Want to take a Ride in the RDP Helicopter during Desert Storm? You Can!!

[milkmoney]

Well, so much for my helicopter ride with you.

Why would u say that. U have a boat [emoji202]

 

[RiverDave]

Well, so much for my helicopter ride with you.

Just trying to get some more participants Joker.. I liked the story. (I had assumed it wasn't true?)

RD

 

[Enen]

Ahhhh. The old sorry but I will catch you in the next one speech. That always goes over well. [emoji23][emoji23]

I borrowed it from your repertoire, and I gave you credit for it.

 

[Joker]

Just trying to get some more participants Joker.. I liked the story. (I had assumed it wasn't true?)

RD

I get it. It was a trip I'll never forget. No worries over here, just posted the story[emoji106]
I think taking someone's kids up there would be super.

 

[throttle]

RD, give it some time. My guess is peeps are busy during the week with work and family, could be gathering thoughts. Might just be procrastinating till your deadline.
Then again, peeps could just be so sick that it's all they can do to get thru the day.
[emoji848]

 

[seanroberts]

So this is a three-part story of my boating history? It's long but worth it.

We need to go back many moons to Parker at River Lodge. I was 12-13 years old riding the standup Jet Ski enjoying it like a fat kid eating cupcakes. Then two flatties come around the bend, I dump the ski and get plowed by one of the boats. Well, I was good even with extra bruises. The ski had some rash and the life vest was torn up as well. I was back on the ski riding it until we realized it broke the exhaust during the collision. I was still nothing but smiles.

Now, we get to fast forward. I'm 15 living in Nevada. I do some trading and use money I've saved to get an old Cole flat bottom. So, I get my buddy, take my Dad's 64 Ford without permission, hook the boat up, and drive the 18 miles to Lake Topaz. We go to the California side to a dirt launch area that people use. No, I didn't have a license but that didn't stop us. We get to the lake- mind you it's the beginning of March and cold. We are getting ready to put the boat in the water and find a fuel leak(s). We proceeded to work on the fuel line and start to fix the leaks. A very nice old timer comes over, comments on the Cole and asks us what we're doing. We go through the story and he tells us to take the boat up the hill a bit and drain the bilge. After we drain it bring it back down, keep it on the trailer, and back it into the water getting plenty in the bottom, then take it back up to drain it again. We say, thank you. and get back to work. The nice old man goes to launch his wood outboard fishing boat so we help him out by launching and pulling his truck up parking it out of the way. No one locked their vehicles or took the keys out; it was a small town thing. I'm so excited after all of this that we put the boat in the water without draining the fuel in the bottom of the boat. My buddy parks the truck and the trailer and then he's back to the boat. We push away from the shore, my feet feeling like I'd had them in an ice bath for 6 hours. The water was in the 50's- at best. I pump the peddle three times, turn the key, and the engine screams to life! I'm back to the fat kid eating cupcakes feeling again. I start pushing the fuel peddle down and we're screaming across the lake freezing from the wind and cold air. Then a warm feeling comes over me. Unfortunately, this isn't joy warming me up. I look back and see my buddy doing the same thing. Yes, we confirm it; the boat is on fire, a very big fire. I remember yelling, oh shit! Then, both my buddy and I, push off from the boat and hit the water. I'm sure the tumbling and splash that we made would have been fun to watch. As my head comes up out of the water, I see my 1st boat swamped and going down. It's only after I thought that looks like a shark fin going under do I hear my buddy screaming. I realized at that point I was freezing and cramping up. The music to my ears was the sound of that 2- stroke out board with that nice old man coming to our rescue. My buddy was 1st into the boat, followed by myself. The old timer told us to get huddle together for warm. He said, you dumb shits! Didn't do what I told you to do, did you? My stuttering response from being so cold was, no sir. He commented that we would never make that mistake again. We made it to shore, got back into the truck with the empty trailer, and did the drive of shame back home. I told myself I would never do that again. But even during my drive of shame I was already dreaming about my next boat.

Now we can fast forward through a lot of boats and lots of years.

It's August 1999, I'm 27 and on top of the world. I had custom ordered my 1st brand new boat, an Ultra jet with everything on it. I was set to go in for another shoulder surgery and told my surgeon that my new boat was getting delivered and I wanted to enjoy the boat for 3 weeks. He agreed. So, off to Harrah's in Laughlin I went. We go through a week of partying like rock stars and it's now Labor Day. Lots of people were leaving town before the next groups came in. I had two buddies still with me and we had 4 more days until we were going to Havasu for another week of testing the limits of our livers. We had been drinking lots, not a shocker. The female situation was getting very thin late on Labor Day, so one of my friends suggested we go to the strip club in Bullhead. While at valet asking for a taxi we get told we'd only have about 30 minutes when we got there with an expensive cab ride. I tell my friends forget it let's start over tomorrow and call it a night. We get another drink to figure that one out. I tell my friends that I'm going to do a lap around the casino to look for life. I come back to them a let them know I saw a few cute hood rats at the nickel slot by Margaritaville. My one buddy is off like a crack head trying to get his fix. As my other buddy and I are drinking at Margaritaville we realize our other friend has been gone for some time. We walk over and our friend is talking to the hood rats and introduces us to The Jen's. My other buddy blurts out at the hood rats "are we getting BJ's or are we wasting our time." This was normal behavior for him. We offer to get the girls a drink and we all walk to the bar. All of the sudden I'm the odd man out so I do a lap come back and my buddy that had asked for the BJ's says he'll be right back- so I start talking to one of the Jens. Next thing we know in a few hours the sun will be up. I tell Jen that I can pick her and the other Jen up on Harrah's beach in my boat in the morning. She says, OK so it's off to find our MIA friend and a few hours of sleep. I find my buddy passed out on a toilet in the casino! The next morning I pick the Jen's up on the beach and spend the next 3 days with Jen until I leave for Havasu. The next thing I know its 2001 and I'm marrying the cute hood rat from the nickel slots. Fast forward through the years and we've only been without a boat for a few years the whole time and now we have the fleet. The only thing I wonder is why can't I take her back and leave her at the nickel slots! Then I remember they're not there anymore! Neither is Margaritaville. I also realize it's 2017, we've been married for 16 years, have three amazing kids, and I wouldn't trade her or this life for any life in the world!

