The Bastrop Advertiser and County News (Bastrop, Tex.), No. 68, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 21, 1982 Page: 3 of 18
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Thursday, October 21,1982
THE BASTROP ADVERTISER AND COUNTY NEWS
Page 3
Pontoon boat with Astroturf
Boat becomes party vessel before it hits water
By Ellen Moore
Some people dream of
doing things, and some
people go out and do
them. Dwain Myers
belongs to the latter class
of people.
Aboy four years ago,
whilr camping on his
beloved Colorado River,
Dwain and some friends
saw a large pontoon boat
cruising down the
Colorado. "He turned to
me, and said "I’m going to
build one of those things,”
recalled his gooKfriend
Loyle Langford, “lKtook
him a few years, but he did
it.”
What he built is a 20-
foot-long marine blue pon-
toon boat, with a bright
green Astroturfed deck
measuring a mere 128
square feet, topped by a 6-
foot-tall baby blue sun
deck measuring 96 square
feet. "I'm not through
messing with it yet,”
Myers stressed, gazing
fondly at the monster sit-
ting on a 28’ long trailer in
his driveway out near Lake
Bastrop.
Future plans include en-
closing part of the deck and
adding built-in cabinets
complete with one large ice
chest. "I’ve been so busy
partying on it, I haven’t
had a chance to complete
it,” he admitted. f,
Myers, who’s fighting a
long and hard battle again-
st cancer, has not had a lot
of time in his life to party.
Born in Llano, he grew up
in San Antonio where he
met his wife of 25 years,
Bonnie. They have two
grown daughters. One lives
in Rockport with her
shrimper husband, and the
other lives in Bryan with
her husband who works in
oil field services.
River Hooked Him
The Myers moved
around some and at one
point found themselves in
Houston, where Dwain
was a barber. He barbered
%r- '-5
rekindled the dream of the
boat. “He never drew up
any plans or anything,”
Langford recalled. “He
had it all in his head.”
Float orFall?
Last April Myers started
by building the 20’ long air-
tight pontoons which keep
the flat-bottomed boat
afloat. After the pontoons
were built, he put on the deck
and he and another friend,
Don Norment, decided to
try it out on Lake Bastrop.
“I never doubted that it
would float,” he said with
a laugh. "I just wondered
how much water it would
take.” They loaded the
2500 pound baby on Nor-
closed down his store. "I
just couldn’t believe that
thing,” Barry remem-
bered. “I followed them all
the way to the lake to see
whether it would float, of
fall off the trailer first.” As
it happened, the trailer
held, and the boat floated.
The pontoons, which are
19 inches in diameter, sink
only about 10 inches in the
water, “even when it’s
fully loaded.” Fully
loaded, at times, has meant
10 guitar picking, poker
playing, sometime fisher-
men, along with Myers’
120 pound lab/shepherd
Boomer - "Boomer, be-
mitted. “They want to get
on it, and walk around.
The fact that it’s so steady
and doesn’t rock around
really amazes people.’’
It also pleases wife Bon-
nie and Dwain’s mother.
‘‘They’re both deathly
afraid of boats,” he said,
adding that Bonnie has
never enjoyed his 12’ long
John boat (also flat-
bottomed) which he uses
on the river for fishing.
“They can just sit up here
and can’t even touch the
water,” Myers continued,
perching on his matching
blue, high dollar, leather
captain’s chair. “Bonnie
his beauty down the river.
“I don’t like to fish on the
lake,” he explained, “and
I like the river all year long.
1 like to run my lines in the
winter.” The maiden river
voyage was launched from
the humpback bridge (at
Utley on FM969) to the
boat dock, approximately
15 miles. Myers recalls that
they had “run” the river
several times that week and
thought they had it made.
“We came steaming
along,” he said, “when
suddenly we saw this tree
that had fallen just recen-
tly.” Myers realized that
the tree would completely
take off the sundeck ,gnd
headed for the shallow
ground. “1 told Bonnie to
just hit the deck,” he con-
tinued. “She can’t swim a
lick and I just hoped for the
best.” The best wasn’t
bad, with the boat going
aground, but with a little
tug, they were on their way
again.
