Fishin' with a Mission

[esdbass]

OK this has been in the works for a while here and I want to thank a bunch of people who with out it wouldn't have been possible.



First I want to thank Marty for making the boat available to me and working with me to get everything taken care of. He handled everything in a most professional and personal way. I hope you like how she looks so far!



I also want to thank Michelle Kilburn at Mercury Marine and Don Weed at European Marine who really stepped up and helped me out of a jam, once again Mercury takes the lead in the industry in supporting Autism Awareness and my efforts. Thank you Michelle I too hope you like what we've come up with so far and thank you and Mercury for your continuing support.



Thanks also to Wayne Worthy, Matt Worthy and Jon at Hydro Tec, the detail and perfection of your rigging was unreal, everything was "good to go" for the HT 250 XS to be mounted when she arrived and I know that the schedule got rushed. I appreciate you guys getting it done!



Chub and Kurt thank you for your help and guidance and giving me a bunch of options to work with. I'll try real hard to keep you guys proud of your "Yankee Knot Head"



I also want to thank Frank Mole of Scream and Fly for getting the rig in Nixa from Hydro Tec and beating my shops closing time 1550 miles away the very next day. This guy is the man for sure of transporting!



Lastly but not least thanks to Bob Bourget and his top tec, Jeff at Marine USA here in MA, as well as Jim Barry from Barry's Bait and Tackle for his custom detachable troll mount as well as his expert Lowrance Electronic set up, those guys set to work the very next day doing the detailed motor set up, hanging, and much much more and I think the product before the wrap speaks very well for their efforts!



Deb is working with me now on a new wrap for the boat, it will keep the main "Autism Awareness" puzzle theme but it will also incorporate the "Fishn' with a Mission" decal that BASS Elite Pro Mike Iaconelli displays on both his boat and tow rig and that many other pro's and supporters are now also placing on their rigs in support.



We thought it might be nice to see "Before and After" pictures so here are a few. I hope everyone enjoys.



Eli, Luke & Deb



"Fishin' with a Mission"



http://www.mylittlebuddysboat.com

[Oldgeezer]

Congratulations Eli. I will follow the "transformation" with great interest. I am sure that Deb, with her talents, will create a great and meaningful wrap. Good luck.
Bob
Please say hi to Deb and Luke for me. Did you sell the other boat/motor? Just curious.

[EuropeanAM]

VERY nice, Eli!!!

Can't wait to see it "wrapped"!

Hat's off to all those that helped and assisted with this project.... especially the folks at HydroTech, Bob/Jeff, and of course, last but CERTAINLY not least, Mercury Marine for their continued support of Autism Awareness!

It certainly took a lot of folks putting their heads (and hands) together to pull this off in such a timely fashion!

[redline]

You're welcome Eli. Thanks to you as well for being such a great customer, {even if you do call 15 times a day...LOL}.

While everyone is "eyeing" your new ride, please remember the inherant safety issues of hi-performance boat operation. After all, it should go over 70, right?!?!?!!

[1outlaw]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by redline &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">While everyone is "eyeing" your new ride, please remember the inherant safety issues of hi-performance boat operation. After all, it should go over 70, right?!?!?!! </TD></TR></TABLE>

[esdbass]

Red: You make an excellent point here and with all the excitement of this very special rig it's easy to forget about making sure the right safety precautions are always in place. Thank you for pointing this out to everyone, and having gone over 120 MPH in a boat yourself you know and appreciate this far more than most

It doesn't matter how well a boat is set up, how well its rigged, or how great the design of the boat and motor is. It doesn't even matter how good the driver is or whether the boat can go 70 MPH, 100+ MPH or just 45 MPH, regardless you got to use all your safety gear, Jacket and kill switch all the time, every time

This boat is going to fly for sure but I always do so using the right precautions and so should everyone else

[redline]

Well, I learned the "hard" way. I stuffed a wake with an Allison XR-2002 at a boat race in Maine at 90+ and hit the water head on. Happened in what seemed like milliseconds. Next thing I knew I was floating on the surface holding on to the steering cables....didn't want my boat to sink!!!......the LIFELINE jacket was buoyant enough to hold us both up!!!! That year I came back home with my motor and jackplate bolted to the trailer...boat was in about 200 very small pieces....LESSON: NEVER THINK IT CAN'T HAPPEN TO YOU..