Our new boat

TEST

2008-05-20T13:57:00.003-05:00

Small below...

Medium below...

Large below...

Original below...

Test

2008-03-12T13:26:00.001-05:00

This is a test.

Boating is upon us...

2007-04-25T13:22:00.000-05:00

Yes...it has been awhile since my last post, but there was just nothing to post about. Now there is....BOATING!!!!!!

We met Cameron and Amy at the Kaskaskia River last Saturday. They stored their boat there and were getting it for the season. It was a perfect time for us to get both boats in and tested.

Take a look at some pics from the day...

What is Mindy doing? Is she trying to get in the water? It's still cold this time of year...

We'll hopefully get out this weekend as well. Plans are for a nice cruise Saturday if chores are completed beforehand.

Anchorman or Talladega Nights?

2007-01-26T13:00:00.000-06:00

Ok. Last night there was a debate amongst us regarding which Will Farrell movie was better...Anchorman or Talladega Nights. Tom and Justin were advocates of Mr. Burgandy while I spoke for Mr. Bobby. Now...both movies do have the humor, as well as stupidity...however, I just couldn't let them sway me to their side. I just think Anchorman has more boring parts to it that I don't care for. Sure...Anchorman seems to have more 1-liners and quotes in it than Talladega Nights, but I enjoyed the latter a little more. What does everyone else think?

Not much action this past week. We were able to pull a 6-5 victory in darts last night...much better than our previous 2 weeks, but there's still room for improvement. If there was a trophy for the team that argues the most though...we would definitely win that! Ah well...the Nautical Thugz wouldn't be the Nautical Thugz if we didn't degrade each other and ridicule the masses. At least Tom focused most of his energy on Berk last night and didn't harrass any female patrons for their lack of intelligence or style...that's a plus!!

On another positive note...we're now 1 week closer to the 2007 boating season than last week's blog.

With all due respect...and I mean...with all due respect.

2007-01-19T12:56:00.000-06:00

Well, week 2 of darts is in the books and we didn't fare much better than last week. There were just a couple shimmers of hope, but not much. Now...I love my fellow Thugz and consider it an honor to be a part of their team, but after 2 weeks I'm the only one on the team with a singles victory. Not that its a bad thing, but B2 here we come!

Off the subject of darts and on to the good stuff...the St. Charles Boat Show begins today and runs through Sunday. The Thugz gents are going to be in attendance on Sunday for a few hours of browsing and getting that winter "fix" in. After that we'll have the big one...the St. Louis Boat Show...just a few weeks later.

In the meantime, I've been curbing my boating appetite lately by purchasing some equipment for the boat that I'll be installing before the Tahoe hits the water this spring. I already purchased an amp (more power to the speakers Captain!) and its partially installed. I'm just in need of the power wire and such and that should be arriving in the mail anyday. I also bought an MP3 player the other day. I've got a jack on the boat that it can plug into for our musical enjoyment throughtout the days. My other purchase so far is battery cables. I'm going to be installing a 2nd battery on the boat (to power the amp) so I've got to get all the cables and components for that. Sometime in the near future I'll be getting the battery switch and I'll be able to wire the badboys together.

There's a few other items that will be purchased in the coming months. I still have to get a spare tire, a spare tire mount for the trailer, and the granddaddy of them all...a customer snap-on cover for the boat. I tried the "one size fits all" covers and they just don't cut it. I'd recommend to anyone buying a boat to give up the extra $$$ to have one installed on the boat when you buy it.

That's it for now...

And so the new dart session begins...

2007-01-12T12:02:00.000-06:00

Well...now is the time of year where the Nautical Thugz begin their last leg of the offseason and enter the Winter session of darts. By the time playoffs arrive, we are into April and we usually see that perfect weekend of 80 degree weather.

Last night was our first match...and boy was it rough. We had been practicing over the break, but that didn't seem to help much. Despite a great showing from Justin in 1001 (scoring 451 of the teams points), we were still defeated handily by a 1-10 showing. In our defense, the team we played came down from A2 division...and not much of the games we lost were by many marks. Another strong dart here or there could have made it a more interesting match. My singles match blew as well. I was able to come back a little and scathe by my 301 game. I pretty much manhandled my opponent in Cricket until I proceeded to throw like a 12 year old and let him come back in Bullseyes. Then, in 501, it was a close game, but he was able to seal the deal first.

Anyway...T minus 25 day until the 2007 St. Louis Boat Show. I will be there to view the newest boats on the market and, as Cameron stated it, to renew my subscriptions to Motor Boating and some other one. Later...

Sweet Sassy Molassy...

2007-01-05T12:43:00.000-06:00

Yes...because Cam updated his blog I've got to follow suit and copy him. So here it is.

The Cardinals are the 2006 World Series Champs! Let's see if they can repeat. For all you Cubs lovers out there, there is a glimmer of hope in your horizon. Tom forwarded me an excerpt from an article that was on Stlcardinals.com. The article was a story looking back at 2006 which had comments by writers for different ballclubs. There's one that stuck out...

From Carrie Muskat, cubs beat writer, "Mark Prior and Kerry Wood led the Majors in simulated games in 2006. Hopefully, that will change in the new year."

Poor, poor Cubs...always trying to find hope in an ever so hopeless scenario! Anyway, that was a pretty funny comment.

