The chop on the lake was a bit heavier than it was for our first session at the VA Center back in late July. Nonetheless, intrepid flyers and floaters took to the lake to test the waters.

Dan tried out his new swamp-buggy airboat, manned by an armed GI Joe, and managed to overcome some “dead-in-the-water” issues that proved troublesome early on. Steve’s new PVC/pool noodle rescue craft came to the rescue the first time and then ran out of juice and had to be rescued itself the second time.

Tom did a great job flying his Tidewater in the wind and then got flipped over by a crosswind while trying to turn and taxi back to the dock. In the case above , and with Tom’s Tidewater, the answer proved to be walking around the lake and fishing the boats and planes out with a long dip net.

I rebuilt the pump on my Fire and Rescue boat’s water cannon after it became clogged with debris at the Norman float-fly. It now works perfectly again, but doesn’t push water into the wind very well as one of the photos shows. Ron re-balanced his beautiful tug-boat and really improve its performance. Its bow wave was impressive as it plowed through the chop. Steve put his sailboat in for a short run and did a masterful job of bringing it back to shore against the wind.

Again we had a contingent of veterans that came and went, several of them who were at our first session back in July. They were all very interested, but brought their own perspective to our activities. As a case in point, I was running my boat fairly close to the dock with the water cannon turned on so that the vets could see it more clearly. One of the gentlemen said to me, “How far back is the fishing line and bait from the back of the boat?” I told him there was no line attached. He responded, “You’re not trolling for fish?” I told him “No, I’m just running the boat for fun.” He responded, “Seems like a waste of time to me…”

Come on out and waste some time with us. The next session will be posted to club members via e-mail as this one was. It’s a whole new fun dimension to the hobby.

— Larry

photos by Larry Kruse

photos by Unnamed Bystander