Random Thoughts

[Chris]

I just noticed we hit the fifty member mark.

Wow!

I thought I might just give a little background on our little site and me, and how this site came to be.

I have been a Checkmate fan since I went for a ride in a childhood friend's, dad's boat, in the early 80's. I was about 14 at the time and loved boating. Let me back up a little though....

Our family have always had a cottage, so I grew up around the water. I have always loved boats, as far back as I can remember. When I was two or three, I started out with my first boat which was a blow-up dingy thingy. I would row it around, attached to shore with a rope, to ensure I didn't float too far away. Then when I was about six or seven I got this yellow sailboat. My Grandmother picked it up really cheap from where she worked. It had been damaged in transit so nobody wanted it. There was no sail, so they put an electric trolling motor on the back for me. I would putt, putt, around the cottage bay in it, pretending I was driving some speedboat. I even had a little portable radio I would take with me!

When I was around ten or so, I moved up to an old 12 foot aluminum with an old 5.5 Evinrude. My Grandparents would give me points of reference on the shore and I could go as far as those points and that was it. Which basically allowed me to go around the bay in circles. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

As time passed and I proved my boating skills, they let me go further and further out into the bay. When I was around thirteen they bought a brand new aluminum boat and handed down the old one to me.

Shortly thereafter, I bought an old sea flea. I fixed it up and put the old Evinrude 5.5 on the back. It was pretty quick for a little guy like me! /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Anyway I would have another sea flea after that with a bigger motor and I also started driving the bigger family boats. Our best boat was my dad's Glastron Bassboat that did a little over 50 miles an hour, which was my first experience with a performance boat.

Around that same time, I started to hang out with our neighbors kids at the cottage and you guessed it.....they had a Checkmate. It was a red and black metal flake bowrider, with a 150 Merc tower of power parked on the transom. The neighbors had a number of kids around my age and they had also had a sea flea, so naturally we began to hang out together, booting around in our sea fleas.

Usually once a day, their Dad would take us out for a ride in their Checkmate. All I remember is "what a boat"!! This thing flew like the wind...and the Merc would just sing hanging off the back. I would usually just sit on the back bench seat listening to the Merc sing. When we got a little older, my friends Dad eventually would let us take the Checkmate out ourselves and go down to the local marina. We had a restriction of not going over 40 MPH. Needless to say, we didn't respect that restriction for very long! /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif By the time I was about sixteen I had the boat going 60 MPH, faster than our neighbors dad thought it went!

Unfortunately, just when we were having a blast a relative of our neighbor died. They inherited the relatives cottage and moved into it and sold theirs. /infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

So let's fast forward a few years...now that you can see what planted "the seed".

So one of my stops while surfing the net the last few years, since it went online, has been the Official Checkmate Site. And of course when they opened the Bulletin Board I would usually visit at least once a day. One day someone asked a question and I decided to email them with the answer. We exchanged pictures and stories and would email each other from time to time. Later I would post something on the Checkmate bulletin board and I received a number of emails from different people and I started exchanging pics and emails with all of them too. At the same time, I was involved with a friend operating a Van Halen message board. I also had my own little website that I had set up for friends and relatives so they could view photos of what was going on at the cottage.

Anyway, one day after reading a comment on the "Bulletin Board" about how nice it would be have a better message board, I decided to create one. Being that I already had message board experience, it actually only took the better part of a day. I actually put it together sitting at the cottage kitchen table on a rainy September day. I opened it up and put a little message on the Checkmate Bulletin board with the address for the board. If you look...it's still there! /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

About a week passed and not much happened. I sent out a few emails to some members that had posted messages on the Bulletin Board and finally a couple of people joined and sent me a few pics of their boats. So I uploaded the pics to my personal site and got them displayed. Then not much happened for a week or so again. Then Gus and JW joined, I think they were like the fifth or sixth members to join. Then all hell broke loose!!

We started getting a member a day joining and my email box started filling up with Checkmate photos. So much so, that my little free personal website space was full!

