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KING TUTS CURSE >>>

C

cntry141iq

Silent Prop
R. I. P.
King Tuts curse struck HOLIDAY park friday night at about 10:30 pm ...

Stan and I and our better halves were enjoying some wonderful pulled pork and cuban coffee at the 27 cafe after a trail run in the glades when we decided the wind was getting stronger and colder so back to the camp we went. We checked all the tie downs decided to reinforce the screen room put on a pot of coffee and decided we were ready for the night ... WRONG..

The rain was comin down sideways Stan placed the extra pop up canopy over his tent as an extra layer of protection we had the screen room full of cooking equipment chairs and tables and the coolers. The women headed off to relax out of the rain in the tents and it got bad... real bad.
The wind wa sgusting hard enough when I looked out of the screen room my tent with marcy in it was laid down almost flat then the wind let up and it popped back up. Stans pop top cover was leaning and swaying so we made some emergencvy repairs to it with duct tape and went back to finish some coffe and stare in amazement at how hard it was storming. Marcy hollered out .. there aint a dry spot in here, Stan and I just shrugged it off knowing how women exaggerate things .. well stan and I decide to call it a night and get in the tents and I was greeted with an inch of water in the tent floor The air mattress was floating then a gust came and flattened the tent again it lifted the rain flap up and totally drenched anything left that was dry. I told marcy to get ready we were going to the hotel ... she wanted to sleep in the truck but it was only about 1130 and it was looking like a long night ahead.. so I said no way and we loaded up I was running water off of me and it was raining so hard that I tought we were driving down deserted roads in the middle of no where when in reality there were house everywhere on the way to the hotel. We got checked in got a hot shower and a good nights sleep while Stan hung tough .. well about 1230 he had been out several time sto relieve the pressure on the cover over his tent when he finally just grabbed a knife and made some relief vents in the canvas .. cheryl went to the truck .. . WE all hooked back up at CRACKER BARREL for breakfast and cheryl got a shower .. after all she had slept in the truck ... her and the dog. We went back to asses the damage to items and the new tent went in the dumpster, Stans tent went in the dumpster, the pop up went in the dumpster the kitchen table went in the dumpster. We loaded what was left and off to the FAA we went. Now before we left the motel I checked the radar and it showed a lot of red and yellow coming from the west coast across the glades right towards the FAA meeting site .. yep it was right on track. We stood under other shelters while the FAA had their meeting and we enjoyed a fine meal with some good folks .. oh yeah basket mood and crews were enroute to duck camp in the rain but were holed up at burgeron camp waiting on a slack in the rain to finish the trip. After the meal Stan and I headed for home but about LaBelle the sun broke through and we changed plans and got another motel room .. we had no tents left and the sleeping bags were soaked in the tool box, We went frogging again ... got a few even though we were in 30 mph cross winds.. the ladies waited patiently at the motel. Sunday we went back and rode in the daylight and saw some beautiful scenery found some good access points and camp sites nothing broke, nothing sank, finally we had some good luck once we got away from KING TUTS area. LOL all in all it was quite an adventure .. my city girl may be reconsidering her choice of hanging with me and my airboat it has been quite an adventure for her so far in only a couple of years. She has a outlook on life and now realizes work is for resting because the weekends can be a little tough.
 
I feel 4 ya...I took a trip to Holiday sat morning about 830...to say hi to ya all...and saw the tents floating..what a mess,,,,,,then it started raining again about noon,,,,,,,nasty day......
 
Aww we don't feel bad It was an adventure. we actually were not one of the floating tents because I didnt like the looks of the holes they were in and knew rain was comin so I asked to camp outta the boxes and they said sure. we were above the water. There were a lot of people who were flooded out. 8:30 we were in cracker barrel. I woulda camped again the next night but just didn thave a spare tent and sleepin bags and other soaked items oh well maybe next time.

We met up with BRAVO and AIRBOAT4FUN at HOLIDAY and met the others at FAA meeting.

This was cowboys fault because he went to see KING TUT and jinxed us for sure. LOL
 
Cntry and Stan, really enjoyed meetin you two at the Glades meeting. I'm real sorry for any of y'all that drove down there that it was such a miserable weekend ..... that place should be awesome under better conditions, and hopefully we'll get another shot at it one of these days.

The Broward folks that had hosted the whole thing were real sorry too, and more than a couple of them said so to me. We'll get another chance.

BF
 
Well I'm glad I wasn't in that mess. I'm getting too old and too skinny to suffer anymore than I have to. I've had my share of those great adventures, and believe me I'll remember them to my grave. Sounded like a pretty good one tho. You really can appreciate that warm shower and soft dry bed after that kind of experience. Keep us posted on your next adventure, maybe ya might want to try gator huntin with a fly swatter. :lol: LOL
 
Cajun, it wasn't only wet, it was Cold. On Friday night a lot of folks were towin boats South in rain that had I-75 movin at 25-30 mph. It's a blessing that all of our friends got back home safely. I'm happy with that.

