LOWER WISCONSIN RIVER HOVERGROUP HOSTS
NATIONAL CRUISE AND HOVER-IN 2000 FOR THE HOA!!
(Sunrise Photo by Charles Dixon)
Nothing settles the soul more so than a sunrise on a river.......especially the Wisconsin River! A lot of local residents rightfully call it a very dangerous river to swim or wade in. The fishermen are ultra cautious when navigating between the many sand bars just under the surface of the water. And no one can accurately predict when the authorities will open the dam each day from Lake Wisconsin which empties into this branch of the Wisconsin River.......causing many a camper to leave his tent in the dark of the night and float down river very wet!
Verdon and I went to the river a day early to meet with our local engine rep and grant him his first ride in a hovercraft.....altho he's sold us many a Kohler engine, he yet had not ridden in a hovercraft!
Steve arrived early and I took him for his first ride in the PL Express.....he was in awe! Verdon gave him driving instructions for a short bit and Steve was out and on his own!!
Too much lift???? We all have learned the hard way.....It was a bit later that Steve came in with the craft and remarked on how graceful a hovercraft really is!
Wet and riding on adrenaline, we have another convert to hovercrafting! Verdon is teaching the landing portion here!
The big, black, bad Air Commander and its owners, Dave and Sue Ruebush came in early to the campground also. It's always wonderful to put faces with the names one sees on the egroups!
Dave is very active in the hoverlovers egroup and hails from deep in Illinois!
My apologies to everyone that I did not get a picture of at this hover-in. I also did not find time to do any camming. Next year, anyone like a full time job? Very rewarding......low pay!!
As the day wears on and gets a bit drearier, Verdon needs some time to himself on the river, too! At this point we were indeed a bit worried about the weather report for the next 3 days.......but it was needless worry, as the weather was absolutely the very best it could have been.
Also joining us at the campground on Thursday, are left to right.......
Carl and Janet Gorsuch (Cincinnati OH), Mike McCullough (Mason, OH) and Don and Jean Searls (Piedmont MO) and then there is Verdon in the background! Mike McCullough drove the furthest to attend the hover-in, a total of 670 miles one way!
Friday morning dawns, and the second person to get a campsite is Ben Tilson, the Weber Racing Team, and his 2 sons Ben and Joe!
 |
Mike McCullough tried out his Hovercam...you can see it mounted on the duct of his hover! Note HoverBear, his new tag along passenger on the duct! |
Mike says he needs to do some perfecting of the hovercam, but it sure was neat to review the hilites of the day on our portable TV/VCR that evening!
Gary Jensen brought his AeroCruiser and immediately hit the water for a refreshing spin!
Dave LaCombe and his 10F, built just prior to the Minnesota Cruise in July......Dave did a beautiful job on this craft. Many folks would think a 10F would have severe limitations on a lengthy cruise; but Dave has proved everyone wrong. Not only did he cruise the full 74 miles to and from Mazo Beach (!), returning from the beach he inadvertently took a dive off a high sand bar and with a partially delaminated prop, still made it back in great shape!! From here Dave is building a UH19P and brought along a beautiful model of it, but I failed to get a picture. Sorry!
We shared the boat ramp with boats, canoers and even a family who built a raft right there at the boat landing and floated down river for an overnight camp out! From this angle, it almost looks like a very smooth entrance into the river........well, it's not!
Everyone who has arrived by Friday afternoon decides to get the first cruise in and off to Mazo Beach we go. Carl and Janet Gorsuch in his beautiful homebuilt get a head start......they didn't come to just sit and watch, believe me!
Doug Ihrig (Indiana) brings along his Hovertrek, owned by himself and Andy Pittman. Andy also owns a StarCruiser Weber craft, but most recently had an accident with it and it now is under repairs. Seems to me Andy had a problem at the March hoverin, too!????? Way to go, Andy!
A shot upriver as we head for the Beach!
THE PARKING BRAKE!!!!!
As always there is room for a bit of fun and pranks on the sand bars as we rest between the miles! This photo shows Verdon Weber holding back Carl and Janet and their hovercraft, as they attempt to take off from the sandbar after a bit of a rest. Carl didn't give up easily. At first he floored the push to it when the craft wouldn't move. Then he swizzled the tail end to break free of whatever was holding him back.......then he let up on the thrust. At that time, Verdon walked alongside the craft as if nothing had happened and told Carl it was okay now to go.....at which time Carl immediately left, not thinking any more of the problem. Carl told me later he just thought he was stuck tight to the sand, like what happens on wet mud!! We all had a good laugh at that one tho.
But the best part of all of this is the first happening of which a photo I don't have. I'm hoping someone snapped one for me. I was behind the crowd at the first sandbar and late in arriving.
On the earlier sandbar rest Verdon had done much the same maneuver to Mike McCullough and his StarCruiser hovercraft. Later when Mike was told he should let the parking brake off, he looked quizzically at everyone, and laughter broke out and Mike was told the full story!
Later in the evening of Friday, the Univeral Hovercraft crowd arrived. The kids thought it would be best to start getting the bungee straps off and I snapped a shot of them in the dark! Later Bob decided they would wait until morning and joined us around the campfire and watched a few videos.
Ben Tilson and son (Weber Racing Team!).....resting and chatting at the campfires! Shortly after this snap was taken, the Grant County Sheriff's Dept. arrived at our camp fires and asked if we would assist in the recovery of the remaining 2 drowning victims about 20 miles down stream......the following day.
Four persons had drowned on Wed. eve at the Woodman Boat Landing (about 20 miles downstream) and authorities were desperate for help in searching the wooded branches of the Wisc. River for the remaining two victims and felt the hovercrafts could greatly speed up the search.
Onward to Page Two of the 2000 National Cruise!
* * * *
For further information on the above or other hoverins scheduled across the USofA in 2000, please email Linda Weber or the Hoverclub of America!
