July 4th 2011 Chicago Playpen Boat Party
These are the pictures from the Chicago Playpen on July 4th 2011. We got in with a real good group of boats that were already partying down as you will see in these pictures. Enjoy!
2011 Dotcomd Guy Boat Recommissioning
Here's the boat as it came out of the shrink wrap and all the way to the slip over a span of two very short days forth of july weekend! I'm so glad to be back in the water!!! YAY!!
River Trip with Dave and Bugs
Here's a river trip that I took with Dave and Bugs. I had also misplaced these because I gave this SD card to my wife to use in her camera at some point before actually getting to upload them. Then she couldn't access the files so I had to access them via my computer. Luckily my computer worked! here they are!
Coast Guard Festival Trip - Lost Pictures & videos
Here are the long lost pictures from our trip last summer on our way to St Joe Michigan for the night before we went on to Grand Haven for the rest of the week. This was the most calm water we'd ever seen out on the lake. Not even a ripple in the middle of the lake.
Amazing Stripped Icebergs in Lake Michigan
Amazing striped icebergs in Lake Michigan sometimes have stripes, formed by layers of snow that react to different conditions. Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet fills up with melt water and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form. When an iceberg falls into the lake, a layer of water can
freeze to the underside. If this is rich in algae, it can form a green stripe. Brown, black and yellow lines are caused by sediment, picked up when the ice sheet grinds downhill towards the lake.
2010 Shrinkwrapping project
This is the end and some of the middle result of my shrinkwrapping project. Where I have the boat this fall I'm not allowed to shrink it myself. So with the help of their guys, I got her prepped, used my shrinkwrap and then they shrank it.
2004 Achillies HB 340 Rigid Inflatable
2004 Alumacraft HB 340 Rigid Inflatable In good condition. 23 mph!!! $1,200.00
Alternator Pictures
Here is my fried alternator. The bearings went out, ate the belt, fried the exhaust turbo gasket, and leaked out all the engine coolant out the top of the reservoir tank. In addition to that it cooked the gasket that keeps all the water in the right chambers... This sucks!
2010 Annual Grand Haven Coast Guard Fest Week
Here's the pictures from our trip to the 2010 Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival. We missed it last year but happened to make it part of a port hopping trip. We had several set backs but made it back after a bunch of bumps and bruises...
2010 Chicago Scene Boat Party
These are the pictures from the Chicago Scene Boat Party on July 31st 2010. More information to come, it was a crazy day! Full of pretty people, lots of skin, and people letting a little too loose...
Boating in Chicago
Another fabulous weekend in Chicago with friends on the boat. Had a great time with everyone. Check out the pics and videos. I hope you enjoy them.
BOASTY outing on July 7th
With the boat finally ready and all our schedules matching up, I was able to have the pleasure of taking out 3 families of Army veterans. Some of them retired, and some still active in the reserves. We decided to stay in the river pool on the Calumet Saginaw River. We thought about doing the whole chicago loop but were low on fuel, time and decided to turn back when it started raining. However, I believe that everyone had a blast even still. It turned out to be a 6 hour cruise on the river!
4th of July out with friends on the boat.
Fourth of July in Chicago and going back to my lowly marina back on the Calumet / Saginaw River. It's cheap but I love it. I can go in as a transient, meet new people, make new deals, find customers, make new friends, and still have a fantastic time! Saw friends I hadn't seen in 20 years, met and made some new friends, saw some friends twins and wound up with the long end of the stick! Great weekend, great friends, great time on the water, and even though the destination is not the greatest, my guests from the weekend missed out on the best part.... The trip back to the marina.... Now, time to replace the "House" battery... BTW, there are tons of videos that you normally wouldn't see... Enjoy...
Chicago Playpen Boat party 6-19-2010
This was the first Chicago Playpen Boat Party That I've been to. It appears that I tied up with the high rollers that must be there every Saturday! These guy's know how to party, some a little too much and others that never stop dancing! But with boats having 6000 watts of sound pumping all day long, it's almost hard not to have your body jam to the music. Some of the pictures in this album along with a few videos may need to have your content rating turned up to see them all. Enjoy! I know i did taking them! See you and all my new friends from the playpen next week! FYI, for those who don't know, the playpen is on Lake Michigan in Chicago, just north of Navy Pier.
Start of Season 2010 - Back in the Water!!! Yahoo!
