Oct 28th Poker Run for the Kids

[SwampMatt]

You're right JD - it was some fun and they did a good job. That's a great cause - an agegroup of kids that can really appreciate and be helped by our donations!

The SCAC is a great group.

JD - On our sunset ride back to Loughman, you gave us a scare and a half! We looked back and saw that you & stan were stopped - It looked like you had stopped to get out your lights.

But when Cntry and I got back to your boat, it sent shivers down our spines to see it drifting in the river without a soul aboard. :shock: I feared the worst for a monent until we saw you in the water waving an "alright" sign over by Stan's boat.

Dang fence posts.

Cntry is quite the pilot and when he said for me to do a Cap'n Ron it was clear. I jumped over to your boat, and fired it up. (after visually checking the cage, rudders, and prop) I reached for the rudder stick and IT WAS GONE! Turn off the motor and found the stick. it was bent down over the side of the boat. I carefully bent it back up, felt it crack some more, and nursed your boat back to where cntry, Stan & Cheryl were getting you dressed in dry clothes.

JD - We're so glad you were not injured!!!

We fixed the stick without incident and proceeded to get lost in the maze area between Baxter point and Orange Mound.

Once back at loughman we had a small fire to warm up a wet JD on a cool november night as the band played on.

A beautiful day and a beautiful night.

matt.

 

[Skeeter]

Wow,Im glad everything worked out for the good.Those fence posts still sneak up on all of us from time to time.I swear someone keeps adding more.

 

[Geneva0550]

Glad to hear you were ok after hitting that fence post JD. Nice rescue by Stan, Cntry, and Mood. It was fun riding with y'all and look forward to the next run. We have talked about doing a post removal on that stretch of the river.

 

[jdotson]

I'll second that motion Geneva! No damage to the boat other than the rudder stick.

 

[stan]

I came away this weekend with lessons learned ,new friends made.
lessons learned: when in deep water were a pfd,when you see something swirlin in the water it may not be a manatee or gator it may be somebody,be prepared to make a deep water extraction(have you ever tried gettin back in your boat in deep water ? it's real tough).rudder sticks are not awhs--t bars , don't hang on let it go.When in unfamilar territory leave the gps on for back tracking and always ride with others and don't forget to turn on your runnin lights at night ,others need to see you.carry extra clothing yu all will eventullay need it.other accesorys that are greatly suggested are extra fuel pumps and lines screws for ignition rotors, jumper cables and twice as much beer as you think yu'll drink!
other than bein a little windy the ride was fantastic I can now say I've been to buzzard mound,bs hill,thousand palms,Hat bill park, orange mound( when I got us lost) and by the bird tower by day and night.
The frogs got a break friday and saturday night seems the wind was a little stiff friday and we bs and partyed saturday night ,but I will be back.
The guys from scac are super for hosting such a great event and Cheryl and I thank all for the wonder memories.

 

[cntry141iq]

I wasn't really worried about jdotson until I saw him swirlin in the water near stans boat and stan had the gig in his hand, LOL Stan has been lookin for a fryer size manatee for years and I am sure jdotson was almost gigged.

Seriously though,

It can happen in a second, let go of the rudderstick it really won't keep you in the boat and it is of little value in the water with you.

famous Jdotson quote; " I didn't think I was goin fast till my nose started plowin the water" and folks we aint talkin about his boats nose LOL.

I don't think Moodfood quite knew what I meant when I told him get ready to step off on the other boat I was gonna do a capt. Ron manuver, he almost jumped over the boat and all he had to do was step over to it, it is a slide in sideways thing but not bash the target just slide up to it sideways.

I went to the boat after I realized that jdotson wa sgoing to be saved although he may have a puncture wound from the gig. I dropped off mood and then pulled back towards stan and he was rollin jdotson up on the deck like a sack of taters, I hollered and aske dif he was ok and he couldn't even talk just kinda grinned, I picked a spot on the hill for a safe landing zone. We had jdotson in some dry clothes pretty quick, all of us had something to loan him for the trip back. I found a boat hook during a lake george cleanup and had given it to stan. We used that and a 10" 3/8 drive extension, some duct tape and a few wire ties and it was good to go. I also found a large fish gig on one of the cleanups and gave it to stan fortunately for jdotson stan left it at home and only had the frog gig on the boat. I beleive he was lookin for the sweet spot on to gig when he realized it was jdotson.