So, I decided to look into getting a better message board and a dedicated server. I had spent a lot of time hanging out on the Official Van Halen Message Board which was an infopop board which I had always thought was pretty cool. So, needless to say here we are!!

I certainly never thought the little message board that I created at the cottage kitchen table would have turned into this!

So, when I say that this board belongs to everyone, I mean it. Without you, it wouldn't be here and neither would I. You, are what powers this little message board. You and our collective love of Checkmate Boats.

So thanks to all of you, for making the board what it is! I'll keep working on it and we'll continue build it into the best little Checkmate Site on the net. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Have a safe and happy holiday and new year!

And oh, by the way.....not only did I end up with my own Checkmate. I bought the neighbors old cottage, to go along with it. /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Webmaster
Checkmate-Boats.com-The Fanatics Home!

[This message was edited by Chris on December 21, 2002 at 10:44 PM.]

[JW]

/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif
When I was a kid my parents owned cottages on nearby lakes. What I mean is, they owned one for a few years, then sold that and moved into 'town', later they bought another cottage and moved back to the lake, then sold that and moved into town....On and on that went until in the late '90's they decided to move to Arizona. My parents had 6 different houses on three different lakes over the years. I bought the last one, and am living in it now. I've been around boats for as long as I remember. My first 'hot rod' was a 12' aluminum boat with a 7.5 Merc.
I first became aware of Checkmate boats because a neighbor had an 18' Checkmate with an 85 horse V4 Johnson on the back. We lived on a very small lake at the time, so that was the speed king. I'll never forget the summer that a 'new' family moved to the lake and bought a new Chrysler boat with 115 horse Chrysler motor. The Chrysler guy was tearing it up one day, and the Checkmate guy was out for a slow ride with his wife. Chrysler eventually taunted Checkmate into a race, and me and my buddies all ran to the end of the dock to watch. Cool sleek Checkmate with a smaller 85 versus bigger Chrysler with 115! What a race. We were all cheering by the time those two boats got to the end of the lake. The little Checkmate blew that new Chrysler away!! What a trip.
Several years went by, my dad owned a few different boats (mostly by Starcraft, including a 'glass speed boat), when he decided to go looking for a faster boat. He looked at SeaRay, 4Winns, etc. and didn't find anything that really fixed the need for speed. Our local Checkmate dealer called him one day and said "you have to come out here and look at this new boat". We traveled out to the dealer and saw the new 1992 Pulse 171 closed bow with new 2.5 Merc XR6 150 mounted to the back. The boat was all black with red and white stripes. YES!! That thing looked HOT! My dad's mind was made up. He bought the boat, and then we had to endure 5 months of cold winter before we could pick it up. I had visions of ripping across the water at 70 mph. When spring finally came and we took the boat out, I got a real surprise. Welcome to the world of chine walking and balancing a boat on the pad!! It wasn't anything like I had imagined. Scared me to death. We spent the summer getting the boat set up correctly, but it still scared me when it popped out of the water at 60 and got on the pad, and the steering would change. It took me a few years to get over that and learn how to drive it fast.
After owning that boat for a few years, my dad decided to sell it and get a pontoon so I bought it. I kept it out there on his shore station. What a great time that was. I was the fastest boat on the lake, and I made sure everyone knew it. I only had one real challenger, and that was a Senator with 350 MAG. HE was telling everyone he was the fastest, and with open exhaust he sounded like it. I finally goaded him into a race, and then he couldn't brag anymore.
Fast forward a couple years, my parents moved to AZ, I hated 'trailer boating' so I sold the Pulse. I hated NOT having a boat more, so I then found a mint low hour Persuader 183 bow rider which suited the family great for a few years until I got sick of the 59 mph top speed. I had to have more, and I ALWAYS wanted a Pulsare. So out the door went the Persuader, and in came a really well cared for Pulsare bow rider with 225 Promax. I keep it on a shore station, ready for use any day of the week. Perfect way to blow off steam from work. I'm currently the fastest boat on my lake /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif
I found Chris' old site a few months before I got signed up to it. I wanted to watch it and see what he was all about. I decided Chris was going in the right direction, so I joined. 175Checkmate joined before I did, and after I joined we actively pushed this site to others that we knew from the all-purpose hot boat sites. It still amazes me that there wasn't a Checkmate dedicated site before this.
Thanks again Chris!