Boy, what a weekend! The boat was scheduled to go in the water on Friday Morning at 9:00 am so I got up at 4:00 am, went to the marina, changed the (wrong) batteries, launched the boat, tried jumping, boosting, and bypass the battery to make it crank to finding the right battery, changing it, starting (both) engines, moving to the dock, cleaning up things, went home for a birthday dinner, went back to the boat to keep cleaning it, driving to chicago, lunch on the river, the long way to the marina down the chicago river to the cal sag channel, and finaly to the new home for the summer! It's going to be an awesome year!!!
South Haven Michigan for SEA TECH
This past weekend I drove to South Haven Michigan to get my Masters Captains License! Found a great lady who runs classes for Sea Tech Marine Training. She's very knowledgeable runs a great class, fun to listen to and all around great to deal with. We also visited the downtown area one evening. This is a three weekend course and I highly recommend the course even if you don't plan to do a commercial charter. Did you know that the coast guard could fine you $5000 per infraction for violations of the rules? Do you know all the rules? I thought I did! Turns out I only knew about 1%!!! Glad I took the class!
Longboat Key Marina & Bay Waters Behind the island
Here are some pictures from a quick trip out to Longboat Key Marina. From what I know of it, this is a dockominium marina. I looked up prices and found them to cost between 130-160k for a 45-60 foot dockage. Saw some really cool boats in here. The blue one belongs to some florida senator vern something with a 110 foot broward. NICE!
Cool Truck and Boat Combo
Here's a really cool truck and trailer combo that I saw in a rest stop!
Test album in boats
This is an example
1996 Bayliner 2855 ST Ciera
1996 Bayliner 2855 ST Ciera Clean Boat for sale Sold! $29,500.00
Chicago Scene Boat Party 2009 Pictures
These are the pictures from the Chicago Scene Boat Party 2009. I was told that the party was small, not much going on but as these pictures show there were still quite a few boats out there and still quite a few racy pictures. In order to see these pictures, you'll need to register and set your content setting to (parents strongly cautioned).
4 Inch Weaver Davit Heads
4 Inch Weaver Davit Heads Save money and buy mine! $400.00
New Style Boat from French Builder
Here's a new boat or concept boat which I got an email from someone about. This is such a futuristic boat! Very cool! And I'm sure, expensive!
New Marina Shopping for 2010
New Marina shopping pictures... And then a couple weeks later going to the old marina to hug my boat and see if the shrink wrap held...
Chicago Boat Show Pictures
Here are some assorted pictures from the Chicago Boat and RV show. Some pictures of people getting into the power squadron boat as well as pictures of our booth.
LCS 2 - USS Independence
There have been rumors about the U.S. Navy's speedy new triple hulled ships, but now they're for real.
The U.S...S Independence was built by General Dynamics. It's called a "littoral combat ship" (LCS), and the tri-maran can move its weapons around faster than any other ship in the Navy. (Ironic that with all that high tech built in, the ship reminds us of the Merrimac ironclad from Civil War days.)
Littoral means close to shore, and that's where these very ships will operate. They're tailor-made for launching helicopters and armored vehicles, sweeping mines and firing all manner of torpedoes, missiles and machine guns.
These ships are also relatively inexpensive. This one's a bargain at $208 million, and the Navy plans to build 55 of them.
This tri-maran is the first of a new fire breathing breed, ready to scoot out of dry dock at a rumored 60 knots.. It's like a speedy and heavily armed aircraft carrier for helicopters.
Pirates Beware!!!
AquaPalooza Pictures
These are pictures from Aquapalooza. I'm not sure where I got these from but I know that they're not posted on the website anywhere that I know of. So here they are!
Replacement Canvas Boat Cover
Here are most of the pictures I've found of my eisenglass / bimini top / cockpit enclosure. I've compiled this group of pictures so that the company I've chosen to redo my eisenglass enclosure with an all canvas set can see how it used to be and how it all went together. We are changing things just a bit and trying to make it all more water tight with things like overlapped velcro over zipper seams. I'm also hoping to make a screen set. This way I can arrive, remove the canvas pieces with screen pieces to get the air circulation hopefully without the bugs.
2009 Fall Shrink Wrap Project
I went up to the boat yesterday to shrinkwrap it. We only got as far as the sides shrunk. The top was going to have to wait till tomorrow. However I came back the next day only to find that it was raining. I asked Joe the onsite expert about shrinking in the rain only to find that if i had tried it, I'd have ruined the PVC. He said I'd wind up with tons of holes in the top and also run the risk of it catching fire. At least for now it's covered to protect it from the weather. I just hope we don't have any typical windy days up there between now and then.