Well, I guess I'll try to stay on top of my blogging now. Maybe an update weekly until boating season arrives, then a more up-to-date blog as the season goes.

Go Cardinals!

2006-10-03T08:44:00.000-05:00

Yes...believe it or not, this is an update to my blog. After a couple months of internet connection woes, laziness, and lack of interest, I am back with a post on the blog. The boating season is winding down, but there is still plenty to talk about. The wife and I (along with Mindy) made it out on the river Sunday. It was a gorgeous day...high of about 87...and it turned out to be a relaxing trip. Not sure if we'll get the Tahoe out again this year, but will sure try.

Anyway, today begins the first day of the 2006 MLB Postseason. Eight team vying for the title of World Champions, and of course, the St. Louis Cardinals are back in the running again. Sure...the team is not as promising this year as the last couple of years, but I've definitely seen worse teams shine this time of year and make it all the way. Their first opponent is the San Diego Padres. The Padres are a strong team and have had some great pitching the last month to bring them into the postseason with some spark. Let's hope the Cards get some timely pitching of their own and some key hits to defeat the NL West Champions.

I'll try to keep this blog updated as much as possible. I have just recently upgraded my internet to a high-speed 3mb connection so I should be able to spend less time logging on a updating a post. The boating offseason posts may consist of dart league updates, MLB Postseason and offseason news, randon useless knowledge, and probably some boating articles to keep us yearning for the 2007 summer to arrive. And you never know, I may dig into my 2006 archives of pictures (that I never posted) and throw some out there to reminisce. That's it for now. I'll post with you later. Go Cards!

We just couldn't resist...

2006-07-24T12:32:00.000-05:00

According to my last post, the Nautical Thugz were planning to take the weekend off from boating and catch up on some house chores. Well, all those plans went south when Cam and I each put in a hard day of labor on Saturday. Saturday was wonderful and at about 2pm...5 or so hours into deck/fence work...I thought to myself, "What the h^ll am I doing? Why are we not on the boat?" Anyway, later on after a good night of drinking, Cameron and I both determine that it would be in our best interest to hit the river on Sunday and enjoy the sun. And so we hit the river on Sunday, and enjoyment was had.

Cameron decided he'd take the family truckster out and myself, Colleen, Berk and Mindy tagged along for the ride. Yes...the wife and I left the Tahoe at home and mooched off of Cameron. But, to make up for it, I did buy him a big soda at QT and gave him one of my fantastic Ricochet energy drinks! The day was relaxing. We first cruised up towards Winfield and anchor in a cove for a few hours and threw the frisbee. Later, we headed down to Iowa Island and saw an abundance of boats filling up the beach. We ended up staying away from most of the crowd and just hit the next sandbar. We stayed there the rest of the day until the cooler ran empty.

During our stay on that sandbar, we did get to converse with a couple other 'What's up on the River" chatters. As we all say, the infamous Stl_Boater_Man himself, Rob, anchored up for a few cold ones and shared some good stories from the past couple weeks. He was even generous enough to provide me with a cigar to add to the blissful day! It turned out that we were also beached next to JBonz 67 (Jesse). He's new to the posting forum, but I'm sure he'll become known to all as well. He had some "not-so-good" stories from last weeked, but was still in good spirits to enjoy the day with his family.

Well, as I said earlier, once the cooler ran dry (we even had to drink some girlie fufu drinks because the beer was gone!) we headed back to Two Branch to trailer the boat. The day was a success and I wish all of them turned out like that. Until next time...See you on the river.

Still no pictures...

2006-07-20T14:11:00.000-05:00

My laziness has become extreme lately. I really don't feel like downloading the pictures onto the computer so for now...still no picture. Well, this weekend is turning out to be a boatless weekend. With the price of gas on the rise and upcoming lake trips we have, its hard for me to accept spending $150 for a tank of gas in the boat right now. This weekend will probably be filled with house chores that have already been put off from previous boating. On the bright side, we do have a pool so I'll still have a way to cool off during the day. This weekend can also be spend relaxing. The following weekends are booked with plans so we'll probably be busy for the next month or so...

July 22/23- Do some house chores and relax.
July 29/30- Lake of the Ozarks trip with the wife and in-laws
Aug 5/6- The wife's 10 year high school reunion and such.
Aug 12/13- Friends weekend down at Table Rock Lake
Aug 19/20- Jamaica Daze River Bash.

New energy drink. Good for boating...

2006-07-18T12:49:00.000-05:00

I was up in Wisconsin (outskirts of Milwaukee) for a wedding this past weekend and found a new energy drink. The drink is GREAT! and is similar to Red Bull, however, it contains alcohol..6% by volume. The price is good...about 50 cents a can (so I stocked up on 4 boxes of it), and it seems to be a good drink to start off a day of boating...to get you up and moving and ready for steady beer drinking. The drink is called Ricochet. It's a private label drink produced by Albertson's grocery stores. Below is a picture of the drink and a small bio I copied from Bottlewatch.com back in January of this year...

Ricochet is a new alcoholic energy drink produced by Albertsons grocery stores.The citrus-flavored beverage, with 6 percent alcohol by volume, combines Siberian ginseng, guarana, and caffeine, to produce an energized drunken stupor. Albertson's is the first retailer to market its own private labeled alcoholic energy drink.Packaged in a sleek, eye-catching red and gold, 8.4 fl. oz slim-line can, Ricohet is available exclusively at over 2,000 licensed Albertsons and Albertsons banner stores (Jewel-Osco, Sav-on drugs, Osco Drug, Shaw's and Express Stores) across the country this month.