[This message was edited by JW on December 22, 2002 at 08:29 AM.]

[175checkmate]

Seems we have all started out at the cottage.
Growing up my grandparents had a cottage on the lake. Pictures of me boating before I could walk. They where in to sailing and still are. I started life on the 12' dolphin sail boat.
Forward a few years parents split up and both remarried.
New dad was into fishing. So now I have the best of both worlds. First power boat experience was a 14' wooding something with the worlds biggest 40hp Johnson. Took 2 people and a crane to tilt the motor up. Sold it for a 18' starcraft with a 85 merc. Learned to ski behind that boat. Speeds where still below 40 mph. Next boat was a 18' BR wellcraft. I/O. A littler faster but what a ride. This was in the early 80's. We leaved a block away from a lake and still went up to the cottage. Faster boats where everywhere. After graduating from HS. I went where the water was, the USN kept me for 11 years. In 97 I bought my first boat a 87 sea ray B/R with a 135 merc. Nice boat. would almost hit 50. A buddy was looking for a boat. We must have looked at 25 boats around the area. This is where I found my tri-mate. Stilling in a barn covered in dust. It was one of those moment's of " I have to have that". Well the buddies stratos bass boat with a 90 merc. got a butt woopin from the sea ray. So he was looking for a bigger engine. A plan started to come together. I sold him the sea ray. We took the 135 off and put it on his boat and hung the 90 on the ray. Took the money and went and bought the mate.
Here is where it gets ugly. I was blinded by the great looks of a checkmate, visions of speed. In a word NOT. Found the 175hp merc was in a bad state. 3 bad cyc. Off to the rebuilder who rebuilt a 2.4 and did all the good stuff to. (Had to sell the motorcycle to pay for the powerhead). All back together and still faster than the buddies boat.
So the boat is down right now getting all the rot out.Its a labor of love, saving the old hot rod. It will be stronger than new when done and hopefully faster.
I have always liked the underdog. The lesser know. The not normal everyone has one. Hence the checkmate.

I found the factory site and posted there a few times. Not much traffic. Then I found Chris's 1st site. Looked for awhile to sort of check it out and decided to join.

I am logged in to about 6 other boating boards, all have checkmates on them. As there was no dedicated c'mate site before this. I would shoot them an e-mail to come and check it out. If they decided to join great, there choice.
Didn't mean to out grow the last board so fast.
JW and I hang out at some of the same boards so it was natural to meet here also.
Chris, you are doing a great job. Its great to have a checkmate family forum to hang out and swap tips, stories and such.
More important, Thanks to all that have joined. Life is more interesting when shared with friends.

http://www.checkmate-boats.com/6/ws/,s,8626072361/avatars/rooster_3.jpg

1975 Checkmate Tri-mate 2, 2.4 200+

[Chris]

Wow!

Thanks Guys, that was awesome. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

I can tell you read the entire thing, so thanks!

I have to admit, during those first few weeks I thought the EZboard was probably going to die. There was a period after the first few people joined, where literally nothing, happened. I would check in once a day hoping someone would have joined or at least posted.....but they hadn't. I remember at one point, I actually didn't even visit for almost a week myself! And, when I did, still nothing had happened!

To be honest, I was pretty cool about it. I wasn't really sad, upset or anything. I had seen people design excellent boards, better than I had, and for whatever reason they never went anywhere. So, I really didn't take it personally, I just figured there was a lack of interest. I had visited Scream and some of the other boating sites out there. So I knew there was already a pretty vibrant online community.

