April Foolish Day!

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I know what he is thinking. “My dad is an idiot, but he’s my idiot”

Today is the official Woody Boater day of foolish things we have done this past year. For example. Buying an old Marine Railway. Owning old wood boats, including one I sold once years ago, and have no business owning again. Buying a new truck during a pandemic where you basically have to pay retail. Getting a puppy, that’s nuts, and losing weight so I couldn’t claim being fat to get a vaccine. Oh, and this was just December 2020. I have 11 months more of foolish things to brag about.

I shoulda had a V8 earlier

Getting a new engine after getting a new engine. Renovating an office no one has been in for over a year. As you can tell, these are not the usual left the drain plug out stuff. Starting the boat in gear. Purell stains on new varnish. Breaking down and calling Jimmy one too many times so my wife now just blurts out. Call Jimmy for anything.

Thanks jimmy!

The railway alone has an entire slew of dumb stuff embedded in the process. The Railway is kinda a large umbrella of foolishness. And to be honest, that’s the joy of it all. Ya gotta stay nuts, as it’s been said, I would rather be doing something foolish, than nothing at all. So here is the that one day a year we can look back and say. ya. I did that. Cool!

I can swim, which is a good thing. Cause ya never know

Wow, this is some sort of group therapy thing. Come on and join the fun. Trust me it feels good to expel your foolishness here. Don’t worry, it’s just us other fools. It’s understood we are all idiots. Owning a boat that may or may not float!

Starting an old new wall.

14 replies
  1. Rick
    Rick says:

    Well if nothing else I own a underpowered wooden boat built for calm lakes and live on Long Island. A place without lakes or calm water. The rest of the list is too long to post here.

  2. NR
    NR says:

    A few years ago we bought our 47 CC. In Florida and brought her up. Most smart people buy a Great Lakes boat and take it south. I did the opposite, Seinfeld episode, to save her. A few people asked, “you couldn’t find a boat in MI?” Nah, that would have been the logical thing. This the extensive spreadsheet of projects for a 45 year old boat keeps growing.

  3. Art
    Art says:

    k,hsaidy.naiidcn jweoii;jfjjaaljddnh77777,J,CJJCJ.JC.N/ld,l/,llsad/m/CMMCMCMMCMC//ww/ooeffghgyuqgqy

    • Art
      Art says:

      The date should answer a lot of the inquiries that I have gotten………………………….aprilfoolishness.

  4. Bilge Rat
    Bilge Rat says:

    That’s okay Matt, I think we’re all Bozos on this bus (Google that if you’re unfamiliar).

    In a shameless plug, our Lyman is the April boat on the Lyman Boat Owners Association calendar this month. So who’s an April Fool now?

  5. tparsons56
    tparsons56 says:

    Back in January I drove from the Detroit area to Holland, MI in subzero temps. to pickup someone else’s boat as part of the first leg of a relay. Of course I was under the impression that all of us that did this got fully restored triple cockpit Hackercrafts!!

    Just kidding – it was the road trip my wife and I really needed at that time and we were glad to be part of it.

    For a good April Fools joke Mother Nature dumped two inches of snow on us last night after a long stretch of great weather She always shows us who’s in charge.

  6. Anonymous Fool
    Anonymous Fool says:

    Oh I got foolish-ish story to tell!

    Years ago I bought my Chris-Craft for a chain of lakes I am on. Freaked out when the idle speed whizzed me past some boats in no wake zones like they were standing still – and a small wake to boot. Then there was that loud exhaust – I thought this would PO everyone!

    So naturally I had to “fix” all these problems to be a good lake neighbor –

    First a bought several silencer inserts for my exhaust – those baffle kinda things, about a foot long. Downloaded a decibel app for my phone and boated around – NO change!! = wasted money

    Then I called ACME props and started ordering props with all kinds of diameters and pitches. I was trying to prop for no wake channels so I could be passed by a 2 mph pontoon, not to achieve proper full load RPMs. Oh, I knew what I was doing, and the ACME guy thought I was nuts. None really achieved the snails pace I was after. I was so far gone I had replaced a 15X13 with a 14X9!!! This was genius! I was considering calling Humminbird to see if they had a plastic trolling motor prop for a 1 1/4″ tapered shaft!! Wow, I could be at 3,000 RPM cruising along at 7 mph – hold on honey, she’s moving now.

    Everyday was Fool of April 1st day for about 6 weeks. Then I started hearing from strangers and friends how much they love the sound of my boat. Some walk down to the dock when they hear me coming. HMMM, maybe the boat noise isn’t noise at all, rather it might just be an orchestra of baritones

    In regard to the prop thing, I put the original 15 X 13 back on, and decided that this is how the boat was built. Have had no complaints. I was so self-conscious that I hadn’t seen all the thumbs up people were giving me. My minds eye saw middle fingers

    I felt like a fool, and now I feel foolish-ish for having been a fool

    HAppy April fools

  7. Chug-A-Lug
    Chug-A-Lug says:

    Looks like you have alot of upright wooden things in your shed.Little puddle near each.Hmmm.Antifreeze leak?? get on your knees and dip finger.Smell and taste.BRUISER!!!!!!!

  8. Matt (not that Matt)
    Matt (not that Matt) says:

    Dragged this “95% restored”, some-assembly-required, craigslist boat (and motor, and buckets of parts home.

  9. Tom Gruenauer
    Tom Gruenauer says:

    This hoby/lifestyle is it foolish or crazy!
    Last November I traveled from Buffalo 300+ miles one way to meet a guy in a truck stop to pickup enough CC boat parts to fill a dual axel enclosed U haul trailer and the back of my pickup including the back seat. Turned around and made it home just after dark. All in the middle of a pandemic. I think CRAZY fits!!

  10. Murdock
    Murdock says:

    My wife let me purchase an 80-plus year old marina in northern MI with enough deferred maintenance to choke a mule and it makes the Black Hole of Calcutta look like a walk in the park. Ambience? Patina? She likes to say there’s a fine line between quaint and rundown and we’re going for that wanna be quaint look.
    Kind of like buying an old cruiser and thinking you’ll live long enough to get it restored before it eats through the last of your social security…………..
    Crazy? Foolish? Should be in a padded room somewhere?
    Oh yeah.
    Matt Smith, we’re just brothers from another mother and there’s extra beds in some institution somewhere that Suzy and Patti can come visit us. Then they can go to lunch and have an extra G&T or a Bloody Mary and tell stories about us.
    For now, I think they just keep us around for the color commentary and think “God, how did we marry such an ADD/OCD nutcase that’s driving us to the poorhouse?”

  11. Tuobanur
    Tuobanur says:

    Three months after completing and launching a 15 year restore I was trying to load my boat back on the trailer when the engine stalled. After a minute I tried to crank and it fired right up, in gear and throttle up, running it self up in to the wench stand and almost taking my sons arm off. A very quiet ride home that afternoon.

  12. Rick
    Rick says:

    Was leafing through the Brass Bell this morning and came across Bruiser leaping out at me . Love the headline though. “Dogs, Boats and Smoking Chimps”. LOL

  13. Jim Staib
    Jim Staib says:

    I left 92° weather in Florida to see the icebergs in Lake Michigan. Had I stayed a couple more days all the snow would have been gone.

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