Back to the being in Wisconsin part. I wish I had brought the boat with me. I had no idea that the wedding was going to be at Concordia University- Wisconsin. It turns out that the University sits on Lake Michigan and our hotel was only 20 minutes away! I could have enjoyed Saturday morning cruising the lake before the wedding. After all, I was not part of the wedding so no one would have missed me if I had just happened to run late or not show up to it at all.

Lazy...

2006-07-06T15:53:00.000-05:00

I haven't gotten around to downloading the camera pictures from the weekend. Too lazy I guess. I'll probably get around to it sometime this weekend so check the blog out next week for some pictures. Tomorrow's blog will probably be much of this same babbling. I've really got nothing on my mind now so its difficult finding what to say. Anyway, checkout Cam's blog (altonpool.blogspot.com) to get a story on the happenings over the weekend. Colleen and I went with her parents down to Kentucky on Friday night to see my parents again. We came back on Sunday and you can read on his blog how the rest of the weekend filtered out. We ended up spending Tuesday night at Cam's house sitting in the driveway and watching him and his neighbors shoot off about $1000 worth of fireworks.

More email hilarity?...

2006-07-05T12:27:00.000-05:00

With all of our group's passion for being nautical and in the process of some of us getting new boats this year, Tom and Stephanie have begun to think more seriously about purchasing their own boat. They want to have the freedom to go out on their own, enjoy some quality time together, and be able to bring their dogs with them. In this process, they have initiated the debate of "what type of boat to get". Should they get a bowrider, cuddy, deckboat, jon boat, or even a performance ski/wakeboard boat? We don't know...but so far, it appears the leading contender is the performance ski/wakeboard boat. Back at the boat show in January, Tom feasted his eyes on the spacious, not overly expensive Moomba Mobius LSV and they've been leaning towards it ever since. Not a bad choice, however, to add to the confusion of Tom's decision is the fact that he does NOT wakeboard. Well, he can get up on one (for a short time), but I would consider that more "survival from faceplanting" than "wakeboarding". Now, Stephanie can wakeboard, nothing in terms of fakeys or flips, but would get SOME use of the boat's facilities. One day, during some random friendly banter between Tom, Cameron, and myself, I decided to create some dialogue that Tom would encounter if he were to purchased said Mobius.
You gotta know Tom to really enjoy the comedy, but it's still good...

A stranger at the marina: Nice boat!
Tom: Thanks...just got her this spring.
Stranger: What kind of engine you got in that?
Tom: Ah...an Indmar 350. Runs great.
Stranger: I bet you get some great wake off that.
Tom: I wouldn't know....I still haven't gotten up yet.
Stranger: WHat?
Tom: Yeah, I've only be doing this for a couple years and have only been able to get out of the water once, and that was only for a couple seconds.
Stranger: Ok....keep practicing I guess...
Tom: It's hard man, you try it. It hurts my rotar-cuff, but my fiance/wife does good.
Stranger: At least someone gets something out of it.
Tom: Hey...I love it. It's got this spot under the seat for my beer cooler, and listen to this horn...**sounds like a barge horn***...that's some horn...not like my friend's family truckster
Stranger: Anything else you like.
Tom: uh...I can stand in the water and get stuff out of the front area since there's no seat there. That's cool too.
Stranger: I see.
Tom: Gotta go, my buddies just showed up. The 3 of us are going to slowly cruise by trailer parks and camp sites with my waketower speakers/subs blaring and yell for the b^tchs...you wanna join us? There's room for 16.
Stranger: Can I wakeboard on it then?
Tom: Uh...I don't have a wakeboard.
Stranger: WHAT! No wakeboard?
Tom: I just borrow my buddy's. They're expensive and I already spent a buttload on this boat.
Stranger: Ok then...nice talking to you. Enjoy your glorified pontoon boat!
Tom: I will...I will. Now...where should I put this extra beer? Ah...in one of these stupid compartments that's suppose to hold the wakeboards. Aces!

Keeping with the theme...

2006-06-30T09:03:00.000-05:00

Well, to keep with yesterday afternoon's impulse blog I decided to go back in time (about a month or so ago) and pull another ridiculing email I sent Tom. It's about Tom and Stephanie (I'd post a picture of them, but can't get the upload thing to work). A pathetic, greatly affectionate, happy couple who still oogle over each other because they are "in love". That'll change in a few years. Then they'll just argue with each other about who snores the most or who has the biggest farts. Anyway, they are engaged now and the big day is May 19, 2007. Soooooooo...because they are the pathetic, greatly affectionate, happy couple that they are, they had a "negative 1 year anniversary" for each other on May 19 of this year. That same day was a Friday night that the guys were supposed to drink beer and play wiffle ball. Imagine the frustration us guys had to endure to hear Tom say that he couldn't do anything that night because he had his "negative 1 year anniversary". On that note...I decided to unleash the below email to the guys to show Tom how lame that "negative 1 year anniversary" idea was. Enjoy...

Well...Tom knew about the negative 1 year anniversary last week and didn't mention them spending "quality" time together. I will be at his house around 7:30 to prep the field. Them going to a movie does not stop the world for me. I'll be playing with Brighton and Colton if I have to.