The longest voyage so
far has been to Smithville
on the July 4th holiday-
is. -
over 30 miles of Wising',
turning river. They floated
by day and tied up at night.
“We just weren’t in any
hurrv.” Mvers stated.
‘ ‘We just floated along and
waved to the crowds. ”
With the river down for
the winter, and the north
shore of Lake Bastrop
closed, there only remains
the south shore, which is
difficult to get to, but ex-
tremely pleasant once
done. “It’s real relaxing
“and not nearly so hazar-
dous. You don’t have to
look out for all those rocks
andallthosetrees.”
Myers will probably be
celebrating his 47th birth-
day this month out there on
Lake Bastrop. Just look
for the boat filled with
revelers. They’ll be fishing
a little, barbequing a lot,
and fighting off the
curious hoards.
nun
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Sk >.'V;
’Hi*
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4*.
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f Dwain Myers surveys eleborate pontoon boat destined for Colorado River. Photo by Robert Hoover.
ment’s regular-sized boat
trailer and set out for the
lake. At Barry’s store, on
FM 1441, owner Ray Barry
took one look at it and
V > 1
0 %
cause he booms when he
barks.”
People Fascinated
The pontoon drew quite
a crowd at the lake, as it has
everywhere it’s been seeq..
“People just can’t stay
away from it,” Myers ad-
says it’s just like walking
around her living room,
only there’s water on all
sides.” There’s even a bat-
tery which provides lights
for evening cruises.
Maiden Voyage
While Myers enjoys the
lake, his real love is taking
Chang? of Address’
Write:
Bastrop Advertiser
Bo* 459
Bastrop. Texas 78602
Timeless styling
and rich detail
make this ETON
slip-on essential for
the well-dressed man.
Florsheim crafts it in handsome
Cortez leather, with a fashionable
ornament, in a fine range of sizes
and widths.
$59.95 Black or Brown Leather
Phone 237-2564
<&
213 Main St.
Smithville. Texas
Dwain Myers
Art & Craft Show
Rosanky Community Center
Sat. Oct. 23
10 till §
Work by Lucille Turner
Public is invited.
f
by day and went to welding
school by night, and ended
up working for H.B.
Zachry back in San An-,
tonio. "I worked for him
about 15 years,” Dwain
recalled. Zachry built the
Steam Plant at Sim Gideon
on Lake Bastrop, and
Dwain worked on that job.
Dwain saw Bastrop and
was hooked. “I do quite a
bit of fishing,” he said,
"and have always been
drawn to the water. That’s
the thing that made
Bastrop my home, really, ’ ’
he added, “the river, and
the people.”
Bastrop’s been home for
about 12 years. For a while
he ran what’s now El
Gallito, and claims to be
the first to use the building
as a restaurant. He built
the now unused barbeque
pit in the back, and added
onazoom, “1 look back at
that period and shake my
head,” Myers said. "I had
some acreage on the river,
sold barbeque 3 days a
week and fished the rest of
the time. I had the world by
the tail and didn’t even
know it.”
He gave that all up to go
to work for a large firm
welding tanks. “I’d never
welded tanks. It’s real hard
work. I liked it, they liked
my work and that’s what I
did.” With Dwain away,
Bonnie found the bar-
beque business too hectic
to run by herself, and that
was the end of that.
For the past 2‘/j years
Myers has been in business
for himself doing oil field,
pipeline and structural
welding, until his illness
confined him closer to
home.
The time on his hands
xvw ; * awv *jr///; a\\
///AtXV\VS»
Lloyd Ketha
County Judge
I pledge to be the best
County Judge I can be.
My Goals
★ Efficient handling of county funds.
★ Full support of county offices to
benefit the most citizens.
★ Encourage each county official toward
independent office management.
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Williams, Eric. The Bastrop Advertiser and County News (Bastrop, Tex.), No. 68, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 21, 1982, newspaper, October 21, 1982; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth735456/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.