Fishing, Boating and other Whimsical Joys.

Contary to the popular belief of some people, who will remain nameless Mr Williams, Bill does enjoy boating, and indeed, even fishing.

Our new found friend 'Irv' took us out for a spin in his Bass boat. Without hesitation or coaxing, Bill jumped right in. Say Hi Bill...........

Even at speeds approaching suicidal, Bill remained poised and dignified. The boat event was not to go fishing, but to explore the possibilities of purchasing Irv's boat. Irv had this NorrisCraft 19 footer custom built for him in 1988 and has owned it ever since. Aside from being a bit faded from the Florida sunshine, the boat is almost as fresh as the day it was delivered. It is powered by a Mercury XR2 Black Max 150hp clip-on. Trimmed out, speeds approach 75mph. Like, you really need a fishing boat to go 75mph. I guess these Florida fish are fast:-)

Fishing was done from dry land. Following pictures show Irv's catch and Bill's catch. With just the fish alone, it was hard for the camera to distinguish the difference between Irv's and Bill's, so we took pictures with their respective hands for reference. Bill decided it was unfair as Irv had relatively small hands and it made his fish look bigger.

The contoversy will rage for decades as to who's was the biggest. Being sport fishermen, the catch was returned to the deep. One day, Bill's may catch up.

editors note: Both fish were caught while trying to net shinners for bait.

Anyway...it was a great mornings fun.

The Aviators

On Tuesday we (Bill, Gary, Jackie, Linda and myself) set off for a day trip to the Naples Zoo. On our way we passed the flying field were the Lake Placid Flying Club members meet every morning. This was the first time we had seen anyone at the field and we stopped in for a breif visit. Almost three hours later we were on our way to Tampa.

We were greeted most cordially and were soon deep in conversation with some of the members. Irv, the club trainer invited all three of us to take a turn at the stick of one of the club training planes, a Kadet LT40. Gary, an experienced pilot was first up, followed by Bill and then, reluctantly, myself.

We all left with a high level of enthusiasm to return the following day. At 8:00am we arrived and met a few of the early morning flyers. Charlie, an ex navy pilot and retired commercial pilot was there with an outstanding Yak stunt plane, powered by a 50cc four stroke engine and wit an 8'-0" wingspan.

Needless to say his prowess at the stick was most impressive. By the time Irv showed up with the trainer winds had picked up dramatically and we were unable to fly.

Today Bill and I had a chance to once again get airbourne with Irv's assistance. I think I am going to build a plane, most likely a Chance Voight F4U Corsair. Bill remains enthusiastic but it remains to be seen what his intentions may be.

The RC flying community here are very friendly and accomadating. We have been t Irv's garage and seen his great collection of aircraft. Tomorrow Charlie is taking us to his 'warehouse' to show us his collection. Can't wait.