"The Green Eyed Lady" of Richland Chambers Lake

Yeah it's a little corny but go with it....I didn't come up with the name.


I tend to be a little nostalgic and somewhat sentimental about things. I appreciate and enjoy new technology, new vehicles, new boats... however there's definitely a soft spot for cool things from the past.  Saying that, I've acquired a 1978 model "The Deck Boat".  It was sitting under a carport on the South Side of Richland Chambers at a house we listed. I made a deal with the owner and poof! it's mine.

Under the carport

The first "The Deck Boat"s were built by Anchor Plastics in Gatesville, Texas in about 1969.  When they came out they were the first of their kind. Big, flat, wide bottom and lots of room on the deck.  A revolutionary design for consumer boats. They came with outboards or inboard (usually Chevy) motors with a MerCruiser Stern drive.  By the mid 90's the company sold and manufacturing, design and branding went other directions. "The Deck Boat Gatesville Tex." now exists in the boats that are still out there making a splash, so to speak...

Brochure from the 60's - early 70's

Nameplate "The Deck Boat Gatesville, Tex."

This model is 19 ft, has a center console and is low profile. It has seating all the way around and for the most part is in pretty good shape.  I took it to TJ up the street at the boat shop to check it out. He showed me where it needed some work on the transom. I have come to learn and it makes sense, some of the wood in these old fiberglass boats will rot over time.  The thing is older than my kids by far, so it's to be expected.  TJ says its soon to be fixed and ready for the water.

Low profile, center console

Thanks Michael Landon for the help
getting it home and cleaning it up!

     

140 Horsepower, 4 cylinder Chevy

We'll see how everything works

My Plan is to put a pretty good sized trolling motor on the front with GPS capabilities and most likely a second battery.  I would also like to have a good GPS fish finder with all the cool stuff on it.  I'll need to do some modifications to it like putting in storage and rod holders. Also there are some electrical things that will need to be done. My friend Michael Landon has a 1994 model deck boat he has restored with a 150 HP Evinrude HO outboard on it. The picture below is on his boat back in the winter.

Julie and Michael

#richlandchambers
#teelteam
#thedeckboatgatesvilletex

This one is sitting in Corsicana

Green Glow Lights!!...fixed the video...

Cruise around Richland Chambers at night and if you know where to look you'll find really cool looking underwater lights.  

I bought two of them over a couple of months time and put out by my dock. 
I've seen and caught all kinds of fish.  
The light is a really cool, ready to go unit with 50 feet of waterproof cable attached to a waterproof socket and bulb.  The other end is attached to a plastic transformer box with a dusk to dawn timer and a regular 110 volt GFCI plug.

When the baitfish are circling you can bet there's something hungry down below 

Julie calls it my aquarium. Almost every night you can see fish. Minnows, Shad, Catfish, Sand Bass, Crappie, Gar, Drum even little Largemouth Bass. 

You get a front row seat to the crazy underwater and sometimes out of the water acrobatics of a big fish chasing a little fish!

It's the little things in life that make it fun and this is definitely one of them. I bought mine online from: 

http://www.greenglowdocklight.com  

They were very easy to install.  I just screwed the transformer box to the pole on the boathouse. Then tied the weight (provided) on the cable at the depth I wanted. (The water under our boathouse is 8-9 ft so I set them about 4 feet off the bottom.)  Then dropped the weight and light into the water and plugged it in. No big deal and now I go out at night and see who's in the neighborhood. Life is good on Richland Chambers Lake!


 #richlandchambers #greenglowdocklights

The difference between Richland Chambers Lake and every other Texas lake

People come to Richland Chambers Lake all the time and ask the same question, "Why aren't there more homes and people out here? 

After being out here for more than 8 years now and immersing ourselves, our business and daily lives into all things Richland Chambers I have a much better grip on the answer.