To pull a Sellner...what the F about the negative 1 year anniversary anyway? What kind of stupidly, whipped, girly-boy actually acknowledges and supports an idiotic anniversary like that? Like 50 years is your golden anniversary, and 5 years is paper or something like that. What the F is for the negative 1 year occasion...a kick to the junk? Because you're stupid enough to be getting married in a year, but she's still able to rope you into something as senseless as negative 1 year. Man...what a pansy!

Just give it about 6-8 more months and he'll start turning away guys nights at POs because he's busy making paper mache butterfly centerpieces for the reception. Tom...should I plan on buying you a new "pair" for your wedding gift? Apparently, Stephanie has already seemed to have taken your current ones. Man...negative 1 year anniversary...everytime I say it I get more confused. How did Tom...master "de"bater...one who mocks all and fears none...go from the verge of greatness to being a sick puppy under the rule of Mistress Stephanie and her whips of torture? I don't know...I just don't know. I guess this means we're going to have to kick the bachelor party up a notch...BAMM...Emeril style! Put the man back into thoMAs sellNer.

By popular request...

2006-06-29T16:24:00.000-05:00

Well, apparently Cameron had a long night of drinking and more drinking with "The Bad Influence" aka his brother-in-law (my cousin) Justin. Our ususal guys night at the local watering hole is in jeopardy because he may be "too sick" to go out. Here is his email to Tom and I...

I don't know if its the buffalo chicken I ate for lunch or all the shots I had last night. If my stomach doesn't start feeling better I'm probably going to skip this weeks committee meeting. I transfer my votes to Tom.

Well, I didn't like that statement so I responded with some rude comments of my own. Tom liked my response so he requested I post it on the blog for the whole world to see. Soooo, here is my response to Cam's lame excuse...

Sorry...skipping tonight's meeting is not an option. I don't give a sh^t if you are currently drenched in honey and bees are swarming you from head to toe, or if your left testicle just fell out of your sack because you just ripped a hole in it trying to quickly zip up your pants. By skipping the committee meeting you relenquish all your rights to any voting or ruling ever made in the future. In fact, you lose all right to your own boat! We say when, where, how, why and what happens with your boat. I'm already thinking of the new name- FAMILY TRUCKSTER in big bright lime green letters! Just because your sorry, stupid a$$ decided to go out with the bad influence last night does not give you any "pansy" excuse to skip tonight. What did you think was going to happen last night? You guys would sit in front of the nice cozy fire and knit a quilt? Idiot...you were the one who gave him the "bad influence" name. Maybe you should learn to not give in to peer pressure and say, "no Justin, guys day is on Thursday. If you want to go out on Thursday, then meet us at POs". My God! I'm having flashbacks of Vietnam...or last month. Do you remember the "negative 1 year anniversary" crap. Holy crap...I'm having a coronary right now just thinking of how equally lame of an excuse you gave below as Tom's "negative 1 year" bullsh^t. What gives man? That's it. I am currently stabbing myself with a pen thinking that this makes more sense than you saying "If my stomach doesn't start feeling better I'm probably going to skip this weeks committee meeting.". I'm speachless right now...freakin speachless! You know. I'm going to go ahead and give you the benefit of the doubt right now. Instead of taking a shovel to your head the night time I see you, I'm going to go ahead and just hit you with a stale piece of bread with strawberry jelly on it. That way you get crumbs all over yourself and you'll have to take a shower. So much for "Cameron's last hoorah" Even though they'll probably be more "last hoorahs" in the future. I was really looking forward to it...congratulating you for real, shaking your hand, beating you in darts, talking about giving you a shot but not really doing it because I don't want to spend the $5 for the jeagerbomb. Anyway, I'll call you later Tom to have OUR committee meeting and determine future plans for our new acquisition...The Smokercraft!

Well, since I started this blog. Cameron responded to me. Its a good one as well. Here it is...

Bravo, well done Todd. Sometimes people only need a little motivation to get them going. Like Rocky. He didn't really die. He got busted in a child pornography ring so he faked his own death while giving Rocky the inspiration to defeat Mother Russia. In the end they both win. Rocky developed brain aneurysms but went on to have a lucrative movie career while Apollo ran off to Mexico and is probably making money as a Congo tour guide. Which of course he's doing miserable at because he has yet to find the Congo in Mexico. I know it makes no sense but it did let me waste 2 minutes while a query finished.

Ah...good times!

More from Kentucky...

2006-06-29T14:25:00.000-05:00

I need to find a better way have easy access to my camera when we're on the boat. I always have it in a bag or in the glove box so I foget to take a lot of pictures. My supply from last weekend is pretty pathetic so here are just a few more from our enjoyment at the sandbar...

We hung out and drank.

We played football.

We floated in the water.

We pee'd in the water.

We even had my parents out there with us.

And, I finally figured out how Cameron is able to get his hair so blonde...he doesn't even use the spray nozzle!!!!

The sun prevailed over the storms...

2006-06-27T11:41:00.000-05:00

As noted in my previous blogs, this past weekend found us staying at my parents house down at Kentucky Lake. Althought the forecast was pretty dismal, the weather turned out to be pretty fantastic once the boats hit the water. There were only a few times where the clouds covered the skies, but they passed fairly quickly. Some of the members of the group experienced moments of sickness that halted their enjoyment at times, but everyone was able to overcome the illnesses and make the best of it.

