Chromium

It's the same boat Kevin, just with some makeup. LOL It was good to see you again. Thanks for all the kind words everybody.

I took a friend out fishing on the Holy Waters this weekend. His wife just died at the young age of 34 and he needed something to help clear his mind. We put in at Keystone and floated to Stephans Bridge. Mike had never fly fished before and I was excited to get him into his first trout. I got him going on the nymphs and he landed a 10” brookie. Later in the float, the hatch started and I set him up with the 2WT and a black caddis. He had a riot pulling on fish after another. Here’s the sad part. The last half of that float, I took nothing but crap from the locals about having my drift boat on that section of the river. I heard it all; “The rivers is not up enough to have that boat on here” to “Get that piece of sh!t of my river” to “You don’t belong here.” Most of those pretentious bast**** stood on their property and nailed me with their “opinions” of drift boats on “their” river. Then, I see an Ausable Riverboat come by me. I got some comments from them too. But I couldn’t help but notice that it was dragging a rather large wad of chain down the river behind him. I bit my tongue but as he practically hit the side of my boat, I wanted to drop my 30# pyramid right through the bottom of his boat. As I approached Gates Lodge, there were two men sitting in back of one of the rental cabins. They proceeded to nail me with “Get off our river, you don’t belong here” and various other obscenities. Well, I’d bit my tongue long enough by this point and I let fly. I continued to the take out and loaded my boat, and then drove to Gates Lodge. Upon entering, I questioned the management on what kind of jack-aases they allow to stay there. This is where I learned that the fishermen on the “Holy Water” are generally against drift boats. It makes them have to move when we come by. They say that they don’t want it to turn in to “another Pere Marqutte”!! And, these drift boats are believed to be more destructive on the river in comparison to the AuSable River Boats. Bullsh!t. How about that mighty AuSable Riverboat dragging his chain? I’m sure that’s great for the ecology. So, I left pissed off. I decided tom stop at a party store on the corner to get a beer. Hell, I even had an old man in the parking lot at the party store giving me crap about the drift boat. In a very condescending way, he let me know that he prefers the “Old fashioned way”. I guess I can fish the Holy Waters on foot for ten years and be fine, but god forbid you come up there in a ClackaCraft. So, if you plan on floating the Holy Waters, prepare for the pretentious, holier than thou, snooty, self-righteous tooth pick floatin’ MF’rs to be coming out of the woodwork. What a shame. Makes me want to dump my life savings and open a ClackCraft outlet in Grayling right next to the fly factory. Maybe free test floats. Every boat comes with a bow mounted chainsaw to help you get by the AuSable boats. So, this is the image of fly fisherman that my friend took home with him. Another shame. And they say they don’t want it to turn into another Pere Marquette. LOL It already seems like Tippy Dam to me……….

Nice fish Nick! OSD...........you kill me!

Good point John. Thanks Kirk

QUOTE (riverboy @ May 27 2004, 12:37 PM) Well whats the new name? I haven't even thought about that. I'm open for suggestions. The last time I said that, the "Short Bus" was born. LOL So, what do you think?

Thanks everybody. I'm glad it's done. It took a lot of night working until midnight, but it was worth it.

Interior in process; Finished !!

It's done. Here's the pics. (There's a lot of them) Interior shots prior to restoration:

QUOTE (Shoe @ May 25 2004, 09:15 AM) Good deal, Will Now just take it easy on that shoulder. Perhaps some dry flies might cast a little easier than those big hunks of meat you swing for bass. That's right Ralf. I hear tossin' chickens is hard on the old rotator!

Indeed, it's wet everywhere Scott. I had a river running through my back yard last Saturday morning that was the size of some stretches of the Clinton. Hell, I even contemplated putting in a marker so I could track guage height and flow. LOL

Happy Birthday Dan. Any big plans?

QUOTE (Shoe @ May 20 2004, 12:28 PM) "Excuse me sir, but I can't furnish a room key without any ID" "If I had my clothes, I wouldn't need a room key" Maybe KF could have picked the lock with that needle dick! Thanks for the well wishes everybody. I'm heading for the Orvis shop after work!!

Celebs? Just Shoe.........

The boat I just got has an adapter for a regular air hose. That's sweet!

Here's the boat I got. I haven't put it together yet. Click here........

QUOTE (Steelheader69 @ May 11 2004, 01:04 AM) I noticed the above boat was done in the spray can truck liner. By chance, was it a dark blue can with black top? Yes it was. I guess we'll find out soon enough.....

I very rarely use it. Only if I need to get back to a vehicle or if I miss the launch or on the big water rivers. I prefer the oars as well. Galley Slave............

What once was called the "Short Bus" by many will be no longer. LOL It was time that I invest SOMETHING to make this thing a little more appealing to the eye. Here's a shot from last summer on the Cumberland River (See what I mean?) We've made some progress! The stickers are removed, some light sanding done, divets repaired (will be sanded next), and rhino coating applied to the bottom. Waiting for UPS to deliver the new oars any day. Here is a pic with the bedliner applied. The kit is at Meijers for $54 and it comes with a Gallon can and a spray can of the liner, a brush, roller and a paint tray. It dries within one hour. I put three coats on in one night and it came out awesome. At least it will keep a lot of the deep gouges out of the bottom. Here are some pics of the first coat of white. The paint I am using is Petit EasyPoxy from West Marine. It's a polyurethane based paint that can be air sprayed, airless sprayed or rolled on and dry brushed out. This pic it about 10 minutes after it was applied. When it's applied with a foam roller, it initially leaves very small air bubbles in the paint. The brush removes those bubbles. You can see the brush marks and where the yellow is still showing through. This is normal and the paint does smooth out as it dries. And an hour later: More to come as the situation progresses........

QUOTE (dabalone @ May 6 2004, 02:08 AM) All worthy occupations and some difficult ones indeed but on a scale of 1 thru 10 for difficulty, stress and requiring skills in psychology,diplomacy, and restraint my nod goes to Sippy. Full time with the kids, thats tuff! LOL. She had to exercise the psycology and restraint last night. Three of the four boys were in deep shit with her. We got them a Big Game hunting PC game. The next thing you know, they all have sharp sticks and are hunting the cat. After last night, I believe the hunt has been postponed indefinitely!

I'm the I.T. Manager for a Tier 1 GM engineering supplier. (Damn computers)

QUOTE (mickey @ Apr 28 2004, 04:56 PM) How much did it cost to get a picture with Geena Davis? A fortune. LOL ( Sarah)

Yep. Hard to believe isn't it? That's my annual shot at dressing up. LOL

Good for you Mike! Enjoy the trout fishing, you deserve it.

QUOTE (northern_outdoorsman @ Apr 26 2004, 04:07 PM) What can I say... Which one's my Wife John... NONE OF THEM!! I KILL me!! LOL