Awesome Improvements to a 1999 4085 Avanti
Here are some pictures of a 1999 Bayliner Avanti 4085 I found for sale in Florida. I have the same exact boat and have to tell you that the owner of this boat really made some great improvements to her. From Blue hullsides (freeboard) to individual captains chairs and much more. You must see to appreciate her appointments. It really makes this boat look like a new boat. Even though it cam out in 1999 this gem is a steal compared to any new boat!
Labor Day Going to Chicago in the Dinghy
It was Labor Day, after a busy weekend, I decided to take the dinghy to Chicago to have some time on the water. Luckily my daughter Ellie wanted to come along to help and keep me company. We had a great time and went from the Western Avenue boat launch all the way to the Chicago Lock and back. We left the house at 3:30 and was home by 8:00pm. Great Day!!!
BOASTY Lake Conroe Aug 22nd 2009
This is the 1st Annual Lake Conroe Palms Marina BOASTY - Boaters Of America Say Thank You event. I don't want to give away too much with the description. You'll just have to look and see for yourself! These Texans Party OFF THE HOOK!!! I'm Moving to Texas!!! Just don't tell my wife!!!
BOASTY with Leo Kelly Desert Storm Vet
August 2nd 2009 was my first day to experience BOASTY with an invite from a BOASTY member out of Mosquito Lake Ohio. Two weeks ago, the main guest, Leo Kelly went out with him as well. They had such a great time that they decided to do it again yesterday. So I made a long 6.5 hour drive from Chicago to Warren Ohio to do a 6 hour boat trip with them. It was a great day which had just a couple of sprinkles from the dude up above, but overall was a gorgeous day and Leo and I hit it off like old pals! In many of these photos you can see the bald eagle in the trees which we saw! The cropped and zoomed in pics are at the end of the gallery.
Women of the Tilted Kilt Support BOASTY
The women of the Tilted Kilt in Lisle, IL support BOASTY and more importantly their troops! Look for future albums/pictures of the ladies out on a BOASTY ride for the day!
West Marine Folding Boat Seat
Lightly used ratcheting folding seat typically used on the bow of our boat at least. You can use it where you want obviously. We've seen people using these at outdoor events where everybody else is sitting on the ground. There is a small pocket on the back of the seat back.
Russel Military Museum
A few pictures of my boat... and then... Here are some pictures I took at the Russel Military Museum. I stopped because I didn't feel like working on my boat and the timing just seemed right. So I stopped in to see if they had a truck like I used to drive in Germany and Desert Storm. I drove an m915 in germany and a 5 ton in desert shield / storm. They also had cobra, huey, coast guard, and cargo lifting helicopters. They also recently aquired an F-15 fighter jet from the Air Force. Hope you enjoy the pictures!
2009 Spring Commissioning
It's 2009 and time to get the boat ready for another summer of fun in Kenosha Wisconsin. It was all wrapped up in the shrink wrap when I got there. I had to cut through it all with a knife and then remove all the shrink tape they had used all over the place! It did the job however. I only had a broken running light and a broken antenna. Boy it was dirty. Here it is cleaned and polished from the rubrail and down.
2003 Crownline 212 Deck Boat
2003 Crownline Deck Boat in good condition.
Spring Break 2009 Trip Pictures
On our trip to Ft. Myers Florida I had the opportunity to go out on a relatives Four Winns 25th Anniversary 240 cabin cruiser for the day. I'm actually going to be going again tomorrow as well. In any case, we went around the northern tip of Ft. Myers Beach and then all the way to the south end of the island and back to where his marina was. We then went over to sanibel marina on Sanibel Island to poke around there for a little bit before heading home. There are just so many little places to hopping around to!
Went to hug my boat
Went to check out how my boat was doing. I hadn't seen it since November... It is a 1998 bayliner avanti 4085 in kenosha wisconsin at south port marina in winter storage shrink wrapped. I hadn't seen it since that cold winter november day.
Boasty & Patriotic Pictures
Pictures from the Chicago Boat and RV show 2009. It was a smaller show due to the economy but the attendance was still pretty darn good.
Prayer:
'Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us, Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.
Prayer Request: When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops around the world.
There is nothing attached. Just send this to people in your address book. Do not let it stop with you. Of all the gifts you could give a Marine, Soldier, Sailor, Airman, & others deployed in harm's way, prayer is the very best one.
GOD BLESS YOU FOR PASSING IT ON!
Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival 2003
This was in our recently restored (by me) Starcraft CSS181 bow rider boat. It was one of our first trips to anywhere in the boat. We took it there by car and then launched it at a nearby boat launch. It had a points problem and also a distributor shaft problem. The shaft was broken! If you reved the engine too quick or hit a bump it would not rotate with the engine and sputtered! Still we had fun, I mean it was a boat!!!