-------I must interrupt, this is Jen---the cute hoodrat? I would like everybody to know that I was minding my own business at the nickel slots when Sean came up to me, so anything this guy complains about he brought on all by himself! I was-minding-my-own-business.

These are all true stories only names were left out to save other people from getting smacked.

 

[Spudsbud]

This was 2013. The year you brought the "Bismark to DS from Fla somewhere. I was on the London bridge, camera in hand and in came that boat.
I thought you might be on board Dave, so as it approached the bridge I screamed out "DAVE...... poor Hammer (sorry again Mike) bout had a gripper right there :eek
He yelled up, Daves not on board..... and went back to his negotiating skills.....

 

[MissB]

And your mouth must open atleast this wide! [emoji50]

MARCUS.... ! You kiss your mother with that filthy mouth?

 

[SFV2RVR]

MARCUS.... ! You kiss your mother with that filthy mouth?

She taught me well! [emoji8]

 

[ka0tyk]

I didnt get into boating, I was born into boating. My father has always had boats since he was a kid. His family owned an old chris craft jet boat.

Since then he's owned and raced in a cracker, and then found a (if i remember correctly) Hondo flatbottom. His best friend in high school was engine builder Jeff Blosdale. They had matching boats 141 and 147. I believe 147 popped up for sale on here a few months ago. Beautiful boat still to this day.

They'd race together and Jeff went on to building engines full time, whereas my Dad went on to working at "Aggie Cal" for George Aggajanian and Chris Craft as a mechanic. Later became a service manager and left when Yamaha bought it out. He then started his own Marine Surveying business and was on the board of NAMS for a few years and also has had a few apprentices.

I remember going to Martinez/Yuma often in the flatbottom, and renting a little aluminum boat as well to cart around all of our chairs and beach stuff as "the boat cant get wet." We would stay at Fishers landing and rent double wide trailers. I would fish off the dock, caught my first catfish which supposedly was the biggest ever caught and I ran away and it fell into the water along with the rod. We would go up to the bar at night where my dad would pick up on the ladies and bartenders and he'd leave me with a roll of quarters. I played double dragon in the arcade and hustled people at pool all night long.

My neighbor growing up was a mid 20's guy that lived with his parents. He had a huge ford truck raised to the sky and also my dad got him into boats. He ended up buying a little 18' jet boat with a build motor and a HUGE shot of nitrous. I believe he later moved to Havasu and ended up getting injured in a jetski accident. His name was Al Bacon and if anyone know him I'd love to get some details and catch up. He's had some rough times but ultimately was a great guy to me. We would chill in the garage while he tinkered on the boat, blasted KROQ and I played with his slot machine. I got 777's on my first pull.

My dad eventually sold the flatbottom and we were boatless for a while. But his friend Jeff had moved his business from Torrance out to Havasu and we would go out on his Hocking, blow doors off of everyone.

In the meanwhile my dads work had a 48' ocean boat that we would go out to Catalina in, and he also ended up racing offshore boats for "Thundercat." I saw a few of his races and he also would drive the boat to its destinations. I remember driving out to Vegas for a mead race pulling up to Ceasars Palace with a huge 40' offshore race boat and people were in awe. They parked it front and center in front of the casino and we stayed in a HUGE room.

Later he found an old catalina ski race boat. It was a 1979 tarva vdrive. Yellow with the woodgrain. He got it with all the rigging and we towed it home. I remember helping him sand the whole thing and he eventually took it to work where it was painted with Awl-Grip white and EMRON stripes. The motor was found from a chevy dealer that was closing, and he eventually took it to Jeff where it was built, and blown. Everything was polished and it was beautiful. His friend at IMCO did the exhaust full custom. I believe Martinez did the interior.

It was featured in Hot Boat where we took a trip our to Castiac and a photographer took a few shots. Unfortunately this was back in the film days and most of the shots were flipped backwards. Heh.

He eventually got remarried and we sold the Tarva. After that we purchased a 30something tollycraft that they eventually lived on after selling both CA houses and building a new home in North Carolina.

 

[ka0tyk]

Thats when I got MY first boat. I knew I wanted to build one the way I wanted it rather than buying one. It was a 1978 tahiti jet boat with a panther. I purchased it here from RiverDAD and he gave me a great deal on it. Drove out to his house in Lake Elsinore and proudly drove it home. I didnt even have anywhere to put it. It needed a complete gut and I was eager to learn.

My dad came out and helped me get it running, firing it off of a battery and a red gas tank off to the side.

[video=youtube;9HzszIXx46U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HzszIXx46U[/video]

I put a new floor into it and found some seat bases from here and put that thing in to the water. I was eager to drive the thing and ended up driving it from 2nd street in long beach, out into the ocean out to San pedro where my dads boat was docked. I probably couldve died. It was my first run ever and I aimed for the moon on that trip. I managed to get there and somewhat back. My fuel filter clogged from all the dirt in the tank and ended up having to call my dad to come and get me.

I eventually finished that boat and took it out to Havasu, parker, the ocean, etc. I built everything, from the motor, to the floor, the seats, the wiring, fuel, etc. I have full build threads here and on scjb. My gf and now wife was also into boating. Her mom had a four winns and now a Mastercraft. Owns a house out near parker and while I was raised to go fast, her boating experience was more of the "lets have fun and use lots of toys." She wasnt a fan of my little tiny 18 footer that barely held some towels and beer.

After selling my 18' I found my next boat. SHE WAS A BEAUTY! 21' bahner i/o. My wife came with me and was like... o... m...g. It was filled with water, rotten to the core, and sitting on tires in the middle of a field in riverside.

Once I got home I got stared on it.

And eventually wound up with this. Again, I built everything.

I also had a kid during that time, so my garage time was cut short. But she eventually got to enjoy it as well.

and became my copilot.

