Lets Just Go Boating

  

Winter has stolen our will to stay warm, so we have retreated into our 
homes and garages where we dream of sunset cruises and wet bike rides 
that are more like all day excursions to places we have yet to explore.
Winter by any other name might be "dreary" or" long", but this season it must 
called COLD . The kind of cold that hurts your toes and makes a trip to the
mailbox a real ordeal or may be a trip to be put off till a warmer day.
That's how I have treated my winter so far, and I'm sad to tell on myself and say
I have not visited the Fuelishness since I winterized her this fall. How shameful
of me !! I guess I just couldn't bear to see her frozen lifelessly in her slip. 
Maybe it's just the damn cold and the realization that my fingers and toes 
will hurt by the time I get back to the car. What knowledge would a visit bring 
anyhow, slipping and freezing all the way there and Yes she is still floating 
will be the ultimate answer. On the flip side I'm sure that the Marina would call 
if something bad were to happen anyway. 

So now as the true grips of winter are upon us I have taken the time to reflect 
on how I got here anyway. Rebuilding the Fuelishness, Ah that's how we got
here. In my last post I touched upon a job well done and our own personal 
due diligence and from some of the feedback I have received it sounds like 
we are all on the same page. 

So reflecting on all the past posts and what the future will bring I have decided 
to close this blog, But not without saying that this whole project has been the most
fun that I have had in many years and It reminds me of times that I spent with my
good friend Dennis Berry as we learned all kinds of new stuff about our boats during 
the hours and hours we spent in either his garage or mine. I truly feel that the learning 
and knowing are what we really desire, WE the masters and commanders of all things 
mechanical. ( I'm certainly dancing way too close to that Captain Ron thing aren't I ?) 
So I can not go with out saying the truth. ------- !!

The real truth is the vendors make the project. The real facts are what is to follow.

Lehman Conley ( Fiberglass by Lehman) did a very good job, delivered exactly
               as promised. Gave a clear, concise, estimate of repairs, no fooling 
               around as worker, no bullshit excuses for things not done, and never
               missed a days work. I would "and have" recommended him to my friends.
               1.636.949.0318

Little John's  Marine Service, Cant say enough good about this man and his work.
               Not only did John come highly recommended but he raised the bar with the 
               work he preformed on my project. At times it felt as though it was John's 
               and my project. John never offered any bullshit excuses  for things not done,
              The best part was the fact that John never promised me things he couldn't do.
               I would "and have" recommended John to my friends.
               1.636.250.4187

VIP Upholstery , This  was best find of the project, getting Scott and Cheryl involved
               changed everything in this part of the project. They never lied about anything
               and they were absolutely focused on OUR overall goal. No Bullshit excuses
               for anything, With these folks , it always goes like this, "asked, answered and 
               completed " Everything was clear and concise, very professional.
              I give these people the highest recommendation possible. 
              PS These are two of the nicest people your ever going to meet.
              1.636.970.0480

Great Lakes Teak, Here are two guys that are in love with what they do. 
             There ability to overcome problems and work with imperfect surroundings
             is amazing. They drove here twice,once to  pattern and once to install. 
             No whining, no lying , no bullshitting around, these guys deliver the goods.
             I constantly recommend these guys to anyone who asks.
             1.630.272.6730

Custom Sounds of Alton , This is a rainy day with sunshine and a rainbow at the end.
             My experience with them started a little bumpy , because of me, my not knowing
             exactly what I wanted caused some problems at first. But my guy AJ stuck it out
             and never gave up, he helped me through the hard places and really earned my 
            business and my respect.  So I have to say these guys are worth the money and 
            time. I'll go back and spend money with them again.
            1.618.462.5555

Berry Performance Marine, If I say this guy is good I'm selling him short . 
            If I say too much good about him, you might think I'm over selling him.
            But the real facts about Dennis is his work is the kind of work that most 
            of us wish we could do ourselves. Not just changing parts, but inspecting 
            everything and looking ahead for future failures and working in a preventative way.
            Dennis works at a level that I hold all others accountable to. 
            So if your looking for no nonsense, straight forward, honest work you need Dennis.
            I will recommend  him to anyone. 
            1.618.377.4610

