LEWISVILLE, Texas — Robert Hought has been looking forward to Labor Day for a while. He started getting his yacht ready a few weeks ago.
His idea of taking a break from the work week includes no labor on Labor Day and an extra day to spend time with his family.
"Just enjoying a three-day weekend here at the lake," said Robert Hought.
Robert Hought is using his free time this holiday weekend to relax on the family boat. He not only describes it as the perfect get away, his yacht has all the amenities of home too. It's a two-bedroom, two-bath boat with a kitchen and seating area below. His description comes with a smile on his face too.
"I would describe it as freedom," Hought said. "You are out here on your own. The only thing I don't like is they can still get in touch with me on my cell phone, besides that, the freedom of it all."
This Labor Day weekend Robert rented space for their Yacht named Sunshine here at Lakeview Marina. He's docked here before so he noticed the levels for Lake Dallas are much different than usual.
"We had really good spring rain, so the water was up quite a bit earlier on the year, but now it's gone down," he said. "It's gone down a couple inches a day it seems now."
Lake levels are down all across North Texas. That's another reason Robert invested in safety equipment for his boat to help him navigate shallow areas. For example, Grapevine Lake is only 87% full. The lower levels forces boat owners to be cautious.
"I have depth finders and sonar and all that kind of stuff so I can tell what's underneath," said Hought, "I just stay away from shallow waters and rocks."
The shallow water also means sharing tighter space on the lakes with other watercraft owners like jet skiers. Hought said he believes some boat owners have stayed away because of the record high temperatures. But the heat has not been a problem for his family and their boat Sunshine.
"Because my boat is air conditioned. It's 72 degrees down below. So, if it ever gets too hot, besides getting into the water to cool off, we just go right down below," said Hought.