Our first 2006 journey on the lake found us casually cruising the area scouting territory. We found our way into the quarry where we saw a few cliff jumpers and some of the famous graffitti lined walls. After that, we founds ourselves a very nice sandbar in the next cove over and enjoyed some riveresque relaxation.

More to come later...

2006-06-22T13:39:00.000-05:00

Yeah...so it's sort of a slow boat reporting day. The thunderstorms are coming into the area and all I can think about is the weekend being washed out, and I keep getting mad. Anyway, to curb your appetite for a post today, I copied the below article from Discoverboating.com about the top reasons for boating. So...for those of you who aren't sure about the joys of boating...I hope this makes it more clear. My comments/additions are in RED.

Top Reasons for Boating
Whether you want to rent or buy a boat, over a dozen studies have shown that being with family and friends (mostly friends), relaxing, drinking beer and being outdoors and close to nature are the primary reasons people spend time on the water. Recreation with family doesn't have to mean spending a fortune on a theme park vacation in order to have an experience that everyone will enjoy. Should you decide to buy a boat, the monthly payments can often be less than $200 (if you're lucky), which is well worth the improvement in quality of life.

Boating is about Family
Work. School. Music lessons. Sports practice. Ever feel like your family is being pulled in a million different directions? Bring them back together with recreational boating.
Time spent on a boat is quality time. Whether you're fishing, swimming, tubing or just cruising along taking in the scenery, you're having fun together (or fighting...which is fun too). You're not waiting in long lines, under the hot sun, bickering about what ride to go on next.
Out on the water there are no distractions. You can focus on each other. You can have conversations. Share stories. Laugh. Drink beer and bbq. Reconnect and create memories that will last a lifetime.
Life really is better on a boat. DEFINITELY!

Boating Lets You Relax
It's hard not to relax when you're on a boat. Out on the water there are no faxes. No computers. No interruptions. There is the open water. The fresh air. The beer. The sun warming your face and the Sun-In coloring your hair! And a sense of freedom and adventure you can't find anywhere else.
Whether looking for blissful, deadline-free days or pulse-quickening adventures, you can find them with recreational boating. After all, you're the captain when you buy your own boat (you got that right! none of the pleab crap Cameron!). The only rules are the ones that you make. And you're free to break those.
With a boat, great getaways are just a weekend away. You may be just a few miles from home, but it feels like you're a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of your daily routine.
Go boating—and find the freedom to be your best.

You'll never catch your limit of fun
Buy a boat, and you'll never catch your limit of fun (or beer). There are always new places to explore. Bigger fish to catch. Bigger fires to be made! Friends to be found. And new memories to be made.
Reeling in the big one, catching a wave off the board or just taking in the scenery, after a full day of fun on the water, it's easy to remember why it's called the "Great Outdoors".

Kentucky Lake

2006-06-21T13:08:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday was a blast, excluding the domestic disputes that brewed up in the afternoon. We ended up having a large group attend the festivities and we were able to miss any storms that were lingering in the air. Unfortunately, I was never around my camera so I have no pictures to share of the day.

Well...this weekend's schedule has the Nautical Thugz heading down to Kentucky Lake for some out-of-state Sun and Fun! We will be staying at my parent's house in Paducah and making the short 30 minute trip to the lake each day. There should also be a good time with some relaxing evenings enjoying the friends and forgetting the stresses that will await us back at home.

Kentucky Lake has their own version of "Party Cove" as well. It's called the Quarry and our group may just have to check it out this weekend. Here's a picture of a string of boats in the Quarry from KentuckyLake.com

I've also found a couple of other picture from the website that might be interesting to view. A beautiful sunset overlooking Lake Barkley (looks very peaceful), and the other picture on the right looks like something Berk would love to see. He would probably even enjoy hanging with the Mateys! I too think it'd be cool to see that pirate ship sailing down the Lake.

A week ago today...

2006-06-15T12:20:00.000-05:00

Well, I can't believe it's already been a week since last Thursday's evening jaunt to the river, but hey..that just means there's only 1 more day left until this weekend arrives. Because it's the 1 week anniversary I'm going to post a couple of pictures of the evening. First, I took an extended picture of the Iowa beach around 7:30pm to show how large the group was. The other picture is one of the sunset with Mindy and Colleen posing for the camera (who's that loser in the background, and what is he trying to do? Who invited that guy?!)

Well...nothing spectacular going on right now. Make sure you check out Cameron's blog (altonpool.blogspot.com). His post today is a fine expose on the what can be accomplished on the yearly funds that are spent by women on coloring their hair. Wow...what a guy could do! The upcoming weekends plans are as follows...

Friday 6/16- The girls (Amy, Stephanie, Val) are going out on the Sea Doo for a girls day. It has been suggested by the guys to do a late afternoon meet up with them in the Tahoe after work. I haven't discussed it with Colleen, but we'll see.

Saturday 6/17- It sounds like a good sized crew will be boarding the Tahoe for sun and fun. Hopefully the thunderstorms hold off long enough (or all together) for a full day of fun.

Sunday 6/18- It's Father's Day and the forecast is for rain a good part of the day. Probably be time spent with family.

See you on the river...

Again, Back to the Future (or Past), whatever....

2006-06-14T10:36:00.000-05:00

Ok...I was able to slightly cure my complications with the dial-up connection and download some pictures from the past week or so. I was able to resize then to a small enough size that would allow me to upload the at a much faster rate.