Victory Marine, These guys do a great job on drives, and the prices are right,
            the down side is they are in Texas and drives come truck freight , other than that
            great customer service before and after the sale. I tell people about them all the time.
            1.713.910.2000

Michael Turk Graphics , I've known Mike a long time and what sets Mike apart from 
             others is he doesn't try to talk you into something he likes. He is always 
             truly interested in what you want, no BS , and always shows up on time
             and has never left me hanging. I recommend Mike highly. 
             Mike does not use cheap shitty vinyl, nuf said !!! 
             1.618.530.4529  

Beyond the people mentioned above there was a whole slough of people that I came into 
contact with during this project. Not mentioning them wouldn't  be right ,so here goes.

CP Performance Products  -- Gauges
Livorsi Marine -- more Gauges
Gateway Plating Co.-- Polishing
West Marine -- General Items
Defender Marine -- more general items 
Ram Electronic Mounts -- Ipad Mount 
McMaster and Carr -- SS  Steering Joints
Michigan Motorz -- Merc Parts 
Simrek Corp. -- drive showers
Cooper Color Inc. -- Platform Paint
111 Prop Shop -- worked my props 
Boatersland Marine -- new Bumpers 
Bonebrake Auto Electric -- wiring
Wholesale Marine -- hardware
CarQuest of WoodRiver--  electrical supplies 
Diamond Tropical Wood -- cockpit table 
SuperBrite LEDs -- under platform lighting 
Thomas G. Faria Corp. -- original gauges 
Marcal Rope and Rigging -- anchor  chain conversion 

I did business with all these people listed and the fact that I listed them means that
I had a great retail experience with them and I hope that in the future if you use them
that your experiences are like mine. 

But the real take away is this "all these people especially the ones listed with 
phone # s deserve a shot." I keep a little book of  friendly vendors in my desk 
at work, I've been doing that ever since I saw my dad do that when I was younger.
Dad was great finish carpenter and he kept a book of friendly vendors because
as he said " son we don't have time or money to waste with people who don't care".
I promised my self when I started writing this blog that wouldn't say anything bad 
about anyone and I'm not starting now. 
I will say that the worst experiences I have had could have been avoided
if I would have followed my own advise. I quite literally would have saved over
$10000.00 and that's the truth, and no matter how you slice it that's  chunk of change.  

So with all that said , I suppose that I'm done. 

Here is the best news of the day --- 30 days till spring !!! 

I'm done writing "Lets Just Go Boating" !!!

KE  


              


  
           

   


     


                      
                           

              
          

The Next Chapter Begins

The days that have lead to this point have been great, only minor setbacks
have been encountered. The first one showed up just after the wedding, when
one of my dock neighbors noticed that my bilge pump was cycling-- Often !
Too Often ! So back on the trailer we went , just for a day. Dennis , Ronnie
and myself  resealed the suspected source, "The Mercathode units" and back 
in the water we go. And "Voila" !!!! no drips ---- Sweet.

In doing all the work inside and outside the boat, some smaller issues that
came to light were just put on a separate list and held for a future date.
These are not earth shattering repairs, with most of them, the time to get the
tools collected and site prepared will take longer than the repairs themselves. 
The small repairs are not keeping us from using the boat at all.
So lately we have had the pleasure to make some short trips around
the Alton pool,  we well experienced captains know this area as Alton Lake. 
That's for real and you can check me on that.
Matter of fact on the Missouri side just above My River Home is an old harbor
called Alton Lake Yacht Club , some friends of mine kept a small Gibson
house boat there years ago. Which brings me to say that in our recent
travels I have also had the pleasure of meeting some of you. Our last outing
included a stop at the Larosa Cabana ( rapidly becoming one of our favorites)
where we were greeted by Mike Hentrik  ( hope that's right) who like us, 
likes the the Larosa and introduced himself as someone who has read us since the 
beginning. Mike  you have no idea how flattered we are and really hope that we
see you again. As we stretch our nautical legs a little more each time we go out
our trust factor in the Fuelishness increases as does our satisfaction in a job
well done.

