Thank you to all!
 

As you know by now, Dave and I rolled our cat in St Clair. Lucky, we are unhurt and the boat is fine with only the cowls missing. I wanted to thank everone for their help and concern, it was amazing. Eric from Strictly Business (our arch rival :) ) got the boat dried out and worked on it till 11pm! Mack and Warren from Joker were blowing out fuel lines. Rob (Phragel) help us all weekend. Guys, thank you! You are what makes racing OPA great.

On another note. Anytime you have an opportunity to do a dunker test, DO IT! The training kept me calm, we knew what to do and got out without trouble. It is amazing how hard it is to push open the hatch when you are upside down.

Lastly and most importantly, thank you to all the resuce people, EMS, Fire Chief and everyone who made sure we were all right. It was great to see you in the water. Thank you for calling my wife and letting her know we were alright.

Thanks again to everyone.

Dean Howard

Glad you guys are ok... I agree that the dunker should be performed every chance you get. The more you do it, the more your reaction becomes automatic.

we were so worried when we heard what happened, we could not see the roll from where we were at the St Clair Inn, one of the Jersey guys had a marine radio and heard you were OK. But it was sure great to see you later on the scooter, we assumed you were on the way back to make sure the boat got out of the water in one piece. We saw it hanging on the lift and it looked pretty good. Are you guys bruised and feeling sore?

Thanks alot. Sorry I couldn't talk we were having touble with the pump. Not even any bruises. Dave reinforced the canopy and it held up perfectly. Now today I got a kidney stone! What a couple of days!

It's truely amazing how far the boats have come as far as safety goes, not only does it give drivers more confidence to run harder but it also helps the spectators who have loved ones racing breathe easier from the shoreline. Great job by all the builders and crews.

Glad you guys are ok... Sounds like the boat held up and all the OPA Safety training worked perfectly.

Reindl

Sparky called me last night and told me you flipped but was not sure of your condition until later that evening. Glad to see you guys are ok!

Dean & Dave glad to hear you guys are OK, do you know what happened? Rick did you make the race?

Not with my Boat, Family emergency stopped everything and had me out of town all week. Saturday Morning Neil called and asked if I would like to throttle his boat and we lucked into 2nd in Class #5

You guys are the best!!! I had no less than 6 calls from different teams checking to see if our guys were ok and then several teams stopped at the crane to check on them. Warren and Mack ... you guys rock. It meant alot to me to see you guys come running up as soon as you heard and I really needed that hug. Thanks. :bunny:

Dean and Dave .... dont scare me like that again. Love you guys!

Glad you guys are ok!

great to hear your ok!

Dan

glad to hear your both OK as well as the boat ...

Dean, I wish we could have done more, glad you guys are ok. Love you guys.

Glad to hear that you are ok!!!! Important is that you both are ok! :)

Huge Huge thanks to every one. There was a constant flow of people coming to check on us and to see what we needed. This is an amazing group of racers and friends. Big thanks to Louie, Eric, Mac, Warren, Rob and all envolved for all the help drying the boat out and getting it secure. You guys are the best.

I also want to reflect the special thanks to the safety crews and all of OPA. They were on us quickly and had the situation under control in very short order. Every single thing we did in the dunker training came into play and because of what they prepaired us for we were able to get out fairly quickly. it is an interesting feeling being upside down waiting for the pressure to stabilize enough to get the hatch open but because we knew what to expect neither of us went into a panic but rather we had a mental check list to go through in order to get out. Dean put slow steady pressure on the hatch and i held the latch open within a few moments it eased open and the boat droped slightly lower allowing us to get out. actually the biggest problem was the fuel that was on the water after we got out I got a bit in my eyes and got a nose full that caused some coughing.

Thanks again to everyone.

Dean,
When we came around that turn and seen you guys we just about crapped ourselves. I am gladyou guys were ok. If you need anything feel free to ask.

As we came around the turn I saw you and Todd pulled the stickes back because we didn't see any orange yet and no safety boats (we got there as it happend) After we saw the safety boat haulin butt towards you we powered back up. Lost alot of ground but the safety of of a racer is far more important in our eyes.
Anyway, glad you all are safe and up and running.

After many years as a sweep boat for the CBPBA, it's almost natural to help when the poop hits the fan. My hats off to the race support people and hope we never need to use them but happy to see them out there.

I was up in the other end of the course and wasn't called down for your incident, so I figured everything was good. Don't know if you guys got the message, but I did stop by the crane to check on you before I left St Clair.

Must've shook that kidney stone loose Dean. Glad you guys are ok. Are you going to be in PIB for the poker run Dave?

Okay enough with the mushy stuff!! You got 26 days to get that
rocket ready for your next arse whippin!!:signs069: And remember "Strictly Business" is in there home waters! ( maybe thats not so good? lol) On the serious side, the best improvement we've made to the boat was having the intercom tie into the shore radio's so we found out real quick you guys were okay. Dean feel better and toss that stone, and thank you for the scooters they are great. Dave when you guys are here we can shoot over to Predator and you can give us some pointers on how you strengthened that canopy up.
Be Well, Louie

26 Days,,,,,, DAMN, that's gonna be here in no time!!! :cool-smiley-011: :party-smiley-020:

I know!! I'm developing a twitch lol. I woke up this morning and got 2 dozen phone calls of stuff that didn't get done. Hi Ho, Hi Ho it's off to work we go!! I need to a:chill-pill:
Can't wait, It's gonna be a blast. Louie

I don't know what I can do but just let me know if there's anything you think I can help with.