BF
 
Cntry is right, Friday nite and Saturday were BAD. Sunday was cool but BEAUTIFUL. got to ride with the leadership of Robert Correy and his Dad. Rode from about 10:00 to about 3:00. AWESOME, have gotta do it again (per my wife)! Rode to the Microwave tower and around some of the camps. It was good to see Moodfood/AirboatRN,CC&Dakota, Basketcase&Dawn, and others riding and enjoying.
Lets do it again but we won't tell anyone how great it is, RIGHT! :lol:
 
Cntry could have elaborated on the ride we had friday evening .What can I tell you 12 miles from nowhere looking at the lights in the distance made me feel real small in the great skem of things.And whats with these everglades crop circles rideing threw the head high catails and saw grass at night trying to keep up with country and then suddenly you find yourself landing in a area about 50 to a 100 feet wide and a foot high above the water in what appears to be a mixture of cattails saw grass and everglades scum fungas .I'll tell you what landing in that stuff feels lke the giant skunk ape grabbing a hold of you. talk about feeling small Cheryl and I were stuck in that stuff watching cntrys lights fade in the distance. But after what seemed like five minutes of wide open thrusting I managed to escape the clutches of that eveglades beast. Later cntry Stated he wish he could have warned me of the blockade and appoligized for the track he chose. All and all again we took home some once in a life time memories
 
Cntry, I am glad you can look at the weekend in a positive light. We missed you guys. As always, we had a blast in the "grass". It was cold and we were soaked to the bone on Saturday, however, the weather was good to us on Sunday. We met some new friends and laughed til our sides hurt. I want to thank Larry and his dad, Gordon for extending true southern hospitality to our group at Duck Camp. You have a great family. curdog and CaptainJeff, sorry you missed riding with us. There will be another time. We had a few mishaps, Tony I hope your prop comes in on time, and your wallet dries out. As always the crew came together to fix whatever breaks. It was great to see you Airboat4fun and your little one, Nick even for a short time. Got to say hi to a few others in the swamp, Lauren and Phil....swampjet...
All in all it proved to be a great time. Good food, Gordon's venison sausages would put Grizzly Adam's to shame. Looking forward to the next run. Hope to see everyone at the Swamp Buggy and Airboat show the 25th and 26th.


dawn
 
Wow what a wonderful weekend. Even though it poured down rain I had a great time. We met up with the group after the FAA meeting out a Duck Camp. When I say camp, wow. It was great. Just riding out there was great. I have never seen a more beautiful place and I am jealous of all those who have that place to ride. What a great place. We met up with some wonderful new people. Larry, wife, and daughter, Westside and his Dad Pete, Gordon (larry's dad), and then we got to visit with Chester)snake bit) and his wife and "girlfriend". Thanks for the drinks Chester. :lol: Let's just say that Chester can mix his drinks right there on the boat. A picture will come later. It was a great night and we all hung around the fire. We did go for a chilly ride with Larry, Westside, and Basket. It was great. Got to see alot of camps and just ride.
The morning was even better. We woke up and of course Matt and Laura made us breakfast. Good job with the bacon Matt.
We cleaned up and went for a ride. We ran into Swampjet and his crew. Then we went to the Hilton and the microwave tower. We did meet up with some people out at the rocks and just sat and talked.
Oh I did forget, the chainsaw came in handy again this weekend. We had a mishap with the prop and had to cut away. Good job Larry for having the gas powered in your boat. LOL.
Poor Tony (a friend of Larry's) blew a tire on the way to the ramp, busted the prop, and then while catching one of those great jello shots from Chester's wife, he dove into the alligator infested water. When I say alligator infested, well they were swimming all around next to the boats and laying right up on the bank. We all had a good laugh. Wish you could have seen it. He looked like he was pushed by Dawn but she denies it. We will have to go back and look at the tape. :D
Then we went back to camp and we were off because we did have the 4 hour drive ahead of us. I would definately do that again and Larry and all, I would like to say a bigh thank you to you and your family. You took us into your camp and made us all feel at home. You guys are now a part of my new "family" especially Pete. Pete does not use the computer but tell him thank you for making it such a great weekend and making us laugh.
Westside, I hope you did not get into too much trouble when you got home. Thanks for taking us out Saturday night and also making us laugh. We loved the gator demonstration. Nice drinking with you as well.
Good to see Stan, Cheryl, Marcy, and of course Country at the meeting for lunch. We had some good laughs there and we kept busy while it poured rain.
Overall, it was another great ride and I will be there again.
 