The Fuelishness is behind the band at the courtesy dock of the "Larosa Cabana Bar"

There is so much I could say about a job well done.
Which brings some interesting points to light. First let me say that I'm not 
some self made expert or dock side know -it - all. Heck I'm not even Captain Ron.
But like many of you "or at least the ones who know who Captain Ron is", i'd like 
to be Captain Ron, minus the sailboat anyway. We all know the value of a job done
well , and what is a job well done? I think we all might answer that question a
little differently,I mean that each of us may see a difference in the comfort level given. 

Well anyway I must say that I have truly learned a lot about all things marine during 
the past months. A couple of points that have came up really hit home and I figured
that I would share them with you. 

The first point is trust, yes trust. Its a given in our sport. We must trust the vendors 
who we spend money with. Face facts guys ,if you don't trust the people you are spending
your money with , why are you spending your money with them? Talk to fellow boaters,
get references, look at work that was done for other people, be objective. Because once the 
money is spent its real hard to get it back. When I was a little kid at the store my dad he 
always said "Son - choose well -- cause you cant spend that money twice" 
Either way its good advise.

The last point is to me the most obvious and probably the easiest one to make life simple.
Look at the work and ask questions about it , and  require intelligent answers to your 
questions. Learn a little something about the work your asking for, (ie do your homework)
so your questions have substance. But I cant stress this enough,,, Look at the work, do a visual 
inspection. This is where my hardest lesson was learned. Before my boat went in the 
water I should have said "STOP" don't launch it !!! I want to see the work. 
Once it went in the water the work was hidden from sight. We are not boating in the 
Bahamas, we cant put on a mask and inspect the bottom or drives or any underwater gear.
How is that relevant to anything ?
When it came out of the water it was extremely obvious that things were a miss. 
I guess what I'm saying is Stevie Wonder couldn't miss this. A visual inspection would have
created questions that would have required answers and corrections, I firmly believe the
out come would have been different, The long term effect anyway.  Enough about that.

I have had a great time with Suzanne re-creating the Fuelishness  and If you asked me if 
I would do it again I would say yes. 


Up Next :  Lets just go Boating  
     
    
     

        

A Boat Wedding ???

The shakedown cruise proved to be a great evening with the guys,
Now we have Dustin listed as one of the guys, WOW I feel old.
But that's OK . Dustin is really a great young man . Dennis I'm sure
is proud. For those who don't know Dustin , he's Dennis' son and being 
just one year older than my own son Dylan I can relate , It's always
great to have either of the boys along for the ride. 
So as I mentioned in my earlier post it was a dual duty shakedown and
since the boat felt good and the spot was perfect, I sure seems that it's
game on. Or in this case wedding on!
After washing and provisioning the boat on Friday afternoon we excitedly 
waited for the wedding moment to be upon us. Now you must understand 
that I didn't rebuild the Fuelishness for this task, but since the timing was
right ,it was time to stand and deliver. 
Saturday came and Wedding day was here !!! Suzanne and I slipped into
our finest boating attire and headed for the boat. Many people were already 
at the marina and on J dock preparing for the moment. We boarded our guests
for the 4:00 cruise and cast off. Our mission now was to mark the spot and
gather the other boats around us. It wasn't long and we had a hook in the
bottom and boats tied to both sides several wide. In the distance we saw the
wedding boat approaching. The excitement began to build and in no time we
had the Cuda tied to the stern cleats of the Fuelishness.