Part of the reason is our 'out in the country' location.  The lake is about 15 miles South East of Corsicana, a small town of about 25,000 people. (Take US 287 southeast towards Palestine off of I45 about 15 miles to find the lake.) Corsicana is the largest town around and has the basics. Downtown Fairfield is 18 miles from the damn and Palestine is about 40 minutes or so on down 287. Athens is not far to the east and lots of little towns around.   We're an hour+ southeast of Dallas and an hour and 1/2 a half solid to DFW airport. Not too far to get your big city fix.  

But, the biggest reason sometimes you feel like
you have the place to yourself out here is: 

The Richland Chambers Lake Area Improvement Zoning Ordinance. 

In the late 80's the Texas State legislature recognized the economic significance that a lake could have upon a community. Often substantial, but sometimes not so great or enduring. So in 1987, they passed a law that provided for zoning on lakes completed after 1985.  Impounded in 1989 Richland Chambers was only lake to which that statute applied. If you're so inclined check out (sections 231.071-231.083 of the Local Government Code).

Here is a link to the ordinance on the State of Texas website:
Richland Chambers Lakeshore Area Zoning Ordinance

The Ordinance covers the Navarro County portion of the lake which is by far the lion's share of the shoreline. Just the fact a zoning ordinance is in place has controlled the growth around the lake. Along the shoreline there are a series of nice neighborhoods and a lot of beautiful scenery.  Commercial development is very limited, there are only a few public access boat ramps and there are no overnight parks apart from the marinas. 

Speaking of marinas there are 4. Oak Cove Marina and Northshore Marina are centrally located. Sunset Cove Marina is north on the Chambers Arm and Fisherman's Cove Marina is on the south side down by the damn. 
The only other commercial operation on the lake is Fisherman's Cove Lodge located off of FM 309 south of US 287.  They offer guided fishing and hunting trips, cabins and breakfast.  


So the long and short of it is that the Zoning Ordinance has allowed Richland Chambers to become a very peaceful, quiet, uncrowded paradise.  

So get here as soon as you can, it won't always be this way

#richlandchambers #teelteam

Middle of July Ramblings...Lake Life...

K on the Holiday on Richland Chambers Lake

Wow,  July 4th 2016 was here, now gone and we're still here. God has saw fit to bless us with a great year so far.  Let's look forward to next July 4th, 2017, right.
The lake has been full and over full all year. The Real Estate market has been busy and things have been moving.  Some categories faster than others certainly and we've seen appreciation in some and not so much in others.
The fishing has been good in spurts from what I can tell.  The guides always catch fish and my neighbors have had real good days and some when you just couldn't make 'em bite.  We catch fish off the dock pretty regularly, I'm ready to go out on the lake fishing...  seems like there is always something to do. But! The fishing /project boat is almost ready.  The "Green Eyed Lady" should make an appearance soon!

Kayaking in the evening the cove is
perfect a lot of nights...

You can identify yourself as a lake rat by the scope and volume of your water activities. Julie and I enjoy being on the water, in the water, looking at the water, talking about the water... Some afternoons we just go and jump off the dock and float with a cocktail and tunes.

Julie, Hope and I went on a "Northern Adventure" a couple of weeks ago looking at a house in Pearl Valley.  We checked it out, then went on north up the Chambers arm until we had enough of the timber.  We turned west and went across to Sunrise Estates.  We've been further north to Bluffview on a couple of occasions but Julie had had enough that day. So we turned the Bennington around and eased back south ... (in different watercraft we would have kept on going!)
Fun in the Sun!

Neighbors

More neighbors

We've taken a lot of folks out on the boat this year looking at property, showing houses and just spending a lot of time on the lake.  The water has been fine and the lake is beautiful.  We had a card game on the lake a few weeks ago from dock to dock.  Here's some of the neighbors.

Southern Oaks

Good lookin' Richland Chambers dock

Home sweet home

There are still a lot of good deals to be had on waterfront lots,  now is the time to buy if you have ever thought about it.
 So there is still a lot of summer left and the water is fine!






































#richland chambers lake
#theteelteam