Water sports abound at Lake Lewisville : North Texas Daily

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Jason Yang / Intern

The summer heat in North Texas can be unforgiving.

This year?s temperature hasn?t yet matched last summer?s record-setting heat wave and 40-day streak of 100-plus degree weather, but the combination of humidity and sunshine often makes the great outdoors feel more like the great pressure cooker.

To help beat the heat, watercraft-rental companies at Lewisville Lake offer services that take North Texas residents out of the inferno and into the water.

Photo by Tyler Cleveland

Just for Fun Watercraft Rental, hidden deep in the Eagle Point Marina at Lewisville Lake about 20 miles south of Denton, is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to sunset.

Located in a tiny brown shack just past Sneaky Pete?s Sports Bar, Just for Fun rents out jet skis, ski boats, pontoon boats and specialized ?party boats.?

Lewisville Lake was initially constructed as a flood-control reservoir and to serve as a water source for Dallas and Denton County, but Just for Fun owner John Lemley said most visitors at the lake over the summer have recreation in mind.

?There is a reason the name is Just for Fun,? Lemley said.

Last summer?s drought dramatically lowered water levels at several lakes in the area, but Lemley said weather conditions didn?t have much of an effect on recreational activities at man-made reservoirs such as Lake Lewisville

Lemley and his wife, Laura, have been in the watercraft industry since 1990. Originally, they owned three locations, two at Lewisville Lake and one in the Silver Lake Marina by Lake Grapevine. Lemley closed the other two locations after the economic downturn in 2008, pouring resources into the remaining rental hub.

The result: a rental company with six ski boats, five pontoon boats, 22 wave runners and a giant party barge that fits over 100 people. Lemley said he replaces each boat after about two years.

Long-time employee Paul Stanley said working at Just for Fun entailed everything from explaining five pages of instructions and safety issues to customers to checking boat fluid to rescuing stranded boaters and water-skiers.

Stanley said that other outdoor resorts might have a larger assortment of activities, but that his idea of a great summer day involved a relaxing afternoon on a boat in Lewisville Lake.

Employee Caitlyn Van Wie said Just for Fun sees more than 1,000 customers a weekend over the summer.

The age and nationality of visitors to the lake vary ? Denton denizens and Lewisville locals share the water with outdoor enthusiasts from countries such as Austria, Germany, England, France and Brazil.

Other watercraft-rental facilities on the lake include Lake Lewisville Boat Rentals, Aloha Boat and Jet Ski and JT?s Boat Rentals. Landlubbers need only look to Sneaky Pete?s Sports Bar ? just a few steps away from the water ? for drinks, food, billiards, volleyball and live music.

Source: http://www.ntdaily.com/?p=67002

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