During that time my dad sold his Tollycraft here in CA, and moved out east to North Carolina. He purchased a Robalo center console, and hated every minute of it. Going from a blown vdrive cruiser to a outboard was NOT his idea of fun, but his wife loved it.

After 5 years in North Carolina they had enough of being too far away from family and ended up buying a home in Bullhead City AZ. Sold everything. I helped my dad find this howard and after talking with Gene quickly realized it was a diamond in the rough, only having built ONE 21' MCOB.

After using the bahner for only a short 6 months, having a kid and quickly realizing that there STILL isnt enough room I stumbled upon yet another glorious vessel in the rough. Which is what I have now. A 1996 21' Warlock LXI open bow. It had caught fire and had some pretty big gelcoat damage. I'm still in the process of fixing it up but it will soon be there and our family cant wait to enjoy it.

and now

And thats my story. My wife thinks im crazy. I just love boats.

 

[Taboma]

KayOtyk, that is one hell of a cool story and I'm in awe what you've done with a few boats certainly destined for the junk yard :thumbsup:thumbsup:bowdown:

Fun read -- Thanks

 

[nowski]

RDP has a lot of great resources and a lot of talented members on this site as well. Last summer I had the privilege of meeting one of those members by simply sending a private message, here is the story that made my dream come true.

Nowski: I saw your post in Many Pilots on here thread. Could you take a member on a flight in the near future if we share expenses?

Dave H: I am a licensed pilot (you have to be to fly sailplanes) and qualified to take passengers.
The glider I own is a single seat (PIK20d) but I am qualified in several hi-performance two seaters (Duo-Discus, DG-1000, Grob 103) and would be HAPPY to share a flight with you.

I was in Tehachapi just last weekend flying their two seats DG. It's a little early in the season yet.....the lift really starts to kick off mid- May where you can experience flights into the Sierras and do mind blowing things in an unpowered aircraft. Flights to Mt. Whitney and back are common. I fly mostly out of Vegas but will be flying a lot this summer in Tehachapi and considering moving my aircraft there permanently. Minden NV is the "Mecca" of soaring and they have a Duo-Discus there I am qualified in. Would be happy to take you or any of your friends / family for a ride.

Nowski: Thanks for the offer Dave! My dad and neighbor use to fly out of El Mirage back in the late 60's. My dad eventually lost his eye sight to glaucoma when I was 11 years old. The opportunity to fly with my dad vanished but I always remembered how much he enjoyed it and something that I've always wanted to experience. I tried going up in Lone Pine about 20 years ago but that didn't work out so we had a pilot take me and my wife up in an airplane instead. I live in Ontario so I'm about 2 hours out of Tehachapi. Keep me posted in the near future. Thanks Again, Jim

Five months later in August I get a text from Dave saying he'll be in Minden Nevada the next weekend. Dave says he can reserve a Duo Discus sailplane for Saturday and wants to know if I can make it up there. I told Dave to book it I'll be there. We have two guys that have never met both giving their word to meet at a location and each having to drive over 400 miles one way.

Flight Itinerary: Take off noon on Saturday from Minden Airport, fly south to the sierras weather permitting, fly over to June, Mono, Mammoth Lakes and Yosemite. Head over to Lake Tahoe and return back to Minden Airport. Approximate flight time 4 hours.

Dave is an incredible pilot who showcased his talents well beyond my expectations. He took me on an adventure that reached an altitude of nearly 18,000 feet over some of the prettiest land in this wonderful country of ours. Most importantly I got to experience a passion my dad had for gliding. That little place in my heart I reserve in his memory, we shared together and a lifelong dream of mine finally fulfilled. Thanks Again Dave for letting us be your co-pilots... Jim

"The Power of RDP, Where the Opportunities are Endless and the Memories are Priceless".

Here are a couple Videos from our flight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY-A9_sxWaU


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrcjNB6dShY

 

[DWC]

My first memories of boating are in my Dad's loud, yellow boat. We usually launched next to the Queen Mary and paddled back. From what I remember my mom quit going and my dad dumped the boat.
We didn't get back on the water until 2000 when our friends invited us to Blythe for the weekend. After one trip we were hooked. Ended up buying a Sport Nautique and 31' motorhome to go with it. Those trips were some of our best family vacations we've had. We spent hours sitting in the tullies and tubing during the day and around the fire at night.
Around 2010 our neighbor bought a place in Fort Mohave and our boating switched to Needles/Havasu. The Nautique was perfect for Needles but was a rough ride to the sandbar or into Havasu. We picked up a Magic that was perfect for the task. The new boat allowed us to explore Havasu and spend more time on the lake. A couple years into owning the Magic we signed up for Monster Bash. The exposure to the performance boating scene had me intrigued to say the least. Combine that with a somewhat unhealthy addiction to RDP and sitting with the Ogden's (Oil Field Trash) I started peaking at a new to us boat. We picked up a new to us E-ticket the morning of Monster Bash last year. The experience getting to know the new boat has been a shitload of fun. The good new has been the lake feels half the size. The down side has been getting used to the new gas and maintenance schedules.
I'm not sure what's next for us. I could see upgrading the 525's for a little more power or easing to a pontoon at some point. Either way I'm sure it will start with something on RDP while my wife is peeking over my shoulder asking what I'm up to.

 

[nowski]

Hey DWC, we've been boating that stretch of the river since the late 80's. We use to camp on the beach at five mile road. On Memorial Day weekend we'd go get a pig over at one of the farms off of Euclid Ave. in Chino. Bring it to the river, dig a pit in the sand load it with coals and barbecue it. We would also bring the parasail and fly that stretch of the river, incredible view 250' above the water. I would also bring a ton of range balls, put down the mat, set up the tee and drive golf balls over the river. Man those were the day's...

 

[DWC]

Hey DWC, we've been boating that stretch of the river since the late 80's. We use to camp on the beach at five mile road. On Memorial Day weekend we'd go get a pig over at one of the farms off of Euclid Ave. in Chino. Bring it to the river, dig a pit in the sand load it with coals and barbecue it. We would also bring the parasail and fly that stretch of the river, incredible view 250' above the water. I would also bring a ton of range balls, put down the mat, set up the tee and drive golf balls over the river. Man those were the day's...