I remember a day when I checked in and the board was seemingly at a standstill. I thought it's dead! But man, was I about to be proved wrong! Just when I figured it was hopeless, I checked in and someone new had joined and posted. I thought...cool! Then I remember checking in the next day and a couple people had joined. I was at the cottage at the time and I remember saying to Yolie..."Hey two more people joined"! So I checked into the control panel to see who the new people were, only to discover the same person had joined twice!

But then all of a sudden, like I said, all hell broke loose.

I realized quickly that we were going to need a better board and our own server. Because, apparantly a picture is worth a thousand words! /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif I knew it was a gamble at the time, considering we had just started to roll. But, I figured it was better to move early while we didn't have as much "invested" in the Ezboard. Thankfully, it looks like it is proving to be the right decision. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Happy holidays everyone! /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Webmaster
Checkmate-Boats.com-The Fanatics Home!

[This message was edited by Chris on December 22, 2002 at 10:49 AM.]

[Bill]

To quote our fouding father...

"KEWL"

[BayviewRick]

That is "kewl"!

www.Bayviewmarinecenter.com (http://www.Bayviewmarinecenter.com)

[Black Pulse]

Hey guys.

I was just reading everyone's thoughts about their cottages and how they ended up getting their Checkmates. My family have had a cottage on one of the Muskoka lakes for about 18 years now, for me since I was 8 (just doing the math now!!). I am one of those people who are so fortunate to be able to experience what really is a different way of living, cottage life that is. I am so lucky I grew up around boats. My dad had an old Searay (20 footer with a 120 Mercruiser) and while it only had a top speed of 27 MPH, yup that's it, I still remember how much I loved going for boat rides. My first boat was a Wahoo (the unsinkable boat!) with an 80 MERC on the back and it was pretty quick. I think that is where I developed my need for speed! My dad then had a mid-life crisis and bought himself a Charger with a 150 MERC. That boat absolutely rocked. It flew and though I was too young to drive it, I always got so excited ever summer when I would open the boathouse door and just see it sitting there in the slip. Unfortunately, he sold it when I turned 16 and I was never able to take it out on my own, DRAT! Oh well, it was probably for the better as I likely wouldnt have had enough experience to drive a boat like that. Years later, I saw an ad for a Checkmate (it was white and I think a 21 footer) in a Muskoka magazine (the Muskokan) and I fell in love with it. I even cut it out and it hung on my bedroom door for about three summers. By random fluke, my dad drove into Pride of Muskoka Marine in Bracebridge one day with my mom and saw a boat there that has changed my life!! It was a white Pulse 185 with a 200 MERC on the back and he told me all about it when he got home. I was so excited! I thought maybe my dad would buy it, even though of course mom didn't want a speedboat!! Anyways, later that summer my dad and I went for a test drive in the white boat and after the drive I remember us just sitting in the car and talking about how much better that boat was than the Charger (a heavier and better riding boat). I even remember the first time the boat planed on the test drive and the wind flowing through my hair (I wanted to chain myself to the boat and not leave the marina, ever!). WEll my dad talked numbers with the dealer, even though he wasn't so sure about being able to make the expenditure and we left the marina empty handed. I thought we would never get it. About three weeks later we got a call from the dealer saying we should come and see another Pulse 185 that had just arrived, a black, white and teal bow rider. We did, and you guessed it, FELL EVEN MORE IN LOVE! We traded the Wahoo in on the boat and the marina put a 175 MERC EFI on the back. I have had it since the summer of '96 and will never, ever get rid of it. I still get excited all winter just thinking of the boat, I keep a framed picture of it in my room at both my summer and winter home. We recently just put a 2004 200 MERC 3.0 litre EFI on it as the old 175 2.5 L blew. I can;t wait to get in it and see the extra few ponies be put to work. It's amazing how attached people can get to boats and cars, but I am absolutely obsessed with my Pulse and will keep putting engines on it until the day I die, no way will that boat ever leave my boathouse!!!
Thought I would just share my story with you all! I would love to post a pic of it soon, but I will need help as I am not the greatest with computers!!