Anyway...today's blast from the past takes us all the way back to Saturday June, 3rd. We launched both the Tahoe and Smokercraft that day and based most of our suntime at Iowa Island. If you still don't recall the day...it was the day I got the jumpstart from RiverBill. As soon as we got the boat running, we took a quick cruise up to the Winfield lock and dam to get the battery charged. We had the Smokercraft follow to make sure things were running smoothly. I was even able to click a couple of good "action" photos of the family truckster cruising alongside us...

That Saturday was also the day Amy realized that Cameron is a little unexperienced at swimming so she forced him to wear his lifejacket at all times while riding on the boat. Kind of reminds you of the days back when you rode the short bus to school...eh Cam?

As I said earlier, we ended the day with some socializing on Iowa Island. We were joined by our usual neighbors...Malibu Matt and his Mob, and had a great time throwing the football, grilling, and enjoying a few beverages. Nathan, Mandy and their friend Brian were able to join us for the day as well and spent some time cooling off in the shade.

Tomorrow's edition should feature pictures from last Thursday's night out...stay tuned!

Back to Memorial Day...

2006-06-13T10:12:00.000-05:00

Hello all...I tried to upload some pictures last night from the camera of our adventures on Thursday and Saturday of the previous week, but was forced to realize that dial-up connection SUCKS! I guess it is time to invest in DSL. Funny...you'd think someone who works for one of the largest providers of high speed internet connections would use his own product, but not so. Well, maybe soon.

Anyway, until the dial-up problem is correct I'll have to revert to prior pictures that have already been saved to CD. Today's feature is on the family. Back during Memorial Day weekend, for the first time, we were able to get both our families on the boat together. Sure...we maxed out the occupancy rating of 9 passengers, but we were still able to stay under the 1700lbs limit (even with the supplies)! Heck, we were even able to find room for 3 dogs! Below are some pictures of both my parents and Colleen's parents. We all enjoyed a nice leasurly float from just off the shore of Cedar Hill Resort downstream a couple of miles.

We also had Colleen's siblings (Mindy and Nathan) and Nathan's girlfriend (Mandy) on board. They were finally able to enjoy a nice sunny day, relaxing on the swim deck, and catching some tanning time.

And so I blog again...

2006-06-08T08:09:00.000-05:00

Sorry all...this week has been pretty hectic for me and I haven't had a chance to download last weekends pictures from the camera, let alone had time to post a blog.

Saturday was an awesome day and was well spent on the river...hanging with old friends, sitting on Iowa Island meeting new friends, and to top the morning off my boat got a jumpstart by none other that RiverBill himself (again, many thanks!). I'll be sure to post a few pictures that were taken.

Sunday was an off day as I had a family 50th wedding anniversary to attend. I know it doesn't compare to a day on the river, but I have to say, any 2 people who can put up with each others' CRAP for 50 years deserve some kind of party. Heck...I'm only going on 3 years!

Monday was a slightly momentus occasion. I saw the boat reach its 20 hour mark over the weekend so I dropped it off at the good people of Dan's Boats to inspect the engine/drive and change the oil. I wasn't too excited to see the $$$ total for the service, but I guess it's a small price to pay to make sure the system is running properly.

Well, that pretty much brings us to current. Tentative plans were that Cameron and Amy are taking the family truckster (Smokercraft) out for a Thursday night excursion, however, since the time I typed this blog, the tentative has changed to definite. The wife and I plan on joining them so it looks like we should be able to bring home some pictures from tomorrow as well.

And so I blog again...

2006-06-07T13:09:00.000-05:00

Sorry all...this week has been pretty hectic for me and I haven't had a chance to download last weekends pictures from the camera, let alone had time to post a blog.

Saturday was an awesome day and was well spent on the river...hanging with old friends, sitting on Iowa Island meeting new friends, and to top the morning off my boat got a jumpstart by none other that RiverBill himself (again, many thanks!). I'll be sure to post a few pictures that were taken.

Sunday was an off day as I had a family 50th wedding anniversary to attend. I know it doesn't compare to a day on the river, but I have to say, any 2 people who can put up with each others' CRAP for 50 years deserve some kind of party. Heck...I'm only going on 3 years!

Monday was a slightly momentus occasion. I saw the boat reach its 20 hour mark over the weekend so I dropped it off at the good people of Dan's Boats to inspect the engine/drive and change the oil. I wasn't too excited to see the $$$ total for the service, but I guess it's a small price to pay to make sure the system is running properly.

Well, that pretty much brings us to current. Tentative plans were that Cameron and Amy are taking the family truckster (Smokercraft) out for a Thursday night excursion tomorrow, however, since I started typing this blog, the tentative has changed to definite. The wife and I plan on joining them so it looks like we should be able to bring home some pictures from tomorrow as well.

The fun never ends...

2006-06-02T16:00:00.000-05:00

More photos from the weekend. These are a mixture from the 3 days. Just want to get some of the remaining good ones out there for those to enjoy. We should get some more from this upcoming weekend (maybe video too). We had some fine meals over the weekend.
Gotta show everyone the "kitchen" that
was created. Does it get any better than
this? And take a look behind the grill at our food
transport. If you ain't tubin'...

We also found some time to drink...pepsi? I can't see what is in our hands, but I'm pretty sure we were good this weekend. Maybe an occasional AB beverage.

