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Five of us were ready to go.....almost
looked like a hovercraft convention as we pulled out and
proceeded thru the towns. |
| We drove as far as Highland, WI, where
it now was raining cats and dogs, so I radioed Bob
Steinhauer to see what the weather was doing over the
river. He stated jovially that the sun was shining and it
was a great day for hovering! That
was all I needed, from that point on, my car and the PL
Express fairly flew to the Victora Boat Landing at
Muscoda.
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How many times have we seen this
picture, as the hovercrafts stretch their wings alongside
the sandbars of the great Wisconsin River and forge their
way upstream. |
| We now had a total of 7 hovercrafts....all
StarCruisers. Dennis and Carol Alm, Ray Matthews (Freeport,
IL), Vernon Weber (CC), Verdon Weber (CC), Bob Steinhauer
(Muscoda), Mike McCullough (Mason OH), and myself. Mike McCullough just happened to be at the Weber
Residence getting some new retrofits to his cruiser.......especially
that new Moeller fuel tank which olds 13 gals! (This fact
will be very important towards the end of our cruise!)
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We took time to view the 2 eagle nests
that are along the river with the fledglings. But the most surprising thing that happened to
me, was the deer that almost jumped into my hovercraft. I
was coming around an island and all of a sudden a deer
flew off the bank of the island into the water next to
me, actually splashing me, and then began swimming across
the current to the side of the river.
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| By the time I realized what had
happened, I was downstream 1/4 mile and fumbling for my
camera to go back and get a pic. I got the pic but not
good enough for the web site, sorry! But I sure got
excited.....! There now looked
like trouble brewing above the river......occasionally
the sun would be out and warm up our ponchos and such,
and just as quick as it came out it would disappear.
Occasionally a rain drop would slap us in the face, but
nothing to stop a great day--YET!
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It was fun following everyone.....we
had crowned Dennis and Carol the leaders of this hoverin.
It seems that the hoverins I have been planning have
occasionally been wet and windy! This
was Dennis' chance to make a good one for us!
|
| At the Hwy. 14 Bridge between Arena
and Spring Green, we decided to pause. I really didn't want to go into this bridge
landing, as everyone else ahead of me had kicked up a
huge dust storm around them. But eventually I gave in....
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I suspicioned no one wanted to hover
with me, when they all took off without me! I do remember
showering... |
| Ray Matthews takes off in his Prowler.... It now was early afternoon and some of us hadn't
had lunch.....tripping the rest of the way upriver to Sauk City and the restaurant from this boat landing looked a bit risky insofar as the weather could treat us....
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So we headed back to Bob's place on
the river, while his wife, Gloria, called for chicken
from Ernie's restaurant downtown. I
am always on the lookout for a great picture and thought
I had the Lone Rock eagle in my sights when he flew off.
Do you know how difficult it is to fly a hover and shoot
a digital camera? This was going to be a tough day to get
good pictures, for sure!
|
| Bob and Gloria have the most beautiful
view of the Wisconsin River. When the river was high,
this area of the lawn was pretty much flooded, allowing
him direct access to the river without using the 'chute'! |
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After lunch, we decided to hover
downstream to the Boscobel boat landing access and then
back home, hopefully still dodging rain drops! As we pulled near the boat landing, several of
the crafts headed right in, but 3 of us waited our turn,
watching a jet ski play around in front of the access
area, but dangerously near some downed trees in the
current....
|
| Well, you know the story from the
pictures. I had seen this young gentleman fall off his
jet ski and attempt to get back on, but with the water
temps being so chilled and possibly he being a bit tired
from the day's fun, he couldn't get back on and stay on,
literally falling back into the waters. I hovered over by
him and asked him if he wanted some help. Bracing my
hover against his jet ski in the current, he was able to
get his grip, but soon let go again, and then asked for a
tow over to the landing. By this time, however, I had
gotten myself into trouble with the downed trees, and
motioned for Bob Steinhauer to take over. Bob now had his rope out and ready, anticipating
the need for it, and the lone skiier got a tow back to
the landing.
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It was slow going, but Bob did a grand
job.....another rescue on the Wisconsin River for him.
Some of you may remember his rescue of the overturned
canoes and occupants. I got a
great picture.....a rescue squad member had seen it all
happen and awaited us on the boat landing, too! Bob told me that the kid was in his craft holding the rope tied to the jet ski. They wrapped
the rope around the steering column.
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| We went into the boat landing, and
this young man decided to go back out on the jet ski
again, as well as his buddies doing the same, but it
seemed that either the water was too cold or they were
just not too adept at handling the craft, as they
occasionally fell back in and drug the craft back to
shore and start over. I didn't notice any wet suits and I
do remember how cold I was even bundled up. |
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On the way back to Muscoda from
Boscobel, Mike McCullough began having fuel problems, and
realized that his 13 gallon Moeller recently installed
was empty! Having no extra fuel on board, since this was
to be a test run only, I went back to Muscoda for fuel
for him. (I had recently emptied my 2 gal. can into my 6
gal. when I got close, and of course had nothing left to
spare, as any one else did either.) The thing to realize here tho, is that Mike says
he left with only about 4 gals. total in the tank and we
had done 90 miles already.....so I guess that was pretty
good mileage after all!
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| He and Verdon had stayed in that one
spot halfway between Blue River and Muscoda while I drove
the PL Express at top notch speed back to Muscoda. When I
returned they had slipped downstream aways and now were
at the Blue River bridge. But I'm sure they would have
gone ashore somehow somewhere if I would have been late
getting there. |
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Now to get the water out of the bag
and away we go! Mike needless to say was very grateful.
But it's a lesson to me, from now on, I carry a lot more
extra gas. |