End of the year 2005
This was the end of the year 2005 when we brought home our Bayliner 2855 ST for the winter. This is me taking it from the marina, to pulling it out, to pressure washing it, to acid washing it, to tarping it for the winter and pics on Thanksgiving Day 2005.
Future Boats I want to buy..
These are boats I really like that I may want to buy someday. I'll post a description along with a title for each Picture I post.
1998 Avanti 4085 Decomissioning Pics EOS 2008
These are pictures and videos of my boat coming out of the water and the morning leading up to it. This year there was no exiting trip 125 miles to Seneca or even a Trip to Milwaukee One of my engines could not start on it's own. I think I need a new battery. I'm not too exited about the job of going in to get it because it's 3 times the size of a normal car battery and about 160 pounds which I have to lift in an awkward position to get it out. We'll see how it goes next spring when the battery goes in.
39' Carver 396 Motor Yacht
This is a motoryacht which belongs to a friend of mine. I'm helping him sell it. There are both pictures and videos of the entire boat, how it runs and much much more! Check it out!
Jodies Cruzer
Labor Day weekend 2008 just off the coast of Kenosha Wisconsin.
The 2008 Chicago Air & Water Show
This is the Chicago Air and Water Show as seen from the DotComd Guy and Family Boat. We took our boat down on Friday evening arriving in Chicago by about 9:30 pm and left to go back at around 8:00 pm on Sunday after the show. Saturday was a bit "rocky" so some of our crew felt like they were getting a bit sick. So we headed back into Belmont harbor for some protection from the idiots going fast amongs us boats anchored in the lake. Some people can be so inconsiderate! Check out the pics, and enjoy! It was a great show! My hats off to my fellow men in uniform!
Chicago Scene Dot Com Boat Party 2008
This is the Annual Chicago Scene Boat Party for 2008 which I miss every year because I'm doing the family thing in Grand Haven Michigan every year! This years party looks like it was OFF THE HOOK!! As my buddy from Detroit says it! WOW! Every babe in these pictures looks like she came right off a Modeling runway!
2008 Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival
We spent a week in Grand Haven for the 2008 Coast Guard Festival. What a blast! More info to come. For now, just check out the pictures. You must be a registered user to view these pictures.
COSI One Step At A Time Camp
Boy! What a beautiful day for the COSA One Step at a Time Camp day on the water! Every year the kids from COSA come to Southport Marina Kenosha to do a day on the boats with the various boat owners in our marina. Everyone treats several or more kids to a ride on their boat from Kenosha to Racine Wisconsin. This was my second year doing the event, however my first time actually taking some kids out on the lake. Last year the boat portion of the day was cancelled due to questionable weather. Check out this years pics and videos we took!
1997 Seadoo GTX For Sale
Here are our 1997 Seadoo GTX Jet Skis for Sale. We have decided to sell them. With our boat, dinghy and newborn baby boy Blake, it's just too much to play with. We're going to sell them and then buy another couple in a few more years. They are a blast to ride but it's time to sell them and let someone else get some use out of these lightly used skis. In the past 11 years they have only gotton just under 50 to 60 hours. Most of which in the past two seasons by myself. I bought them from a guy which used them only once or twice a summer. 130 hp and with my big butt on them will do about 58 mph on the river. Check em out! - SOLD! These Jet Skis have already been sold!
1998 Avanti 4085 eu 2008 Launch
Here is our 1998 Avanti 4085 EU going back in for the summer 2008 season! I've got pics and video of it going back into the water. This was a great day! The only problem was that the motors wouldn't stay running once it got back in.... OOPS! I forgot to turn the feul valves back on! I never turned them off so I didn't know that the guy who winterized the engines turned them all off.
2008 Spring Cleaning of Avanti 4085
Here I am Cleaning the boat for the new year. Also I polished the freeboard since it's so hard to do from the water or dinghy.
Florida trip to Lake Okechobee and Ship Shape TV
In this album I took a trip by car from where I was staying with family in Ft. Myers Florida to Stuart Florida. I was headed to the marina where they shoot the Ship Shape TV shows. These are the pics from that trip. I also took some pictures of sights along the way.
1984 Starcraft CSS 181
THis is my old Starcraft which I bought from a guy where I went to college. This was designed by Art Carlson which is the guy who made all those gorgeous little boats for Glastron. You've seen lots of them in the James Bond flick's over the years.
2855 First trip to Chicago with Jim and Jim
Here was my first trip using my new/used 1996 Bayliner 2855 st after I first got it in 2005. We went from North Point Marina to Downtown Chicago through the locks to have lunch on the river and then to go back to NPM.
