2016 St. Johns River Ruckus

Gary S wrote: Another great weekend,and BIG Thanks to all especially to Mr & Mrs Jbear for putting us up and putting up with us..

HAHA.........whata deal...share with the Berrys...our dog and HW's dog.......

really it was a very cool time to have the Starrs at our house 1st and then head for Parramores. Forgot what a cool place that is. We had a great cabin..


john

Glad the cabin worked out well

jbear wrote: Gary S wrote: Another great weekend,and BIG Thanks to all especially to Mr & Mrs Jbear for putting us up and putting up with us.. HAHA.........whata deal...share with the Berrys...our dog and HW's dog....... really it was a very cool time to have the Starrs at our house 1st and then head for Parramores. Forgot what a cool place that is. We had a great cabin.. john

Another awesome trip! Great to see some of our boat buds and meet all those we hadn't before. Once again I owe a huge thanks to a ton of people for making this happen and including us in this event. Too many names to list but I truly enjoyed every second of the weekend. For those of you who missed out here's a few highlights.

Friday's river cruise to the boat show was a blast. I think someone said 25 miles each way? For anyone who was on the fence and didn't make it...you missed out! I can't think of a better way to start the boating season than cruising the river with a bunch of Correct Craft Fans! Next year I'll try to be better company on the way home and not to fall asleep (sorry Dangerwill). Too bad you guys didn't get my jumping out of the observers seat when Morfoot woke me up with his horn.





Waiting for the lock to open and take us up!


Can't find scenery like this in Iowa!




JoeInNy and Cathy cruising in the 200v


JMurph taking advantage of some morning glass!


Uncle Todd and JackieDean


Art and Donald. Not too often you see two rare boats with such rich history in one place at the same time.


Morfoot following Art out of the glenn


Dinner at the clubhouse. Food was great, fellowship was even better. Thanks to everyone who helped put together such a great meal for all of us who soaked up as much Florida sunshine as possible!


Thanks to everyone who helped pull this together and for letting us be a part of such a great event. I don't know of another sport or company where it's followers can have access to it's hero's like waterskiing and Correct Craft. I can't capture and share every story from the weekend but a few stick out in my mind.

Hearing Art tell stories into to wee hours of the morning was mind blowing and inspiring. Simply put, the man is amazing. Waterskiing, Correct Craft and the boating industry wouldn't be the same without Art. At some point we need to get these stories recorded and archived for future generations!

Talking with Less Todd about the old days at Correct Craft and new experiences like pulling Freddy Kreuger to a new Ski Fly record was awesome. His impact and insight on the sport and how to grow a skiing community is great! Hopefully our paths cross again soon!

Too many great stories to share but it was great seeing everyone and sharing our passion for water sports and these old boats. This was a great start to the summer for us and I hope we can keep the momentum going into the upcoming CCFan events.

2017 SJRR can't come fast enough. We have every intention of coming back with the boat and family in tow. Looking forward to seeing everyone again as soon as possible!

I gotta 2nd everything Chris sez....this is just a great event.

I wanna book my cabin for 2017 right now....when did you say its gonna be Tim?

I got a bunch of pictures on my phone but can't get them here. Guess I will haveta wait till HW or Adam Deen comes again.


john

Loud pipes put Storm34 to sleep!

Yeah, I thought it would be strange if you went through moss bluff lock. They do have two boat ramps and if you put in on the north side. Well you would end up going through that lock as well.

Well, I've finally been able to catch up a little bit with work, stuff round the house and planning my next adventure for next month so now it's time to recap and post pics.