Black Pulse

1996 Pulse 185 BR
2004 Mercury 200 3.0 L

[Bruce]

Great Story Black Pulse, as you said, you've been fortunate enough to have the best of both world's, great cottaging and even better boating. I'll keep an eye out, you never know when our "wakes" will pass.

You'll be in for quite a ride I suspect with that 200 behind there !!! Yee Haa


Bruce

[jgreen]

blackpulse:

Yeehaa no doubt!
http://checkmate-boats.com/6/ws/,s,8626072361/Graemlins/welcome.gif

[Chris]

Great story Black Pulse.

I can't count the number of times I went to Pride to check out the Checkmates over the years. http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Black Pulse]

Thanks for the responses gentlemen.

Ok, I have a question for you all! I originally ordered a 225 3.0 L Merc for the Pulse but got a 200 3.0 L instead...I just found out from the dealer about a week ago that the 225 was impossible as it takes premium gas (not sold on the lake) and would be uninsurable if an accident took place (God forbid) as it is rated too much hp for that boat....Was I fed a line? I don't believe the gas part at all as I have seen a ton of 225's on my lake...and I also see smallerboats like Chargers riding 225's, and they are much lighter than a Checkmate....any ideas folks????

Black Pulse

[Chris]

What model Pulse do you have?

[Black Pulse]

1996 Pulse 185 BR

[Black Pulse]

Hey Chris,

Would you believe it, Pride of Muskoka Marine in Bracebridge doesn't sell the Checkmate line anymore....they switched over to Donzi....I guess Checkmate's will become even a more rare breed on the Muskoka lakes, which is probably a good thing for all of us owners!! It's cool to own something unique, like those people who own vintage Mustang Shelby's!!

Black Pulse

[Chris E]

What lake are you on? My folks have a cottage on Muskoka, less than 10 minutes from Prides (Stephens Bay). I worked at Prides for a couple of summers. New Ark Marina is supposedly a new Checkmate dealer, but i haven't heard whether or not they have any stock.

Are you talking EFI, or Optimax? Those engines run regualar fuel as far as i know. Regardless, either engine is overpowering the boat so caution should be exercised. I'm actually suprised the dealer is installing the engine for you as he will be opening himself up to a world of liablilty. Does your insurance company know you are overpowering? Don't want to be a wet blanket here but you should be careful - way to many lawsuit happy people around these days!

[bostoncan]

As per Merc owners manual fuel requirements for a 2003 200 or 225 opti are the same Unleaded 87 minimum, weight is the same at 516 lbs for a 20 inch. .My boat is rated for 235 hp and my insurance company would not insure it with a 250 hp had to go with the 225 hp . In B.C. there are very very few insurance companys that will insure any boat that goes over 60 mph.

[Chris]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Black Pulse:
Hey Chris,

Would you believe it, Pride of Muskoka Marine in Bracebridge doesn't sell the Checkmate line anymore....they switched over to Donzi....I guess Checkmate's will become even a more rare breed on the Muskoka lakes, which is probably a good thing for all of us owners!! It's cool to own something unique, like those people who own vintage Mustang Shelby's!!

Black Pulse <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Pride stopped selling Mates a few years ago. At the prices they charged for them, it's no wonder they sold any.

With regard to the rating issue. Isn't the 186 rated for 175 or 185 HP? I didn't think it was rated for a 200 HP. At least not in '96.

[Black Pulse]

Yup, was rated for a 175 hp in 1996...that's probably why the white Pulse with the 200 hp on the test drive wasn't offered to us (originally they said they would transfer the engine to the black one cuz it had only 25 hours on it) but ended up getting the 175 when the dealer called us back...now it all makes sense!!

Now apparently the 200 hp is fine and totally insurable as it has already been done!

Black Pulse

[Chris]

I would check with your insurance company as to what they will and will not cover. If the plate says 175 and you have something bigger, I would suspect they might have an out and might not have to cover you. But I'm not an insurance expert.