Had a friend in high school that had a place on the river in Blythe. We used to sneak on the golf course range and fill up the sheep skin covers with range balls. Spent evenings trying to hit over the water. I missed the parasail days because someone got hurt. They had a Schiada with a 250 evinrude with nitrous that was a blast. Also had a rubber raft with a 25hp that was a ton of fun. Definitely some good times out there.

 

[Heavyhauler]

My RDP story is more like a book that took a week to write. In 2013 my son and I decided to come to the Havasu Boat Show and stay all week and attend Desert Storm. I had been mostly a lurker on RDP, but prior to coming I announced that 2 green horn boaters from the east coast were coming and we wanted to see if someone was gracious enough to let us ride in their boat during Desert Storm. Several people responded including River Dave and Headshothills that if we made it we would have a ride. Dave invited us to come introduce ourselves at the RDP tent at the boat show. When we showed up in Havasu for the boat show, the first person we met was Milk Money and Hammer and then shortly after we met Dave and Stacy. As Dave mentioned at the beginning of the post and I agree, he probably rivals Budweiser for giving away free beer. Anyway, we hung around and drank some beer and met some more RDP folks on Saturday, and of course they all invited us to come back to the show on Sunday and since we weren't doing anything else anyway, we did. So we show up later in the afternoon on Sunday and hang out until the show is over, having met a number of RDP'ers and drank a lot more of Dave's free beer. As things were wrapping up, Dave invited us to go eat supper with him and some of the others who were helping with the booth at the show, which we did, and of course we had a great meal and drank some more beer. By this time, Dave, Hammer, Milk and a few others have pretty well taken us under their wing and we are feeling like long lost family. I was also wanting to buy a new or newer boat and at the time I was thinking Nordic or Howard, so Dave makes sure I meet Thane at Nordic and Gene from Howard and tells me he is going to be doing a story on the Howard deck boat while everyone is around between the show and Desert Storm and invites me to accompany him. As it would turn out the early part of the week was real windy so the Howard deal got postponed on Monday, and instead we went to Nordic, where Thane and John gave us the grand tour of the Nordic factory and we got to see all aspects of Nordic construction, so, I started dealing with Thane on a used Nordic deckboat that he had there at the shop, that I ultimately bought shortly after Desert Storm. Dave invited us to come to his house to meet some more friends and cook out, so another long evening of cooking, eating, drinking beer and bench racing at Dave's house with a whole bunch of people that are starting to gather for Desert Storm. Dave also takes my son out into the desert on his side by side, which totally hooked my son on the idea of us getting side by sides (which we did a little later on), but anyway another great day in Havasu with the RDP gang and then Dave tells me since we didn't get to do the Howard gig, he is having Hammer take us to Parker the next day to see what that part of the AZ boating scene is like. Us being complete outsiders, all we ever see or hear is Havasu, Havasu, Havasu, but Dave assures us that Parker is the laid back bomb of AZ boating and partying, so we meet up with Hammer, who takes us to another good friend of theirs who has a house in the Keys (I apologize for forgetting his name but he had a Schiada with an outboard), and we also went to Paul (Outdrive 1's house in the Keys) drinking beer all the time, and then ultimately went in the Schiada accross to the CA side and picked up MM at his place, then they took us on the grand tour of Parker from one end to the other, complete with long stops at Fox's for more beer and then Roadrunner for beer and food and beer and more beer. So the next day is the street party day at Havasu, and of course that was another day of looking at beautiful boats and drinking lots and lots of cold beer, most of it again furnished by RDP. Dave also tells us he has a 85' houseboat lined up for Desert Storm as well as a 42' center console fishing boat, that we are welcome to ride on either, but if we want on the houseboat to be over at the Nautical about 7:30 a.m. the following morning. So the next morning, we are the first one's to the houseboat along with John West and his family, but when we go up on the deck of the houseboat 4 guys are lying in the lounge chairs sleeping. They wake up when we go up on the deck, and since there were no other cars in the lot, we ask them where they came from. They point over into the distance to a helicopter. One of them said we flew in late last night and just bunked out on the boat. Turns out it was the Mills Brothers of Desert Racing Fame with their father and pilot. So they get up and start stirring around and the father goes down to the galley of the boat and whips up a huge breakfast for everyone. At about the same time a pickup truck loaded to the top of the cab with cases of beer and liquor shows up and it all is offloaded onto the house boat, along with just a few bags of ice, but nevertheless we start drinking beer shortly after 7:30 a.m. For the next couple of hours RDP people just kept coming and getting on the boat and we just kept drinking, and we finally cast off to head down to the far end of the lake to watch the fast boats come by and of course be the center of a raft up with all the power boaters. Probably about an hour and a half to boat down to the raft up location (fortunately John West was driving the house boat and he doesn't drink) but everyone else is drinking hard. So we get anchored and lots of boats start tying onto the houseboat and people off the powerboats come aboard, and there is a festive atmosphere. In a little while the Center Console shows up and it has about 25 people on it, mostly women (good looking young women), and most of them were tending bar, serving drinks, socializing and having a good time like all of us were. By now there are probably 50-75 on the house boat and someone announces we are running low on ice. One of the Mills brothers announces that he will take care of that, and he calls someone on the cell phone. I assume a boat will bring ice. In about 10 minutes a helicopter is circling the houseboat dropping bags of ice from the helicopter to restock the coolers with ice. That was cool as hell. So the partying continues and someone brings out some chilled Fire Ball and we are drinking it from the bottle and passing it around. I have been in Havasu a week, probably drank a 55 gallon drum of beer and haven't been drunk yet, but after about 4 or 5 shots of the Fire Ball, I am down drunk, and I'm starting to feel sick, so I head down to the big state room in the back of the boat and when I go in, there were a couple of girls in the bathroom doing their makeup so I tell them I think I am going to be sick and I laid down on the bed and passed out. A while later, I wake up (I am sick now), the bathroom door is locked, so I run out the sliding glass and heave off the back of the boat (we are heading back toward the Nautical now, so I have been out a while). I go back in and the bathroom is available, so I run a little water to slap on my face and I look in the mirror and while I was out those girls had put lipstick all over my face and forehead. So now I am drunk, sick, and looking like a circus clown and everyone is getting a big laugh, which was cool, because I was too drunk to know any different. We leave the boat at the Nautical, go back to the motel and I crash. Wake up about 4 in the morning, look at my flight schedule and see Southwest has an early flight, so I wake my son up and tell him these West Coast boys have done partied me under the table and I'm ready to go to the house. We haul ass to Phoenix, catch a plane, and about the time you all are gathering for the RDP party, I'm hitting the sack back in South Carolina. Had a great time, want to come back, but the next time, I won't stay so long, because you all are professionals and I'm just an amateur. I did make some lifelong friends and shortly after the Havasu trip, MM came and stayed with us for about a week and attended our home lake poker run.