Wow, wow and WOW! What a fabulous time a week long vacation spent with my CCFan family. The journey started with Alan and Dana crashing at my place on Sat then caravaning down to Astor on Sunday morning. Hit driving rain in south Ga and rained most of the way there and once we got situated, it stopped for the evening to take Kermit out for a spin. Mixed up some Mofoot's for the journey and headed down the river. Passed Barney on the way and after logging 15 miles or so we stopped and turned back after making a pit stop. Mofoots kicked in and we were all feeling pretty happy. Dana looked at me with that hue smile of hers and said "Wow, those were awesome and powerful, am pretty happy right now and I'm done!" Alan said " Tim those are great....I'll have another one and it's your turn to drive!" Topped off the tervis and away we went passing Barney again who was pulled up next to a boat..... a couple miles later we stopped to take a pic and Barney had snuck up behind us. .....I quickly handed Dana my cocktail and we all played it cool as he only stopped to check and see if we were okay.... "Yes Sir....we stopped to take a picture as the scenery is just beautiful down here!"........ We ended up chatting with him for 20 mins or so and off he went...... When he left, we 3 looked at each other and busted out laughing...... Yeah baby....we're gonna have a great week!

Got back to Paramores crashed and hit the road Monday using Dads truck to pull the Hurricane to J'ville to hook up with the gang for our trip on the river. Got settled in, boats lauched and off we went. Had a great couple days and Wed was to be our play on the 200 sport but as always with this group plans changed. after running though the channel even stopping for a Jmurph, Arrighi slalom run with the 200. The Hurricane was making some strange noises and Alan shut it down.... Scratching heads to get it out of the water and the means to do it we came up with a plan. Our local friend, CCBoat driver and SJRR regular Les Todd came to the rescue. Called him up told him what was happening and he came and got me so I could get the truck and trailer to pull the Hurricane out of the water.... Amazing thing this site and the character of the people who we hang with. Thanks again Les for the help!

Got the boat on the trailer and Alan met us at our scheduled next stop which was a very interesting place. The bar was over the water and the Blackfin fit under it. Had a gret time as always and on Thursday we headed to Astor via water while Alan and Dana took the Hurricane to Astor. A stop at the Silver Glenn on the way then to Parramores to hook up with the crew cruising into town.

Up Friday to tow some boats to the Ocklawaha River to head to the Tavarres Boat show via water and a 25 mile cruise down river. What a fantastic time, beautiful scenery, and fun with gang that went. Picture Pat was with me and I finally got smart and handed him my camera and said" Start shooting my friend......you're a better photographer than I am and if you use my camera , I know we'll get to see the pictures!" ... So some of the pics to follow I cannot take credit for. Picture Pat is the Man!

Got to the show, had lunch, looked a few boats then headed back! Art C calls me and says Hey, when are you headed back. ....Ummmmm, hold it second, a bear just walked down here with me on the dock!....Never a dull moment!... Dangerwil's boat Snoopy looks even better in person and looks fantastic. I didn't get a chance to ride in it but it definitely looks cool on the water. As mentioned earlier, Mars enjoyed it so much it put him to sleep!

Saturday brought the rain but not a down pour and even with the drizzle we headed to Glenn cause most of the Fans wanted to head there. We had a surprise visit from AdamT which was cool and he hung with us for a couple days. Les Todd came out to join us and off we went in the drizzling rain. Great time in the Glenn, Sun came out and so did the leftover ribs we had the previous night so Reid burst out the grill on the boat and we had lunch in the springs.

Cookout Sat night was awesome and Dave brought some goodies from HQ to bid on via silent auction. Some really nice stuff, coolers, clock, strainers, speakers, t shirts, decals, amps, laptop bags and more all with the Nautique logo on it. (Thanks Godfather!) Great food, great turnout, great time and a bunch of wornout CCFans!

Sun came, most had to hit the road but as always the sun came out and off we went back to the Glenn. Pics prove what a wonderful time we had on Sun and managed to take the couple that came with Jack out for cruise. The smile on their faces said it all as they got a small taste of what we're about. Even bought a Nautique T-shirt from Dave the night before. I'd be willing to bet we'll see em next year.

No Ruckus is complete without a trip to the local fried everything dining experience so off to the Essex for dinner on Sun night. Needless to say the 14 people we had in there livened up the place and was the perfect way to end a weeklong excursion with my other family.