We were also able to get some people to stop partying and just take the time for a nice snapshot. Like this one of Tom and Stephanie...

And what about Stephanie's impersonation of posing for the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She gets my vote!

Continued fun from the weekend...

2006-06-01T12:31:00.000-05:00

Today's pictures feature activity from Saturday. Colleen received a gift from my dad on Friday...a new competition slalom ski...so pictured below left is her first trial. Although the water was choppy, she was able to manage a good opening season run. In the center, you can see Stephanie ready for her run on the wakeboard posing with Amy (me pictured in the background with the beer...hmmm that's what most of my pictures feature). On the right, Stephanie is riding the wake.

As the day progressed, we found ourselves camped out behind two branch island. The crew started to prepare for the day of relaxation...

and Cameron made sure he found himself a nice place to rest...what a life!...

Back to reality...

2006-05-31T12:48:00.001-05:00

Ok. I didn't post yesterday because I didn't have enough time before hand to download the pictures and, quite frankly, I was just too tired. Anyway, now that we're back to reality, and the work week...here's a small dose of the weekend fun. More pictures will follow as the week continues.

Here's a great couple of pictures of the group on Sunday enjoying the shallow, wave-less waters behind two branch island. As promised Berk, take a look at the picture on the right; at the driver's seat. Someone's had a little too much fun!

Too far away for you to see? How about these closeups?...

and closer?

Ahhh...good times!

That's it from me...until tomorrow.

The weekend has arrived...

2006-05-26T09:46:00.000-05:00

Well kids, the weekend has finally arrived. I can just see the fun times to be had on the river this weekend. Pack the lunch, ice the beer, tell your friends...it's boating time! I'm sure the pictures will be plentiful when I post my next blog. Plenty of boating...plenty of wiffle ball...plenty of partying...and probably some skiing/wakeboarding. However, in the midst of all this fun, we need to make sure we are safe. There are going to be a lot of people out there doing the same thing as us, and some bad things are bound to happen. Keeping on the subject...take a look at this mishap...apparently the police report states the driver was "blinded by the lights of a passing sailboat". Whatever the case...it had to have hurt...

Here's what it looked like by the time it got back to the harbor...

See you all at the river. Have fun, be safe, and enjoy the ride!

Memorial Day...

2006-05-25T12:49:00.000-05:00

Because my camera lens has a big smudge on it, all my pictures suck. I need to make sure it is clean for this weekend's photos. Anyway, to stick with the topic of the upcoming weekend I was going to post some pictures of military memorials and such (you know...the real reason for the Monday holiday...not to give us an extra day of boating...although much appreciated), but didn't want to make this a somber affair. However, I did find this pretty cool picture of St. Louis back in 1891 on Memorial Day. I think you can see the Arch in the distance on the right, and Busch Stadium next to it.

I don't know. The photo was probably taken after the Cardinals just got done sweeping the Cubs in a 3 game set! Can't you see the 3rd guy from the right wearing the Cards hat?

Only 2 more days until all out bliss!!!

Her maiden voyage on the river...

2006-05-24T14:45:00.000-05:00

My pictures today are courtesy of our boat's first trip on the Mississippi River- Pool 26. We stopped at the sandbar on Iowa Island for a quick rest and got a couple of snapshots of her...

Plans continue for good old Memorial Day weekend. Cross your fingers...knock on wood...but all three days currently look rain free and will be pushing 90. If yesterday and today (warm/humid) are any indication of the forecast...then we're in for a great weekend!

Anyone looking for a new house?

2006-05-23T10:25:00.000-05:00

Today's picture is of Cameron's favorite house is Kentucky. This house is located in Paducah, Kentucky (about 2 miles from my parents house) and someone actually lives in it! It's pieced together by any scrap metal, wood, or ANYTHING the guy can find. Notice the fine support work of the walls...2x4's jammed against the side. On most days, you can find the owner (a humbling old gray haired man) sitting in his lawn chair on the "porch" located behind the telephone pole on the left side of this picture.

They just don't make houses like they used to...

Not totally a bust...

2006-05-22T11:59:00.000-05:00

Well, we did make it out on the boat Saturday, only to experience overcast skies and rain for most of the afternoon. Now, we tried to stay out and brave the day for as long as possible, but most of the group was ready to give up on the day by about 4pm. We slowly cruised back to the marina to drop most of the passengers off. See how excited everyone was...

You see...I was destermined to find blue skies and sun so myself and Cameron stayed on the boat in search of this mysterious "sun". While waiting for Tom to rejoin us on the boat and continue our search for the "sun", Cameron and I stumbled upon a small community of people who like to call their "village" Kinders. Well, not to disrespect the inhabitants of Kinders, we learned their ways and engaged in the libations that they served.

Once we regrouped with Tom, we found the boat pointing the right direction and in no time we reached our goal...the sun. We decided to float for some time before dropping anchor and enjoying the sunset. As you can see, with some chicken kabobs grilling on the Weber and a couple of cold ones in hand...the sunset is that much better (except the fact that one of the coolies has a stupid Cubs logo...GO CARDS!).

Post sunset, we decided to head back past the marina for one last float/drink of the night. With darkness upon us and beers still in hand, we began devising plans to pass the time away. As you can see below, we determined a viking funeral for the kabob sticks, napkins, foil, dorritos, and just about anything else we could find was the best way to end the night. Check it out as Cameron preps the ship and then watches it sail into the distance...