 

[RiverDave]

My RDP story is more like a book that took a week to write. In 2013 my son and I decided to come to the Havasu Boat Show and stay all week and attend Desert Storm. I had been mostly a lurker on RDP, but prior to coming I announced that 2 green horn boaters from the east coast were coming and we wanted to see if someone was gracious enough to let us ride in their boat during Desert Storm. Several people responded including River Dave and Headshothills that if we made it we would have a ride. Dave invited us to come introduce ourselves at the RDP tent at the boat show. When we showed up in Havasu for the boat show, the first person we met was Milk Money and Hammer and then shortly after we met Dave and Stacy. As Dave mentioned at the beginning of the post and I agree, he probably rivals Budweiser for giving away free beer. Anyway, we hung around and drank some beer and met some more RDP folks on Saturday, and of course they all invited us to come back to the show on Sunday and since we weren't doing anything else anyway, we did. So we show up later in the afternoon on Sunday and hang out until the show is over, having met a number of RDP'ers and drank a lot more of Dave's free beer. As things were wrapping up, Dave invited us to go eat supper with him and some of the others who were helping with the booth at the show, which we did, and of course we had a great meal and drank some more beer. By this time, Dave, Hammer, Milk and a few others have pretty well taken us under their wing and we are feeling like long lost family. I was also wanting to buy a new or newer boat and at the time I was thinking Nordic or Howard, so Dave makes sure I meet Thane at Nordic and Gene from Howard and tells me he is going to be doing a story on the Howard deck boat while everyone is around between the show and Desert Storm and invites me to accompany him. As it would turn out the early part of the week was real windy so the Howard deal got postponed on Monday, and instead we went to Nordic, where Thane and John gave us the grand tour of the Nordic factory and we got to see all aspects of Nordic construction, so, I started dealing with Thane on a used Nordic deckboat that he had there at the shop, that I ultimately bought shortly after Desert Storm. Dave invited us to come to his house to meet some more friends and cook out, so another long evening of cooking, eating, drinking beer and bench racing at Dave's house with a whole bunch of people that are starting to gather for Desert Storm. Dave also takes my son out into the desert on his side by side, which totally hooked my son on the idea of us getting side by sides (which we did a little later on), but anyway another great day in Havasu with the RDP gang and then Dave tells me since we didn't get to do the Howard gig, he is having Hammer take us to Parker the next day to see what that part of the AZ boating scene is like. Us being complete outsiders, all we ever see or hear is Havasu, Havasu, Havasu, but Dave assures us that Parker is the laid back bomb of AZ boating and partying, so we meet up with Hammer, who takes us to another good friend of theirs who has a house in the Keys (I apologize for forgetting his name but he had a Schiada with an outboard), and we also went to Paul (Outdrive 1's house in the Keys) drinking beer all the time, and then ultimately went in the Schiada accross to the CA side and picked up MM at his place, then they took us on the grand tour of Parker from one end to the other, complete with long stops at Fox's for more beer and then Roadrunner for beer and food and beer and more beer. So the next day is the street party day at Havasu, and of course that was another day of looking at beautiful boats and drinking lots and lots of cold beer, most of it again furnished by RDP. Dave also tells us he has a 85' houseboat lined up for Desert Storm as well as a 42' center console fishing boat, that we are welcome to ride on either, but if we want on the houseboat to be over at the Nautical about 7:30 a.m. the following morning. So the next morning, we are the first one's to the houseboat along with John West and his family, but when we go up on the deck of the houseboat 4 guys are lying in the lounge chairs sleeping. They wake up when we go up on the deck, and since there were no other cars in the lot, we ask them where they came from. They point over into the distance to a helicopter. One of them said we flew in late last night and just bunked out on the boat. Turns out it was the Mills Brothers of Desert Racing Fame with their father and pilot. So they get up and start stirring around and the father goes down to the galley of the boat and whips up a huge breakfast for everyone. At about the same time a pickup truck loaded to the top of the cab with cases of beer and liquor shows up and it all is offloaded onto the house boat, along with just a few bags of ice, but nevertheless we start drinking beer shortly after 7:30 a.m. For the next couple of hours RDP people just kept coming and getting on the boat and we just kept drinking, and we finally cast off to head down to the far end of the lake to watch the fast boats come by and of course be the center of a raft up with all the power boaters. Probably about an hour and a half to boat down to the raft up location (fortunately John West was driving the house boat and he doesn't drink) but everyone else is drinking hard. So we get anchored and lots of boats start tying onto the houseboat and people off the powerboats come aboard, and there is a festive atmosphere. In a little while the Center Console shows up and it has about 25 people on it, mostly women (good looking young women), and most of them were tending bar, serving drinks, socializing and having a good time like all of us were. By now there are probably 50-75 on the house boat and someone announces we are running low on ice. One of the Mills brothers announces that he will take care of that, and he calls someone on the cell phone. I assume a boat will bring ice. In about 10 minutes a helicopter is circling the houseboat dropping bags of ice from the helicopter to restock the coolers with ice. That was cool as hell. So the partying continues and someone brings out some chilled Fire Ball and we are drinking it from the bottle and passing it around. I have been in Havasu a week, probably drank a 55 gallon drum of beer and haven't been drunk yet, but after about 4 or 5 shots of the Fire Ball, I am down drunk, and I'm starting to feel sick, so I head down to the big state room in the back of the boat and when I go in, there were a couple of girls in the bathroom doing their makeup so I tell them I think I am going to be sick and I laid down on the bed and passed out. A while later, I wake up (I am sick now), the bathroom door is locked, so I run out the sliding glass and heave off the back of the boat (we are heading back toward the Nautical now, so I have been out a while). I go back in and the bathroom is available, so I run a little water to slap on my face and I look in the mirror and while I was out those girls had put lipstick all over my face and forehead. So now I am drunk, sick, and looking like a circus clown and everyone is getting a big laugh, which was cool, because I was too drunk to know any different. We leave the boat at the Nautical, go back to the motel and I crash. Wake up about 4 in the morning, look at my flight schedule and see Southwest has an early flight, so I wake my son up and tell him these West Coast boys have done partied me under the table and I'm ready to go to the house. We haul ass to Phoenix, catch a plane, and about the time you all are gathering for the RDP party, I'm hitting the sack back in South Carolina. Had a great time, want to come back, but the next time, I won't stay so long, because you all are professionals and I'm just an amateur. I did make some lifelong friends and shortly after the Havasu trip, MM came and stayed with us for about a week and attended our home lake poker run.