This is the Cuda backing up to us with Capt Dave Wickenhauser at the controls.
By the way Dave made this look real easy, it wasn't , and being the pro that he is
he never let us see him sweat. Thanks Dave

So once we were all in place the wedding began with Judge  Grounds great statement
"Ladies and Gentleman, fellow Boaters" we are gathered here today !!!  Well you know the
rest and it was exciting, and maybe even a few tears of joy were shed. Personally I'm
very happy for my friend and his wife, I think they make a nice couple !!!!

                                  Truly a moment I was proud to share with my friends !!!

    Now with everyone happily married and Steel drum music in the background we
toasted to the newlyweds and bid them farewell as they cruised back to Alton Marina
for the reception.

  We took the long way home and went for a well deserved ride with a wonderful sunset
to follow, the time spent with friends is always the best.

It was a great night for boating and a wedding and we were treated to a 
drop dead killer sunset. Few things in life are as sweet as the time we spend 
with our friends. ( I know I said it twice). 
This does kind of bring us full circle and that gets me to a point that I wish 
to share some thoughts with everyone. 


Next Up :    The Next Chapter Begins  

                 

A Shakedown Cruise

Billy eased the Fuelishness back into the water, I fired the engines and
checked for leaks. Nothing appeared out of order and the sweet
humm of the supercharged 502's had the hair on back of my neck
standing on end. We all talked and waited as the engines temp
gauges crept ever closer to operating temprature, after a few
more minutes I did a final check and closed the engine hatch.
As I did I felt the boat slide fully off the trailer. We were now
floating free of the trailer and on our own, back in the element
from which we had came. I rounded up the crew and cast off.
As we headed out to the channel our mission was dual purpose
of sorts, our primary mission was to shakedown the Fuelishness
and find any weak spots in her armour that we needed to tweak.
But the secondary purpose we were out to fullfill was to find a 
beautiful spot in the river for my long time friend Dennis Berry
to get married, thats right married !!!  
So we cruised for a bit and Dennis pointed to spot in the river  that
we don't often stop at but has a great view of the bridge. I pulled 
the throttles back and we explored the area looking  for good depth
and slow current. We found what we all agreed would be the ideal
setting. I took some mental notes of land points as the plans we have 
for Dennis and Jessie's wedding include me being the first on scene
to mark the spot for others to gather. More on that later.
Right now I'm ready for a boat ride...

And I cant think of a better crew to have : Dennis and Dustin Berry 
with Ronnie Thorp manning the camera.
             
Join us for the shakedown ride---click the link below---Courtesy of Ronnie Thorp
 https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=522501287826790&set=vb.100002007693402&type=2&theater

It was a great day !!!!

Up Next : A Boat Wedding ???

Take me to the River

The day wore on and problems seemed small after the garage door affair.
Small things came and went all day ,like zippers on the Bimini top that
 just gave up due to age. Thank god for Paul Buntenbach, after the first
zipper split open I called him and he came down and stitched them closed
so we could use the top. Paul is the upholstery person we used to create
our custom Tommy Bahama bedding and pillows. Paul is super talented
and is capable of doing just about anything and is best known for custom
enclosures and his EisenGlass work is second to none.
At the end of the day around 5pm Billy came back and we started our trek
to the river, Ron Thorp joined us and helped out strapping the boat to the 
trailer. 

The way Billy had the Fuelishness strapped down you would have thought we going
to Lake of the Ozarks. When I questioned Billy about this and if it was over kill, he
responded that it makes no difference if its 5 miles or 500 miles, the process is the same.
I seem to always learn something new and this day would be no different, Billy
explained to me that if the boat was snug on the trailer not only is it safer, but the
trailer flex is reduced and the possibility of failure is also minimized. After the fact
I realized that the answer is really pretty obvious. " Here's your sign " .

So strapped and ready to roll here we are. The moments to come will be some of the
happiest and proudest in a long time. People often opine that the 2 happiest days
of a boat owner are the day you buy one and the day you sell one. I must say that
today does qualify as one of those happy days in a boaters life. Between all of  us and
for lack of better words, we will add "the day you relaunch one" and say there
are 3 days involved.
So we hit the road for a 15 minute ( If that) drive to the marina.