Big thank you to all who helped with EVERYTHING! All I did was a little organizing and make a bunch of phone calls but when a need was there. Someone stepped in and took care of it. Big things , little things it didn't matter. Several people with Parramores always look forward to our gathering because we are such a fun bunch of people. Heck, there was a party in the rec hall the night before and one of the guys who works there stopped me and said "Hey, there is a keg of beer from last night in the kegerator.....y'all help yourself and finish it off!"......WOW! No problem ...thank you very much! ( That sucker was more than half full and gone in a hour)

This is just a small part of a week long vacation with some of the best people I'm privileged to boat with. These boats brought us together first but it's the people behind the wheel of these boats is what makes this event and any other CCFan mini we have so very special. You can't describe it...you have to experience it.......gonna borrow a quote from Dana as she summed up the week on the river.........."You can pick your friends, but when you can pick your family; it's the best time you'll ever have!.....Our CCFan Family!"



Pics from my Cell Phone...........

Day one....gotta take a Sunset St Johns River Cruise shortly after we get there!



Thank's Dad....... Your truck pulls great!



Didn't matter what kinda boat it was........Dana was getting on it!









Sunrise at our first stop in Green Cove Springs






Tuesday I got to ride in the Hurricane for the day... We're searching for gas!





Palatka stop....it's Cocktail time!



Dana driving the Hurricane SOLO!



Well $%#!............Towing the Hurricane with the 200 down Crescent Lake!





On our way to Walatka...... Bwaaaaaaaaaaaap Bwaaaaaaaaap Bridge up dude!



Sunset Dinner View..... we're sitting above the Blackfin!

Hey those guys in that last picture look familiar, could you have them turn around.........

Nice summary, Morfoot.   Hopefully next year I won't have schedule conflicts and I'll be able to spend the whole time with you all.

For those who stopped at Green Cove, here's a little side-light. My high school roommate (boarding school) was from Green Cove and lived in a house facing the SJ's River. His father was raised in the same house. During WWII, the Navy marshalled their fleet for the D Day invasion at Green Cove, right off the house. If you go there today, you will still see hundreds of pilings that the Corps of Engineers put in to moor the fleet.
My roommate's Dad and his friends had a really good business going. At night they would go load up a rowboat with what the Military refers to as "Class Six Material." (alcoholic refreshments) They would row among the moored ships, and down from a ship would come a rope with a seabag tied onto it, money and a note inside. They would collect the $$, fill the order, tug three times on the rope, and up would go the seabag. On to the next ship.. When they ran out, back to shore for another load. The GOB (Florida for "Good Ol' Boy) who ran the store was selling the under-age boys all they wanted, because he knew what was going on and that they weren't drinking any of it, and he was having a record-setting sales.

I too would like to thank all of the sponsors and Tim for his great organizational work. I had a great time and highly recommend this mini for everyone. It was truly a treat listening to Art late at night talk about his early days in the business and how he had a hand in building the first ever Master Craft boat with Mr. Shirley from a cut up Correct Craft. Art had us all glued to our seats and someone really needs to document just a fraction of what Art has seen. Including a special 2002 Sport pickup boat at the 2002 Masters.

Special thanks to Correct Craft / Nautique for the generous silent auction items and the help that they gave toward the Event Tee Shirts. Great fun and fellowship was had on Saturday night. I would also like to thank the other sponsors that helped out with the event.

It was a great trip.

Donald

Attaboy tim, per usual the crisp clarity of your photos is second to none! I particularly like the way you set such depth and background thematics in setting up the shot of the Chris behind the bike. Ansel Adams himself may not have had the forethought to use a row of porta-potties in such a dramatic fashion....

Okay y'all.......These are the photos that were taken with the normal lens. I think I rather like having Picture Pat in the boat with me. He's a damn good photographer.







This was taken of Skippers Rum as we had a pair of Manatees hanging out with us. This was all we really saw of them other than the occasional snout when it came up for air.













Mars gets credit for this jewel!



























See........... I wasn't kidding!............................ The story on this little guy was that his Mom and sibling were hit and killed by a car and he visits Parramores almost everyday looking for scraps. I was in the parking lot when this little bear came walking by.

PM sent

Pink you say? Sounds like a great idea!!! Pink is pimpin'

I just brought a 78 Ski Nautique and sorry to say I missed this one. Hope to make the next one. Is this the place your talking about? http://www.parramorescamp.com/