They've seen it all

HUONG FRALIN | Laker Weekly

As Ken and Joyce Latimer tour the lake's shoreline, they mark where they stop on a map so they know where to pick back up the next time they're out.

HUONG FRALIN | Laker Weekly

Ken and Joyce Latimer of Moneta are making their third full trip to view all 500-plus miles of Smith Mountain Lake's shoreline.

HUONG FRALIN | Laker Weekly

The Latimers peruse the lake's shoreline in their 30-year-old Kayot pontoon boat, traveling at a leisurely 4 to 5 miles per hour. Ken Latimer said they can cover about 10 to 12 miles per day.

A lot of people talk about how much fun it would be to cover the lake's entire shoreline by boat. Few take on the mammoth task; Smith Mountain Lake has more than 500 miles of shoreline. Moneta's Ken and Joyce Latimer not only have done it, they're on their third trip.

The Latimers, who started perusing the SML shoreline after moving to the lake full time in 2004, had seen parts of the lake during sporatic visits over many years.

Ken, whose family has been farming the same land in Bedford County for more than 100 years, as a kid played at the lake growing up. His parents owned a lot with a small camping shack and dock where the Latimers vacationed as newlyweds 30 years ago.

"We actually honeymooned [there] because we couldn't afford anything else," said Joyce, a Herndon native. "We decided one of these days, we were going to come back here."

In 1994, they purchased property on the lake. After spending time in Indiana, Japan and Georgia, the Latimers moved back to Virginia in 1999.

When they moved to their lake house full time in February 2004 from Montgomery County, it was a different world from the one where they'd honeymooned 24 years before. The property Ken's parents owned, which they sold for about $15,000 in the early 1980s, now is worth about $1.5 million.

Their first summer living full time at the lake in a cove between R24 and R26, the Latimers puttered around in their now-30-year-old Kayot pontoon boat.

"We started kind of looking at the shoreline," said Joyce. "We really wished we had done it before we built a boathouse or a house because we saw so many ideas."

They didn't start off with the intent to see it all; they were simply enjoying the scenery. But the more the Latimers saw, the more they wanted to see. They eventually decided to make their shoreline survey more official, said Ken.

"We're kind of [obsessive compulsive] that way," he said.

They bought a map and dutifully marked on it where they stopped each day, listing the date and closest channel marker. On their next outing, they'd speed to the last point on the map and then slow to a leisurely 4 to 5 miles per hour as they viewed the shoreline.

After completing their first full trip around the lake in late 2005, the Latimers decided to make the full trek again. They waited a few months for winter to pass before making the second tour in 2006, which took less time than the first. After a brief hiatus because of Ken's truck driving job, the Latimers started their third trip in April.

The Latimers estimate it will taken them eight or nine months to complete their third shoreline circuit. They boat year-round, although they don't do much shoreline sightseeing in the summer because of heavy boat traffic.

"I'd say we cover 10 or 12 miles in a good day, but we don't always stay out that long," said Ken. "And of course, the farther away we get, the longer it takes to get to our starting point."

Traversing the lake, the Latimers have seen their share of interesting things. They've found two houses on the lake that were built using the same house plans as their own. Joyce found the plan in a book several years ago. Although they made a few design changes, as did the owners of the other two lake houses, the plan itself is unmistakably the same, said Ken.

The Latimers also have seen New York Times-bestselling author David Baldacci's house and they've seen the lake's only ice cream boat hanging in its lift. When it comes to houses, they've seen them all.

"Somebody was telling Ken that their brother or somebody lived on the lake," said Joyce. "Ken said, 'I've seen his house. I don't know where it is, but I've seen his house.'"

They've also seen a few interesting characters, including a man sitting on a dock playing a banjo, and a man landing a helicopter on top of a dock.

As for wildlife, they've seen a deer swimming from a Franklin County shore to Bedford County. They've seen turtles, an oriole, the goat near Bay Roc Marina and at least three purple martin birdhouses occupied by bluebirds.

"We've met the most hilarious duck we have ever seen," said Ken. "He was just kind of quacking under his breath."

The duck wanted what was in the Latimers' cooler, which they pack with lunch for the six- to eight-hour excursions.

"The duck's timing was bad because he waited until we finished all the food," said Ken.

They've also spotted a few fascinating canines. A favorite dog sighting offered a bit of mystery at first. Ken said they were coming around a cove when they spotted a dog that raced down a dock and leapt through the air. The dog quickly swam back to the dock and did it again. When they got closer, the Latimers saw the dog's owner sitting on the dock, reading a newspaper. The man didn't even look up as he took a toy from the dog and threw it again.

"It was the same thing over and over again, about six times before we went out of sight," said Ken. "One of my favorite things is to see a happy dog."

One of Joyce's favorite things to look at is the landscaping around the lake, particularly the flowering trees. A horticulture professor at Virginia Tech and extension specialist for Virginia Cooperative Extension, she has a soft spot for plants.

"I always marvel at the people who can grow things that the deer eat up at our house," said Joyce.

Over the past six years, Joyce said she's noticed significant changes in landscaping around the lake.

"Our first circuit of the lake, I was kind of appalled that some people didn't have any landscaping on the lake side," said Joyce. "I think that's improved a lot."

Ken said that's one of the reasons they continue taking the shoreline tour: There's always something new to see.

"There's new construction and people clearing their area," he said. "Of course, our memories aren't that good, so we're thrilled and amazed at things we've already seen."