1996 Bayliner 2855 ST
Here is a short run to Kenosha and back to North Point Marina. We were running near one of our dockmates on this trip. This is always a great thing to do with other boaters when going places. Take your camera and give it to a fellow boater, and get his/hers as well. It's a great thing to have pics of your own boat running wide open on the water.
2002 Bayliner 3055
These are pictures a buddy sent me back in 2004 when he bought his 3055 bayliner. These were representative sisterships of the same boat that he bought. So here they are!!
2008 Trip from Seneca to Kenosha
Here we are just coming out of Seneca on our way to Kenosha Wisconsin. A 125 mile trip upstream which incredibly the boat used very little feul on the whole trip! I put in 140 gallons of diesel in Seneca before leaving which put the needle at 3/4 tanks. Now after 125 miles, the needles read at about just under 1/2 which means I didn't hardly use as much as I thought I would to get back! I figure I only used 75 gallons for a 125 mile trip. The last 50 miles was on the lake, running on plane, and probably getting about a mile per gallon or just slightly better. So that means for the 75 miles upstream I only used 25 gallons! WOW!
Barenaked Ladies Trip to Chi Town
This was our first weekend with our new boat on our trip to Chicago to see the June 18th concert of the Barenaked Ladies. It was such a beautiful trip! We also went out for lunch on Fathers day with my parents. I just love pulling up to the yacht club for lunch in the boat. Even though it's only a five minute trip by boat to the club.
Chicago Scene Boat Party 2004
2004 Location of event is just off Lake Shore Drive and north of Navy Pier. It's called the Playpen! Boy this is alot of fun!
Chicago Scene Boat Party 2007
2007 Again showing of the beautiful people in Chicago. Location of event is just off Lake Shore Drive and north of Navy Pier. It's called the Playpen! Boy this is alot of fun! Why don't you come out and join us this year!
Chicago Scene Boat Party 2006
2006 Showing of the beautiful people in Chicago. Location of event is just off Lake Shore Drive and north of Navy Pier. It's called the Playpen! And it's a blast!
1998 Avanti 4085
This is a 1998 Avanti 4085 EU from this past summer. We just love this boat!!! A bunch of these pics are from the boats that were available on the market at the time we were shopping for ours.
Muscamoot Bay - The Gauntlet
This is just what happens every Saturday and Sunday on Lake St. Claire. Every weekend of the summer. These people are some hard core party animals.
Grand Haven Coast Guard Fest 2004
Here is our trip in 2004 and our Starcraft CSS181 from 1984.
1996 Bayliner 2855 going home for winter
Fall was setting in. I was beginning to think that I might be able to spend more time with my boat in the driveway vs getting mucked up with moss in the marina. So I went up there and took it home.
1996 Bayliner 2855 Ciera
Here is the first pics of our first big boat. Now we're hooked! God I love it!
2855 Going in for 2006 Season
The trip from the house back to the big lake for the 2006 season.
Cranchi Mediteranee 50
a boat I really like. Maybe someday I'll be able to buy one...
July 15th 2006 Kenosha to Racine and back
Here we took a trip up to Racine to fill up the tank because they had cheaper gas than our marina. The difference meant a short trip in the boat. After which we broke even. Not bad. I sure miss this boat.
Last full week on the boat summer 2006
This was a wierd day on the boat. We mainly just sat in the marina but the sky sure put on a show!
Chicago Boat Party Playpen 2006 Parties
This is a really cool event which goes on in an area of the Chicago Shoreline called the Playpen. I believe it is because of the fact that Hugh Hefner used to be just down the street from here with the playboy club atop the John Handcock building.
Jobbienooner June 2007
This is an unofficial event which takes place in Lake St. Clair Michigan. It get's pretty crazy! There are all sorts of people at this event. It's not just the 20's croud. It's everyone!
Chicago Air and Water Show
Two and a half days of the chicago air and water show.
Winter Layup Trip
This is my trip from my marina in Wisconsin to Illinois where we store our boat for the winter.
Grand Haven Coast Guard Fest 2007
Coast Guard fest 2005 is a trip my family takes every year to Grand Haven Michigan. This was the first year crossing with our new 40 foot boat.
Grand Haven Coast Guard Fest 2006
Coast Guard fest 2005 is a trip my family takes every year to Grand Haven Michigan. This was the first year crossing with our boat.
Grand Haven Coast Guard Fest 2005
Coast Guard fest 2005 is a trip my family takes every year to Grand Haven Michigan. This was the first year crossing with our new 1996 Bayliner 2855 boat.
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