At Executive Watersports, we have an old pontoon boat affectionately referred to as the “Juicy Buddha.” She sits 27 feet on the waterline, and is outfitted for the sole purpose of serving as our mothership during Wake Camp.
After we pick up the campers on our ski boats from Walsh Landing and Ski Shores, we motor up the lake just north of Emma Long park, where one of our staff members has the Juicy Buddha (JB for short) prepared for a day of fun. She is anchored off the bow about 30 yards from shore, and the stern is tied off to a tree on shore. This ensures she is always pointing into the middle of the lake, regardless of wind direction. The JB has a lily pad tied off to one side, a water cooler, and a JBL partyrocker.
In the bow, the JB has a wakeboard and waterski rack capable of holding about 12 wakeboards and a couple pairs of waterskis. On the starboard side, she is fitted with aluminum bleacher seating. At the stern, there’s an “L” shaped bench, and two openings in the railing for jumping in the water and climbing back on board. The JB has a 115 hp outboard Mercury engine that frequently stalls. The JB has six aluminum poles, mounted equidistant from one another and secured to the railing to ensure they stay pointed straight up. Strung across the poles is a mesh tarp that keeps us protected from the sun. We also outfitted a backpack rack for campers to hang up their belongings. The JB is pretty bare bones, and over the course of the last several summers, she has been a continuous work in progress. (There are some good upgrades coming to the JB in 2025)
Some might consider the Juicy Buddha a sight for sore eyes, but these people have probably never experienced a fun day on the Buddha.
The JB is one of the defining factors that make Executive Watersports such a special place. It is the central hangout spot for the instructors and campers. We swim in the water, catch turtles, play music, eat lunch, and enjoy the lake all day from this boat. When it’s time for a camper to wakeboard or ski, we put on our water sports equipment at the bow of the JB, and slide through the gap in the railing into the lake, where a ski boat is waiting for us. The boat driver throws us the ski ropes, and we’re off.
The story of how we were so fortunate to take possession of the Juicy Buddha is worth noting.
The previous owner of Executive Watersports, Chad Eppes, built a Lake Austin dynasty centered around his pontoon boat. It was a 34 foot long double decker pontoon that was only ever referred to as the “pontoon.” When I took over as owner of Executive Watersports, I could not afford to buy Chad’s pontoon, but my parents were gracious enough to let me run the camp off the dock at our house on Pearce Road.
That first summer, we had two ski boats, and about 8-10 campers each week. It was pretty manageable, and we ran camp out of my parents front yard. The campers would get in the water from the end of the dock, and we spent the rest of our time in the grass. Without getting too much into the details, one of our nextdoor neighbors started taking a disliking towards the camp. We talked through the issues with the neighbor, and stayed on great terms with him during the offseason.
The next summer comes around, and we start running camp off the end of the dock again. The nextdoor neighbor in question now holds a strong disliking towards the camp, and threatens to sue me and my parents. At this point, I’m in a pickle. We already had families signed up for the next several weeks, and the prospect of shutting down for the summer because of a grumpy neighbor was out of the question. I did not want to run camp off of the small ski boats, because the central location aspect of Executive Watersports is what makes it so special.
At this point, my mom connects me with a friend of hers named Deborah Green, who was the owner of the Juicy Buddha. Deborah had purchased the JB on Ebay a handful of years prior, and had used it a handful of times since. It was grimy but showed lots of promise. Although it didn’t get much use, Deborah loved her JB and fortunately liked the idea of Lake Austin’s youth getting to use the boat.
I spent a weekend powerwashing the JB, scrubbing the dirt and mildew off the seats with magic erasers and simple green, and got a couple of 8×10 sports tents at Academy. I secured the sports tents by zip tying the legs to the railing. Just like that, Executive Watersports had a new home base on the water.
We are forever indebted to Deborah for allowing us to use the JB that summer. There are not many people in this world who are willing to hand over their boat to a teenager that they don’t know very well. We also have Deborah to thank for naming our humble pontoon the Juicy Buddha.
After one or two summers, we purchased the JB from Deborah. The trailer had been stolen and the title lost, but I eventually took care of those issues and got the JB moved to my parents driveway for the offseason. The JB still lives on a trailer during the offseason, and during the summer months we have a spot in the water where we keep it.
As Executive Watersports has grown, we have slowly modified the Juicy Buddha to better suit our needs. We ripped out the bulky pontoon upholstery and replaced it with bleacher seating to open up more space and provide seating for more campers. The plastic cabinet and sink were removed for the same purpose. The carpet used to grow mildew and smell bad because it was perpetually wet, so we ripped it out and replaced it with SeaDek.
As for the board rack, bleacher seating, and canopy shade, we have Brian at Eastside Fabricators to thank for that.
The Juicy Buddha, like many things in life, is a constant work in progress. It is nothing special, but it does its job just fine. It floats, its registration is up to date, and it’s not too expensive to insure. The thought of ditching the Juicy Buddha for a brand new, state of the art SolidCraft pontoon has crossed my mind many times, but something keeps me tethered to the Buddha. It is too unique to say goodbye to. There is only one Juicy Buddha on Lake Austin, and it is ours.