2013 was one of our better Desert Storms. . I never knew about the lipstick on your face.. lol

 

[Riverbound]

My RDP story is more like a book that took a week to write. In 2013 my son and I decided to come to the Havasu Boat Show and stay all week and attend Desert Storm. I had been mostly a lurker on RDP, but prior to coming I announced that 2 green horn boaters from the east coast were coming and we wanted to see if someone was gracious enough to let us ride in their boat during Desert Storm. Several people responded including River Dave and Headshothills that if we made it we would have a ride. Dave invited us to come introduce ourselves at the RDP tent at the boat show. When we showed up in Havasu for the boat show, the first person we met was Milk Money and Hammer and then shortly after we met Dave and Stacy. As Dave mentioned at the beginning of the post and I agree, he probably rivals Budweiser for giving away free beer. Anyway, we hung around and drank some beer and met some more RDP folks on Saturday, and of course they all invited us to come back to the show on Sunday and since we weren't doing anything else anyway, we did. So we show up later in the afternoon on Sunday and hang out until the show is over, having met a number of RDP'ers and drank a lot more of Dave's free beer. As things were wrapping up, Dave invited us to go eat supper with him and some of the others who were helping with the booth at the show, which we did, and of course we had a great meal and drank some more beer. By this time, Dave, Hammer, Milk and a few others have pretty well taken us under their wing and we are feeling like long lost family. I was also wanting to buy a new or newer boat and at the time I was thinking Nordic or Howard, so Dave makes sure I meet Thane at Nordic and Gene from Howard and tells me he is going to be doing a story on the Howard deck boat while everyone is around between the show and Desert Storm and invites me to accompany him. As it would turn out the early part of the week was real windy so the Howard deal got postponed on Monday, and instead we went to Nordic, where Thane and John gave us the grand tour of the Nordic factory and we got to see all aspects of Nordic construction, so, I started dealing with Thane on a used Nordic deckboat that he had there at the shop, that I ultimately bought shortly after Desert Storm. Dave invited us to come to his house to meet some more friends and cook out, so another long evening of cooking, eating, drinking beer and bench racing at Dave's house with a whole bunch of people that are starting to gather for Desert Storm. Dave also takes my son out into the desert on his side by side, which totally hooked my son on the idea of us getting side by sides (which we did a little later on), but anyway another great day in Havasu with the RDP gang and then Dave tells me since we didn't get to do the Howard gig, he is having Hammer take us to Parker the next day to see what that part of the AZ boating scene is like. Us being complete outsiders, all we ever see or hear is Havasu, Havasu, Havasu, but Dave assures us that Parker is the laid back bomb of AZ boating and partying, so we meet up with Hammer, who takes us to another good friend of theirs who has a house in the Keys (I apologize for forgetting his name but he had a Schiada with an outboard), and we also went to Paul (Outdrive 1's house in the Keys) drinking beer all the time, and then ultimately went in the Schiada accross to the CA side and picked up MM at his place, then they took us on the grand tour of Parker from one end to the other, complete with long stops at Fox's for more beer and then Roadrunner for beer and food and beer and more beer. So the next day is the street party day at Havasu, and of course that was another day of looking at beautiful boats and drinking lots and lots of cold beer, most of it again furnished by RDP. Dave also tells us he has a 85' houseboat lined up for Desert Storm as well as a 42' center console fishing boat, that we are welcome to ride on either, but if we want on the houseboat to be over at the Nautical about 7:30 a.m. the following morning. So the next morning, we are the first one's to the houseboat along with John West and his family, but when we go up on the deck of the houseboat 4 guys are lying in the lounge chairs sleeping. They wake up when we go up on the deck, and since there were no other cars in the lot, we ask them where they came from. They point over into the distance to a helicopter. One of them said we flew in late last night and just bunked out on the boat. Turns out it was the Mills Brothers of Desert Racing Fame with their father and pilot. So they get up and start stirring around and the father goes down to the galley of the boat and whips up a huge breakfast for everyone. At about the same time a pickup truck loaded to the top of the cab with cases of beer and liquor shows up and it all is offloaded onto the house boat, along with just a few bags of ice, but nevertheless we start drinking beer shortly after 7:30 a.m. For the next couple of hours RDP people just kept coming and getting on the boat and we just kept drinking, and we finally cast off to head down to the far end of the lake to watch the fast boats come by and of course be the center of a raft up with all the power boaters. Probably about an hour and a half to boat down to the raft up location (fortunately John West was driving the house boat and he doesn't drink) but everyone else is drinking hard. So we get anchored and lots of boats start tying onto the houseboat and people off the powerboats come aboard, and there is a festive atmosphere. In a little while the Center Console shows up and it has about 25 people on it, mostly women (good looking young women), and most of them were tending bar, serving drinks, socializing and having a good time like all of us were. By now there are probably 50-75 on the house boat and someone announces we are running low on ice. One of the Mills brothers announces that he will take care of that, and he calls someone on the cell phone. I assume a boat will bring ice. In about 10 minutes a helicopter is circling the houseboat dropping bags of ice from the helicopter to restock the coolers with ice. That was cool as hell. So the partying continues and someone brings out some chilled Fire Ball and we are drinking it from the bottle and passing it around. I have been in Havasu a week, probably drank a 55 gallon drum of beer and haven't been drunk yet, but after about 4 or 5 shots of the Fire Ball, I am down drunk, and I'm starting to feel sick, so I head down to the big state room in the back of the boat and when I go in, there were a couple of girls in the bathroom doing their makeup so I tell them I think I am going to be sick and I laid down on the bed and passed out. A while later, I wake up (I am sick now), the bathroom door is locked, so I run out the sliding glass and heave off the back of the boat (we are heading back toward the Nautical now, so I have been out a while). I go back in and the bathroom is available, so I run a little water to slap on my face and I look in the mirror and while I was out those girls had put lipstick all over my face and forehead. So now I am drunk, sick, and looking like a circus clown and everyone is getting a big laugh, which was cool, because I was too drunk to know any different. We leave the boat at the Nautical, go back to the motel and I crash. Wake up about 4 in the morning, look at my flight schedule and see Southwest has an early flight, so I wake my son up and tell him these West Coast boys have done partied me under the table and I'm ready to go to the house. We haul ass to Phoenix, catch a plane, and about the time you all are gathering for the RDP party, I'm hitting the sack back in South Carolina. Had a great time, want to come back, but the next time, I won't stay so long, because you all are professionals and I'm just an amateur. I did make some lifelong friends and shortly after the Havasu trip, MM came and stayed with us for about a week and attended our home lake poker run.

