With all of the boating I've been doing, both on Havasu and the Parker Strip my life has started to resemble that Groundhog Day movie with Bill Murray. The difference, in my case, though is that instead of a huge marmot predisposed to seeing his shadow, and a sleepy Pennsylvania town in a deadlock with old man winter, I've got a good-natured fellow predisposed to sleeping while standing up, and a sunny desert town with enough bare skin to make Hugh Hefner rethink the relevance of his humble digs. What I'm trying to say is I don't wake up every morning and smash my alarm clock with disgust at that thought of suffering another day... Bill Murray can stuff it, my Groundhog Day rules!
This week we tested a Hallett 240 with Mr. 2ForceFull himself, Got a ski session in during said boat test, hit the local bars, cruised the gorge, hung out on the beach, and watched the sunset in the Channel... and that was just Thursday!
The ski session was fun and there was a bit of talk of whether anyone would be able to get up on the old ski that Hammer had brought to the show. Between it's size and the fact that over time the bindings had shrunk down to a size fitting of a Chinese ballerina, this ski was going to be a challenge. Steve and Hammer fought the good fight with the ski and the session ended with a 50% success rate and lots of laughs all around...
After the ski-off we headed up river through the gorge, as has become the routine. The gorge, for those who have never been is a slice of scenery that will remind you in one glimpse why we all got into boating in the first place. You just can't find a bad view there...
After the gorge we continued on to Topock 66 and Pirate Cove for some food and fun. I have to say that Pirate Cove is really starting to grow on me. With it's sand beaches and ample parking, it's carefree boating at it's best... and carefree is requisite atmosphere for me!
After everyone got their fill of the beach we loaded up the 240 and headed back to the Zoo and arrived just in time for a cruise through the Channel and a chance to enjoy yet another amazing Havasu sunset. If this is Groundhog day, I'll take it!
Friday was technically a work day, but I spent the day putting some things on Craigslist and cruising the web... You can do that when you are working with a major media outlet like RDP.
Friday afternoon I decided I needed to get in the water, so I grabbed my ski and headed to Body Beach. Body Beach is a local hangout, just south of Thompson Bay, where everyone goes to run their stand up skis. Now, I haven't done much on a standup ski in the last 15 or so years, so riding with the locals was a very eye opening experience. When you are racing along knowing that you are the fastest thing since neon wet suits met Chris "the Fish" Fischetti and a 10 year old on an old X2 rails past you dragging his shoulder in the water, the only thing you can do is park your ski and enjoy your humble pie. Even though that kid served me up an aquatic spine kick, I still had a great time and got a chance to shake out the cobwebs from the week...
Saturday morning I was laying around thinking about how little I was going to accomplish that day and reveling in the fact that I was actually looking forward to being completely unproductive. Then I received a text from Outdrive1. It seemed Paul was headed to Parker solo and was in need of a boat bitch to handle docking and generally making him look good in front of the Parker locals. I had the dock lines handled and I brought Hammer along to make sure OD1 was the envy of every boat on the water.
Upon arrival, we checked our bags at Paul's place and hopped in his 24 Schiada for an afternoon cruise up river. Let me say that I have had the pleasure of riding in a lot of different hardware this summer but, I'm hard pressed to find a boat I enjoy more than Paul's 24. The boat is fast enough to be exciting, handles rough water like a champ and doesn't do anything spooky...Even when charging through weekend chop on Parker at 70 mph. It's just a really fun boat!
We stopped on the way back down river at the sandbar to relax a bit and ran into Wendy and WMC. It was good to see them out enjoying the river and having a blast as usual. On the beach there was a very nice blown Connolly with colors by Billy B. This boat was super clean and the owner was nice enough to let me snap a picture of his ride!
Saturday night went by in a blur as the usual RDP suspects descended on Road Runner and took over the place. There were copious amounts of cocktails, a bachelorette party, and even a Nord sighting to cap off the evening. The night was a success and when the bar closed down I picked Hammer up from his nap in the parking lot, grabbed some of the bachelorette party and headed back to the Keys. A fitting ending to a great day!
The next morning Paul wanted to go for a boat ride so we went and picked up Cole from WOT Marine and went for a ski run. Paul has been doing some ski racing with his Schiada of late and Cole is his skier so it was a good chance to get a little training run in. Those who have not met Cole yet, be sure to say hi next time you are at the races. He's about as nice a guy as you could hope to meet and a hell of a skier to boot! Cole ran from the bend at rock island all the way to the Casino and back up to Riverland without missing a beat. I would have been lucky to make it out of the water, much less cruise the whole river in weekend chop!
There was another Nord sighting as well...
In the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray's character learns to appreciate the slower pace and simple pleasures of the quiet little Pennsylvania town despite the fact that he is destined to repeat the same day over and over again without end. My groundhog day is much the same, with one distinct exception... It was a kick ass ride from the start! There are worse fates than to wake up every day five minutes from the water and, while over time you end up repeating much of the same trips, they are experiences that any one of us would be happy and blessed to replay again and again. There truly are no bad days when you are with good friends on the River...
See you on the water!