If anyone wants to or can shed some light on those crop circles I would love to know what caused them. I have been told it was commercial froggers matting down the grass That one is hard to swallow because they are only about 50 to 100 feet wide and are smack in the middle of the cattails. They are round and about a foot above the rest of the area, it looks like some kind of fungus growing on it it is soft and sticky very sticky. We went thru two of them The first one stan had just drove through it and commented to me how bad it was so when we left out I had to give it a go and yep it was bad but I knew he had just gone there so I knew he could do it again. The Gps quit working due to lack of batteries but I knew which way the trail was so I was picking the thin spots thru the cattails and all of a sudden there was no thin spot available so I just picked a star and went for it. The cattails were about 10 foot or so high I really didnt remember seeing any of those on the way in. The caterpillars were flying and marcy was ducking LOL all of a sudden I saw a thin spot and pointed the boat towards it I came in to it at a good clip riding above the water level on the bent over cattails by the time I saw what I was landing in it was too late ... I looked over my shoulder and saw stans light coming right on the same track I was on I really wished I coulda warned him because this one was lots worse than the first one. It looked like hogs had wallowed it out in ruts and when I hit in it I went down about a foot into it. I got out of it and looked back and could see stans light but I had a handfull again with those 10 foot tall cattails after about another 2 or 3 hundred feet it was all smooth sailing again I spun around and made sure stan was comin thru. Ole southern style was screamin loud but the light was movin so I knew Stan was makin it although it would go down as one of those unforgettable momenmts in airboating adventure files.

now for those who have never run tall cattails before you blast us for running at full throttle in zero visibility let me say that if you don't you will find yourself walkin in zero visibility stompin down a runway so you can get out of there. At night it really is fairly safe as far as other boats are concerned because you can see the vapor trail they left and their lights if you get close. You also can't tell how high they are getting usually until it is too late because you know it is just a few feet of them and then your out of them well not always. However turning around in them is not a good idea because your boat is not usually sitting on the water or ground usually it is riding up in the cattails several feet above the surface and turning can be a disaster in progress. I often drive standing up so as to see a little farther ahead of me. Standing up also gives me a head start at clearing the seat and grass rake in the event of a sudden stop however please leave the rudder stick on the boat it really does more good there than in your hand 20 or 30 feet in front of the boat. A previous life as a gymnastic tumbler comes in handy as the tuck and roll is a favorite position during the flight. Passengers should rest assured if they fall off that the boat will stop at the first clear patch and wait on you and usually the term "go to the light" is a good one to remember as well.

I shoulda known Stan and I were in for a run because I commented to him as we were leaving heading back that some of our landmark lights were missing and it obviously was because there was a wall of cattails between us and the lights. oh well it was fun,no one got hurt,nothing got broke and we both know a little more about what our boats will do. Basket you shoulda been there with us what a story you woulda had to tell. Cowboy I know you have done it before because you did it to us at okeechobee.

I coulda probably went around them but the thoughts of that pulled pork dinner clouded my judgement LOL or it may have been that Stan and I both have new motors which need to be broke in a little and now they are a little more seasoned. What don't kill you makes you stronger so they say. lookin forward to orange lake night ride for sure..
 
Smashing tall grass is a challenge in the daytime, at night, it's just plain an adventure. Especially if you the one busting the trail everyone else is following. Sometimes, you just gotta do it. It aint fun, but neccessary sometimes.

Maybe my grass rake is too big most of the time, but it sure looks right when it's bending down those 15' tall cattails for miles.

It always an feeling of relief to find your way out after several miles of it.
Once your in it, you just gotta keep going, and hope you don't find any stumps, or suprises like those vegetative formations of alien construction!
I aint found any of those yet, and don't think I'm gonna look for one.

How many of them catapillars did you eat Country? Save any for Stan?

Taste good? Like the orange ones better than the little green ones?

Just wondering, cause I never ate any of those before.

Airboating at night:
Aint nothing else like it.

Once you got your boat back to the landing after a night adventure like that, with out busting up your boat or yourself, well you just plain feel like you've done something.
 
Just for the record....I did not push Tony in the alligator infested water. No jello-shot is worth all that! However, that is the second "Baptism" we have witnessed on these runs. Just so you all know how cold it was out there...I had to put shoes AND socks on.


dawn
 
We had a fantastic time and learned a couple of things!

You may hear more on this one-but not from me..... learned what a "Corndance" is! Also, how to perfectly equip an airboat...with a dacquri and margarita maker! Yes, we also had the extreme pleasure of running into Chester, his wife, and friends (at his camp!) We met the nicest group of airboaters Sunday afternoon late, and they gave us another tour after Bobby Corey and Swampjet headed home. Matt and Laura how were the jello shots?? :lol:

It is always a pleasure to see our SAO crew out and about all over the state! A great time had in Florida's BIG SKY country. Thanks Broward Airboat Club and all our friends who made this a special time. For those of you who missed it, you really missed some beautiful riding and meeting some really great new airboating folks!
Lauren
 
Looks like a chainsaw is becoming a necessary tool to keep on the boat...and i'm not talking about trees! :D :D
 
I want a picture of that gas powered Margarita blender .... 8) !

BF
 
Here is a pic that Dakota got of it. It was cool, had a chrome expansion chamber and all, bolted to a little tab welded on the front with 3 bolts holding it on. I was thinking need to make one out of a chainsaw that could be converted to a blender and back as needed, cause after you need to hack a prop up you definatly want a stiff drink later :lol: .
100_0767.JPG


Larry
 
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