I have to admit.......I'm most likely the one that gave you the fireball. That year was hands down the best DS to date.

 

[l84theriv]

I have to agree DS 2013 was epic. First time as a participant as well. The next two years we participated was a disappointment. There for no more participating for me. But as a non participant for the last few years its been a blast.

 

[traquer]

I got some good stories but I need to actually write them down and find the pictures! This thread is a good reason to dig up some old photos and scan them I think others are in the same boat too

 

[Tank]

I can't even begin to tell the boating stories I have. Boating has broaden my horizon, introduced me to people near and far, millionaire and not and brought me to know life long friends across the globe.

 

[Go-Fly]

The first memories of boating was on the families Owens 35 Flagship. I found a picture on line of what it looked like. Any good weekend, Dad would load us up in the station wagon and head for the coast. The weekends would just fly by and before you knew it, we were headed home. Hours were spent chasing down tuna and kings. Crabbing off the docks and washing fishing gear for a nickel so we could run up to the store for an ice cream cone. When I say we, I mean my two older brothers and me. Now when it comes to sharing an ice cream cone, the youngest always gets the last lick. The youngest would be me. My mother still claims that being picked on from my brothers is what made me so determined in life. It's funny the things you remember as a kid. As strange as it may be, there is one thing you will always find in the galley of every yacht that I have owned. On this first trip I remember, Mom had a box of cereal that was in a white box with the word CEREAL in black. I can see it in my head like it was yesterday. It was a test box that was sent to us by General Mills. My brothers and I sat around the galley table, spoon in hand, waiting for the new adventure. They were Cheerio's shaped as letters and the best part was, there was candy that floated in milk. Sugar, lots of sugar, not like the little sprinkle mom put on for you. How did brothers eat this new cereal, eat all the letters first, then the candy. After all the letters are gone, you count the candies to see who got the most. I won but, didn't get to eat any of my candy, those went to my oldest brother. My father looked over his paper to my tearful eyes and said, "did ya learn something". The next morning I eat all my cereal, letters and candy at the same time. General Mills released the cereal in many markets before us, you know them as Lucky Charms. I have kept a box onboard because it makes me smile and think of good times past, every time I see it. Families that boat together, bond in ways no one else can understand, but we do. When you take your kids boating and spend time with them, you build character with discipline in their life.
[ATTAH=CONFIG]555989[/ATTACH]

 

[milkmoney]

No story here. Jus wanted to say that I am glad I met Danny ( heavy hauler) , sue and his son lance and sue is a great cook [emoji106][emoji106][emoji202]
I had a great time out east on my visit with them. They are great at hospitality , we still stay in touch and everytime Danny always says come see us , you are always welcome [emoji41]

 

[CigAjerk]

DS 2010

The same desert storm where Dave loaded up a truck full of beer into the bed of a truck...in a parking lot....outside a restaurant that made way for our drunk asses.

After the "Party". We went back to my house to which Dave saw some neighbors partying and gave them all the left-over beer from the back of his truck...lol. We also went to another house until 3:30 am.....we were really late to the poker run. Like, it was over by the time we got on the water.

Next day, we were all hanging in steamboat



RD was lounging on the back of my old benny...we were bullshitting, I said "I haven't been to parker since 1996". RD says "well let's fix that"



We circle the wagons and within minutes entire group is Parker



Since the battlewagon had arrived the sober people of parker were coming out of the woodwork for a ride to the bar. RD asked me when we were leaving and I said "I'm leaving, but my wife is going to stay here". RD replies with something about selling a jockstrap to kaitlyn jenner or some ridiculousness about how he can convince my very stubborn wife to ditch my 3 year old daughter at Apache with my MIL and head to the bar. He quickly came back saying "yeah, looks like you're solo". This was roughly 9:30 pm and my wife was at her wits end due to some random people trying to use my now sleeping daughters room as a stabin cabin. Wife wasn't happy to say the least.

We are driving to the bar and OD1 asked if he could drive the toon. I was just tied up to the guys F29...what could go wrong?

(I wish I had the pic but I don't)

We pull up to fox's and Paul is checking for flats. I'm not exactly sure what happened to our beloved captain but I think it was just a case of the bluewater flu.



Fast Forward to September 2010. We decided to head down to Parker again. Dave was kind enough to leave the house to my wife and I for the weekend but he and Stacy were out there already and stuck around for our first night.

