Welcome to the first episode of the new series Pontoon Life!! In this episode, Tanya, Cooper, and I take you on an adventure at Folsom Lake in Northern California. Join us on our 2019 Sun Tracker Bass Buggy 18 DLX as we visit beaches, cook delicious food, go swimming, and hang out with our lake dog Cooper!!

Pontoon Life will document modifications and adventures on our recently acquired 2019 Sun Tracker Bass Buggy 18 DLX pontoon boat. So far, modifications include a double bimini shade cover, a quick release Kuuma 160 stainless steel BBQ, a quick release Magma table on Scotty mounts, and a wash down pump connected to a hose. I will cover these mods in more detail in other videos.

My wife and I purchased this boat in early June of 2020. As some of you know, my dog was badly injured in a Jeep related accident and never fully recovered from a nerve/leg injury. Since we could no longer take him for walks and hikes, I came up with the idea to get a pontoon boat that we could put Cooper on to do some exploring together. It was a bit of a gamble, but as I explained how I thought it would work to my wife, she started to back me up and support the purchase.

We tried to buy a new boat in California, but with the Covid situation were unable to get it done. I kept checking on Facebook Marketplace and eventually this boat popped up for sale by the original owner. Extremely low hours (less than 30) like new 2019 boat with some extra goodies like a 60 horsepower Mercury engine, upgraded JBL speakers, and a Kenwood bluetooth stereo. The boat also included life vests, a life preserver, an anchor, a mooring cover, and fenders. We saved a ton of money buying a used boat AND we got more features!!

The only catch with getting such a great deal on such a great boat was we had to drive to Oregon to get it! My wife and I took a beautiful road trip (5+ hours each way) with hardly any traffic. When we arrived, the boat was perfect, just how it was described on Facebook. The previous owner told me he had a front bimini for it, but the aluminum frame was bent. He said it cost $1200 new and since it was bent he'd give it to me for $200. I took a look at it and thought I could straighten it so I bought it, hooked up the boat, and headed back to Cali.

As luck would have it, I was able to straighten the bimini frame and get it installed in about an hour. We've taken the boat out every weekend since we purchased it. We've been exploring two lakes, each 15 miles from our house. We plan to explore other lakes and rivers in the area once we're a bit more experienced.

Cooper absolutely loves the boat!! He now knows the words "boat" and "lake" and gets super excited if you say either one. We load him onto the boat, cruise around to find a nice beach or cove, then we get him on the shore with no other people and let him do some exploring with his leg brace. When he needs to cool down, we remove his leg brace and put a vest on him for some swimming. After that, he usually has a snack, drinks a lot of water, and takes a long nap in the shade. He's such a happy dog again!!

My wife and I are finally out of the house having fun with Cooper again after over a year of recovery from the accident. It's such a great feeling to know that we made it to the light at the end of the tunnel and Cooper is able to enjoy life again. We couldn't have done it without his leg brace and this boat, and that's why I plan to do a series documenting the boat and all of our adventures.