In follow-up to my prior post...

2006-05-19T16:28:00.000-05:00

I apologize, but I do need to give credit where credit is due. The artwork that I displayed for our coolie was designed by one of our OG- "Nautical Thugz"...Cameron Imming. Thanks Cam. You can also visit his blogsite by clicking on the his link in the sidebar.

To the river...

2006-05-19T13:18:00.000-05:00

As promised, I had to requote myself from yesterday. To the river it is! Today seems to be a great day and hopefully just a precursor of what we have to come tomorrow. It had taken me a lot of self control not to leave work earlier. I should be able to get some great pictures of the group and day tomorrow so I can start posting some good ones.

Tom has made the suggestion to bring out the lights and play a night game of wiffle ball at Tomco Field. As always...I'm game. I'll make sure I catch some pictures of that as well since I forgot last weekend.

We're working on getting some group coolies made with our signature "Nautical Thugz" theme. Final ideas and artwork are on the table and all we have to do is order them. Below is a sneak peak at what one of the sides should display. I can't wait...it should be nice not to have to dig around for a coolie...there will be a plethora on the boat, and in the garage, and in the house, and in the car, and in the golf bag, and so on. See yus all on the water!

We boat...

2006-05-18T12:52:00.000-05:00

Weekend boating plans are rapidly beginning to develop and the gang is all pumped to get out and enjoy the forthcoming good weather. The only problem is trying to work around everyone's schedule to please the crowd. It was much more simple when we were single. I never had plans, and I was always up for fun at a moments whim. Now it seems like I need a week's notice, management signoff, and a "fun form" request submitted. Oh well, things will gel together shortly and we'll all be ready to go.

The boat is gassed up...about 3/4 full...but I'll probably fill her up before going out so to avoid any possible rate hikes we may see with the upcoming memorial day weekend. We'll also have to see if Tom's Sea Doo makes it out of hibernation anytime soon. Next week's forecast is pushing 90 so it should give a good boost to the river's current 68 degree temperature. The water should soon be tolerable to experience 70mph of wetness! Oh the fun to be had.

Cameron's looking at a little issue with his boat legality too. The boat, nor trailer, are registered and his lazy wife apparently doesn't know the concept of standing in line at the DMV to get the proper stickers. We'll see if she makes it through tomorrow so any upcoming boat excusions are not ruined by expensive water patrol tickets.

To the river! Well, that's probably a little early. I'll make that comment in tomorrow's post. After all, it will be Friday.

Weather reports sounding better...

2006-05-17T12:51:00.000-05:00

Ah...as today continues...reports of better weather have surfaced. The weekend is starting to report almost summerlike temperatures (rain aside), but the following week's forecast shows temperatures pushing 90 and them some. I can feel the fever growing stronger. Multiple emails have been sent between myself, Tom and Cameron about our weekend plans...and all plans include boating. Let's huridly get through this work week and enjoy what we spent all this money to enjoy. In the meantime, courtesy of cartoonstock.com...

I figure this cartoon goes with our group's theme. Before we purchased our boat and Cameron upgraded to a large boat, passenger room was tight and we always had to prioritize our the occupants. No longer do we need to worry.

This week looks promising...I think...

2006-05-16T12:54:00.000-05:00

According to weatherman Dave Murray, this weekend could be boatable. Well, everyday is boatable, but this weekend could be enjoyable when boating. I also thought about getting the boat out this week, but may not find the time. I don't really care as long as I can get out for both or at least one of the weekend days.

We'll see how it progresses. When I looked at the forecast on Sunday, this upcoming weekend was listed right near 80. Nothing seems to be going in the right direction these days.

This past weekend...

2006-05-15T12:32:00.000-05:00

Well...the temperature for the weekend was not really condusive of outdoor summertime activities (low 60s on Saturday and even low 50s on Sunday), but we tried to make the best of it with a baseball theme.

Most of Saturday was spent honing up on the wiffle ball skills. Nothing special, just merely a practice session. As for Sunday, we headed to the New Busch Stadium to watch the Cards battle the Diamondbacks. This was my first trip to the new stadium and I thought it was pretty cool. It has some looks of the old ballparks with some added contemporary design. I know there are still some issues to be worked out to please the masses, but I personally didn't experience any problems...only that it turned out to be more of a sloppy little league game. A total of 6 errors were committed by both teams and the Cards ultimately lost 7-6.

Although the next couple days appear to be wet and overcast, the 10 day outlook seems to be more pleasant. As of right now, boating looks to be in the upcoming weekend plans...if not even some evening later this week.

Our Boat...

2006-05-12T14:50:00.000-05:00

Well...here's a picture of the boat (just imagine it in navy blue instead of red). It's only a factory picture from the website (www.tahoesportboats.com)- I haven't had a chance to download any pictures from the camera.

It's a great boat...so far...we've only gotten 12 hours of break-in time on it...but it's definitely been great! It has an upgraded 5.0L- 220hp motor and reviews claim it to reach a top speed of about 51mph at 4400RPM. It's not the most luxurious or fanciest boat you'll see on the water (far from it), but it definitely works for us...and our budget. For those of you looking to purchase their first boat, and trying to stay in a smaller budget range, then I recommend checking out a Tahoe. They provide a lot of standard equipment that the other manufacturers consider "options".