At a place like Lake of the Ozarks, which draws an estimated 4.5+ million visitors every year—many of whom come to go boating—every summer is bound to bring a slew of boating stories ranging from bizarre to fascinating to tragic.

We took a look at our best-read boating stories for the year, filtered out the boat crash/fire articles (they end to be some of the most popular, for better or worse, and you can find them all right here), and nine rose to the top: the best boating stories of 2018. Enjoy!

The Best Boating Stories From 2018 At Lake Of The Ozarks

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1. This Boat-Owner Needed A Rainstorm To Dislodge His Stuck Boat. And The Rain Came

A nighttime voyage came to a sudden halt when a large boat ran aground—way aground—in the back of a cove around the 44 Mile Marker. Lodged on a broad, shallow bank, witnesses said the boat was stuck in mud, meaning it could not be pulled out by another boat with a tow rope. The only hope was for rain to raise the water level in the cove...

2. The New Boat Wake Law

The product of dock-owners tired of large wakes in their cove... and the product of the inevitable political compromise, Missouri's new boat-wake law took a step toward curbing heavy wakes in coves by focusing on large boats and making the law easier to enforce.

3. 'Party Cove' Reality Show

We had some thoughts about this new reality show planned for the Lake.

4. The Lake's Littlest Lighthouse

It's a Lake of the Ozarks landmark! A chance Craigslist transaction led us to the lighthouse's owner, and we learned the intriguing story behind it...

5. Margaritaville Transformation Continues

Margaritaville continued the process of reshaping Tan-Tar-A resort; the restaurants reopened this year, and the process is expected to be complete in the spring of 2019.

6. The Blob!

You've heard of Lake of the Ozarks' jellyfish, no doubt. This is not one of those. This is something very different... a colony of critters that we never knew we wanted to know about. A dock owner found one of these blobs floating near their dock, so we investigated.

7. Remembering The Lake In The '80s

It was a formative decade at Lake of the Ozarks, so we opened the history books and took a walk down memory lane.

8. The Lake's Famous Yacht Aims For Saltier Waters

One of the most well-known boats at Lake of the Ozarks, the 68-foot Sunseeker Predator named Miller Time was sold in 2018, and cruised down the Mississippi River, now renamed Timber, headed for Florida.

9. A Wild Tale From A Lake Salvage Diver

This one was just too amazing to keep to ourselves. We talked with Lake of the Ozarks salvage diver Tim McNitt about some of his most memorable stories, and this one quickly came to the surface (you'll get the pun when you read the story).

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Here's to an adventurous 2019, and plenty of more boating stories worth telling!

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