in 1930 mainly to prevent flooding in the Albany tri cities area.  We have 125 miles of shoreline [1/10 of yours] and while there are quite a few areas that are forever wild there are many houses on the lake.  Shoreline cruising is quite popular and we do visit neighbors [and sometimes strangers] for cocktails.  Although it is 6 miles across most of the time we do shoreline cruise with stops at the courtesy docks of restaurants or bars
 
The water level changes at many lakes and rivers. Storms can cause items to wash into bodies of water. Look at all the issues at lake Mead and the dangers being exposed due to the drop in the levels. As a personal experience, I was cruising up river in a familiar area. The water levels were down a couple of feet. I was cruising at 65mph. I thought I saw something under the water-a shadow. Turns out it was a large boulder not more than three feet under the surface.

Another area where we throw the anchor and eat lunch, relax and swim--I always go to the same area and check the depth. Runs around 16 feet. However, one time while floating around before dropping the anchor, I got a reading of five feet. It was only in one spot, so thought it was an incorrect reading. This was on the conquest depth gauge. Not all that long ago I went there with the Bennington and was playing with the Garmin sonar and all the neat pages and looking at the bottom. Sure enough, there appears to be a rock pile or something down there. Hence, my boat rule number two as stated above.

Cheers, Steve
 
kaydano said:
By the way, I think diving into a lake is about the dumbest thing you can do when you can't see what's down there.
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I don't dive or jump from my boat into the Rez. It's swamp river fed, and there's no telling what the river has sent our way. Always changing.

Here's where we boat:

We live on the east shore of it.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ross+R+Barnett+Reservoir,+Mississippi/@32.4548069,-89.9923545,23372m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x8629d602e9f37cfb:0x307f632b8f310d0e!6m1!1e1
 
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We have our first pontoon on order.  I was looking at the possibility of adding a Lillypad diving board on the aft extended deck opposite the ladder.  Now I am having some second thoughts for safety reasons.  Most areas of our lake should be 100% safe, and based on common sense visibility and depth finders, I had expected to use it when I felt 100% safe.  That said, my motto in these areas has typically been "why take a needless chance".  I'll have to think about this a bit more now.
 
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Vikingstaff said:
We have our first pontoon on order.  I was looking at the possibility of adding a Lillypad diving board on the aft extended deck opposite the ladder.  Now I am having some second thoughts for safety reasons.  Most areas of our lake should be 100% safe, and based on common sense visibility and depth finders, I had expected to use it when I felt 100% safe.  That said, my motto in these areas has typically been "why take a needless chance".  I'll have to think about this a bit more now.
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Having personally known someone who became a quad diving into a lake, I don't allow it from our boat. Jumping, yes, diving, no. That said, my wife jumped off the boat at a sandbar last summer and shattered her ankle, so now I have a new rule. No jumping in shallow water, either!
 
Michiman said:
Having personally known someone who became a quad diving into a lake, I don't allow it from our boat. Jumping, yes, diving, no. That said, my wife jumped off the boat at a sandbar last summer and shattered her ankle, so now I have a new rule. No jumping in shallow water, either!
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How horrible.  Good food for thought as a soon to be new boat owner.  Thanks for the cautionary tales.  Very well may be adopting your boat rules and not pursuing that diving board...although it looks so cool!
 
Me being an insurance and risk adverse guy I tend to avoid situations where I am assuming additional liability. I would think as a boat captain you are responsible for putting the boat in safe waters especially if the intent is to have others jump off it for pleasure. Unless you can see the bottom no way. Our lake was formed by damming one end and flooding 3 ponds to make a lake if you will. This past summer the water level was low and you could see all the old tree stumps where they just cut the top of the tree and left the rest just lurking under water. It was to the point we stopped doing water sports in certain areas. My neighbor actually wiped out on his stand up jet ski and hit one when he was under water. Obviously lake conditions vary but I won't be adding one to my boat.
 
Yeah, I can remember in my teens jumping off the railroad bridge into the creek, not even knowing how deep it was. I think back now and cringe at the thought of what could have happened. 
 
I think all of you have set me straight on NOT adding the Lillypad diving board.  Besides, its not like we will have a shortage of fun things to do come summer with the new Bennington.  Add to it saving the money (the darn thing isn't cheap at $1,300 before installation), and it sounds like a win-win in forgoing that purchase and installation of this fancy-shmancy diving board. B)
 
And it's probably like a trampoline in the back yard. When my daughter was 8 or 9, we bought her one of the best for Christmas. Paid about 3 prices for it because I wanted the triple number stitching, all reinforces every thing. She jumped on it for about a month and it turned into a bird crap catcher after that. How many things have we all bought over the years, and wish we could have seen just a little further down the road regarding them?
 
Spoiledrotten said:
And it's probably like a trampoline in the back yard. When my daughter was 8 or 9, we bought her one of the best for Christmas. Paid about 3 prices for it because I wanted the triple number stitching, all reinforces every thing. She jumped on it for about a month and it turned into a bird crap catcher after that. How many things have we all bought over the years, and wish we could have seen just a little further down the road regarding them?
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That's probably what half the stuff we have for our new cottage will end up being with time.   :(  Darn hind sight.
 
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