I'm not sure if it was the previous stabin cabin incident or the fact that RD and Stacy were either in the kid mindset, preggo...hell if I know, but something was changing in Ol'RD's apache loop program.

Dennis H2oSki2Fast came rolling by Dave's dock. Sun was up, couldn't have been too late cause this pic was taken right after....

Paul OD1 gave me a ride in his F29 before we had dinner.

I do believe this was the first time the F29 came back after taking a break for the 33 daytona I just rode on a few weeks earlier. First world problems



At any rate, Dennis rolls by the party spot of the famous Apache Loop....RiverDave's place....where the party happens......while the sun was still up, flogs the shit out of his 2 smoke to which Dave yells

"Keep it down.....WE GOT KIDS HERE!!!!!"

to which Dennis replies without skipping a beat

"it's still parker"

 

[RiverDave]

Here's the pic on the back of the toon..



Just popped up on my FB today actually. LOL

I wish I had the pic of our "DD" passed out over the side of the boat.

RD

 

[RiverDave]

Just a reminder guys.. Contest ends tomorrow night!

RD

 

[throttle]

Here is a short story,

I bought a boat, happily ever after...

 

[Joker]

Just a reminder guys.. Contest ends tomorrow night!

RD

Am I in the running still?

 

[Abc123]

Fuck you I win?

Should I offer the 2nd seat to Irish86?

 

[Enen]

Fuck you I win?

Should I offer the 2nd seat to Irish86?

LOL

 

[RiverDave]

Am I in the running still?

Everybody is in the running till tomorrow night!

RD

 

[CigAjerk]

Here's the pic on the back of the toon..

View attachment 556970

Just popped up on my FB today actually. LOL

I wish I had the pic of our "DD" passed out over the side of the boat.

RD

Twas a good weekend

 

[78Southwind]

Enough Said...Thanks Dave

 

[nowski]

Enough Said...Thanks Dave

View attachment 557055

Southwind party of one, Southwind party of one your table is ready...

 

[RiverDave]

We decided to give consolation prizes. So here are your winners and runners up for the contest!

RDP Winners:
Sean Roberts wins the Helicopter Ride
Kaotik wins underwater lights from Boat Whipz or the Helicopter ride if Sean Roberts doesn't show up.
LHC Boy - Wins a Boat Whip
Cigajerk - RDP Gear for crew or Boat Whip.

Facebook Winners:
"Favorite Child" Ray Compuzano wins the Helicopter Ride
"Mad Props" Scott Shank wins a Boat Whip or the Helicopter ride if Ray doesn't show up.
"Quality Time" Christi Pope wins RDP Gear
"College Tuition" Daniel Martinez wins RDP Gear

Congrats to all the winners and please call or pm me for details on your prizes.
949-678-8369

RD

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

Dayum....just realized that a 4 month newbie with 20 posts wins the prize......RDP...where dreams come true. .

 

[RiverDave]

Dayum....just realized that a 4 month newbie with 20 posts wins the prize......RDP...where dreams come true. .

Did you post a river story?

 

[RiverDave]

Since we know a lot of members here are not on FB we ran a separate contest here with another ride for two in a helicopter. That contest was for the best river story. We aren't trying to send anyone to FB instead of here. Rather we are trying to expand our footprint to reach more of the boating public. Some boaters are more comfortable with social media than with forums and vice versa. We are simply doing our best to put our brand in front of as many boaters as possible.

 

[seanroberts]

We decided to give consolation prizes. So here are your winners and runners up for the contest!

RDP Winners:
Sean Roberts wins the Helicopter Ride
Kaotik wins underwater lights from Boat Whipz or the Helicopter ride if Sean Roberts doesn't show up.
LHC Boy - Wins a Boat Whip
Cigajerk - RDP Gear for crew or Boat Whip.

Facebook Winners:
"Favorite Child" Ray Compuzano wins the Helicopter Ride
"Mad Props" Scott Shank wins a Boat Whip or the Helicopter ride if Ray doesn't show up.
"Quality Time" Christi Pope wins RDP Gear
"College Tuition" Daniel Martinez wins RDP Gear

Congrats to all the winners and please call or pm me for details on your prizes.
949-678-8369

RD

I have to say thank you RDP, I will definitely enjoy this Desert Storm. I'm sure if more people would have posted it would have been an extremely tough on to decide on. I kept my situations on the ok for most readers, if I would put mor details in I'm sure I'd get put in a time out. Most of us have great times and stories of drinking and bad decisions turning into great stories later. The Ultra that I took the cute hood rat out on was named "Booby Trap" it was a double meaning I was a K-9 EOD guy and it had risks but wanted to trap the boobies! The boobies ended up trapping me!

Thanks again, I'm glad to be one of the RDP people!

 

[RiverDave]

Congrats again Sean Roberts.. I have a few stories as well that I'd love to share but my wife would shoot me if I did.. LOL



One of my favorite stories ever posted on here, I believe was by Egg Beatin your ass. Something like that. When you read it you can't help but understand/identify and relate to it all.. LOL He ended up trying to bang the wife smelling of gear oil and bleeding.. and somehow ended up in a bathtub. LOL

Anyhow thanks for sharing your story, and I hope you guys enjoy the ride!

RD

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

Did you post a river story?

Nope...I'm not really a story teller. And when the hell do I go to the river anymore? But I've babbled enough here for almost 10 years. I thought maybe my awesome Dodger and College Football threads could at least get me a tshirt. :lmao

 

[nowski]

Congrats to Sean Roberts for writing a winner. Compliments to River Dave for putting on a Kick Ass Contest...

 

[CigAjerk]

What's a boat whip?

It was difficult to leave certain aspects of the story out. Lots more happened but had a real hard time filtering details so I omitted them all together.

Maybe next time privately submit the story, you filter any potential questionable/illegal activities or specific names, have a neutral 3rd party read the top 10 on video, post the vid then vote on the best one. Probably have a lot more submission if anyone wants to stay anonymous and it's impossible to name names.

 

[RiverDave]

http://safeglowhips.com/boatwhip/


click that