On the way to the marina I followed the Fuelishness and during the ride I thought
about all the time and effort that went into the project and the new people we met during
the reconstruction. I wondered if the boat would be somehow transformed and different.
When we got to the marina and Billy backed me into the water I got my answer.



Up Next : A Shake Down Cruise


  

                 
 
 

Launch Day - All Day

Launch day started early, around 8:30 am I think it was when the Truck
rolled into the parking lot and proceeded to align with the trailer.
In thought , Billy and I had figured that pulling out was no big deal,
We figured the big deal was getting in. (Calling to mind "a very Lucky Guess")
from almost the very beginning of the blog. What was to happen next would 
surely go down in history as one of my most head scratching moments ever.
Billy backed in and hooked up to the trailer , he and I are talking and
laughing in a very light hearted way as we begin to slowly creep the 
Fuelishness ever closer to the outside. As the windshield passed under the 
garage door opening the arch scraped the brackets that attach the 
garage door to the opener, I yelled to Billy to stop. 
I looked at the top of arch , the scratch was minor but the confusion was 
beginning to mount, because when the boat came in the arch was nowhere 
near the opener. The light heartedness of the moment began to fade away
and be replaced by two guys looking at the arch which is now almost 4 inches
higher than the door opening. Yes that's right 4 inches too tall. How does this
happen? This is the same doorway we came through months ago and all we did
was bend the rain deflector and shazam we were in. What to do - What to do???
I'm beginning to sweat (really) thinking maybe we will have to lift the boat and
drop the trailer bunks , but we don't really have that much clearance from the
boat to trailer fenders. What to Do??  What to Do??
I'm kinda staring at the arch and standing on the side of the boat with my head
right up by the top of garage door, I mean I'm eye balling the heck out of this 
problem , like staring at it is going to make it go away. 
Then I hear billy ask one of my shop techs if they have a valve core tool. 
The slow hiss of air from the rear tires seems to make no difference and I begin to 
contemplate how we are going lift this boat. Billy asks about the height, I say
no change. The air hiss now begins from the center tires , we wait, I watch and
after a few minutes of that staring thing , I think its working --- maybe.
I move away from the arch and look over the side to check on the tires and talk
to Billy for a moment, He tells me to check the arch again as the tires are getting
prety low. Once I get up there and  look I'm shocked because it looks like we are
with in an inch to an inch and a half of clearing. Now as I watch I slide my hand
up on top of the arch, we are for sure with in an inch or less. Billy stops the
air flow of the rear tires and we wait for the centers to catch up, and as they do
we now have the arch just level with the opening.
We need another inch to inch and a half to clear all of it.
The rush of air starts again and now I can see the arch move quickly down to a 
point that I'm sure we will clear. Billy now locks off the valves and starts up the truck.
Slowly we creept out  , getting under the door easily. Once the arch was out we stopped
and re-aired the tires. 

                                     This shure beat lifting the boat and dropping the bunks.

So into the daylight we now rolled, this was the first time  the Fuelishness has been in
the sun in almost 2 seasons. All the buffing and waxing that looked good inside the
building would now be put to the final test. I have worked under the shop lights and
proofed everything with a sun gun, but how would I do under the real sunlight ???

I pondered this question as I climbed down out of the boat , walked slightly away
and turned to find that my hard work had paid off -- Big Time !!!
The Fuelishness has never looked this good the entire time we owned her.
                   

       


Next Up: Take me to the River

             

Launch Day

I could have sworn that I would have been able to post a little something
everyday, but not so. These last days have taken on a life of there own.
It seems that once the boat came out of the building the project intensity
really jumped up there, way up there. So I have decided that I will post this
short snippet so that you know that we have not abandoned the blog and
to also say that the Fuelishness is in her dock at Alton. We could not be happier.


Next Up: Launch Day - All Day