Stan and I sell frog gigs, lights, frog bags and other items and I know that giggin something that size would have been good advertising for our stuff but I am glad Stan pulled off the mark just in time. We will advertise some other way.

Plumcrazy is really not totally crazy he had enough sense to abandon that little rocket ship when the waters kept getting rougher. he jumped on my boat and after a run across the lake where I skint it back a little for him he decided to finish the ride with jdotson to the jolly gator. I wasn't reckless he just isn't used to a barge like mine getting up and skipping across the water, I have mine setup a little loose in the water rather than plowing. he was a great help at fixing the distributor which blew apart after we got finsihed offering stan moral support while he rebuilt his fuel pump on the water. All the parts of the distributor landed in the boat and between mood & plum crazy we found all of them and after a couple of stops we had it all back together. we made one section of the run with only one screw back in and then found the other screw for the rotor at the next stop on the hill and finished fixing it.

I got my wedgie while pullin up at the jolly gator, I passed on the first ramp becaus eit was too tight from the getgo and glance dat the second one and it looked good to go so then started lookin for where to land after runnin up the hill, well the ramp was 7'6" wide and my boat is just over 8' wide so it didn't quite work out. LOL but I didnt even throw moodfood out of the boat, I just slid in and staopped but after we hooked a truck to it it came on up outta there. I really think it was part of a conspiracy to get me stuck one way or another, LOL.

We had a great time solidified some already great friendships made some new ones and got a buttload of great memories and campfire stories, once time takes off a few of the facts, the stories will be worth listening to around a campfire in the future. Happy trails again.

Next week, off to north florida to get a few frogs for moodfoods weddin party, sharpen the gig stan I hear em callin our names and laughin at us again. He who laughs last, laughs best. Here froggy froggy

 

[jdotson]

I have to agree with Stan on the PFD. It was tough swimming with a jacket, long sleeve shirt, jeans, and boots on. I will be looking into a couple of auto inflating PFD's in the very near future. Luckily I had my phone clipped in on the boat and not on my side. Cntry I'm just glad Stan had a gig and not a harpoon and bang stick!

Hey Cntry I want to know who is going to mention the good looking blonde that Stan and Plumcrazy were eyeballing at Loughman's on Saturday night? :lol: Maybe they can explain it better than me and you.

 

[stan]

let's say she looked real good very eye pleasin plumcrazy and I later would compare notes only thing that didn't fit was the walk. I might add t loughmans lodge has some nice facility,s and great entertainment from time to time.

 

[cntry141iq]

JD the froth was drippin outta the corners of their mouths, then they got past the plastic hooters, and the blond wig, and noticed the funky walk and they knew the she was a he. LMAO.

But it was all fun, They have some first class facilities there for sure. The party crowd was very pleasing on the eyes all except for the he she plum and stan were locked in on.

 

[jdotson]

Yeah Cntry fence posts weren't the only hazards around Normally a situation like that would make a man think they were in the wrong spot but it was costume night. :lol: Loughman's has a nice facility there.

 

[basketcase0302]

Hey ya'll,

Sorry we missed another one SCAC is a class act with a lot of good people in it! Congrats on the success of the run.

JD, really glad you're ok! I know too well the feeling of wet clothes on a cold night with no lighter knot for fire.

Basketcase

 

[plumcrazy]

yea after that iguess im gonna swallow my pride an start wearing my glasses :lol: stan it was great hangin with you your wife and the trailer wire eating dog. you got to admit he was kinda cute

 

[cntry141iq]

Plum you had your beer goggles on LOL you are a hoot man and fine to hang with anytime. never a dull moment for sure and laughs are almost guaranteed. call me anytime you got it if I got it or can get it.