New guy wants to say hello...........

[drrnjnr]

Hiya fellas,
I'm Darren, living in the Netherlands(20% water), I've joined this forum aboot a month ago, with a wiring problem after finishing my boat-(If a boat is ever finished), anyroads, I have a little more time this afternoon and thought I'd introduce myself properly..

I've been snooping around this little cloud of 0 & 1's and I'm very impressed with it/you guys
About 2 years ago I purchased a 2004 Campion Explorer 542 without an engine, paid 4000$ (3300 euros) for it and it had only seen 310 hours of water:laugh:.

I picked the trailer for $1500 up from a guy in Belgium who raped it and bent it up like a banana, soon got it straightened up and powder coated .

And the Icing on the cake is the 2007 Yamaha F150AET and new hydraulics/electrics and the whole shabbang for $8000:faint2:.

Anyroads, I've treated the hull with 7 coats of International Gelshield and she is/ was ready to rock and roll.

The first time I went out with the boat I took my son with me because hes a damn good swimmer should anything happen on the Rhine- a dangerous life sucking soal destroying(like my wife) river full of 2000 ton river barges that don't can't stop..............

Good job he went with me, cuz the police did us/me for speeding and I blamed him(they said I/he was doing 59mph):laugh:..........and after that hitting the rocks with the boat he had to dive in the Rhine with a rope and monkeyfist to save the boat with a wrecked prop/transmission........anyroads, you live, you learn.


Hope you guys are all in good health and hope you like the pikkies.......!!!!!

Greetings, Darren

.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Hello

great pics....to bad for the rocks

 

[drrnjnr]

"Sh*t happens", like Forrest says, I'll get that sorted in the winter, I must admit, - I really like boating.......We're surrounded by water here and I know hardly anyone with a boat........

 

[GA_Boater]

Welcome to iBOATS.

The youngsters are trouble, aren't they. :blue:

Your boat looks nice and I hope the repairs are easy.

 

[southkogs]

Welcome aboard Darren:

I've got a Netherlander working for/with me here in Tennessee, USA, so I've seen some beautiful pictures of the waterways in your country. Sorry the boat hit the rocks, but hopefully you can restore it as pretty as it looks in the photos.

 

[sam60]

Welcome, that is one nice boat and great engine score.....the trailer is also WAY cool.

 

[sphelps]

Welcome aboard !! Shark Bait looks like a fine vessel ! Sorry about the rock damaged It does happen ....
Good job your son did .... Most kids , if ya can get em off there phone , would just stand there and ask .. "You want me to do what ?"
Good luck with getting her back ready again ! :welcome:

 

[drrnjnr]

Welcome aboard !! Shark Bait looks like a fine vessel ! Sorry about the rock damaged It does happen ....
Good job your son did .... Most kids , if ya can get em off there phone , would just stand there and ask .. "You want me to do what ?"
Good luck with getting her back ready again ! :welcome:

Well, I sort of pushed him in the wet direction:laugh:.......We did have a good laugh tho' :lol:- And the police let him off with a suspended fine/warning after he showed massive interest in their vessel/machine room.

Actually I asked my son to have a look what power the police vessel is packing.........Very,very serious vessel I must admit.

The boat "Scamped" the rock, and just scratched the Gelshield, dead easy fix, the motor took the brunt and the "under unit" and prop:facepalm: will be replaced. Thank you guys for a warm welcome......I've seen a few units for about $750 on Evilbay, I'll sort it out when I've saved some cash up.:grumpy:.

I have lots of free time, being a self empolyed carpenter/bricklayer(Mason), and my wife works in the states , so when she pops over state side I go with her, I'm usually there for about 2 months a year, I was in Oregon for a month in the summer, I love the place, specially on the coast(Lincoln City).

I've replaced the rollers on the trailer with planks covered in carpet, the boat seems to sit better on them, and carpet wont damage the hull. I've put some vertical posts(don't know what the English name for the is) on the rear of the trailer too, to ease the boat into the center in the wind.

I think I'll be in Florida in December for 2 days as a stayover on the way to the Cayman Islands (The wife is doing business down there before Christmas)---- Can anyone recomend a decent store/harbour around Miami where I can get my grubby hands on a Faria depth finder, on the cheap ??.......

Thanks again for the warm welcome guys.:happy:

 

[Scott Danforth]

give the guys at marine surplus a call in sarasota florida and have them ship to your hotel room in Miami. last time I was there, they had a bunch of NOS faria depth finders on the shelves

around Miami and Ft Lauderdale for brick-n-mortar stores, I know of west marine, and national marine.

ps, forgot about lewis marine

 

[Bob_VT]

Great pictures! Welcome to iboats! Yes I have boated in the Rhine, the Danube and the Nahe about 40 years ago. Great now I feel even older!!

 

[redneck joe]

Welcome. Gotta ask, what is monkeyfist?


And if you get back to Lincoln City I have family there...

 

[drrnjnr]

I really love Lincoln City- VERY laid back.-, We camped on the beach and did some whale watching-, love the States too in general, lovely peeps (outside the big cities, especially Miami), Did some caveing and climbing in Sonora CA this summer too very pretty. I've done every state now, and frequent twice or three times a year for the last 30 years. Tomorrow I'm out for a beer in Amsterdam with friends from Phoenix AZ. Salt of the earth peeps, I might add.

Here's a pikkie of a monkeyfist, mine is attatched to a throwing rope(a long one). Boating on the Rhine is very dangerous, If you lose power, you'll probably lose yer boat. of even worse. But at the same time it's a highway through Europe/ The Netherlands.



​

 

[redneck joe]

Yeah really nice there also have family in Manzanita and up in the San Juan Islands in Washington. Not a fan of Miami either, but have friends in Dania Beach and Davie and its almost a different wold especially Davie.


If you get to Nashville let me know. If I'm not travelling i'll buy you a beer or four. I love to meet forum folks - i've probably met more than 40 since my fist forum in 2005. Even some international ones...

 

[aspeck]

Welcome aboard, Darren. So glad you found, and joined our family! Always room for one more. We do have a few crazy uncles around here you have to watch out for, but just like real crazy uncles, you gotta love them in spite of their craziness! HA! Great looking boat and set-up. I generally pass through Amsterdam a couple times a year. Beautiful city. If you are ever in Central PA, give a yell. If the stars align correctly maybe we can meet up sometime!

 

[wrvond]

Welcome. Gotta ask, what is monkeyfist?


And if you get back to Lincoln City I have family there...

He showed you a picture - here's the explanation. A monkey fist is essentially a ball of line (small stuff) surrounding a chunk of lead. It is made fast to a heaving line with the bitter end being made fast to a (heavy) mooring line. The heaving line is thrown (heaved) from the deck of a ship to the pier. This line is pulled across by the line handler on the pier, which in turn pulls the mooring line across (preferably without dunking it in the water).

Darren - those vertical poles are called roller guides, or simply guides. I just ordered a pair for my trailer; they even have LEDs at the top of the poles for night time recovery!

 

[drrnjnr]

Cheers wrvond, a monkey fist is a must on the Rhine, a really decent piece of kit, it could save your life, easy to make and as cheap as chips!!.........and then you need an air cannon to launch it really:lol:

I just looked it up on Youtube and made one.

 

[redneck joe]

so a monkey fist is something to throw when / if someone in trouble?

 

[drrnjnr]

Well, you could throw it at them even if they wasn't I spose.........Mine is made out of a floating, driving range golfball, the monkey fist attatched to 150ft VERY strong paracord and then rope, I reckon it's good for a forty yard sling.......Just swing and release.

I use it for everything really, docking, or pulling the boat toward the trailer, whatever.......